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Mears Ashby

Mears Ashby maps

Historic maps of Mears Ashby and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis.   View all Mears Ashby maps

Mears Ashby photos

We have no photos of Mears Ashby, although we do have photos of these nearby places:

Earls Barton| Overstone| Great Doddington| Wellingborough| Moulton| Wollaston| Castle Ashby| Isham| Irchester| Great Houghton| Northampton| Finedon| Burton Latimer| Bozeat| Barton Seagrave| Hardingstone

Mears Ashby area books

Displaying 1 of 8 books about Mears Ashby and the local area.   View all books for this area

Memories of Mears Ashby

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Northamptonshire memories

Maypole Dancing

I'm Ecton born and bred however now live 500 miles away, on the west coast of Scotland.

A book was written by and about the village a few years ago and I was very surprised when browsing through my copy to find myself in a photograph of the school kids dancing round the Maypole.

The Church Where David Tall Married Susan Ford in 1963

The Church c1965
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This is a photo of Earls Barton Church in 1965, just two years after Susan Ford of Earls Barton married David Tall of Wellingborough 21 Sept 1963.

Miss Wills - Teacher at Earls Barton Primary School Poss 1965

The Church c1965
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Attending Primary School in Earls Barton I remember a teacher called Miss Wills very well.
She drew shy pupils out of their shells and plonked them on the stage. The performance she put on included Alice in Wonderland and I remember her encouaging all to participate.
Miss Wills took a small group of pupils from my year and took us, for the very first time, to the Northampton Rep to see Great Expectations. It was our first introduction to the theatre and also to Charles Dickens.
A sort of 60's version of Jean Brodie she chose children who she felt had potential and embedded within them a love of English and a love of the theatre.
A wonderful teacher!
Marian Kelleher

The Best Years of my Life

The Village c1955
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Happy memories indeed. For an eight year old living in the village in the mid 1950s it was heaven. Long summer evenings and school holidays playing in woods, open fields and on building sites. Or cycling (yes at eight) to Overstone park or down to Castle Ashby station to watch the trains from Northampton and Wellingborough come past. No nanny state in those days, no parents worrying about their children playing out until dusk! Memories of the smell of leather from the shoe factory on North Street come flooding back along with memories of Lyons Maid ice creams and Jublies from Ingrams shop on Victoria Street. The village bobby was called Bosworth who once gave me four lashes of the strap and confiscated my bike for four days just because I nicked a few World War One rifles that I found in an anex next to the church. I tried to sell them for six pence each to my mates. How times have changed for today, social workers,... Read more

Caravan Rally

The Solarium Hotel c1955
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My parents kept our caravan at Overstone - on the far side near the lake. One year, 1953 I think, the National Caravan Rally came to Overstone and the field filled up with hundreds of caravans. I think this photo is the milk queue!

Photo Memories

The Solarium Hotel c1955
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I have sepia photos of Overstone - somewhere, I wonder if it is possible that they are Francis Frith images? I have a b&w photo of my mum, my brother and myself sitting in front of a bank of daffodills, I think it was taken on a visit to Overstone. Mum always told me that someone well known had taken the phot.

Life in Wellingborough After The War

My family moved to 121 Midland Road during the winter of 1946 as my father worked in a local paint factory till 1948. There was a huge monkey puzzle tree in the front garden. I was 7 and my sister was 10. We loved that house. We used to belong to the Boots Booklovers library in the town and were allowed to go and change our books on our own. I remember going to the Wellingborough Zoo for special occasions and can still see the polar bear walking to and fro along his cage. We used to collect conkers from the park near our house and give them to our dad for his work, as they needed them to extract the oil for their paint. Our milk was delivered on a horse and cart and poured into jugs at the front door. We kept it in the pantry during the winter and scalded it in the summer, which gave a thick creamy crust for our cornflakes. We had brought a... Read more

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