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Hayes
Hayes maps
Historic maps of Hayes and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Hayes maps
Hayes area books
Displaying 1 of 13 books about Hayes and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Hayes
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Hayes.
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Childhood Memories
I moved to Spencer Avenue, Hayes, when I was 5 and the war had just finished. My earliest recollections were of starting school at Yeading Lane and walking there through thick snow. Luckily we had school dinners so mum only had to make the journey twice a day. Down our street were what must have been young families as I recall lots of friends all the same age as me, amongst them Rita Stamford, Valerie Moores, Martin Webb, Iris Spencer and Erica Barker. My dad made me a bike from odd parts and I cycled up and down Spencer Avenue really proud of it. It was safe then, as I can only remember 2 cars in the streeet at that time. I went back to visit a few years back and could not believe how small the street looked. We children all used to disappear indoors at 6.45pm to listen to Dick Barton and then all the great comedy programmes such as Life with the Lyons, Rays... Read more
Waggon And Horses
Sadly The Waggon and Horses has been demolished. Controversy surrounds the old water pump which was outside and which mysteriously disappeared. The Waggon was my local for many years. I brought up in Berwick Avenue (from 1967, aged about 18 months) less than half a mile away from the Waggon. I remember my dad taking out to the Waggon, I'd either sit in his car or wheather permitting in the beer garden with a packet of crisps and a soft drink of some kind! I longed to be able to go inside and sure enough the day came! And so it became my true local and for my mates too, we'd often start our nights out with a couple in The Waggon. Alcohol blurs the memory but I recall a blinding Christmas in there. They used to have a DJ (Dennis Duncan I think?!) who had very poor eyesight and couldn't see what he was playing. I popped in for a quiet drink one night and ended up getting hammered... Read more
Bourne Avenue, Harlington School
I lives in Bourne Avenue from1954-1972 and loved it with my parents and 2 sister Sandra and Pauline, our maiden name is HOWE. We used to go to Harlington Secondary School. I have so many memories of living in Hayes, going to Sainsburys when there was sawdust on the floor, walking to the shops at the end of the road, the houses, and the people. I went back a few years ago, the monkey tree that used to be in the front garden was gone and the house looked quite small to me now. I have good memories from my childhood and Hayes, would I want to live there now in 2011, NO.
Fostered in Spencer Avenue.
I was fostered to stay with a Mrs Collins who lived at 47 Spencer avenue, Hayes in Middlesex. I remember that she had a daughter called Mavis who was married at Easter, believe it was 27th April, 1953? I was her bridesmaid and we had terrible snow that Easter Saturday and I got out of the wedding car in a lacy pink dress (which was all the fashion at the time), together with a pair of large wellington boots and had to trudge through the snow to get to the church. Hardly the kind of weather one would expect at the end of April!!
1968 - 1971
Moved to Hayes at the age of 12 and it seemed to be a busy place to a girl just up from the country! As I got used to more traffic and industry I found it to be a nice place though.
I remember Townfield Girls Secondary (dreadful place!) and hated it enough to forego graduating to the 6th form so left soon after the 5th form.
Went to work in E. Moss the Chemists in Station Road. Loved that job. For anyone who remembers 'The Sweet' well, I used to sell them their make-up.
I was responsible for ordering the 'patent' medicines and when Head Offcie sent in a condom stand naturally I filled it and placed it on the counter. It caused uproar!
At the age of 15 I thought Head Office were displaying a responsible attitude (well you know what the late 60's were like with 'free love') but unfortunately the attitude of the older generation of Hayes was... Read more
Middlesex memories
Growing up in Southall
I grew up in Southall in the 1940s and 50s. We lived in Gordon Road in a terraced house that backed onto The Tube. We had an outside toilet, no bathroom and, until I was about 6, no electricity. At the age of 5 I could change a gas mantle. My mother continued to live there until she passed on in 1989 Two doors away was Mrs Ridgewell's grocery shop and on the corner there was a greengrocer's. I recall being sent for a shilling's worth of King Edward potatoes. I went to Clifton Road Primary (Miss Camp) and Junior (Mr Constable) schools and went on to Drayton Manor School in Hanwell. I went to Sunday School and belonged to the Boy Scouts at the Salvation Army in Adelaide Road. I was their first and only Queen's Scout. Opposite on the corners of Clifton Road were Pearson's Drapers and a good fish and chip shop. Just around the corner in Norwood Road was a small parade of shops which included a newsagents... Read more
SOUTHALL
I lived in Southall from April 1943 to May 1960, all my young life was spent there. Among the many good memories was the 1953 Coronation with all the excitement of sweets off ration and TV. We had our party in 2 canvas workman's tents from G. Wimpeys, Lancaster Road, Southall. The party was held in Lynwood Gardens off Lady Margaret Road after the Coronation was shown on TV. In the evening a large torchlight procession was held the length of Lady Margaret Road after dark.
