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Milton Barracks at Gravesend
Our advance party arrived at Milton Barracks around June (could be wrong) to re-open the Barracks to commence training. As I remember, being the advance party the Cooks didn't consider we were worth feeding so we were rationed. In order to get a good meal we went around town looking for chippies etc. When we got more used to the town the pubs came next, then the good old Prom. During my happy stay at the Barracks I was promoted! It didn't last long, I was busted and posted to the School of Artillary near Stonehenge. My happiest days I remember even now are of Gravesend, I married a Gravesend Gril and returned to live there for around 25 years. Sadly the old Gravesend I knew has gone but I still have my memories... Like New Year's Eve, all the boats cocka-dooddle-doing, everyone with the windows flung open wishing all who passed by Happy New Year. My wife and I still visit her sister at Hollybush Road but the way things have changed, we would not like to move back, all the old characters have gone, the shops we knew are gone (now same as everywhere else). We have lots of film, video etc of Gravesend to look at but that is not the same as being there. I have a lot to thank Gravesend for, it found me happiness and the girl I loved, we had a lovely family, 4 boys and 1 girl, all born in Gravesend (AT HOME). That I think is the one... Read more
Just Married 1970
I spent many a happy time walking my Boxer dog round Old Portsmouth and he loved it down on the beach by the Hotwalls where I would throw stones in the sea for him to go and get. I had only just got married and my husband was in the forces so he was away a lot so Blue (Boxer dog) and I spent a lot of happy times together, he was good company and through him I met so many other dog walkers.
Swimming Certificate
Margaret's memories of the pool jogged my own. I too remember being transported on red double deckers to the pool on several cold May and June mornings for swimming lessons. I attended Coburg Street Secondary School for Boys and there was no question of whether to enter the pool or not, we were pushed by the teachers if we hesitated. The good news though is that I managed to get a quarter mile certificate by completing several diameters of the pool. It was a miracle that we did nt catch pneumonia after some of those mornings. Jeff Smith Sydney
The Janie
The Schooner in the foreground is the Janie 62682 built by Stribley of Padstow in 1870 and employed in coastal trading. My husband's grandfather Charlie Derry sailed on her in 1913 according to her ship's log. We have a portrait photograph taken from the other side of the quay with no other boats moored alongside. Maureen Tatlow
The Girl Maureen
She was launched as a rowing lifeboat, Docea Chapman, and came to Padstow as a relief boat. She was only on station for nine moths then laid up. I am the girl Maureen. Father bought her in 1952 and converted her into a fishing boat, giving her my name. I spent many hours at sea with him hauling pots and catching mackerel. He retired in 1982 but continued to fish skippering other people's boats until his death in 1996. Many happy memories of days at sea, warm flasks of tea and kitkats. The boat was sold to the Lynton and Lynmouth Preservation Society in 1982, restored to her lifeboat colours and shape and renamed Louisa II. She was deemed too old to haul over Porlock Hill on the 100th anniversary of the Overland Launch but is still on public display in Lynmouth. Maureen Tatlow (The Girl Maureen)
Coffee Shop in Duke Street
Does anyone remember the name of the coffee shop in Duke Street opposite the Golden Fleece, you could smell the coffee from miles away!
ANCESTRY RESEARCH TREASURE
I am SO grateful for this image as it set me off on my visit to Grantham to further research my ancestry. For me, it shows two properties of J.T. Broughton. My ancestors, Hackworth, married into the Broughton family and were in these properties at the time this image was taken. Very exciting. It has brought my research to life. Who knows, maybe that is one of my ancestors standing with the horse outside!
Where is my Birth Mother
My birth mother was born in Greenock on September 26, 1926. I have been looking for her for 35 years. She came to Canada before I was born. I was born in 1950 and I don't know if she ever returned. Her name was Rose Marie Giubbani MacKenzie. If anyone has any information about her or her family, please get in touch. Her adopted father had a cafe in Greenook and he was from Italy. Her adopted mother was Maeri MacDonald. Thank you to everyone that reads this and can help me.
