Chessington memories
Here are memories of Chessington and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Chessington or a Chessington photo.
High Slides!
I remember getting stuck up the top of one of these slides when I was about 4 years old! My big brother, who is 16 years my senior, took me out for the day with his girlfriend, to Chessington Zoo. I went up the steps of one of these slides and found it was so high I was too scared to come down, despite his encouragement from the ground. He had to climb the steps and, as children followed him up, had bring me down the slide on his lap, quite an embarrassment for a 20-year-old lad! To make matters worse a child at the bottom, who was being called away by his mother, remarked loudly "Wait, I just want to see this man come down the slide"!! My brother has never let me forget it!!!
Is That my Great Grandfather?
I believe from birth records that my Grandfather, Leonard Lambert, was born in the Bonesgate in 1890's, I have always wondered if that is my Great Grandfather, Joseph (Joey) Lambert, standing in the door?
The Zoo
I remember these slides, especially the ones with the bumps in...great fun. My dad used to work down the road at the fishmongers and he would take fish at the end of the day for the penguins.
The Bones Gate After The War
My uncle used to live in Cranborne Avenue, Tolworth. We would visit and all troop across the fields - many with remains of war time crashed bombers etc. - to the delightful Bonesgate Pub.
Happy days!
Origin of Pub Name.
The pub was originally known as 'The Gate' - hence the sign hanging over the door. The current name is a corruption of 'Borne's Gate' from the time of the landlord whose name was Mr Borne. The pub still exists, beside the stream of the same name, Bonesgate Stream.
Memories of Surrey
The Ace of Spades And Hook Underpass
I was born in Kingston on Thames in 1943. In 1947 my family moved to Thames Ditton close to the old AC car factory and then in 1949 to Lovelace Gardens in Surbiton. At the very young age of 7 or 8 my mother used to send me off on my own on the 65 bus with my rubber flippers and inflateable ring to learn to swim on my own at The Ace of Spades Hotel swimming pool. This was a popular up market out of town venue at that time and on one occasion I met Diana Dors who was teaching her husband Dennis Hamilton to swim. I went to St. Andrews Primary school, then in St. Andrews Road Surbiton and made a huge number of friends in the surrounding area. I later attended (unsuccessfully) Ewell Castle School, famous for Oliver Read. I became a keen motorcyclist and, like him, a bit of a tear away and one of my main meeting places was the Tip Top Cafe... Read more
The Toby Jug - Where is Mr Seaton Now?
In the 1950's and early 60's, a Mr Seaton was the manager of The Toby Jug. I would like to trace him or his descendants in the hope of obtaining some information on a Maestrovox Electronic Organ which used to be attached to the piano in the pub dining room and dance hall for the official Maestrovox website that I run. I can be contacted at s.m.ward@btconnect.com or via the website www.debbiecurtis.co.uk/id99.html
I would also be pleased to hear from anyone who remembers this unusual organ attached to the piano or has any pictures of it that we could see.
Thanks
Searching For Relatives of Mr Leonard Underwood - 1967
My father, Leonard Benjamin Underwood, worked at the Toby Jug in the mid 1960s, and unfortunately passed away there in August 1967. He was married, but I only know the initials of his wife's first names - BM. If anyone knows who BM is, or any of her children, please email me : peterbaker13@hotmail.com Many thanks.
Surbiton Lagoon
I just loved Surbiton Lagoon. Me and my twin sister lived in Alexandra Drive, just around the corner and we were good friends with the manager's son Vaughan Hancock. In the scorching hot summer of 1976 we were 14. My mum worked at the Lagoon so we got in free. We spent all the summer holidays there and 'bagged' our sun bathing spot on the stairs at the 5ft marker. This is because me, my twin (Nicola) and our girlfriends were all in love with the hunky life guard called Paul who sat in the high seat there. To this day I can recall assistant manager, Alan Ridley (who incidently became a teacher at Tolworth Girls) shouting 'Get our of the cascade!' over the public address system. We were also in a sit com which was filmed there. It was called 'The Secret Life of Edgar Briggs' starring David Jason! John Pertwee, aka Dr Who, attended at a RNLI fundraiser . He arrived in a flourish in... Read more
Grandmother's Flat Above The Shops
My family's house, just off the Kingston Bypass (now known as the A3) in Tolworth, was damaged as the result of enemy action in September 1940 and my parents and I stayed for a while with my grandmother in Surbiton. Her flat was on the first floor at the far corner above the shops on the left of the photo, just before the Odeon Cinema which lay slightly back from the building line. One of my enduring childhood memories is of kneeling at the window of her sitting room and watching the trolleybuses attempt to turn the very sharp corner from St Mark's Hill into Claremont Road without their two poles leaving the overhead electified wires. The crossover points of these wires (which allowed some trolleys to turn into and out of Victoria Road as well - presumably the main cause of this problem) can be seen clearly in this photo. After a shower of sparks and two wildly bouncing poles, the trolleybus would grind to a halt and hold... Read more
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