Haverhill memories
Here are memories of Haverhill and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Haverhill or a Haverhill photo.
First Day
We moved excitedly from London in my dads old Austin 7 to a country village we had never heard haverhill. we couldnt even pronounce it as we found out it still is unpronounceable by many. Arrived at our new house 118 Burton End. a four bedroom HOUSE (not a flat) which is all we had been used to. we had never seen stairs inside a house before and also a front door and a back door which we ran round and round until mum told us to settle down or someone will get hurt and they did., my sister banged her head on a downstairs window, that one of my other sister's had opened up while saying this one opens outwards yippie. It was the best day of my life so far. Sitting outside the old Standard pub which was in Burton end drinking our cherryade and eating smiths crisps with the bag of salt inside and we was served by Mr and Mrs Mc. Cleane. Happy times!... Read more
First Day at School
The only school in Haverhill was The Cangle. The new secondary modern, now known as Castle Manor, had not yet been finished. We arrived at school very bewildered being the first of the Londoners and feeling like aliens. I made a new friend in the short while I had been in Haverhill. His name was Michael Geagon, I didn't know at the time but his family was Irish, not that that meant anything. I was shown to my classroom and it turned out to be the same classroom as my older sister, they had got it wrong, I found out later that day. That upset me because now I was really on my own. First day in the playground Michael had told everybody I was from London and that I could beat anybody up, that was news to me, so he started picking fights with the locals for me to hit them. I had never hit anybody in my short life so far but I did just the once. I... Read more
Memories of Suffolk
Childhood in Helions Bumpstead
My family moved to Helions Bumpstead in around 1964. My parents renovated an old farmhouse which they named "Roslyns" because my Mum went to the Chelmsford Records Office and discovered that the place had been called Roskins Meadow in the 17th century. The first thing I remember is the smell of the house (dusty and musty) and the fact that my sister and I caught ringworm from some old toys left in a cupboard. The main thing, though, was the garden. We had nearly three acres of scrubby garden, meadow and a run down orchard. There was also a brick privy (the house had no indoor plumbing when we moved in) which Dad knocked down and then built a greenhouse on the site. When we first moved there, the garden seemed so big that we didn't dare go round the edge without Mum, but we soon got braver and built dens, camps, treehouses, etc. Our favourite trick was to sit in the old... Read more
Wixoe Mill
1958 My parents, my two sisters and I lived in Stoke by Clare at a thatched house called Thatchety, opposite the Red Lion hotel. My father's aunt, Maudie Firth, owned the mill at Wixoe. My twin sister, Lynda, and I would ride our bikes to visit her. We would stop at an old spinster’s home for lemonade and biscuits. I don’t remember her name. I too would fish from the bridge by the old mill. I remember catching perch. My mother called them “Muddy Fish”. We would have afternoon tea, in the front room of the house, at Wixoe Mill. The house was set back from the Mill Pond with a sweeping lawn that ran down to the water. A gardener kept ferrets, in cages, by the garage, if my memory serves me right!! There was a gazebo in the garden that one could turn to face the sun. The mill had not been used for years but was fun to explore. We moved to Bristol in about 1961 and I’ve... Read more
Fond Memories of Clare
I was with the RAF stationed at Stradishall and only just married and searched for a place to live at Clare. Coming from London I found the pace of life was in a much lower gear than I had been used too but it did not take me long to fall into this new way of life. We rented a nice little flat on the Market Hill above a shoe shop belonging to the Mugg family. Mrs Mugg and her daughter Florence worked in the shop whilst Mr Mugg was a cobbler and had his workshop at the end of the building just inside my front door which faced Station Road.
As my weekly pay at that time was only £3.10.0 (£3.50) I found myself a casual job for a Saturday and when on leave with a Don Thopmson and his son Paul at their garage at Nethergate Street repairing motor cars for the princely sum of 10/- (50p) a day, how well off I felt at the time. My... Read more
Badmondisfield Hall
My brother owned the Hall for a number of years, my parents also lived there.
I can clearly see Johnny the gardener, he lived in the little summer house in the rose garden, just right for him as he was a dwarf.
I remember the lovely parties we had in the big hall with a blazing fire, a gigantic long table in the middle of the hall, where we had some wonderful feasts.
At bedtime I would always take my dog Pip up the stairs with me, I had to put her on a lead as she did'nt like it and would escape to my mum & dads cottage. I think it was definately haunted as I was always hearing things.
Quite often we would go to Ousden to The Fox, John & Val used to own it then, a lovely friendly place.
Shopping days we went to Wickhambrook to the village shop which sold everything, or you could ring them up with... Read more
Badmondisfield Hall, Wickhambrook, Suffolk
I remember going to the woods to collect a christmas tree, it was so tall we had trouble getting into the big oak door. Mr & Mrs Rix and their family lived in the lodge.
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