Cowplain, Hampshire

Nursery School in Cowplain

I remember going to a nursery school when I was 4 years old, it was run from a house, I think, in Springvale Road in Cowplain and the teacher was a Mrs Gartner or Gardener, I'm not sure. If anyone went to that nursery school could they let me know. Then I went to Padnell Road infants school when I was... [more]

1st school

My first school around 1969, 5 years old.
I still remember there being railway sleepers in the play ground, and we each had a hook to hang coats and PE bags on, mine was a rabbit.
Lucky for me my nan lived very close so I used to go there for dinner and didn't have to eat school dinners.
A good... [more]

The tram shed cowplain 1960

We used to meet outside the old tram shed where Waitrose is now, Can anyone remember the company who owned it?

SPOTTED COW

My grandmother lived in Idsworth Road. When I was a small boy we used to drive down from Scotland for summer and Christmas holidays. Seeing the pub sign was a cause of great excitement for a 4 year old because it meant we were nearly there.

At that time Idsworth Road was not tarmacced and the surface was very rough.... [more]

Cowplain in the early 1960's

I lived as a toddler in Kings Road, Cowplain, between 1958 and 1963, in the days when it was a cul-de-sac. These photographs really bring back memories. If I'm not mistaken, the small building on the right of the Spotted Cow was a doctor's or dentist's surgery - I remember trembling there waiting to get injections as a 5... [more]

Cowplain in 1958

I lived in Cowplain until 1963 and have just written a book set in Cowplain in 1958. Although it's an adventure story for young readers it is set accurately in the village at that time and will appeal to older readers who remember the village as it used to be. I would love to share memories of the village since I... [more]

Past owner

My great grandfather, Henry Waight bought this pub when he retired from the Royal Navy. He ran it until he died in 1927. Two of his sons, Sid and Frank helped out behind the bar. He also owned three shops opposite. I'd love to see any older photos of it.

Cowplain Shops

Like David, I remember Carters' Sweet Shop. I was a regular customer in the early to mid 1970s, when I attended Padnell Infants and then Padnell Junior School. Mr Carter handed it over to his daughter, who I think was called Alison, but the shop eventually closed in the early 1980s.

I also remember the fishmongers van which used to... [more]

Hampshire Living Memories

A lady makes a phone call in the red telephone box. These were installed all over the UK in the 1950s. Cowplain developed because of the main road from Portsmouth to London; its name means 'a clearing for cows'. It is not far from the Forest of Bere, where there are plenty of oak trees, like those on the right of... [more]

Petersfield - A History & Celebration

The cenotaph in the High Street commemorates those who died in battle but whose remains lie elsewhere. It is of unusual and classic appearance; it was designed by the architect Harry Inigo Triggs, who had travelled and studied in Italy. The detailing is borrowed from the eight blank panels in the Medici chapel in Florence; on these panels are carved the names of the town's dead of the First World... [more]

Petersfield - A History & Celebration

And now to the greatest mystery: who were the people who raised the tumuli or burial mounds on Petersfield Heath during the Bronze Age some 1,000 years after the Stone Age? Today, Petersfield is home to one of the most numerous collections of Bronze Age burial mounds in England. Unfortunately, the planting of conifers on the mounds in Victorian times and the mixed tree growth of the last 50 years has successfully camouflaged the outline... [more]