Hardingstone memories
Here are memories of Hardingstone and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Hardingstone or a Hardingstone photo.
Hardingstone School
I went to the old school now the village hall in 1969. I was there for 3 years as an infant before going to the new school on Martins Lane in 1972. The new school was opened in 1971 I believe as my sister was the first intake and I can just about remember it. It was definately not built in 1955 as the photo indicates.
I lived at 4 Ansell Way from 1965 until 1977 and had the most fantastic childhood there. I can remember joining the local Cubs & scouts which was based to the right of the old school down a pathway that now leads to Delepre golf course.
The school buried a time capsule in 1976 in the school grounds which contained objects of the day and letters from us kids. Not sure if it has since been found?
Mr Joe Deer was the Headteacher at the time along with teachers such as David Blake, Mrs Page, Mrs Sue Robjohns, Miss Beech,... Read more
Memories of Northamptonshire
Great Grandmother
My great grandmother was born in Great Houghton in 1868. She married Charles Neville and moved to Swanscombe in Kent. She had four children at the time of the 1901 census, the eldest of whom was nine.
All I know is that her name was Lizzie! I need to do some research to find her maiden name and to see if any relatives of "Lizzie" live in the area.
I now live 20 miles from Great Houghton, having been born in Dartford, Kent. She and I have crossed paths!
Train Crash
On April 18 1967 I was on a train travelling from Northampton to London. It was a sunny April afternoon, with a few small white clouds drifting across the sky. The train was about a quarter full and we rattled along peacefully until we reached a point just east of Milton Malsor.
Suddenly there came the urgent sound of a train's siren blasting repeatedly, followed by violent braking, then the rending of metal and smashing of glass. The train shuddered and vibrated and I got down on the floor, thinking this the safest place. As crouched there I vividly remember dust particles dancing up and down as we shuddered to a halt, and the pipe of a man who had been smoking near me go bouncing past my nose.
We had collided with an empty coal train travelling north, and many wagons were derailed and flung into a heap. Our front powered carriage was derailed and pitched down an embankment. After a long stillness and silence... Read more
When Young
goint to the Savoy Cinema to see and hear the Compton Organ, the cinema has now been bought by thr Jesus people & restored to its 1930,s decoration.
the name of Alan Ashton rings a bell, was he conected to the Savoy/ABC cinema years ago.
the town has altered quite a lot since those days of the 1940/50,s not as i like it these days.
i am in my late years now (75) but love the past.
Memories of War - The Forgotten Casualties (1) - by Patricia Bolter
I am entering these memories on behalf of my mother in law - Patricia Ross (nee Bolter)
Running to meet Dad, just a young man, in uniform for the first time coming home to show us in pride. Providing for the family had been difficult, even tried sweeping snow. I have listened to "The Little Boy That Santa Clause Forgot", could only cry "I don't want my Dad to go away" but what does a 4 year old really understand. We had watched Dad and Uncles dig a shelter in our yard and played getting into it quickly, it was dark and damp. Mum fell down the steps but we were "SAFE. Save The Children? What have we learned? Fetching Granny and relatives to share our shelter for the first air raid, cushions on head for protection from shrapnel. Naive . .
Issued with Mickey Mouse gas masks in a cardboard box with a shoulder string, the smell of rubber, no understanding of why they are necessary.
Gwendoline Hodges
It is as if my grandmother Gwendoline Edith Hunt, nee Hodges, has ceased to exist. For years and through various forums I have searched for information about her and her family (Wooton locals....Horace and Ethel Hodges who lived at Resthaven Road for many years) yet have had no luck. She is listed as having died at the age of 30 in 1941 at Parkfield Avenue.
There is a bit of a sad tale, that she left 3 of her 4 children (one of which was my father) and put them on a bus to another relative, they were in foster care for many years. The other child, nobody seems to know what happened to her.
So many questions, unanswered due to being unable to find any living relatives of hers. My father's family seem to have either selective memories or none. Foster care documents cite that she tried to contact her children prior to her death, but she was prevented by my grandfather who by all accounts was a... Read more
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