Crondall memories
Here are memories of Crondall and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Crondall or a Crondall photo.
DOVAS COTTAGES & THE SHOE REPAIR MAN
My nan, Beatrice Wareham used to live at Dovas cottages and we used to come and spend our summer holidays with her. My Aunt Jane and Uncle Mickey Hevele lived at The Borough and my cousin Elizabeth used to work for Mr Birch. My Aunt Jane still lives in the village. I can remember going to the shops with my nan and passing the bootmaker. I seem to remember my mum (Rhoda McGonigle) nee Wareham saying she went to school with him and his name was Albie Ralphwe. We used to pop in and I loved the smell of the leather in the shop. I can remember the village stores with the tins of biscuits set out at the front on display. My mum's family all lived in Crondall my Uncle Charlie, Auntie Ciss, Auntie Jane and my Uncle Mickey (Jane's husband) used to work at a local farm in the grain dryer. My Aunt Ciss's family all worked at Roke Farm and some still do. I can remember my mum... Read more
Memories of Surrey
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.
Relationships
I met my husband at the Bull Inn, Bentley and we lived and worked there together for 2 years before we moved up to Newcastle to raise our 2 wonderful daughters. I am just wondering if Mary and Peter are still running the old place?
Lord Wandsworth College - John Edgar Smith Born 27 March 1922
I wonder if you may have known John Edgar Smith (School No. 293) in the 'thirties'?
My beloved John always spoke very fondly of his years at Lord Wandsworth College, Long Sutton, as . . . 'some of the happiest years of my life'!' Because his father had died, before he was born on 27th March 1922, John became eligible for a scholarship at the college from the age of possibly, eight or ten years. (uncertain of date) Throughout the long years, he maintained his friendships with many old boys, writing long letters, some 12 to 14 pages, once or twice yearly.
Time, as it always will . . . had reduced those numbers to just a handful. When we first met in 2006, he was still corresponding with at least three of them. I recall him telling me how he attended his last school reunion, when he visited Hampshire with his daughter Jenny, in 1998.
Sadly, John is no longer with us, having suffered... Read more
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Places this week
Here are some of the places you've shared memories of this week:
- Rochdale, Lancashire
- Llansamlet, West Glamorgan
- South Godstone, Surrey
- Dagenham, Essex
- Severn Beach, Avon
- Oadby, Leicestershire
- Heswall, Merseyside
- Halton East, North Yorkshire
- Collyhurst, Lancashire
- Golders Green, Greater London
- Helsby, Cheshire
- Rhydyfelin, Mid Glamorgan
- Dartford, Kent
- Eamont Bridge, Cumbria
- Beverley, North Humberside
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
- Aveley, Essex
- Watford, Hertfordshire
- Gillingham, Kent
- Bowness-On-Solway, Cumbria
- ... and lots more - Browse this week's memories now.
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