The Swimming Pool c1960, Market Drayton
The Swimming Pool c1960, Market Drayton Ref: M32023
Memories of The Swimming Pool c1960, Market Drayton
Freezing
My God, that swimming pool was never warm, when you jumped in, trust me, that was the only way to do it. If you stuck a toe in to test it, it would turn blue, so the best way was just to jump straight it, then you couldn't breathe for about a minute. After the initial shock it was ok as long as you stayed in the water, once you got out, hypothermia set in quite quickly, then walk to the pavilion, (I think it was green) for an icecream. I just remember everybody with towels around them with chattering teeth, happy days.
Growing up in Market Drayton
My memories of Market Drayton swimming baths when I was young are wonderful ones. During the summer holidays I spent all my time swimming and i also worked in the cafe. I was about 11 years old. In those days summer was hot and long. My two best friends were Vivienne and Gillian Fowler and we took part in the carnival as The Black And White Minstrels and The White Heather Club - our float won both times!
Market Drayton Swimming Baths
Our PE teacher used to throw boys in if they didn't swim - being a dainty soul, I used to hide underneath the slide, quivering with anxiety! I didn't learn to swim till many years later (INDOORS at Shewsbury baths). We used to go down when it was raining - the theory being that the water would be warmer! I think the lowest temp was about 50 degrees and the highest 74. The fountain was great fun!
PS My dad met my mum at Market Drayton swimming pool - he was on leave from the RAF. So, I guess without the baths, I wouldn't be here now!
The Swimming Pool
I remember this pool well, all the boys running around trying to look good for the girls, and all the girls sat around the fountain pretending not to watch, and the PE teacher throwing us in so we would learn to swim. Halycon days. I never did learn to swim but will never forget the times we had. We moved away in 1966 and I never got back till my own children were teenagers. I often wonder how all the people I knew back then got on in life. Sadly it's 43 years in the past and I don't even remember names.
Sunny Days at Market Drayton Swimming Pool.
I lived in Market Drayton from 1960 to 1963. I was at Market Drayton Grammar school and I lived on Buntingsdale estate. I remember going to the swimming pool. It was always sunny when I went. I would spend nearly every day there in the summer holidays and sometimes I would go after school. I had a friend called Jean who lived on Buntingsdale estate and 2 other friends called Ruth and Sylvia who lived in villages near Market Drayton. Sylvia's family had a garage. We used to go on out bikes to Hawkstone Park and wander round. My name was Audrey Lamb then. I was 11 when I came to Market Drayton and I must have been about 13 when I left.
Special Times.
1970s, I see Steve Boughey like a dolphin in the water, Mr Bickley telling you off for bombing, Mrs Holland taking my basket of clothes off me. Girls from school looking great. Big football match on the grass area. My girlfriend meeting me there, to see the DRIFTERS, now my wife. Passing your season ticket through the fence to get your mates in. I was the one outside waiting for somebody's season ticket. PS. I always wanted to be that beautiful bronze colour Steve Boughey had. Special times.
Market Drayton & local memories
Read and share memories of Market Drayton and Shropshire inspired by Frith photos.
Buntingsdale Hall And Farcroft.
My first posting as as an L.A.C. Chef in the R.A.F. was to 22 Group H.Q. at the hall in May 1953. I was eighteen at the time and was to become chef to A.V.M. Merton in his residence, Farcroft in Market Drayton.
I reported to the guardroom and was then whisked up to meet the A.V.M. by his P.A. F/Lt. Jan Badini who I was told was a Polish Count. I think he must have been as he later told us about hunting wolves on his estate in Poland before the war.
I was later to live in Farcroft cooking for the A.V.M., his wife known to us as 'Agie' (behind her back), Cpl Davis, Pete Redcar and another batman called O'Gorman.
It was a quiet life for about a year before I was moved on to R.A.F. Bridgnorth.
