Downside memories
Here are memories of Downside and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Downside or a Downside photo.
There are no Memories posted yet for Downside - why not be the first!
- Add a Memory for Downside
- Add a Memory to a Downside photo
- Start another search
- See Downside homepage
Memories of Surrey
Happy Motoring
I believe the white building to the centre left in picture is the Thompson & Taylor garage. I worked there briefly (about 1 year), the manager then was a Huw Edwards? I think, but the name of T & T was very well known in motor racing circles & particularly with the nearby Brooklands motor racing circuit. There was a huge old car Napier Railton I think, memory going, which was kept in the showroom & with which the land speed record was won sometime in the 1930's. Stirling Moss was an occasional visitor as he had then just purchased a very special cooper mini, and John Cooper (Cooper Cars) also came & went, and to top all that the great legend Juan Manuel Fangio once visited, sadly I was so in awe & so very junior I didn't think to ask for any autographs.
Hatchford Church
My father, Capt. F.C. Dyer used to play the organ at Hatchford Church until his death in 1950. It was a pump organ and Bubbles was the name of the hunchback who pumped the organ. We lived in the Semaphore Tower up on Chatley Heath and would walk down through the woods and through Hatchford Park to the Church every Sunday for the Church Service. Capt. Dyer is buried in the third grave (unmarked) from the south west corner of the church foundations ~ the church itself having been subsequently demolished due to dry rot in the roof.
Ann & Vic Norman's Shop
My mother Joyce Stannard worked at the shop in this picture in the foreground with the canopy next to the wine merchants. When she started it was a little wool shop owned by Miss Wright - she sold it to the Norman's who expanded and did dress design upstairs. My brother Nigel and I attended the Infants school in Hoggs Hill Lane followed by the Primary School which was behind this row of shops. There was a sweet shop on the opposite corner to the post office where we were allowed to spend 2d on sweets after school. We lived in Coveham Crescent and walked to school daily through the rec - along by the allotments - out to and along Anyards Road. These photos of Cobham have brought back many memories.
The Tilt
Does anyone remember the little sweet shop on the Tilt. I do, and remember walking home from St Andrew's School in Cedar Road, along the little alley onto Stoke Road, across to the Fire Station and up towards the Running Mare. The little shop sold sweets and ice lollies and buttons! The Frith photo is great, it shows the cottage that was the shop and is now a cottage again.
Thompson & Taylor
In the 1950s the Railton Mobil Special with which John Cobb had taken the world land speed record in 1947 was displayed in the showroom. Reid Railton, the car's designer, was associated with Thompson & Taylor. The garage was also an Alfa Romeo dealership and to see beautiful red Guilietta coupe's in the showroom with 5 gears, twin overhead cam engines and twin carburettors in the 1950s when my mother stopped for petrol in her 3 gear sidevalve Ford Anglia was a schoolboy's dream.
Memorybank total
We're very pleased and excited by your response so far to our "Share your Memories" community.
You've shared 28,865 memories of 5,949 towns & villages across the UK - keep them coming!
Find Memories
Simply search for your favourite places to read others' memories and share your own.
Tips & Ideas
Not sure what to write?
It's easy - just think of an important place in your life and ask yourself:
How does it feature in your personal history?
What are your best memories of this place?
How has it changed over the years?
How does it feel, seeing these old photos of your favourite place?
Do you remember stories about the local community, its history and people?
Start now!
It's easy to add your own memories and reconnect with your shared local history. Search for your favourite places and look for the orange "Add your Memory" icon to begin.
Places this week
Here are some of the places you've shared memories of this week:
- Stanhope, County Durham
- Langley Park, County Durham
- Greasbrough, South Yorkshire
- Ribbleton, Lancashire
- Dagenham, Essex
- Barnehurst, Kent
- Carlisle, Cumbria
- Nant Ffrancon, Gwynedd
- Southend Airport, Essex
- Pyrford, Surrey
- Heywood, Lancashire
- Oadby, Leicestershire
- Beeston Castle, Cheshire
- Irby, Merseyside
- Weaverham, Cheshire
- Oswestry, Shropshire
- Collyhurst, Lancashire
- Braunston, Northamptonshire
- The Green, Cumbria
- Boston, Lincolnshire
- ... and lots more - Browse this week's memories now.
Your memories
To jump straight to the memories you have added already to the Community, click here
I Remember When...
This stunning compilation highlights some of the best stories selected from the thousands contributed here on the
Frith website. The result is an absorbing chronicle of British life from the Second World War to the mid 1960s.
A colourful treasure trove of memories, "I Remember When" is an
irresistible mix of personal stories and recollections that affectionately reveal the detail of everyday life in Britain.
