Collingbourne Kingston, the Village and St Mary's Church c1955

26 EASTON ROYAL

My Greatgrand parents lived in Easton Royal all their lives, Robert & Harriett Waite.
Robert being born in 1867 was brought up by an uncle,he later met and married Harriett Frankam, and they raised 10 children in number 26 Easton Royal.
I first remember going there with my brother to stay for a week or 2 in the summer of 1955 or there abouts. What a lovely place to be! we had such fun and adventures, our gran who was looking after the widowed Harriett, used to take us for walks through the "bottom" and up to the clump. We visited Robert Waite's grave as well, put flowers down and tidy it up. there was no elecric at that time and water was drawn from a well. We had to sit and listen to the Archers every evening, but we did not mind realy. If anyone Knows of this family I would be pleased to hear from them.

Old Post Office

My Great Aunt Alice Reynolds owned this cottage and ran the Village Post Office from here, until 1971.  This explains why there is a telephone box in the garden!  

My mum and her two sisters were evacuated here in the war, then my mum and dad honeymooned in the cottage when they got married.

I stayed here sometimes when I was young, we used to stop here on our way to the west country.  

My aunty is buried in the village church.

Spray Leaze

We moved to Ludgershall, this street (No 5, third house down) in 1975. My father was with the MOD and worked in the REME workshop in Ordnance Road in Tidworth. By then the road although still a close, was much longer than it shows here with lots more houses. As a boy it was a great place to grow up, as you were right on the edge of the country side with so much to do. There was a triangle of unused land just a bit further down Biddesden Lane which we knew as the common. Each autumn we would build a bonfire to compete with the huge one that was built each year at Wood Park for November 5th.
It was in these woods and fields that we built dens, caught rabitts, scrumped apples and behaved like boys did in those days. Ludgershall was a village with some real characters, good and bad and although I was glad to leave home and the village at 17 there can't be too many places like this to have grown up.

My parents were married here

My parents were married here in August 1953. My mother was raised in the area; my father was in the RAF and had been brought up in the RAF, so had travelled widely.

Milton and Plant a Tree for 73

A memory of Milton Lilbourne, Wiltshire.
Interesting reference to Plant -a-tree-for-73 as I was the person who set this up. I also attended Milton School from about 1946 to 1950 when I passed a scholarship to go to Adcroft in Trowbridge; having passed for Marlborough Grammar School but failed the interview. At the time of the competition I was the Public Relations Officer of the London based Sand & Gravel organisations (SAGA) and came up with the idea as a way for gravel pit owners to shield their working. This was then taken over by the Government and launched Nationally. We lived, Mum Dad and sister Janet Pearson at Corner Close, opposite the recreation ground. The School was run by Miss Pickin, who also had her sister either working or living with her. The shop opposite was call Waghorns (I think) I have a school photo taken about 1948.