Cippenham memories
Here are memories of Cippenham and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Cippenham or a Cippenham photo.
Elmshott Lane School
I too remember Mr. Britnell and Mr. Kincaid, who initially lived in one of the workers cottages built for the local farm labourers in Dennis Way just round the corner from where I lived in St.Andrews Way. He took enormous strides and would walk in the road on the way to school because the kids would just get in his way. I think he came from Canada. Mr.R.B. Santa was the head,Miss W.E. Weeks the deputy, and over the years I had several visits to his office for a dose of the cane, the first being on my first day after moving up from the junior school ! Being " dared" to climb the the corner wall on the hall!! ( on left in picture ) It had those "staggered " bricks on the corners. There was a shop opposite on corner of Bower Way that sold big cream buns and some kids would nick over there and buy one at morning play time ! but Mr.... Read more
Hogarth Close
I remember Hogarth Close going up - it seemed out of place as all the rest of Bower Way was bungalows or modest 2-storey houses but with good-sized gardens. This was different - small gardens and lots of 3-storey buildings. I seem to remember it was built on the site of 2 big houses?
Haymill School1960's
A message for all previous Haymill pupils, I remember the school with very mixed memories, Mr Thorn (nick-named 'Spike'), I, like Jan, was also in Mr Wilson's class, he was a lovely teacher, he was nicknamed 'Wacker Wilson' due to the 'slipper' he would often display during the more boisterous moments in class. I was known as Sandra Smith in those days. I remember there being a dentist next to the school with the name of 'Broken Acre' which I always thought was probably the sign of a dentist with a sense of humour. I now live in Dorset and am known as Sandie Burrows. I would like to hear from any old school friends that were there at that time. Carol Wareham, Joyce Rideout, Jackie Farnell, Jackie Gomm and Carol Goodall were amongst my group of friends mostly.
Haymill
I lived along Windsor Lane which became Burnham Lane, also moved Counties from Bucks to Berkshire without leaving our house. The Mill was just down the road and I played with my friend Pam Willingale who later moved to Holyport. At that time the road had a wide verge opposite an allotment full of fruit and flowers. I played in the woods at the back of the mill. Haymill garage was built in place of the farm and threw or allowed oil drums to polute the area, WHY?
Looking back over the stories on this site, I too loved the crackling from the chip shop and remember Nevilles and riding down Mill Lane to Eton.
We also played on the railway (Never used) through the trading estate when walking to Slough.
Isn't Cippenham a busy place now.
Does anyone know where the name Everitts Corner originates?
Best wishes to all Cipponeons
Ice on The Pond
I remember the years that the pond used to freeze over in the winter, must have been the early 1960s, or maybe that winter of 1962-63 when we built igloos on the green opposite the cricket pitch, my, that was cold! Also my dad's allotment was in behind the pond, down a little track just the other side, probably left of where this pic was taken...happy days. Who remembers Nevilles yard? When the horses and ponies where fed, the rats used to run along the beams to get at the food...I used to love that place, I always wanted a kitchen like they had with chickens sitting on the kitchen table - what bliss! Annie Harvey (nee Gatward)
Millstream Lane
I lived my early years in Millstream Lane in the 1960s up to 1974. It was a wonderful place to grow up. Just off the NW corner of the Green on Greg's farm there was a barn with a number of rusting old vehicles and farm machinery scattered around. Besides threshers and early tractors, there were some WW2 military vehicles including half-tracks, an American troop lorry and best of all an amphibious DUKW which was great to play on. Does anyone else remember this? I would love to know how the military vehicles ended up there in the first place.
Westgate School.
Westgate opened in 1958 for my last school year. I competed in the discus and cross country, and represented the school in rugby and a decathlon. Great school, followed by Slough College.
Later, I emigrated and worked for a company in Australia, then the government. My boss talked me into studying, which later led to university where I met my wife.
Elmshott Lane School
John and Freda
I remember Mr Bobbit and all the other teachers you mention. The most memorable thing about Mr Bobbit was the fact that if you upset him he would grab your sideboards between his fingers and twist then until you almost screamed. If only the teachers were allowed to do that today!
Everetts Corner
I couldn't believe my eyes when I was just punching in Haymill Secondary School and pictures of Cippenham popped up! I lived just around the corner from Everetts corner on Washington Drive. It seemed like every day when I was young, my mum and I walked up to the mini mart there doing the daily groceries and stopping to speak to everyone she knew; going to the post office and Horshams or something paper shop. Then I remember going to the fish and chip shop and ordering the lovely crackling! My mum Florence (Boon) Dixon lived in Cippenham most of her life. I actually hated the place and couldn't wait to escape when I was 18 and move to Canada. I'm now 62 but all of a sudden I have a longing to go back and see my old stomping grounds! Anyone who went to Haymill out there?? I left in 1962 and was in Mr. Wilsons class.
