Horncastle memories
Here are memories of Horncastle and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Horncastle or a Horncastle photo.
First Time
This is the first swimming pool I ever saw and where I learned to swim. I went to the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School and this is where we were taken, once a week, for our swimmimg lessons. I was placed into care when I was 11 years old and in my first year at senior school. The place of care was Holmeleigh Children's Home. I remember my first time here very clearly. I was very nervous, new school and a new home, surrounded by a load of new people and faces and desperately wanting to 'fit in'. "It is swimming tomorrow so make sure you bring costume and towel!" I was told. My new classmates were wanting to know could I swim etc etc and all I could think of at that time was "Well it can't be that hard" and I so wanted to be accepted and feel 'normal' so came out with...."Oh yes I'm a great swimmer, you'll see!"...Wow, what a mistake that was. The following day we were walked 'in convoy'... Read more
Every Day Routines at Holmleigh
Holmeleigh Children's Home had routines, each cottage home operated supervised by housemothers and assistant housemother who were responsible for daily care needs of children under their care which could be up to 14 children at one time. Mr Norman Vardy and Matron Elizabeth Vardy over saw that the homes were running smoothly and behaviour of children acceptable. They enforced discipline when necessary, corporal punishment was used on the boys, the cane I recall, for persistent running away from the home or being problematic to their individual housemother. All the cottage homes had a weekly inspection by Matron Vardy which often resulted in my Cottage Home 9 some lively discussion with our housemother Aunty as on occasions was seen as being a little unkempt messy. From the children's toys play day room. My housemother would stand her ground always stating this is the children's home, it was to be lived in. We had daily tasks to do making own beds assisting younger children Matron often inspected the bedrooms. We had the hospital iron... Read more
Holmeleigh Children's Home, Horncastle
I lived at Holmeleigh children's home from August 1966 until it closed down in 1969 to become a college, an educational facility. We were transferred abruptly from another residential settling different village in Lincolnshire in August 1966. I was moved with a group of children. Other cottages homes started closing down around 1968. Home 9 closed down in December 1969 it was one of the last cottages to be closed. Most cottages where relocated to newly built family group homes throughout Lincolnshire. My care history: I had been in care since birth in different placements and had no knowledge of my birth place of origin or parents or relatives, no family contact, relationships totally absent. I was admitted to Holmeleigh with a group of ten other children in summer 1966, with no preparation what to expect apart from being told by a welfare officer Mr Marshall a few days before going to Horncastle. We were informed that we could no longer be cared for by our then caregivers and... Read more
Great Grandfather Born in Tetford
Researching through census records I have found that my great grandfather George Toyne was born in Tetford in 1829. He married a Mary Richardson who came from somewhere called Gautby. The then lived at Old Bolingbroke for many years after this. If anyone has done any research and found the name Toyne in records of Tetford I would be pleased to hear of it as I am looking to see if I can go back to find his parents and any siblings.
Holmleigh
I hope to recive word from a guy called Tony Savage, he lived in Tennson Gardens with his mum and older brother. I think I was at Holmleigh for about 8 years. If anyone knows of Tony's present address or whereabouts I would like to know, ring me on 01236-620935. I think his mum still lives in Horncastle.
Holmeleigh
I was in this place, it was not the best of places to live but i am here to tell you of my time in the home. We were a family of 5, there were 3 sisters, me and my brother. I would like to know if Tony Savage is still alive, he was a good friend to me as well as Roger Low and Charles Rawling. I would like to hear from others who were in the home at the same time. I was in there until it closed down then I was sent to another place to live. You can contact me on: john13c@hotmail.co.uk or ring me on 01236620935 or tx me on 07854207687
My Mum!
Hi, I am trying to find anybody that would be interested in talking to me about my late mum, Pat Stones, who was in Holmeleigh children's home in the mid 1930s onwards. She was in the home with her sisters, Shiela, Ruby and brothers George and Rodney. Understandable though, it wasn't talked about as I was growing up but I would really like to find out my mum's background and the life she and her family lived. I would so appreciate any details, pictures or just a chat to help my and my cousins search. With regards, Gail Mumby. gailmumby66@hotmail.com Tel. Louth 01507 354889.
Holmeleigh Horncastle Childrens Homesa nd School //Years
By Michael Savage
A reunion of the Horncastle Homes children and the staff was held at the Town Hall (Drill Hall) July 20 1989. Almost 400 people attended the event. “The atmosphere was really great - everyone was talking about the good old days, although some had painful memories to share.”
