You are here:
Long Eaton
Long Eaton maps
Historic maps of Long Eaton and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Long Eaton maps
Long Eaton area books
Displaying 1 of 11 books about Long Eaton and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Long Eaton
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Long Eaton.
Add your memory of Long Eaton
or of a photo of Long Eaton.
Erewash Navigation Pub
My parents Joseph and Christine Winfield owned this pub, it was a lovely place to live and play, the pub was huge and full of antiques, had my parents kept them they would be worth a fortune now. Summers were wonderful, we used to have secret places where we would find edible mushrooms and pick lovely violets. At the back of the pub we had orchards full of fruit trees, also we used to collect fresh eggs from the chickens. The beer used to come down on barges in barrels, I think they still do today. I would love to go back to those simple happy days. Does anyone remember me or my sister Yvonne or any of my family?If so, I would love to hear from you.
Book Worm
In 1942 I was 9 years old and lived in Long Eaton during the war having previously lived in the West Riding. We had no radio and in those days no television and I was either at the outdoor swimming pool or in the library with my nose in a book. When I visited the library I took out the maximum number allowed until I had read the entire childrens' section. At this point the librairian said I could choose from the adult section as long as she vetted the books I took out and this I did, much to the annoyance of my younger sister who was not allowed in the adult section. Yes, I spent many happy hours at the Long Eaton Library.
Derbyshire memories
Living in Cavendish Bridge
I grew from a boy into manhood during my time in Cavendish Bridge. My parents had the Old Crown Inn and at the age of 17 had my first "pub crawl" with my mates from the bridge through Shardlow starting at the Navigation. I remember there was about 8 pubs on the main road and we never finished them all !!
I think it was the severe winter of 62' or 63' and the floods were very bad. At a lunchtime during the week the pub had no customers and my mum had only lit one of the fires. A Rolls Royce pulled up outside and an old man got out and came into the pub. My mum ushered him into the warm "Best" room and got him a drink and a sandwich. He asked her to join him and they talked for a long time. his name was Brough senior and he told mum about the times he would meet Lawrence in the Old Crown over the years... Read more
Spondon During War.
I occasionally came to live with my sister in Spondon during the war years. I lived in Ockbrook Road, the house was named Tarbet House. At the rear across two fields was an anti-aircraft battery of four guns, which when they were firing during air raids used to make a terrific noise, so much so that light fittings had to be wedged. I remember Bartons buses passing carrying workers from Ilkeston to The British Celanese Factory, these buses had large green bags on the roofs full of gas which was the fuel instead of diesel. Also I remember large cannisters of tar placed on the roadsides, these were lit at night to create a smoke screen for Derby, not many people seem to remember these. I later worked at the Derby Loco but now live in North Wales, have been here since 1956.
Dewy Spider Webs on Holly Bushes
It was September of 1942 when first I spied a dewy spider web gleaming in the sunlight of the morning as I entered on my first day at the Ilkeston County Secondary School. I in short trousers was suddenly seized and pitched into the holly bush on which it hung but then no more as my impact shuddered the leaves to give up their delicately woven burden. Whenever I see a dewy spider web on holly bushes in Autumn I recall that first day in my new school with its ritual of 'hollybushing'.
My Wonderful Birth Place
John Plunkett, born 1950, raised in Stanley Common, educated at Smalley Common junior school, and Scargill. Worked as an appretice electrician at Rolls Royce in Derby where I qualified and studied at Wilmorton Colledge in Derby. My mother and father are buiried on the church grounds of Stanley Common, corner Belper Road & Hoggs Lane. Lived at 2 Tansley Avenue, 26 Spencer Street and now in Benoni iin South Africa where I have resided for the last 40 years. My most valued childhood memories are without doubt the honesty, integrity, and never say die attitude of the village people in Stanley Common. During my childhood most people made the most of what little they had, however the community pulled together when times really got tough. Coming from Stanley Common in that particular time laid foundation blocks within your character in which you could build on no matter what you decided to do. I am extremely proud of my village and look forward to my next visit.
Memory of an Early Bus Ride
I remember the prison camp at the bottom of Weston Park Avenue. They had a Bedford Utility bus to transport the inmates and my parents got friendly with the camp officials and went out on the bus one night to the Pack Horse at Kings Newton. My sister and I were left on the bus whilst the adults spent the evening drinking in the pub. I was 2 years older than my sister who had just started to walk so I estimate I must Have been 3. We could not have the lights on, it being 1944 and only had the light of the moon to see by. I had to keep my sister from falling down the steps by the door. I have lost count of how many time I spent waiting outside pubs for hours on end. I probably saw more of my parents through a pub window than anywhere else.