Main Street, Cippenham
This Main Street is the A4 Bath Road approaching Everret's Corner from Taplow direction toward Slough. Slough was the (Road) Safety Town.
Cippenham, The Children's Recreational Park
The Park was taken over once a year by a large travelling fun fair (Traylens) with traditional rides and amusements (a helter-skelter tower) and mechanical rides (Dive Bomber, The Whip and Dodgems) and the usual catch-penny side shows and a small travelling .22 rifle range (5 shots a shilling). I was intrigued by bigger kids who could whistle with the cartridge cases. There was also a boxing booth where locals tried their hand at the travelling string. The event was also a social gathering where people from extended families, or former neighbours who had moved as their families grew, met to compare notes, births marriages and deaths.
Fishing in The Stream
I remember fishing in the tiny stream next to the Cippenham Pond (to the left of this photo). My brothers Paul, John and me Lynn and our little sister Delia Davies all used to take a fishing net and a glass jam jar and fish in the tiny stream for sticklebacks. This was in the days when children could be children and we were safe, spending hours just fishing. Those were the days.
Lynn Mace (Davies)
The Little Tin Church on The Green
I attended the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints little Church (not Morman) next door to the pig farm when I was 24 years old. Because of the love and friendship I received there, I had the opportunity to come to America as one of the families agreed to sponsor me. Forty-four years later, I still attend the same Church (now called the Community of Christ) in Lima, Ohio.
Westgate School
I was in the very first class to attend the brand new Westgate School. My class moved from Haymill Annex on Elmshot Lane. We were all so excited. The 1A students were in Mrs. Evans class and was she strict. She ruled with an iron fist and we all learned to be quiet when she walked into the room. My favorite teacher was Mrs. Ramsbottom (the physical education teacher). I loved netball and hockey. It was at Westgate where I learned to play tennis. We used to have a whole afternoon of sports one day a week. The sewing teacher was Mrs. Archer and the Cookery teacher was Mrs. Willis. I had Mr. Good for science. Mrs. Tennent was the headmistress and Mr. Hacket was the headmaster. I was also a prefect and table server. We had wonderful school dinners, and I would love the recipe for the Treacle Tart if anyone has it. Miss Nunn... Read more
Elmshott Lane School
I loved attending this school when Mr. Rackstraw was the headmaster. I have great memories of Mr. Kincaid, Mr. Britnell, Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. Turner, Miss Pittam and Ms. Hill (P.E. teachers). Everyone was afraid of Mrs. Brooks. Does anyone remember the air raid shelters they had in the playground?
Everetts Corner - 1958
I was one of the many paper boys and girls that worked for Horslins the newsagent. I would get up a 5:00 am every morning and wait outside in the cold for the papers, magazines and comics to arrive. We used to have to mark up our route and then get out and deliver the papers. I hated doing it during the winter months because it was so cold and dark. I also remember the fish shop and I bought my first Raleigh bike from the bycycle shop with the money I earned from my paper route. I was also an usherette at the Essoldo for a while and was there when it caught fire.
The Swan
I remember all of the pubs, and especially the Swan as we liked to think it was part of the Swan family. In fact my brother, John, had a special corner dedicated as "Wings Corner". I remember going there as a child and buying crisps from the side door.
Twinches Lane
There was a Twinch, Henry I think, owner of Cippenham MANOR (not Court farm which was nearby) and this was his shortcut, originally. This pic is taken from the footbridge put up for the Girls High School to cross the road to get their buses. The school was sold in the 1960s for housing and retail park, I think Wickes are still there. The bridge was removed in the 1980s? Twinches Lane is on the left, the linked traffic lights part of the Slough Experiment 1953, to limit the traffic to 30mph. The land on the left (of course originally all farmland) was taken over by Nissen huts during the war, an AA battery protecting the trading estate? Squatted in after the war the people were gradually rehoused and the huts demolished. One of uncle Albert's (sorry about all these relatives!) first demolition jobs was to take the bases up, unaided we (bro Pete, Albert and me) broke them up with a sledge hammer, levering them up with a length... Read more
War Memorial
There are 3 Hills on the memorial, but they're only dad's cousins, his father and 2 uncles came back from the trenches. Grandad (another Bill Hill, like dad) was always in the Legion and Gt Uncle Harry (who lived in Chalvey with his sis, Ethel) carried the flag on Remembrance Day. Funny how different generations used different pubs, my grandparents the Kings Head, uncles The Swan and our generation the Barleycorn. There had been another pub but when they were building these 3 the Quakers bought the old one, the Gardeners Arms which was up round the corner, near the Legion, opposite Neville's Farm. c1900 they let it to (gt) granny Godding who moved up from Dorney where she'd been in service, cos her sons worked on the nearby Great Western Railway. Dad was born there (now called Gardners Cottages) and stayed with his (maternal) gran till he married, he never moved in with his mum and dad when they found a place on Cippenham Lane, they went on to... Read more
The Swan
We were'nt the only family in Cippenham! Bro Pete married Annie Shears who lived in one of those houses next to the pub.
