Etwall memories
Here are memories of Etwall and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Etwall or a Etwall photo.
Summer Days
It was a happy childhood, I was born in Etwall in 1954 and our council house in Windmill Road is still our family home. Some of my fondest memories are the simple pleasures of life as a young lad in the 1950/60s.
Always keen to get home from Etwall Primary School (though teachers Miss Smith, Mrs Sanders, Mr Tomlin, Miss Cracksford were all so kind and friendly) we would run home in the hope we might be allowed 'up the rec' for a game of footie. At about the age of 10 or 11 (1965) we would be up the rec oggy, Anthony Rowland, Pete Thomas, Phil Gibbins, the twins Pat and Chris Baker were among the regulars. Those of us that had them would bring our younger brothers along to put as goalies. On a balmy summer's evening we could easily get ourselves 11 per side but often without one ball between us. We would knock on the door of Alice and Frank Wickham (school caretaker), and Mr Wickham... Read more
Memories of Derbyshire
Wartime
I was evacuated to Hilton with my mother and grandmother at the outbreak of the WW2. My father was drafted into the army and was sent off to India and Burma when Japan entered the war. We lived in a terraced cottage in Eggington Road. The families next door were the Radleys and the Lands. Opposite the row of houses was the American army camp and my friends and I spent time waving and talking to the soldiers who gave us biscuits an chewing gum.
I started at Hilton school when I was five and stayed there until the end of the war in 1945. On both VE day and VJ day there were enormous bonfires lit in the road opposite the Talbot pub. There were so big that they melted the road.
During the time I spent in Hilton I remember going each morning to collect the milk from the farm . We also had to take the battery for the radio to... Read more
Evacuee During The Second World War
Dear Mr Lord,
My sister Jean Marie Church and I, Marie Elizabeth Church, attended Findern School for four years plus during the Second World War. I was almost 7 years old, my sister almost 6 years old.
As I recall, Miss Cassandra Sanders was Head Teacher. She was my mentor, friend and companion. She took me under her wing and spent considerable time grooming me for the 11 Plus, though at the time I was not aware of this. Sadly, my parents for some reason I fail to understand, telegraphed that I was not to sit the examination. I was taken out of the class, sadly disappointed.
School was alwys so enjoyable that I cried when summer break came around.
At the time I visited Findern School, in 1999, Mrs Tully was Head Teacher.
Coincidentally, she was teaching her class about the evacuees, so my timing was great! She was most gracious!
Findern holds mixed memories, a few rather sad, but those of Findern School... Read more
Is This The Name of The Ward?
I did my nurse training at Pastures Hospital back in 1981, and I think the name of this ward was Ridgeway (but I may be wrong) - it was a rehabilitation ward then. Sadly, these wards are no longer there, but I have some great memories.
Trisha
Nursing at Pastures Hospital
I was nursing at Pastures Hospital in 1979. I have fond memories of a strong sense of community and collegiality between the student nurses. I remember the hospital houses and the community that was part of being an employee of the hospital. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the hospital which is a shame, I think.
Sunnyhill Camp
In 1959 I moved with my mother and father from Portsmouth to Sunnyhill in Derby, an adventure at my age of only 10 years. My father was in the Ministry of Defence Police, and we settled into an address called Sunnyhill Camp, an address that ran parallel to Sunnyhill Avenue. The camp was completely derelict, and consisted of row after row of old army huts over a very large area. The houses were all Police married quarters and housed officers that were based in the depot at Sinfin Lane. They accessed the depot from Colleridge Street along a small cul-de-sac and over the four track railway line. At the age of ten, the camp was what every boy dreamed of. We all had access to the whole area, and it was a world of adventure. In and out of the buildings, along the roof spaces and under the floors, there was no healyh and safety then, we played all day and had the bruises to prove it. Some fifty years... Read more
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Places this week
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- Crowborough, East Sussex
- Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire
- Harrow Weald, Middlesex
- Raf Honington, Suffolk
- Leytonstone, Greater London
- Orpington, Kent
- Broadstairs, Kent
- Daccombe, Devon
- Hindhead, Surrey
- Wickford, Essex
- Whitby, North Yorkshire
- Thornley, County Durham
- Hawthorn, Wiltshire
- Frodsham, Cheshire
- Methilhill, Fife
- Ramsey St Marys, Cambridgeshire
- Croydon, Surrey
- Dartford, Kent
- Tyseley, West Midlands
- Savernake, Wiltshire
- ... and lots more - Browse this week's memories now.
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