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Freehay
Freehay maps
Historic maps of Freehay and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Freehay maps
Freehay photos
We have no photos of Freehay, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Cheadle| Alton| Alton Towers| Caverswall| Denstone| Weston Coyney| Prestwood| Wetley Rocks| Rocester| Normacot| Uttoxeter
Freehay area books
Displaying 1 of 4 books about Freehay and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Freehay
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Staffordshire memories
Better Late Than Never.
I met my wife Dorothy in Northampton. She came from Cheadle. Incidentally I was born at Ryton-on-Tyne. One day Dorothy asked me if I would like to move to Cheadle so I got a map out and what caught my eye was a place called Upper Tean which was about 3 mile from Cheadle. Within 4 weeks we were living in Upper Tean and it's a beautiful place to live in. From the kitchen window to the horizon one can see many woods, old-fashioned stone walls and hedges. At this moment in the distance there is a farmer at work in the field. Actually I like a game of chess, but moving to Upper Tean was the best move I ever made.
Cheadle in The Second World War
I think that we must have moved to Cheadle around 1938, because I was born in Newcastle under Lyme, but my younger sister was born in Cheadle in 1939. At that time we lived on Leek Road. We had various airmen and sailors billeted with us when they were on training courses at the top secret Cheadle Hall, an outstation from Bletchley Park. These included a sailor who had served on HMS 'Hood', but prior to the terrible happening. bout 1941 we moved from Leek Road down to The Birches. Not such a nice house, but when you are young these things don't seem to matter. For most of the Second World War Dad worked in the munitions factory at Swinnerton. Despite the terrible war, as children we rather enjoyed those years. Cheadle was a lovely place to grow up in at that time. I started school in 1941 at the Church of England school which was just over the garden wall from where we lived. In the... Read more
Working at Blagg Son And Masefield
I remember living on Charles Street in Cheadle, used to walk to Blaggson and Masefield every day and on Saturday mornings. My best friend was Julie Bryant, we loved dancing at the guild hall. My father had a stall in the indoor market and then a small shop on Charles Street. I have many many fond memories of my years in Cheadle. Wonder if anyone remembers Marion Clayton?
The Cafe School
We moved to Alton from Somerset in November 1958. The primary school was closed for refurbishment. Mr. and Mrs. Carnwell who owned the garage and cafe played host to the village school, it all seemed quite strange to this 7 year old. There are many good memories. Rushing out at play time to wave to the steam train drivers after they left the station and Mrs Carnwell mothering us all. We played in the yard at the back of the premises and two classes shared a room. Mr. Carnwell had lorries which transported the first excavators for JCB. We moved back to the village school in 1959 after the toilets had been moved indoors and central heating installed. The winter was freezing and the walk to and from the village seemed long and cold. Mrs Carnwell used to heat up the bottles of school milk which were often frozen. Mr. Gilbert the Headmaster lived to the left of the bridge down in the valley in a bungalow. Petrol was a... Read more
Mrs. Worthington
Mrs Worthington ran the shop and cafe. She sold some interesting bits and pieces besides sweets and ice cream. In the background is the pub run by the Parringtons. We often walked from home down to the cafe and treated ourselves to an ice cream in the summer. There were lots of walks around the area and so the cafe was popular with visitors.
St. Peter's
As soon as we moved to the village we became members of St. Peter's church and attended most Sundays. Mr. Powell was the vicar. I remember seeing the 8 bells outside the church before they were hoisted into the tower. After Mr. Powell left my dad used to read one of the lessons most Sundays when the lay reader Peter Fisher took the services. Mr. Vincent became vicar after Mr. Powell.
The Round House
This was always a special landmark to me. It fascinated me and I was very curious abou it and longed to look inside. I must have passed it most days whilst living in the village. The houses nearby were on the edge of an old quarry and I believe their back doors opened onto the quarry.