Cippenham Schools
School on left, Westgate wasn't the only school but it is the only one I never went to. Below was the Primary and Junior, this was the Senior till 1953 when Haymill was built. Whilst building it was Junior but when finished became Senior and me and my bro changed places, this became Junior! Confused? It's a wonder I gotta education, I'd already been to Weston House when it was new (Grandads backed onto it, he'd been gardener at the old Weston House)
Millstream Rd(?)
This is beside the green where rival gangs of kids built and guarded their bonfires on Nov 5th, up on the corner is dads school (the museum has his report card) it was a pig farm when I was a kid! Next to it was the tin tabernacle and oppsite a bungalow where a chap had the key to the sluice to flood the rough part of the green for skating during the winter, in dad's time. Behind the photgraper was (Gt) Aunt Flo's house and behind that Gregory's plum orchard, great scrumping!
Windsor Lanes And Garage
Uncle Phil managed this branch of Hartwells garage after managing the one on the Bath Road next to the White Horse. Before that it had been the site of Rogers (?) watermill, the millpond stretching behind up towards Haymill school and the water passing beneath the railway to Cippenham brook. In the 50's my bro got into the mill via the brook under the railway! The mill wheel was saved (?) for a while it stood in Gergory's field behind the village green. Whilst they were alive aunty Joan and uncle Ken (Kennedy) were trying to preserve it, did they succeed?
Cippenham Lane
I lived near here, we are looking the other way to the other pic, Dorothy Mutton's Post Office is in the distance. On the right is the elm hedge and bank which bordered the (dry) gravel pit where we played. It was wonderful! A dump for surplus council materials from which we could build camps. The best were the Anderson shelter bits, 1,000's of them! We made long "ghost trains" standing the curved sheets on edge and roofing with flat sheets, we built smoky fires inside, not a good idea in thunderstorms! Of course it's all built on now, Boarlands Close with memories of Mr Horwood's pigs is the only road name I know, he had been groom at Cippenham MANOR Farm but bought part of "the pit" and had a smallholding. Some of his land that backs onto Ivy Crescent (where I lived) was used during the 20's by the council to dump household rubbish, if the present owners dug down! The pit was dug at the end of... Read more
Playing Truant From School
I was attending Westgate Secondary Modern School in 1971-2 and one lunchtime the whole class decided not to go back to lessons in the afternoon and go to the bowling alley instead. Some did opt out and went to lessons anyway. But lots of us did go to the bowling alley and I felt so guilty, I never played truant ever again.
I was not very proud of myself and we spent the whole afternoon looking around waiting for our teachers to turn up to tell us off. Not a good idea, and a lesson to be learnt there. The moral of the story: it's not worth it!!! The games were good though!!!
Lynn Mace (nee Davies)
Westgate Secondary Modern School
This was my senior school and I have to say I loved it. So many memories, too many to mention. Met my husband to be there in the 4th year as we used to call it, now year 11. I remember Mr and Mrs Duggan, Mr Heaton, Mr Good senior and Junior, Mr Borek, Mrs Bates, Miss Dyer, Mr Butcher, Mr Parsons, Miss Tebitt, Mr Terry Davies, Mr Poole, Mr Argyll, Mr Owen, Mr Cumper, Mr Hackitt, Mrs McGowen etc. Great teachers. Loved sports day, netball, swimming, athletics. English, Cookery, PE, Biology, Music, (I used to sing) History.
Used to walk to school 4 miles every day with friends. I remember when I was about 15 years old it was time to come out of school at the end of the day and it was pouring with rain. I was walking just outside the school along Cippenham Lane, with an umbrella up and talking to my two friends and I went to cross the road after checking there was... Read more
Everret's Corner (2)
This is Everret's Corner approached from the West. The road is the A4 and it is a good distance North of the real Cippenham Village. The main bus-stop for buses coming from Slough was right diagonally opposite the photographer's position. To his left would have been the Bishop Centre (seed merchant and landscaper gardening - Bishop's would later take over the "William Woods" garden centre).
