Billinghay, Lincolnshire

A Townie in timberland 1947

My memory is of arriving in Timberland with my widowed mother to look after my grandad, George Curtis. I had to go to Timberland C of E school, imagine me, 9 years old and wiv a Sussex accent, everyone called me a Cockney and tried to make me talk in class. The Head Mistress was Miss Kirk, there was also Mrs... [more]

the Vintner farm

My father, Dudley David Wright, who lived in a poor section of Grimsby with his foster mother Nellie Fields and was born in 1924 told me of summers he spent in Dogdyke on a farm owned by a Mrs Vintner. Another person who summered there was Edith STokes, who died in the 1980's or 1990's. My father later emigrated with my... [more]

My Grandfather

I was told by my mother that my grandparents moved to Tattershall in 1912 from Buckinghamshire so my grandfather could find work helping to restore the castle he was a carpenter. His name was William Bywater, known as Roger, they lived in the village for many years.

My first RAF posting

This was where I started training as an RAF fighter pilot in 1951.
I firstly did my "Square Bashing" then was promoted to Acting Pilot Officer and made my first flight in a Tiger Moth flying over Lincoln. Then it was off to AFTS Ansty to train on Chipmunks.
Happy days!

Memories of My Family

I was not born when my family lived in Kirkby Green but I have heard my mother tell a few stories of life there. She had a pet trout who lived in the Beck which ran past the back garden. She called him Peter and would go down to feed him most days. When he failed to turn up for a... [more]

No actual memories ...!

Kirkby Green. I was born here in December 1941. My family lived in the house at the side of 'The Beck' which had a water wheel used for driving a mill. My father worked for a local farming family, the Wrights. I have no memories of my life here as we left the area in 1942, but my brothers and sisters... [more]

Great Grandfather West

I have no personal memories of Kirkstead, but it was an important place in the history of my family.   

My great grandfather, William Gilbert West, and his wife Rebecca farmed somewhere in the Kirkstead area during the 1870s.  From census entries we know that their 9th, 10th and 11th children, all girls, were born there, the first of these... [more]