The main thing I remember there was Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, coming to dinner and staying the night. I was given an audience the following morning with the Duchess... Read more
Dalelands
The car in this picture is parked outside my old home. I wonder, was it my Dad's car? Not many of us had cars then. I spent many hours under the lamp-post as it got dark, before I got called in. We were pretty safe to play out in those days. There was a hill to the right of that car, and we sped down it on our bikes. Once I lost my brakes and shot into the fence at the bottom on the other side of the road! I skinned quite a few bits of me that day! Dianne Howells
Growing Up
Betton in the 1940s-50s. I lived at Betton for 21 years from 1940-1961 with my mother and father Arther and Florence Holland and my stepsister Mary Clarke. We farmed at Moss Lane Farm until 1961. Down Moss Lane lived my auntie and uncle Dorris and Phillip Holland and their sons Andrew and Martin. The next cottage was the Challinors and at the bottom of the lane was James Farm who employed a Mr. Hudson, Mr Hunter and Mr Goodwin. I had a friend at the black and white house in Betton called Christine Lowe. I also had two more cousins in the village called Joe and Roger Davies. I remember the McPhillips who lived at the crossroads in Betton where we used to wait for the school bus. My Uncle Phillip and George Lowe used to ring the bells in the little church and I think Mrs Bourne used to play the organ. I remember the Ramsdens at Betton House, and the Allens farmed at Betton Hall.
Victoria Mill Bridge
I remember this bridge very well. Brought up in MD from 1938 until I left to join the Royal Navy in 1955. We, my brother Tony and Brian Roylance, spent many happy hours in the vicinity especially fishing for "Sticklebacks" in Victoria Mill overspill channel which is just 50 yards or so to the right of this picture. We also sledged on Salisbury Hill and in Rogers Field. Both are no longer available for that pastime. The former is now part of the golf course and the latter has been developed with houses. We also had great fun coming down Red Bank in my old pram which was possible in those days due to very little traffic until it was wrecked and Mother forced us to take it to Ruebin Hickman's scrap yard opposite the old police station, I think we got half-a-crown for the remains.
From 1938, my birth year, until 1949 we lived in Salisbury Road and then moved to a brand new council house 14 Clifford... Read more
RAF Market Drayton Aka Buntingsdale Hall
For two years of my three year RAF service 1953 to 1956 as 41255i8 LAC, I was batman to RAF Stoke Heath C/O, Grp Capt (name omitted). His was the largest house on the OMQ (of course), the rear garden of which backed down a slope almost onto the winding road which led around the lake and passes the handsome old building; I have only recently learned that this was called Buntingsdale Hall. I used to take this route on my bike from Sutton Camp on RAF Stoke Heath to the pubs and dance hall in Market Drayton. I also regularly used to take the C/O's two Labradors walkies around the lake and let them swim in the nearby River Tern as well.
Now, about my title...I am absolutely certain that just before the main building on the above mentioned road from Ternhill to Drayton, there was a pukka RAF station nameboard with the words: Headquarters RAF Market Drayton. Can anyone throw any light on this? It can't be... Read more
Restoring The Ceiling Painting at Buntigsdale Hall
I was posted to the Hall after RAF basic training at West Kirby, where an Air Vice Marshall saw a mural illustrated map, another conscript (John Young) and I created, in the Education Hut. His intention was for Peter Melrose (a National Service aircraftsman, who was a scenic artist from Gainsborough Film Studios) and I (an artist from an advertising agency), to work on training booklets and posters. During our stay we were also asked to restore the beautiful 18th. century, mural ceiling of the Officers' Mess, which had become dirty and tobacco fume stained. The ceiling is quite high and I do not like heights. Conversely, Peter was complely at home on the two rickety, lanky pairs of wooden steps, strung apart by a plank to stand on and another to hold, whilst we craned our necks backwards to carry out the work. The steps swayed and creaked alarmingly and Peter took great delight in rocking them to scare me. With time, I became used to the heights.... Read more
National Service at RAF Buntingsdale Hall
I joined up for National Service in July 1954 and after trade training at RAF Yatesbury, I was posted to RAF Buntingsdale Hall - HQ 22 Group Comm Flight - in June 1955 as an Air Wireless Fitter - Junior Technician - and remained there until I was demobbed on July 21st 1956. Each morning we were driven from the Hall to RAF Ternhill - by a civilian driver 'Busty' - where the Comm Flight airmen looked after six Avro Ansons, two Percival Prentices and one De Haviland Chipmunk. The serial numbers were - Anson Mk 12 - PH 639 & NL 247; Mk 19 - VM 359 (the AOC's aircraft), and Mk 21 - VM 410, WJ 560 & WJ 561 (the last Anson built for th RAF): Prentices Mk 1 - VS 260 & VS 275: and Chipmunk Mk T 10 - WD 390 (which is still flying and owned by a syndicate in Lincolnshire) - happy times !