Everret's Corner (1)
This the South Est Corner of the junction on the A4 known as Everret's Corner. Just around to the right from this position are some lock-up shops that I remember from the early 1950s which included a Gents Barbers. Further along still was the Essoldo Cinema and Ballroom (known locally as Dollies). Opposite this corner was a row of brick built shops which included a Post Office. The road running North from this junction passed Wichello's the butchers, the community centre and recreation ground (venue for a travelling fair "Traylens" every year), Stanhope Road, under the railway bridge and Burnham GWR station. It joioned to a road wehich was once called Windsor Lane but which was renamed, about this time to be Burnham Lane. That road ran from the bottom of Burnham Village High Street all the way to the A4.
Lunch Time Bowling
I worked at Zwicky in Buckingham Avenue and some lunch times my friend Ann and I would have a game of bowling, a light lunch, then back to work. My brother Frank used to be in one of the bowling teams that played in the evenings. My friend Jean and I would be up in the bar and would watch the bowling from the viewing windows.
My Ancestry
My great grandfather Thomas Peck was born at Cippenham Green in 1844 and his birth was registered by his mother Jane.
On my Way to School
This post office was called Muttons. It was run by Dorothy Mutton. I used the store to buy crisps and sweets on my way to Westgate school.
Pub on The Green
This is the Barleycorn on the green. This was a turnaround point for the 62 Thames Valley bus to Chalvey and Slough.
Bath Road
This is closer to Salt Hill than Cippenham. The road on the left is Twinches Lane, the factory on the right is probably Crane Packing, and the view looks west!
My Grandmother Was From Cippenham And Moved to Canada
I and my sister are trying to get geneaology info on our maternal grandmother who grew up in Cippenham. Her name was Mary Freeman and she was the daughter of Daniel and Roseann Freeman of Balt's Green, Hurley. RSD England. Nanny's last address before coming to Canada in 1913 was 27 Millstream Lane, Cippenham ,Slough, Berks , England. Does anyone know of this address , Millstream Lane? Is there a church there where we maybe able to obtain old records of her family tree? I think she said she lived in a house with a "thatched roof". She went to the Anglican Church here in Pictou, Nova Scotia , Canada. I do hope I get a reply of some sort. Thank you. My email address is
marjemurphy@ns.sympatico.ca
Memories of Berkshire
Slough Safety Town & The Teds
I remember going to Slough on a Saturday night in 1958. I was fifteen years old. My hair was well greased and combed back at the sides and ending in a D.A. at the back together a quiff at the front. I was dressed in my best jacket, which was far too big for me, but that was the style then, and with very tight drainpipe trousers. This had been done by a woman who charged me a mere five shillings for her work. I not only felt good, I looked sharp too. The effect was brought to perfection thanks to the almost new pair of crepe shoes my uncle gave me in a rare moment of generosity. I took the 81 bus to Slough and was flattered when the bus conductor told me I looked like Terry Dene, who was enjoying success at the time. I met a mate at Crown Corner who was similarly dressed, but without the... Read more
Taking A Tumble in 1960
Seeing this photo bought back painful memories! The year before this photo was taken I was in my usual rush to get from Slough Technical School to my home in Langley. This meant changing buses in Slough and if you were very lucky you could get off one bus and straight onto another. This day however, I saw a number 81 bus picking up riders at the Crown corner in the centre of town. I leapt off my bus and made a mad dash across the road, no doubt giving some drivers a bit of a scare in the process, and made a wild grab for the handle at the back of the bus as it pulled away. Unfortunately I just didn't have the strength to make that last jump onto the platform and had to let go. That was when my foot caught in a paving stone and I must have made a spectaular sight as I rolled over and over down the pavement. What hurt the most was... Read more
Maingate
This photograph is of the entrance to the Slough Trading Estate at Cippenham, taken from in front of the Berlei factory.
Slough, Bucks And Denham Middlesex
I was born in Slough in 1938. It was in Buckinghamshire then. I eventually lived in Denham, Buckinghamshire (see my posting for Memories of Denham in the Middlesex listing). Since I left England in 1959, the changes seem to have been significant - my birth city and home village have changed counties, the currency has changed but life has moved on and the whole world has changed it seems. My last visit to Slough was in 1996 and even some of the streets and roadways have been re-routed and changed in my 30 years away. My school, Slough Technical, was once called Tonman Mosely and now that has gone and a new, doubtless better school has replaced it. The face of Slough and its population was so very different that I was in somewhat of a shock to see how the town had changed so much. I think I prefer the old Slough and Farnham Common where I spent my very early... Read more
Slough Post Office
1958 was the year I passed my motorcycle test and became a boy messenger, or telegram boy, working out of the the GPO head office in the high street, riding the iconic red BSA Bantam motorbikes. It was good at the time, and the experience only gets better with the passing of the years. Golden days.
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