The Bishopirc

A Memory of Horsham.

What wonderful memories seeing this photo brings back. My aunt and uncle (Mr and Mrs J Piggott) ived at 6a Bishopric until it was modernised in the 1960s. Although the front door was between the sweet shop and Millidges all the rooms were spread over the first floor. It was a wonderful spacious flat having a large lounge overlooking the Bishopric as didtwo2 of the bedrooms and to the back the other rooms overlooked the small back garden and Piggotts large yard and warehouses. My uncle's family worked in this store for many many years. The shop was seperated from the house by two large green gates that opened inwards. I well remember Jock as he used to sing in his Scottish voice as there was an exit door underneath the kitchen window, it had a corrugated roof on it. Miss Carcases sweet shop a very small sweet shop and if I remember rightly she was a very small lady with glasses. Milledges was a real toy shop, we used to buy our Rosebud dolls and clothes here, it was like Aladdin's cave to us children! I visited here 2/3 times a year from approx 1952 -1960s. My cousin Jean and I grew up together as there's only 6 months between us, both having both born in Liverpool in 1948. My uncle was stationed here and met my aunt towards the end of the war and then they moved back to his home in Horsham in June 1949 along with my maternal grandfather who found employment in the army barracks I think in Warnham. Opposite the flat was a large car showroom, the Merrythought Cafe, the post office, a herbal shop, an art shop. Down the way on our side was the Green Dragon pub and brewery, a fruit/veg shop that had all goods outside, I think an antique shop and a few more that I cant remember but I think one was a very small grocers! West street was lovely. My aunt used to work in Woolworths, also Boots the Chemist and Timothy Whites, the lovely jewellers and the large department store, Grants, at the end. We often used to go to a lovely Coffee shop for elevenses, the smell of roasted coffee beans was wonderful. The Carfax was just a large square with a few shops and the entrance to the old market of course it had the bandstand! We used to love going to the museum and my cousin got married at St Mary's in 1971, she now lives just outside Horsham. Every Boxing Day if I was visiting we would go and watch The Hunt leave from the pub by the carfax, all in the red jackets and the hounds barking. If it had been snowing it was just magical to see. The park was lovely and we often went to the outside swimming pool and usually had a game of minature golf followed by cucumber sandwiches and orange juice at the park cafe. If I was visiting in July it would be the Horsham Festival and the park would have a large fairground. We also used go to the cinema just before the railway station, it was there I first seen Polyanna and we got a crystal prism as we went in, we also used to go to the Capitol Theatre maybe to see a pantomime. Going back to Piggotts shop, my uncle used to cut the glass as well as working in the shop. He also used to drive the big van delivering parrifin/oil to the neighbourhood and I often went with him, out in the country lanes to off the beaten track houses,I used to love that, as I came from a city and it was very different. The paraffin used to be kept in large tanks as did the oil in the back yard which was quite big. We used to ride our bikes around it when the shop was shut. Above the shop was a dance hall and my cousins bedroom was opposite, there was a winow in which we could see the couples dancing, the ladies wore lovely dresses and it seemed magical for us to watch as children. The shop used to sell everything from soap, candles, washing up liquid, wallpaper, paint, tools & anything hardware.When my relatives had to move they went to live for a while in Denne Road above the hall, they then moved to Worthing Road and lived there til about 1990 when they moved to a flat at the back of the railway station, there they lived til my aunt died in 1995 and my uncle died in 1996, my grandad moved into a care home at the back of station, he moved to a care home in Henfield just before he died in 1998 at the grand old age of 97. What a moving time I have remembering all the lovely times and years spent in Horsham. I have been back a few times since my relatives have dies and it is all so different, I did see the large sphere on the Bishopric but I could visualise the `old days`, the house in Worthing Road was still standing although April Cottage had gone and Sainsburys store was behind the old house/garden. I see it has been changed again- the bus station is there now and I am actually going to stay in the new Travelodge in August and so I will be back on holy ground, same place just looking a little different, progress I suppose!! Thanks for letting me have a glimpse into my childhood, really very good times and magical memories.