Fletchertown, Cumbria

Spyatry in the 70s

My dad had the grocers shop opposite the gift shop, there was a shoe shop a childrens clothes shop, a launderette, a wool shop, Mrs Tinnion with her small Pekinese dogs, Bobby Askews the hardware shop who sold absolutely everything anyone ever needed. The huge ugly car park was built and some smaller houses were pulled down. Robinsons fish and chip... [more]

Great-grandparents marriage

My great-grandparents Robert Close and Annie Head were married at this church on January 8th 1888.

I have fond memories of Brookfield School, Wigton.

I was a foreign exchange student at Brookfield School in 1984-85. Coming from Mexico I found the place to be a  completely different planet from what I was used to at home. I must say that year was one of the happiest and most exciting in my whole life. I am now 40.  I was there when the school was taken... [more]

wigton boy

I was born in wigton in 1951.  We lived at 19 Brackenlands, a friendly housing estate where everyone knew everyone.  My early years were spent at Saint Cuthberts school and at the age of eleven attended the secondary modern or affectionately called the whitewashed cow shed.  The school has been replaced by houses now.  On leaving school I went to work... [more]

Early years!

I lived in Wigton for the first 8 years of my life, so 1955 is a mid point!
I have happy memories of the town.  We lived in West Avenue when it was known as 'the avenue' - an unmade up road and for years I thought that if a road was called 'avenue' it was full of puddles when it... [more]

Uldale - the war years.

My mother and I lived in Uldale during the war years, while my father was abroad with the RAF. I recall there were only two cars in the village. We had no electricity, we had paraffin lamps for light, cooking was done on an open fire and oven. My mother always said the cakes were always perfect. We had a radio,... [more]

Grandfather's grave

As a child my father frequently told me that his father was buried next to John Peel in Caldbeck graveyard. I now live in Australia, but in 1997 I visited Caldbeck hoping to see my grandfather's grave. Unfortunately it was not in Caldbeck graveyard. A kind lady from the church shop helped me by showing me a complete map of all... [more]