Fareham memories
Here are memories of Fareham and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Fareham or a Fareham photo.
Embassy Cinema
I returned from 2 years in Malta where I had been a Nanny to 3 little girls who were all about to go to boarding school. I needed a job quickly so applied for and got the job as an usherette in the Embassy Cinema. At the time my future husband was a second projectionist there. I only worked there for few months until I found another Nanny's situation. My abiding memory is of the film that was playing at the time I started there: 'Ferry to Hong Kong'. It is a wonder I didn't get seasick I saw it so many times! They were a happy few months and led to marriage which so far has lasted 48 years.
Market Day
I too remember market day. I came from the city of Liverpool and my dad's mum and dad's nannie and grandad Mullins lived in North Hill, each year we came for our holidays and we loved it, farmers' day was a real treat. I loved Fareham and always wished we could live there.
Ragworming!!
I used to go to the 'Creek' as it was called then, with my father and join a whole host of Bait diggers...the main bait was Ragworms, which are a bit like centipedes and they bite!! This was before it became polluted mind you!! On one occasion my wellington boots ended up stuck in the mud and as I tried to walk (totally unsuccessful) I ended up falling face first into the mud and was caked from head to toe and it absolutely stunk!! My mother was not amused!! Not just at my misfortune but also my father who in her words 'had let it happen!'
Fareham Market Day With The Animals!!
I can remember watching in awe as the cattle was walked to the market (now a car park) through the High and West Street..pigs, sheep, cows, chickens etc and standing up on the temporary fencing reaching over to stroke the sheep, hearing the market auction man selling the cows...to this day I never understood a word he said...but they all got sold somehow...I can still remember the smell...no rubber gloves and handwashes in those days....didn't do me any harm...just gave me great memories!! Followed by a trip to good old 'Soothills' for their famous pasties and Lardy Cakes!! and still going strong and just as popular (if not more) these days.......
Durlin Road
My great-grandmother lived in Durlin Road at the time of her death in 1947, Elizabeth May. I would love to hear from anyone who remembers Durlin Road or indeed my great-grandmother! Many thanks.
Teenage Years in Fareham
I lived and worked in Fareham when I moved with my family from Hertfordshire. My father and uncle worked for Fareham District Council. I remember going to the Odeon and Embassy cinemas on many occasions with my fiance. I worked at Bonifacer and Cousins a motor engineers in West Street. I used to use the Provincial bus to go to and fro to work. I married my now husband at St Peter and Pauls Church, Fareham in 1961. We moved to Snodland in Kent but I really enjoy visiting Fareham, Lee-on-Solent, Stokes Bay, Gosport and Portsmouth.
Barrow Boy
Both my husband and I have lived in Fareham all our lives and we are researching our family histories. His grandfather, we believe, used to sell fruit from a barrow in West Street, Fareham, near the top of Portland Street in the 1940s and 1950s. There seems to be some discrepancy about his name. We think his name was William Tormey but may have been known as William (or Bill) Prince. He was born in about 1880. We would love to find out what his real name was and when he died but keep hitting a brick wall. If anyone reading this remembers him we would love to hear from them.
SADDLERS, WEST STREET, FAREHAM
Does anyone remember Hillyers, The Saddlers/Leather Goods Shop in West Street Fareham, circa mid 60s to mid 70s? If so, has anyone got a photo? Required for genealogy project.
The Old Railway, Highlands Road
does anyone remember the disused railway which used to run under Highlands Road next to Hill Park Working Mens' Club?
I used to go to the clinic up near Kiln Road to get my pre-school injections and can remember walking over a metal footbridge next to the road bridge which carried Highlands Road. This footbridge used to vibrate like mad when a train went underneath.
Does anyone have any pics of this railway - when it was working, after it shut, when they were dismantling it - anything? Please get in touch if you do.
Memories of Hampshire
As A Pupil at Stubbington House School.
