Corby, Coronation Park c1960

Our Lady of Walsingham Church and School

Attending the Senior School, my memories are of the dinner dances that where held in the school hall to raise money to pay for the church and school, many of the events where organised by the local church organisations and the priests, particularily Canon Brennan, father Condon and Father Bailey, each played their own UNselfish part in the running of the parish before the other churches where thought of. Masses were always well attended and the Christmas and Easter services, particularly midnight mass was heaving to the beams. Then when Canon Brennan decided to build a Catholic Club, well, money just poured in and so it did. From then Corby churches flowered into St Brendan's, St Patrick's, because the town became so big, until the demise of the Steel Works. I miss all of that camaraderie and the smoke and the Scottish and Irish lilt nestled in the background with the Welsh, who gave their all as usual. Boy, what happened to Corby and Scotland?

Our Lady's School

My most vivid memory of school is walking past the church and on to the wooden huts at the back. These huts were the infant school. I think that they came from an old POW camp. They were heated by old pot-bellied stoves that burned coke from the iron works (a by-product of making steel). I will always remember the smell of sulphur that came off this fuel.
Ah happy days!

Stocks Lane

My family and I lived in Stocks Lane, Drury's Garage was next to us at the top on the corner. The house we lived in still looks exactly the same today as it did so many years ago. Sadly Drury's house, which is shown in the picture, is in a dreadful state and new flats are in place of the garage. My friend lived above the shop John Manners and we often fought for a turn to ride the big rocking horse. Horace called the "Pinkun" on a Saturday night. I fetched hot water in a thermos flask from the chip shop across the road for the lady who kept the chemist shop and was paid 3d a week which I saved and bought Horlicks Tablets, which cost 9d and came in a tin! I too went to the Odeon with my older brother and was a member of their birthday club. I attended the Rowlett school when Miss Cottingham was our teacher and Mrs Russell kept the sweet shop and the big cat sat in the window at Sarringtons on the corner of the Jamb. What a shame that the village has changed so much

Grandparents house

My grandparents and family, including my father, used to live in Kelvin Grove. My dad, Joseph Gamble, married my mum Margaret Govern and moved around the corner to James Watt Avenue where I was born. I think your grandparents, the Robertsons lived next door for many a year, and was known as Granny Roberts before moving. I also remember queing up to get into the picture house - The Odeon.
My grandad and grandmother moved to the top of Occupation Road and ran the Mobil Garage, with the big white horse, before it got demolished, along with their lovely house and flats were built were they had stood.

Saturday morning pictures

My name is John O'Connor of the Dublin O'Connor/Kelly family. Saturday morning could not come quick enough for our family, myself and brother Marty would walk 5 miles to the morning show with a shilling between us. Looking forward to cartoons with Mickey Mouse, on-going serials with the Lone Ranger or Flash Gordon where the end finished with the hero about to come to a nasty end that you had to come back next week to see. The shows usually started with a sing-song generated by a compere, then a different game show like eating a donut on a string the fastest or, my favourite, a singing contest. The first one I won was singing "She Loves You" by the Beatles. I won a big bag of mixed sweets that we shared with all our mates.
I remember walking through the tough winter of '63 up to our knees in snow to  get there and most annoyed to find it could not open. I remember thinking "Well, I walked 5 miles, what's the problem!" That's how much we enjoyed our  films.

Family outings to the pictures were few and far between but I remember us all going to see "Summer Holiday" with Cliff Richard and The Shadows, we sang those songs for months. And another was on Pole Fair day, 1962, it was raining, just as we were sheltering from it outside the Odeon, the doors opened and they were showing the new Bob Hope/Bing Crosby film "The Road To Hong Kong" so our Dad paid for us all to go to watch it . We laughed so much we cried and still talk about it to this day, it still is one of my favourite "Road" films.
Can anybody else add to these memories?