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Larkhill
Larkhill maps
Historic maps of Larkhill and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Larkhill maps
Larkhill photos
We have no photos of Larkhill, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Stonehenge| Figheldean| Bulford| Amesbury| Wilsford| Netheravon| Haxton| Fittleton| Cholderton| Stoford| Great Wishford| Tilshead
Larkhill area books
Displaying 1 of 12 books about Larkhill and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Larkhill
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Larkhill.
Add your memory of Larkhill
or of a photo of Larkhill.
Army Training on Salisbury Plain
The military owns more than 150 square miles of Salisbury Plain and great chunks of it are closed to the public. I have seen part of this area and "enjoyed" the isolation of camping in bivouacs with my Territorial Army unit.
The organisation of the trainng area is done so as to parcel up areas and allocate them to seperate training exercises. I served for almost five years with the Royal Signals and I remember setting up our "bivvy" tents when 39th Signal regiment was allocated part of the training area in 1970. We took just two vehicles with us - a three tonner and a Land Rover. Driving these over the rough terrain meant you really got to appreciate the soft and high suspension of the vehicles. One of our drivers was Pauline Kenchat - a WRAC Private who was learning to drive. Would you believe she managed to hit the three tonner with the Land Rover! We had miles of Salisbury Plain... Read more
Wiltshire memories
A Faked Photo!
This is a faked photo! Stone 56 is upright only because it has been drawn in on the negative - the clue is that Stones 21, 22 and their lintel 121 had collapsed before stone 56 was straightened in 1901. (If you are not a Stonehenge geek that probably was too much information!) The original photograph was also used as a postcard, but I guess that when stone 56 was straightened in a welter of publicity they decided to alter the print, not knowing about the other changes they should have made. Editor's note: Thank you for the information, you are quite right. We often find older images in the collection have been altered to 'update them'. This is all part of the history of the archive so we cannot alter the position of the stone. However, your information has been noted in our database.
The Mill Pool
I lived at Netheravon from 1968 - 1972 (my father was in the RAF based at Old Sarum) and went to school at St Michaels Figheldean.
I remember we used to go swimming in the mill pool by the weir. I remember nearly drowning there, showing off in deep water under the big tree (still there) near the weir. I was saved by a girl called Sharon Parsons and probably never thanked her and certainly never told my mum when I got home. Other than that experience it was a great place to hang out in the summer and learn how to fish too - starting off on minnows by the footbridge and moving on to greyling and trout (probably illegally). A lovely village and well overdue for a visit. I live in North Oxfordshire so not too far away.
Born And Bred
Born in Ablington just after the war we moved to Avon Banks, where I lived until married in 1970. My mother's father, mother and brothers (Fenners) all lived in Figheldean. Having read other peoples memories it brought back probably the most enjoyable part of my youth.
Post Office
The post Office was run by a Mrs Titt in the 1950s and the post lady was to be, in later life, my aunty.
Addition to Con's Entry
Being Con's older brother, my memories go back a bit further, having started school about the day war was declared, going to the village school, with Miss Burling(?) - rumour had it that she changed the spelling of her name from Berlin (for obvious reasons). There are a lot of hazy wartime memories as well which would occupy a lot more space. I have memories of winding the church clock, back in the early 1950s, climbing that long ladder into the bell tower, knee deep in twigs left by the nesting rooks. There must also have been quite a stir in the village back in about 1937, though I obviously don't remember it, when Dad won a small fortune (in those days) on the 'Pools'. From the old photo I have we must have been living at Avondale at that time, though we later moved to 279 Ablington, just down the garden from 292 where Gran and Grandad lived, with about 60 chickens and, in the early days of... Read more
Figheldean Manor
In 1945, just before VJ day, I moved from Scotland with my mother, to Figheldean Manor, to join my father who was then based at RAF Netheravon. I had never seen houses with flint walls and thatched roofs before, moreover, I had never experienced the type of food that was then available. My first experience of asparagus, watercress, fresh trout and partridge, all food provided to or by residents at the Manor, to supplement the then rations that were available with coupons.
We shopped, such as was necessary, in Netheravon. I remember Sammy the barber with a lisp, who, in winter time, kept his hand held clippers beside the gas fired heater; these would burn the neck occasionally, which he said was just a part of the hair cutting experience, as he puffed away at his Woodbine, numerous of which he smoked continually and were permanently in his mouth.
I remember the breaking up of hundreds of the gliders at RAF Netheravon and the huge parachute drops on Salisbuty... Read more