Generations of children were brought up in a group of houses, known as Holmeleigh, off Foundry Street. According to the reports from former residents, “It was a very Victorian set up. You were hardly allowed to talk to boys and you made your own entertainment as a group of children together.”
The site consisted of several semi-detached house. Each house, known as a cottage, was numbered 1 to 11. Each cottage accommodated approximately 14 to 16 children; there were 3 mixed sex cottages, 2 all girls and 6 all boys cottages, and each cottage was run by a house mother and house auntie. We the children slept in dormitories, and midnight feasts were inevitable. Once a group... Read more
Memories of Lincolnshire
My Ashby Puerorum Family
My Tasker and Lawies families come from the tiny village of Ashby Puerorum so I went to see the place in 1971 when I first became interested in tracing my family tree.
There is a beautiful church - St Andrew's - surrounded by a lovely churchyard and I enjoyed searching among the gravestones until I found two for my family. I have not returned there since but it wqold be interesting to see as I planted some dafodills on the graves back in 1971. I wonder if they are still there!
Great Grandfather West
I have no personal memories of Kirkstead, but it was an important place in the history of my family.
My great grandfather, William Gilbert West, and his wife Rebecca farmed somewhere in the Kirkstead area during the 1870s. From census entries we know that their 9th, 10th and 11th children, all girls, were born there, the first of these being in 1874. The three girls were Gertrude (my grandmother), Nellie and Alice West.
The family must have moved to Kirkstead from the coast in the early 1870s. The births of the previous children had been registered in Hogsthorpe or Trusthorpe. The 1891 census shows them as having returned to Hogsthorpe (where Rebecca had been born) and Chapel-St-Leonards, but exactly when they went we don't know.
As a child I knew some of William Gilbert's and Rebecca's children as great aunts. Of the three sons I never knew Richard and William Gilbert who must have died before I was born. The third son, and sixth child,... Read more
Post Office, East Kirkby
www.bbcholidays.co.uk
Hi...We are just about to move into The Old Post Office in Fen Road, East Kirkby, Lincs and am trying to find out anything about it. If you've got ANY info - I'd love to hear about it. Please contact me on janet.humphrey1@virgin.net
Thank You
USAF at East Kirkby
I was with the USAF at RAF Sturgate and was transferred to East Kirkby in Mar 1957. I worked in the personnel office and lived in the barracks that was located where the turkey farm is now. Many happy memories...the Red Lion was known as Fred's pub. After I got married to a girl from Grimsby, I lived for a while with with my wife in a small flat in the Grange at Miningsby. The Grange was owned by a guy named Morris (Maurice?) who had a bloke named George who worked for him. I bought George a pair of Levi jeans from the BX once and was he thilled. Left there in 1958 as it was closing.
Henson Ancestry
An ancester of mine, Edith Rebecca Henson, lived in Worlaby in the late 1800s/early 1900s in Low Road or Top Road, Worlaby. She lived with the Rusling family as a niece. She married Richard Frank Henson in 1905. They shared the same surname but were they related - maybe cousins? Richard came from Scawby. I would like to hear from anyone who knows of this family as I am doing family history on the Henson family but I can't find out anything about Edith after 1905.
Memorybank total
We're very pleased and excited by your response so far to our "Share your Memories" community.
You've shared 26,185 memories of 5,732 towns & villages across the UK - keep them coming!
Find Memories
Simply search for your favourite places to read others' memories and share your own.
Tips & Ideas
Not sure what to write?
It's easy - just think of an important place in your life and ask yourself:
How does it feature in your personal history?
What are your best memories of this place?
How has it changed over the years?
How does it feel, seeing these old photos of your favourite place?
Do you remember stories about the local community, its history and people?
Start now!
It's easy to add your own memories and reconnect with your shared local history. Search for your favourite places and look for the orange "Add your Memory" icon to begin.
Places this week
Here are some of the places you've shared memories of this week:
- Margam, West Glamorgan
- Borth, Dyfed
- Pamington, Gloucestershire
- Corby, Northamptonshire
- Braunton, Devon
- Mitcham, Surrey
- Burnt Oak, Middlesex
- Hindhead, Surrey
- Grantham, Lincolnshire
- Wormit, Fife
- Earby, Lancashire
- Berwick, East Sussex
- Riddings, Derbyshire
- Turgis Green, Hampshire
- Bonnyrigg, Midlothian
- Hawthorn, Wiltshire
- Jaywick, Essex
- Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire
- Farnham Royal, Berkshire
- Loughor, West Glamorgan
- ... and lots more - Browse this week's memories now.
Your memories
To jump straight to the memories you have added already to the Community, click here
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.