Among the personnel I remember were -... Read more
A Childhood Remembered
I lived in Market Drayton during the war and went to school there, ending at the Grammar School.
It was wonderful to see therefore what we called the Big Bridge with a glimpse of the side of our house to the left of the full fronted one.
I enjoyed a full varied childhood in the town especially on Market days, playing football and sledging down Salisbury Hill and even chasing girls!
I have detailed all this down in a book I have written called 'A Childhood Remembered' which has been published by Authorhouse and carries the ISBN number 978-1-4259-3627X.It is available through any good book shop or WH Smith in Market Drayton itself. Enjoy!!
Family Home
My father Leonard Barlow was born in the house on the left in 1921. He lived there with his mother Florence and family until he was conscripted into the Air Force at the beginning of the Second World War. I have traced members of the Barlow family living in the house for nearly a hundred years, going back to William Barlow and his wife Elizabeth in the 1870s. The house was demolished in the 1960s to make way for a road widening scheme.
Betton Old Hall 1960s
My grandparents - George & Winifred Lowe - lived at The Black & White House, Betton (aka 9 Betton, Betton Old Hall) for many years (leaving in about 1977). My grandad was a gardener for Colonel George Wade of Brand Hall (Norton-in-Hales) and managed the local football team as well as rang the bells at the old tin chapel in Moss Lane (where I was christened in the early 1960s). Outside the church is a tree with a bole on the trunk which my grandad used to say was a 'piano'. I spend two years as a child at the old Black & White House - and my sister Nicola and I had a wonderful time exploring my uncle's pig sheds (in the grounds). I also remember trips across the road to play with the Telwright children, trips to see the Challinors at the end of Moss Lane, and up the road to collect eggs from Betton Hall Farm. Betton has many lovely memories for me, so much... Read more
The Krusty Loaf
My grandfather George Rhodes opened the Krusty Loaf bakery in the High Street in 1969 and ran it to 2003. Market Drayton was a beautiful little town then, it's so sad to see it in the mess it is now!
Remembance Day Nov 9
Shocked to see my own family name (Clifford) on this memorial...knowing my grandfather had connections with Market Drayton it may be a relative...more research needed here l think.
RAF Buntingsdale Hall
I was posted to Buntingsdale Hall after passing out as a WOP/TOP in February 1948.
We worked at the Teleprinter Switchboard Exchange but unfortunately, after a few weeks this closed down, presumably due to lack of demand.
We were then employed on a variety of duties, none of which needed any technical training - guardroom, emptying dustbins, etc. The job I enjoyed most was sweeping the long, winding drive! The first time I was doing this and saw an official car approaching, I toyed with the idea of 'presenting brush' but decided that the correct procedure was just to 'look busy'.
Our Flight Sergeant was hard pressed to find us things to do, so one hot sunny afternoon when he had not shown up after lunch we disappeared into a hay field near our Nissen hut and went to sleep in the sun. We were back in the hut about 4.30 nursing our sunburn when the Flight Sergeant appeared. He pretended to give us a telling off but we were... Read more
Granny
My Granny - Annie Norris - used to work at Adderley Hall. I do not know the dates. As a child I used to visit the ruins
National Service at Buntingdale Hall
Having had basic training at RAF Hednesford I was then posted to Buntingsdale Hall Headquarters Technical Training Command to spend the remainder of my two years National Service in the signals section. I recall that the commissioned ranks outnumbered the non-commissioned ranks at that time. This was an idylic location with an 18th-century baronial hall complete with lake etc.
When it was learned that I had some ability at piano playing, I was regularly asked to provide background music on the officer's 'dining in nights' and my reward comprised a very enjoyable supper.
Flight Lieutenant 'Count' Badini, ADC to the Air Chief Marshall (Air Officer Commanding), was also officer i/c Signals and he, when aware that I could draw, commissioned me to design an insignia representing the signals section. I was granted three weeks free of duties and sent to nearby Shrewsbury to purchase artist materials. A hard life!
