The Wyvern c1960, Church Crookham
The Wyvern c1960, Church Crookham Ref: C102017
Memories of The Wyvern c1960, Church Crookham
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Church Crookham & local memories
Read and share memories of Church Crookham and Hampshire inspired by Frith photos.
Velmead Farm,Watery Lane
My Father was cowman on this farm, we lived in the tythe cottage for about 6 years and I started school there. My teacher was Mrs War, her husband was the foreman of Velmead farm. We walked across the fields to school. It was a lovely idilic place to live as a child, we had so much freedom. I remember soldiers with thier wives walked past the house at weekends and talked to us children and give us pennies. At the time I had 2 sisters older than me and 3 brothers younger. We had a well in the garden for our water supply; father would draw 2 buckets in the morning before he went to work and 2 more when he came in mid-day for his dinner, and then again at teatime. Life was very hard but we knew no better. There was a cafe on the corner of the first road we came to, over the fields which were owned by the Potter family. One... Read more
Claremont - Aldershot Road
The house on the right hand side of this picture was called Claremont. We lived
there in the early 60s. There were two cottages to the side. In one of those cottages lived a girl called Elizabeth Holland, she used to babysit us. They had the most wonderful vegetable garden. We had fires in all the rooms, but also had paraffin heaters. I would go to the garage which you can just make out in this photo to buy paraffin. The Verne was just to the left. This was a most exciting walk, as there was a newsagents where I could buy comics, Bunty, Judy and Princess. The butcher shop always had bones for the dogs. Further on down Aldershot Road was a fish and chip shop - delicious. Then you would hit some Army buildings. That is where we went to church. Father Scantlebury, he gave us ice cream cakes when we had out first communion! A little further on was the racecourse. Going the other way was the... Read more
A Canadian in Wartime
My father must have arrived in Church Crookham around 1942. About a half dozen Canadian officers were quartered in an extremely 'modern' house, called The White House. My father, a young Captain, always spoke of that house with something approaching awe. For some reason, the sanitary fixtures fascinated him: wash basins in individual bedrooms, something unknown in North America. His bath had tiles embossed with dolphins, I remember him saying.
Even for the officers, transport was generally by bicycle and he became an intrepid cyclist, whereas at home he had always had his own car as a teenager (a Ford Model A, with rumble seat).
Mostly he recalled the kind welcome of the English people: it seems Canadians were preferred to the rather rambunctious Americans.