I was a boarder at Stubbington House School from 1954 to 1956. My father was a Naval officer, as were so many other fathers. I believe the school was sponsored by the Royal Navy, and I recall that a number of Victoria Crosses were awarded over the long history of the school, perhaps as many as eleven, to former Stubbington boys. Robert Falcon Scott was perhaps Stubbington`s most famous Old Boy, but there were many other well-known names, like Sandy Woodward, C-in-C during the Falklands War I believe. The headmaster was a Mr Hugh Foster, a keen shooting and fishing man. There was a master called Mr Crump, a mistress called Miss Critten, and a number of others whose names I regret I do not remember. Also, a sports master/ general assistant nicknamed "The Sergeant", a very kindly man as I recall. The school was a huge, rambling place, with boys as young as seven, like myself, sleeping in dormitories accomodating up to thirty. There was no heating as I recall, and our... Read more
Living in Stubbington From 1953
I moved to Stubbington as a 6 year old to the Red Lion Estate. My father like so many on that estate was in the Royal Navy based at Portsmouth. I remember Foster's school and especially the daffodils by the fence in the Spring. I remember the bakery on the corner of the lane by the school and the row of cottages alongside which then housed the doctors surgery. There was Mr Davies the chemist, Don Read from the Post Office if I remember correctly. Dougie Wareham who ran the garage and the local taxi. Mr Farthing was the headmaster of the Infant school and Mr Fletcher was one of the teachers along with Mrs Covey-Crump who taught amongst other subjects needlework, Mr Mogford who was Welsh. The classrooms were wooden huts with big black heaters in the middle of the room where the milk crates were put in the winter giving us warm milk to drink. There were also two pubs in the village - The Sun and the... Read more
Stubbington 1956-1968
Thank you Lorraine for the many memories you brought back. I lived in Queens Crescent from when I was born in 1956 until I moved to Australia in 1968. I also remember the bakery on the corner of the lane by the school and the row of cottages alongside which then housed the doctors surgery, Mr Davies the chemist, The Red Lion with the budgies out the back, the Post Office where I would receive parcels, the wool shop where I'd have to go with Mum. The infant school where I thought the hooks from the ceiling was for suspending naughty boys. I remember going to the Junior school, the Rec with the air-raid shelters and the old school which in later years I found out was the very important Stubbington House School. I remember Harvest Festivals in the Holy Rood Church, the village fetes, the chimney sweep that was also the scout leader, hours of cycling around the area, Mr Bott the Butcher, the Ironmonger,... Read more
Stubbington House School Teachers
I read with interest Peter Madden's memories. I remember Madden, we were all known by surnames. Just to jog a few more memories, there was Miss Critten's partner Miss Stapleton, they taught the juniors - Donkey Dyer - Williams (French) - Bawtree - (Geography) - Jones (Latin), he was a dead eye dick with the blackboard duster - and a teacher with a tin leg, Mc something, I forgot, oh and Cheshire, he had a glass eye, quite a motley crew really. I think back to when I was there, 1952-1958, and it was a very happy time really, I was very sporty and there was plenty of opportunity for that. I agree with Madden about Sarge (sports), he was a great guy. He taught us to shoot a rifle as well in the indoor range, where can anybody have the opportunity to do that these days? We were very lucky. One other quick memory was a trip to a minesweeper named after the school - happy days, eh!
Stubbington at Ascot
I went to Stubbington House School, joining in the term that it moved to Ascot in Berkshire. It merged with Boxgrove School from Guildford and was run by two headteachers, Renton and 'Arthur' Moore. I was generally happy there, with the exception of Latin with Arthur who made my life in his lessons a living hell. His teaching style combined fearsome rages against selected pupils (me!), bullying, sarcasm and extreme obseqiousness towards parents. I loathed the man. I still dream about him. He looked like Hitler without the moustach and pictures of Hitler still make me shiver with fear because of the likeness! His appalling example led me to believe teaching could be so much more inspiring and effective that I resolved, during one of his chalk throwing, hair pulling rages to become a teacher myself and show him how it could be done! After 20 years as Deputy Head in a large and successful comprehensive school I do not regret that decision but my anger towards the man has never abated.... Read more
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