My primary duties in the signals section was operating a PBX telephone switchboard with direct lines to all other RAF... Read more
Mid-1948 to Mid-August 1949
In mid-1948 my RAF posting was to Buntingsdale Hall. Our quarters were one of two occupied Nissen huts where RAF 22 Group communications flight was housed. At first our aircraft occupied a hanger on the Stoke side of the airfield. When a maintenace unit required that hanger we relocated to the Tern Hill side of the airfield, home to the flying training school equiped with Harvard aircraft.
The communications flight was used by Air Marshalls (and associated ranks) to ferry them to RAF 22 group locations, usually in Great Britain and Northern Island.
Buntingsdale Hall was used by us for meals, where a Warrant Officer was in charge.
At Buntigsdale Hall the commanding officer was a Flight lieutenant, nicknamed Tojo.
Our quarters were approached down, and then up, a long flight of steps, from the roadway by the hall. Also on this site were brick buildings housing clerics, a bath- house and a NAAFI,
A civilian driver, using a RAF coach, drove us to work each day. I remember... Read more
Betton in The 1940s-50s
I remember Ramsdons living at Betton House in the 1940s - 50s. I myself lived at Moss Lane Farm, Betton from 1939 to 1959. My fathers name was Arthur Holland. I also remember delivering the newspapers to Betton House and that there were several small yapping dogs. I think after that Tellwrights lived at Betton House. Brenda Bailey nee Holland.
Betton Hall
I was looking at the photo of Betton Hall and I think my aunty used to live there, Joyce Allen.
Lock Keepers at Tyrley.
My great grandfather worked as a lock keeper at Tyrley at the time of my grandmother's birth in 1883. My great grandfather named William Nixon married an Elizabeth Timmis whose father and brothers also worked as lock keepers at Tyrley and lived there. My grandmother Eva Nixon married Henry Thacker and he too lived near Tyrley and worked as a 'lengthsman' on the canal.
RAF Buntingsdale HQ 22 Group Signals Section
I was posted to HQ 22 Group Market Drayton in 1949. I loved the place with many fond memories. There was talk of the green Lady a ghostly image of a Lady reflected on the wall, with the light from the green window colouring her green. The Hall was used during the war. There was an unused cypher office in the basement. This door was never opened until - One night in the telephone exchange a light shone on the switchboard. The operator removed the plug to answer but could only hear breathing. Next day we went to find the phone. It was in the Cypher room, an old phone full of thick dust. But when it was picked up the switchboard answered. Nobody could fathom that one out. I finished my National Service at Buntingsdale Hall in 1951. Now live in Australia.
Happy Days
Hi all Draytonions, In the 60s what a great town this was, so much fun, what a shame to see it now.. is this what they call progress, aaaah
John Tomlinson
1960-1969 Buntingsdale Lake/ Tern Hill
The best years of my life. I was happy and content and had lots of friends. My father was stationed at Tern Hill but we moved off base at Boscobel Road to a bungalow he built called "Green Haven" opposite Quarry House. We used to walk down the lane that came out by Buntingsdale Road and then over to the field where the Tern river is. There used to be the remains of an old mill and there was a plank across the river. If you kept on the path it would take you to the end of the lake. Many a day was spent playing with my model sailboats there. I would ride my bicycle to the base to play with my friends Christopher Pursley and Christopher Wren. We used to play in the bomb shelters and climb up the old hangars. Went to Market Drayton grammar school from 1964-69. Sadly after going back in 2001, the old school has been demolished in favour of a housing estate, Buntingsdale Road... Read more
Market Drayton Revisited.
I visited my mother in the Midlands (Shrewsbury)recently. A trip to Market Drayton on Wednesdays is mandatory (my stipulation) each time I travel from my home in Essex where I have resided for many years now. Although I recognise very few of the contemporary inhabitants of Market Drayton, there are places which are special and revisiting them has a sort of theraputical effect on me. First thoughts are just how big the town appeared when I lived there - now, the roads of my youth look so small. A lot of the original town is no more, but I did manage to have a brief conversation with thge owner of the house at the bottom of Pheonix Bank and he told me some interesting facts about the cottages (above the old tanyard), now sadly, demolished. My good friend Alan Bennett used to live there with his mum, dad and sister. The 'rec'(recreation ground) in Little Drayton has changed little except it now has a childrens' playground within. I spent my early years in Buntingsdale Road... Read more
Drayton Jottings
Drayton Jottings.
