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Gravenhurst

Gravenhurst maps

Historic maps of Gravenhurst and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis.   View all Gravenhurst maps

Gravenhurst photos

We have no photos of Gravenhurst, although we do have photos of these nearby places:

Clophill| Flitton| Shefford| Lower Stondon| Henlow| Flitwick| Ampthill| Ickleford| Westoning| Arlesey| Houghton Conquest| Lilley| Old Warden| Steppingley| Hitchin| Charlton| Biggleswade

Gravenhurst area books

Displaying 1 of 6 books about Gravenhurst and the local area.   View all books for this area

Memories of Gravenhurst

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Bedfordshire memories

My House

High Street c1955
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This is where I live, it is no longer a village post office. It was built in 1680, and we are returning it to a residential property.

39 Mill Lane

The gable end of the house on the left is 39 Mill Lane and Back St starts at the junction over the hill and not visible here. My father built the house about 1935 when he was  21 years old. I grew up there until 1955 when it was sold and we moved from Clophill for a short time. We returned in 1957 and lived in the Old Police House in The Slade until I married in 1966 and brought my first home in Back St. I have traced my family's time in Clophill from about 1750 until 1980 in a new book which is now available.

Service Days

I was an R.A.F. Police cpl. from 1948 - 1950. Met many good friends, also my wife who was in the W.R.A.F. signals. Would be very interested to hear from anyone who remembers Bill (Don) or Toni. We would like to hear from George (Bob )Brockwell in particular, his wife Peggy, or his daughter Carol.
My wife and I have been married 61years had three sons and now live in Melbourne Australia.

Hitler Gives us Another Week's Holiday

We'd had our usual five weeks school holidays when Hitler's Luffwaffe gave us another few days off. His bombers scampering back to the continent, after presumably bombing Midlands cities, jettisoned another, on Glebe land behind the school. The school was not directly hit, but the explosion shattered a few windows. 'HOORAY', another week off school. As far as we kids were concerned, the repairs could take forever, but in reality, it took just a week. Another abiding memory of Flitwick is of the old pond and the smithy next to the school. Neither exists any more, but when horse and cart moved goods around Flitwick, the smithy was kept busy shoeing those horses and I enjoyed leaning over the half door and watching him at the anvil. There was always something to linger over and watch around the pond, and when I eventually got home, Mum would give me a walloping on my backside for being so late. In those days, the school in Dunstable Road had two playgrounds, split by... Read more

Butchers Shop

Market Place c1955
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Browsing Ampthill, for the first time, I came across the above photo.  On the left just above the logo is a shop blind that used to protect the meat in the window display from sunshine (when it appeared).  That blind was the bain of my life in 1952/3/4 when I was a so called "butchers boy".  It never ran correctly on it's tracks, and I caused many a car to swerve my long pole manipulations putting it up and down.  Funny when I think about it.  The bicycle outside (possibly me pictured) was used for deliveries.  The carrier full of orders for Maulden and surrounds was a steering hazard particulary in the snow.  One Saturday morning I came to grief down Maulden hill and spent an hour scraping dirt and stones from meat with my pen knife before going on my way.  The complaints arrived back at Ampthill well before yours truly.  Oh the humiliation and all for 2/6p a week.  Humiliation was for being caught out, not for stony... Read more

Shop Names.

Church Street c1965
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The shop next door to The Ampthill News was and still is Cheesman's the chemist and the shop next door to that was Underwood's an electrical appliance shop.

Grandma

Market Place c1960
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The lady with the white coat and shopping basket on the right hand side of the photo is my grandmother - Clara Billington - and lovely to see her in print!

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