1984-1986
I attended the high school and college. Very fond memories of the campus and all the people I got to know. Sorry to hear it closed down.
Nursing Auxillary in Abraham Cowley Unit, Chertsey
I moved to Sandy Lane, opposite Lindsey Smith nurses' accommodation in Virginia Water. There were twelve of us auxillaries from Scotland as far as Kent. We all used to go out to the local pub by the station, The Trotsworth, and ask for a glass of water if we were feeling the pinch. We had a minibus that took us to work at St. Peter's Hospital. Unfortunately The Holloway Sanotorium was closed by then, but we did meet Madonna's bodyguards at the local pub when she was with Sean Penn making a movie called 'Shanghai Surprise'. Bonnie Tyler did the video for 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' there as well. We also worked with nurses who used to work at the sanatorium and were told about the haunting picture in the main hall whose eyes followed you everywhere. It would have been fantastic to look around the place, but due to a lot of filming and adverts made there it was not possible. A lovely place to live in Virginia Water and the lake and Wentworth, great friendships made and great memories.
Working in Ealing
I had a few jobs in Ealing jewellers opposite Woolworths, I also worked in a ladies clothes shop which was Lilly and Skinner. My mum worked in Gino's Italian resturant near the station and my sister worked in Boots in the arcade. Happy days.
Memories of The 1960s
This morning I have just walked up Helsby Hill in the mist and rain with my brother and partner. It is the first time I have been up here for 40+ years. In the 1960s when I wasa little girl I used to meet my grandparents here, who lived in Chester, and I lived in Gatley, Cheshire. I have fond memories of going down the helter skelter, my legs used to burn from the coir mats. I also remember the arcade/dance hall.
The Blue Rooms
It was The Blue Rooms when I was a teenager in the 1980s, good times, legging it for the last train.
Padgate Cottage Homes
The opening on the left of the photo is the entrance to Padgate Cottage Homes. I first went in there in 1948 as a 6 year old and finally left in 1953 as a 12 year old. The events that happened in there over those years were to shape the rest of my life. Although life in there was quite tough, you have to remember that it was tough for most folk at that time. The good memories vastly outweigh the bad memories. Good memories, including the annual 4 week camp at Knott-End-on-Sea, trips out to places like the Lakes and even as far as London to the Festival of Britain. But Christmas times were fantastic, apart from the in-house celebrations, we were invited to parties given by the RAF and also the Americans at Burtonwood. The thing is, when you live in a home with upwards of 130 children there is always someone to play with. The house straight across from the gates was my first call on bob-a-job day, they were great people who always found us some little job or other, whether it be a bit of weeding or polishing the silver, anything just so we could earn our shilling. The view up the lane reminds me of walking excitedly up to the bus stop at Paddington post office to meet visiting relatives, though that was a pretty rare thing.
Wonderful Wellingborough in my Early Informative Years!
I lived in Wellingborough from 1952 to 1971. My Father was J N Clark, and with my Mum owned and ran the General Store on Weavers Road until 1960. Mum and Dad took me to see my first film at the Silver Cinema on Silver Street sometime around the mid fifties. The film was 'Peter Pan'. I don't recall much about the inside of the cinema except that, looking back now, it was probably quite small. The outside of the cinema was painted white and, as I recall, seemed to have a large arched portico. I really miss those wonderful days. When I return from time to time to the old town I am not at all impressed with the changes made to modernise the town centre and surrounds.
Stan
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Places this week
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- Netley Abbey, Hampshire
- Milton Abbot, Devon
- Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire
- Seaton Carew, Cleveland
- Twechar, Lanarkshire
- Upper Arley, Worcestershire
- Litherland, Merseyside
- Chelmsford, Essex
- Eastleigh, Hampshire
- Hindhead, Surrey
- Whitby, North Yorkshire
- Kibblesworth, Tyne and Wear
- Alton, Hampshire
- Reigate, Surrey
- Padgate, Cheshire
- North Broomhill, Northumberland
- Aveley, Essex
- Horne, Surrey
- Plumstead, Norfolk
- Methilhill, Fife
- ... and lots more - Browse this week's memories now.
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