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Felpham
Felpham maps
Historic maps of Felpham and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Felpham maps
Felpham area books
Displaying 1 of 19 books about Felpham and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Felpham
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Felpham.
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Spitfire Crash
Hi, it's not actually my memory but my dad's. He was in the RAF stationed at Ford, a Spitfire crashed in Felpham, I read somewhere it was on the tenth green of the golf course? The strange thing was, when my father was sent to remove the aircraft, they found the remains of the pilot deep down in front of the engine, it puzzled him till the day he died, how this could happen. Does anyone remember this or have knowledge of the crash? I would love to find out more. Thanks, Dave
West Sussex memories
Living on Elmer Road, Middleton-On-Sea, 1962 - 1974
I lived there as a young child from about the ages of 2-14 years old (1960-early 1970s). As a young child Elmer Road seemed to be at the end of the world. The main road heading east hit a dead-end and went nowhere. For years our world seemed, to me at least, to be the stoney beach, the village, Bognor town centre and nothing else. There was never much to do... nothing but old people waiting for God. Long summer days were spent bored or worse... up to no good. Cold, windy wintery days were spent messing on the beach in the driving rain. Sometimes the holiday cottage next door to us would be rented-out for the summer to strange but fun families from out of town. That would usually add some excitement to the holidays but they'd leave again just as suddenly as they'd arrived. To kill the boredom I rode my bike and did things I shouldn't have. Usually arrived back home soaking wet... Read more
Happy Holidays
My parents and my grandparents had their holidays on this caravan site from about 1961 to about 1967. I remember my grandfather taking me to the shop on the site to buy sweets. The owner had a green Ford V8 Pilot which we rode in to town once. I also remember the site next door which was bigger and the stream which I was told to keep away from and was covered with green algae. Sadly my wife and I went back recently, and there is now a big retail park. Happy day!
Military Music on Promenade And in Park
My National Service was spent in The Alamein Band of The Royal Tank Regiment which for 3 seasons, 1949 to 1952 played at Bognor Regis for two months on the promenade bandstand in the afternoons and in Hotham Park in the evenings. On one occasion we played in the theatre as part of a midnight matinee held to raise money for relief work for the Lynmouth Flood disaster. I recall this concert vividly as it was compared by Chesney Allen of Flanagan and Allen and the star of the show was the great comedian Dick Emery whose genius carried the whole show. I was in the Band as a singer of Ballads and Gilbert and Sullivan and other light operatic items but I was disappointed that in this concert I was not billed to sing my usual songs but , instead became the vocalist for our Dance Orchestra where I sang several suitable ballads. I was jealous that Brychan Powell the tenor from the season... Read more
Bognor Briefly!
My parents George and Phyllis Stroud ran the Hotham Club in Waterloo Square - now the HQ of the RAFA Bognor branch. After National Service I worked first for Lec Refrigeration as a welder and then as a porter at the War Memorial Hospital. I had a flat over the hydrotherapy pool and was also in charge of the mortuary. When the bell rang in the middle of the night, up I got, went to the mortuary and got the special trolley we used to transport the deceased from the ward to the mortuary. I was also expected to be present at post-mortems so I learnt a lot about human anatomy this way!
I also met a number of lovely lady patients on the wards, one in particular that comes to mind was a beautiful girl called Angela Scutt - I wonder where she is now?!
I still have contact with Bognor, my brother's family live at North Bersted and they operate the store called The Trading Post... Read more
Holidays in The 1950s
I can remember as a small boy having a holiday in Bognor and staying in an old railway carriage.
Peter Wilson.
The Sharing of Childhood by Two Very Elderly Persons
I was looking after two elderly residents and well known personage locally when alive, Mr Bert Munday and a "young" lady Mrs Hargreaves chatting away about their holidays when they used to catch shrimp and cockles off the Felpham beach. How it was all spoilt when the preaprations for the 2nd world war made the beach out of bounds , the families evacuated and the Canadians were billetted in the same houses. Another "young" man telling them about the worse bit of world war one at the Somme was not the persons, but the animals carrying the heavy loads of supplies and falling off the duck boards, screaming as they could not get up. On the wall of the flats I now live are plaques to a Dr and Mrs Feagan,who commenced the Fegan homes for Boys. On looking up in the local museum, he was looking out of the window at a homeless boy on the beach and took him in thus started the Boys home. I have a... Read more
