Higher Fraddon memories
Here are memories of Higher Fraddon and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Higher Fraddon or a Higher Fraddon photo.
My Childhood
I was born in 1944 in my grandmother's house named 'Bloemfontein' at Higher Fraddon.
She named the house after the capital of the Orange Free State of South Africa where she was born.
Her father, my great-grandfather Parkyn, was a miner and made his wealth? and each of his children were able to have a start in life. 'Bloemfontein' was my grandmother's start and my birth in that house was mine.
Within a short distance from that house lived my Gran Parkyn in a bungulow called Karee.
My grandfather's aunt, Bessie Goodman, lived a short distance away and there were other relatives such as the Cann family and Aunt Helen and Leda White, all lived on the same road, the only road that came off the main A30 and then through this hamlet, if you could call it that? and on for quite a few miles through the hamlet of Retew and on to Treviscoe. Retew was yet one more place I lived for a short time as a child,... Read more
Memories of Cornwall
My Life as Boy And Man in St.Dennis
I moved into the first house on the right in the photo with the bay window in February of 1960 with my parents and 3 brothers. We were only the second tenants of that house. I stayed there with my parents until I got married in 1974. My father still lives there 47 years after we moved in. I have very fond memories of that house and surrounding neighbours. Mr Cory our next door neighbour at the time used to breed pigeons and a great aunt of mine gave me a couple of Bantams and I used to breed them and father would have his chickens. As children we would spend hours playing football in the road and down the bottom of the road on the village green. I was born in St. Dennis in 1953 and I still live there even though I have moved around the village a bit. When we first got married Jackie and I lived next door to the Blacksmiths Shop were we stayed for... Read more
Happy Days
Wonderful memories of a very happy childhood. I am St. Dennis born and bred, and for me there's no place like it. My father Stanley Grigg and his partner had a cycle shop and repair business and I remember well the American G.I's bringing my mother tins of fruit and meat during wartime. I would get the odd packet of chewing gum too. The summers seemed much longer then and I can remember how I would wait for my father to come home from the quarry, we would take a jug and walk hand in hand down Prazy Hill to fetch cool sparkling water from the spring.
I first went to the infant school where Miss Curtis was in charge, and then onto the top school with Mr. Pellymounter and Miss. Kent. Miss. Williams my sewing teacher always shouted at me. I could'nt sew to save my life, still can't. She always called my stitches cat's teeth. I think she was maybe the reason why I hate it so... Read more
Music And Memories
Is there anyone else who sang in Mrs Solomon's choir and went to Mr Pellymounter's school in St Dennis. I remember all the grownup ladies wearing their wedding dresses as we had to wear white. I was about four when I started to sing in the choir. My mother found some white silk and made me a dress that had enormous seams and hem, so that I was able to wear it for about four years. On one occasion I remember we sang in the main Methodist Hall in Plymouth. I also sang for Children's Hour from the BBC studios in Bristol. I think I was seven at the time. Mr Pellymounter had lots of friends in the theatre, among them Ann Todd and Eric Portman. He used to tell us stories of operas and he made English literature come to life. My father, not a St Dennis man, was a founder member of the St Dennis Male Voice Choir, which used to rehearse around the baby grand piano my... Read more
Gummow's of Gummow's Shop
This is where my family is from in the 1700-1800 period. Familes of blacksmiths and agricultural people and miners. Names also include Gummow-Gummoe-Nancarrow-Harris-Rounsaval spelled other ways. My 3rd ggf left Cornwall in 1832 for America by way of Canada. No documents to support, just word of mouths. My 3rd ggf is John Gummow Sr and Jennifer Jane Rounsaval
To my Father
I have just came across a letter about my father (Matthew Fury) who was killed at St Columb during the Second World War, my father was with his regiment 219/46Light A.A Battery. R.A.
The letter was sent to my grandmother in 1941 by my dad's Commanding Officer (Major A. W. Smyllie) who was billleted at The Red Lion Hotel in 1941.
My dad was an Ack-Ack Gunner, when the German aircraft came over dropping their bombs, my dad and one other of the gun crew were killed in action. According to my dad's Commanding Officer they were the first two people to be killed at that time,so I thought it might give you all a little history what went on during the Second World War down in your part of the country.
I only came across this letter when my older brother died this year, I did not know my brother had this letter until my nephews presented the letter to me and my dad's medal, I really thought what... Read more
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I Remember When...
This stunning compilation highlights some of the best stories selected from the thousands contributed here on the
Frith website. The result is an absorbing chronicle of British life from the Second World War to the mid 1960s.
A colourful treasure trove of memories, "I Remember When" is an
irresistible mix of personal stories and recollections that affectionately reveal the detail of everyday life in Britain.
