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Brean Down

Brean Down photos

Displaying the first of 4 old photos of Brean Down.   View all Brean Down photos

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Brean Down maps

Historic maps of Brean Down and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis.   View all Brean Down maps

Brean Down area books

Displaying 1 of 11 books about Brean Down and the local area.   View all books for this area

Memories of Brean Down

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Somerset memories

Mr And Mrs Harris And Brent Knoll Farm

And Battleborough 1913
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I have such happy memories of Brent Knoll Farm which we "accidentally" stayed at.  We live in Lancashire and, think it was c1989. We had been to Weston super Mare for our holidays, staying in a lovely flat. The flat was very small but had a wonderful sea view. With 5 young kids, we hadn't found it easy finding somewhere to stay.  It was a lovely area to be in, just slightly out of the centre of Weston, but within walking distance, so the following year we decided to go again. Then I was made redundant so only booked the flat for one week.  Then I received a small amount of redunancy so I rang the lady to say we could manage two weeks after all, only to learn "our room" had been booked up, so we decided we would go to Weston for the week, but take extra money with us, and try and look for a place to stay the second week of our hols. With 5 young... Read more

Best Village in Somerset

The times spent at East Brent Church of England School in the village were very good. All our family went there except our eldest brother Roy, who went to the infants school which is now the village hall. We learnt more from the village school than any other school we went to, happy days.

Early Recollections

Amongst my earliest memories of Burnham-on-Sea are those of being in the forge of my grandfather's blacksmith's shop, he was Mr Welland, watching him shoeing horses. After the work was done he would hoist me up onto the horses' backs getting my pretty little dresses very dirty. Needless to say, Mum was never best pleased when she saw the state I would be in!

Highbridge

Market Street c1960
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I used to fly my control line model planes in the car park shown in the photo. My mother and I lived in Highbridge from 1957 until 1960 when we moved to Burnham. I went to the school in Highbridge and remember the Queen being driven past the school on her way to see the flood damage in Devon. We all waved flags as she sped past! On her earlier Coronation I and the kids at the school all got commemorative medalions courtesy of the owner of the big hardware store at the town clock. Good days.

German Bomber Crash

Does anybody remember the day during the Second World War when a Luftwaffe bomber crashed just past the railway crossing? I was then a five or six year old evacuee boy from London. I remember some of the spectators crying - I didn't understand it then (and I don't undertand it now!).

Grandparents Shop

Big Tree Stores c1960
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My Grandparents, Joseph and Lilian Stokes, had this property built about 1953, they opened a general stores, the only one for miles around, and also ran the local post office in the shop, a few years later. Many many happy childhood memories at Big Tree Stores, my brother and I could help ourselves to anything, big tins of Roses and Lucky Numbers sat on the counter to be weighed out, and at Christmas the upstairs sitting room became a gift area with lots of present ideas on show. The shop was open 6.5 days a week, the garage didn't house Grandpas' car, but the food storeroom at the back, and his Barbers' salon at the front, he had previously had a hairdressing business in Bristol. My Grandmother stayed on at the shop for a couple of years after my Grandfathers' death in 1964, but then sold the business.

Holidays in The Mid 1950s

The Village 1903
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I used to holiday with my grandparents in West Huntspill in the mid 1950s.For a time we used to stay with a Mrs King. Heading west from The Globe you took a right turn at the crossroads past the traction engine and she lived on the left. Then we stayed with a Mr and Mrs Hagget just over thre railway bridge in Withy Road. We used to go to The Globe pub in the evenings, I think Mr and Mrs Hayes were the owners and they had a daughter, Margaret or Mary. We used to visit Wells, Burnham, Cheddar, Weston, Glastonbury and when we did a tour Wem's coach used to pick us up at The Crossroads pub.

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