Auntie Alice, in Kings Avenue, regularly seen,
Out on her front doorstep, she kept it clean,
The 'raddled' red stone was buffed to a shine,
'Old fashioned traditions', here continued,so fine.
One day, from school I returned,
'Extra curricular activities' were learned,
'Hedge cutting hedge' - never seen before,
Laughter unlimited and chuckles galore,
But our Mr Hedge (the local deliverer of mail)
Was not the only anomaly in this little tale,
For the very next day, 'twould come to pass',
I'd see neighbour, Mr Green, cutting his grass!
The ancient dwellings, in the old 'town well',
Now, long demolished, in the name of progress they fell,
'Schoolward bound', each day I would pause for a while,
Fascinated by their charm and 'olde world' style,
'New homes for old' - the modernist head now reared,
Gradually the old Drayton of this era disappeared,
I pondered their fate and,looking on,w hat trouble,
Had heralded their demise, to just bricks and rubble,
It's a sad fact of... Read more
Childhood Memories
Childhood memories
The 'flowerpot men', 'weed', Amos and Andy,
Big Ted, little Ted, Loopy Lou, Andy Pandy,
Woodentops, spotty dog, gently 'supervised' by 'ma and pa',
Jack and Jill, Miss Moffet, 'twinkle,twinkle little star',
'Listen with mother' - "Are you comfortably sat?"
Rag, Tag and Bobtail, Rupert and Felix the cat,
Toytown, Sooty and Sweep, Muffin the mule,
George Formby films where he played the fool,
Sunday lunchtime 'wireless requests' - for BFPO 40.
'Metcalfe and Michelmore' - 'The Saint', being naughty.
Dr Quatermass and his extremely spooky pit,
Cauliflowers or pens - Crackerjack, a long running hit,
Ovaltine, morning coffee (biscuits) Pixie, Dixie and Jinks,
Ludo, skittles, snakes and ladders, drafts, tiddlywinks.
'Animal magic' - Johnny Morris, the 'hot chestnut man',
The Bash Street Gang, Charlie Peace, Desperate Dan,
Dinky cars, Hornby and Triang trains, Meccano sets,
The Beano, the Dandy, childish 'dares', silly 'bets',
'Roy of the Rovers', ginger wine, coal tar soap,
swings hitched on trees with lengths of old rope,
'Dennis the menace','Lord Snooty... Read more
Betton - A Rural Idyl
I literally stumbled upon this website and have been interested to read the memories of people who lived in Betton, a place well known to me. I lived there as a wartime evacuee in the 1940s, and Marc Chrysanthou's recollections were of particular interest as I know well the black and white cottage where his mother, whose name I forget, and his Uncle Michael lived as children. I also remember his grandparents, George and Winifred Lowe. His grandfather, George, was a gardener at Betton Hall where I and my three brothers lived as wartime evacuees. Prior to living at Betton Hall, we lived at Betton House with the Hon Mrs Edwards-Heathcote. She was the aunt of Sir Oswald Mosley who, contrary to common belief, was not born at Betton Hall, though he did live there for a while as a boy. He was born at Rolleston Hall in Staffordshire. At Betton House I knew Marc's great-grandfather who was the gardener there and I have a photograph of... Read more
RAF Tern Hill And St Joseph's College
From 1946 till 1951 we lived at RAF Tern Hill and every day my brother and I travelled by bus (Butters Bus Company as I remember!). We were dropped off near the lovely ivy-covered hotel in the square, and walked down the hill past the swimming pool then uphill to St Joseph's College. We were always impressed by the thought of Clive of India climbing that church tower - we looked at it once but decided not to try it. Tern Hill airfield was a paradise for adventurous little boys, and I never forgot the rasping sound of the engines of the Harvard trainers.
The college in Pell Wall Hall was also wonderful, with the ground filled with beech trees and rhodendenrons. I remember being told that a woman had committed suicide in Buntingsdale Lake while we were living there- later I wondered if that was true? Everyone we met in Drayton was nice and friendly, and I have wonderful memories of my days spent there! I went to Market... Read more
