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Gayton
Gayton maps
Historic maps of Gayton and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Gayton maps
Gayton photos
We have no photos of Gayton, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Hixon| Great Haywood| Tixall| Little Haywood| Milford| Colwich| Stafford| Stone| Oulton| Aston
Gayton area books
Displaying 1 of 4 books about Gayton and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Gayton
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Gayton.
Add your memory of Gayton
or of a photo of Gayton.
The Brook
Wonderful memories! It was awonderful place to have grown up. I learned to swim in the brook, aged about 11 years. I wonder who wrote the following which I was taught in school. Very appropriate! "Little stream flowing through woodland and valley, down where the lovely forgetmenots grow, where are you going Oh clear rippling water, down through the meadows where willows bend low. Little birds love you they drink of your water, whom is so cool on a warm summer's day. Dancing above you the dragon flies flitter, then in the moonlight the fox come to play".
Staffordshire memories
The Photograph is of my Mother.
I'm a little young to remember the post office as it is in the photograph, but I can say that the girl in the pushchair is my mother and the lady behind is one of my great aunts. Three of my great aunts built and ran the store and post office at the bottom of the village, i don't know exactly when it was built though. I believe the photograph to be earlier than 1955 as my mother was born in 1949 and she looks younger than 6.
Our Childhood
My twin sister and me were brought up in Hixon from babies till we were about 10, we were known as the Taylor Twins. We first lived with our nan in the house that stands at the top of Smithie Lane and Featherbed Lane, we then moved into what was called The Baths, it was a 1 up 1 down house next door to a Mrs Greenwood which was behind Prestons Yard. We moved into a 2 up 2 down in the baths. Mum used to have to light a fire in a copper boiler to get hot water and bath nights was in a tin bath in front of an open range. We used to listen to 'Dan Dare' and 'Range Riders' on the radio. Eight families had to share the outside toilet which was a tin hut in the lane. We walked to school on the path outside our house and over the style and crossed a field into the school.
It is great to see the old... Read more
Hixon Village
I was 6 when we moved to Hixon from Stowe by Chartley. My dear dad Len, my 2 sisters Rose and Sue and my 2 brothers Gray and Mick. We lived in the Croft no 24, my brother still lives in that house today overlooking the woods that were there and the fields. I have very happy memories of this lovely village. We all schooled at Broadacres and it was a very tight knit community. The Clemsons i think were the largest family in the village and they are still going strong! I just purchased 2 calenders from this site one of Hixon and one of Gt Haywood, and the memories flooded back. As a child I loved this village and now as I face 50, I love the memories as much. Thank you for letting me travel back to my childhood on this site...
In The Name of Adversity.
My family lived adjacent to the fields which were designated for the Hixon Aerodrome. I remember well standing against the garden fence seeing the location being prepared for the runways, and watching the workmen erecting the hangars. My mum would make the workmen billy-cans of tea. My age was 7 years. It became necessary for our house to come under the hammer due to the hazardous location. My family and I were moved into a requisitioned house in the village of Gayton, approx 4/5 miles away. I have many memories of my formative years in the village of Hixon, maybe I will share more with you another time.
Sylvia M.W. Davis Pugh (nee Smith)
Ontario, Canada.
Wartime
Very sketchy memories - maybe someone will fill the blanks. My father was RAF at the Wellington bomber base. I lived for a short period in a single row of cottages, near the base and a railway line. I had to cross the line over a small bridge to go to a school just the other side. My parents were show-biz people and used to entertain workers at a nearby factory. I was also part of the first Scout troupe formed - 1st Colwich comes to mind - I think by a lady in a big house in Great Haywood. That's all..
Family History
While researching my family tree I've come across an Anthony Martin (born 1746 in Mapperley, Derbyshire) who died in Fradswell in May 1821 and was buried there on May 29 1821. I wonder which churchyard he's in or whether there are any Martins still living locally.
