Nostalgic memories of Gillingham's local history
Share your own memories of Gillingham and read what others have said
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.
Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.
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Displaying Memories 31 - 40 of 56 in total
I worked at the shop which was World Stores general grocers. I left Woodlands Road School at age 15 at the Easter term and started working for Mr &Mrs Barton the very next day after leaving school. I loved working there and to this day I know many people who used the shop and they still live on Twydall. I am soon to be 70 and there are many of the older folk alive who remember me working there. It was ...see more
I lived in Medway Road from 1934-1956. I also remember the doodle bugs (as did Gordon Savage, I remember him), the dockyard heavy guns, and school. I was due to start school on the day war started and finally went to Richmond Road Infants two years later. All the teachers were evacuated with the local area evacuees so there was no one to teach us. I went for 1 hour, then 2 hours, an afternoon, and ...see more
Our parents used to take us for picnics on the Banks. In those days we had nets and used to be allowed to catch the butterflies and identify them. My father taught us the names of the wild flowers, there used to be wild orchids on the Banks then. The woods surrounding the banks were carpeted with blue-bells, so vivid in my memory to this day. Chestnuts were abundant in the autumn and we used to collect ...see more
My family lived in Charing Road. I used to get so excited when the big Christmas tree arrived on the green. When the lights were switched on, we all used to sing Christmas carols around it. It was so big and beautiful to a small child!
I remember the Copper Kettle where we used to have a cream cake as a rare treat, Arnold`s the toy store where the toys were displayed in a large window and where my ...see more
My nan, Lucy Williams lived in Cowper Road, Gillingham - she was a lovely friendly lady and my sisters often stayed with her (one at a time!). They remember Gillingham Park nearby, where they would go to play. My nan used to know the lady who owned the corner shop opposite, and would help out from time to time. When the owner was taken ill in 1954 she went over to help. She went to what she thought was a ...see more
I was born in Canada House, in 1944. My mum's family (brothers and dad) were in the Navy and my Dad was in the Army. I drove by Canada House during a visit to England in 2010, to see what it looked like. My gran lived on Grange Road, and I remember sitting in her bedroom window looking out over the orchards to the water. Mum's family live in Gillingham, Rochester and Woking. When I was three or four, we moved to ...see more
Cocktails for Half a Crown, big eats and pints downstairs, lockers rented out in which to keep civvies for that rare 'Friday while', weekly dance cost just sixpence to get in. For a young national serviceman heaven was just around the corner from HMS Pembroke !!
I lived in Wigmore - the prefabs - and after passing the 11+ went to the Tech. I believe this was once Rochester Tech but had now started up in Gardener Street. We were the first year to attend in Gillingham and it was also the first time you could go to a Technical school at 11 (used to be 13). As the first group we had the school to ourselves. 90 pupils split into 3 classes G, T & S. the next year another 90 ...see more
I spent a lot of time at Sharps Green in the 1940s and early 1950s and have very fond memories of the times my friends and I spent there. I lived not far away in Grange Road and my grandmother, Emily Randall, lived at Rose Cottage, the house on the corner of Lower Rainham Road and the road down to Sharps Green. The Cuckow family lived in the house right at the entrance to Sharps Green. My mother was raised at Rose ...see more
My first job when I left school in 1961 was at the Co-op shoe shop. I worked in the men's dept, and on my first day I had to open every box of shoes, dust them, and the box, and put them back on the shelf. After 2 days I reported I had finished, only to be told "go back and do it again". But whenever a customer asked for a size ,colour, or style, I knew exactly where the shoes were. We ...see more