Memories of Norwich

Early Years

Too much to say, so in brief: lived on Wolfe Road, played on Mousehold, fireworks night great and sledged on cardboard in the summer and sledge in the snow; watched the soldiers in Brittania Barracks and them lowering the flag just outside the main gates in a railed enclosure long gone; horses at Nelson Barracks at the bottom of Ketts Hill; collected old newspapers which I stacked on old pram wheels which I took to Warmingers by the river to get pocket money; stood on Carrow railway bridge to watch the steam trains, and Derek Warman's father was a signalman so sometimes we went to the signal box, that box has now gone; was photographed by the EDP with Dennis Mathews; watching the old knife sharpener on Brittania Road - still have the photo; used to swim in the rivers around Norwich, no Health & Safety then, we had to use our own common sense; the Heartsease was an open field, saw the first house and at the end of Valley Rise there was a wood yard, now bungalows; stood on Whitlingham station footbridge while the steam train went under and got told off for getting dirty; used to help or hinder at Tookes Roses at Brundall; on Ketts Hill there was a milk depot and they had a horse and cart, I helped there; in winter the buses had a job on Ketts Hill; Gas Hill I have cycled up a few times and in winter sledged down it, past the gas works; waited for mother outside Reads flour mills where she worked as a typist then walked home by Riverside Road; I believe it was Hector Read who used to let me into the wooden office by the road when it was wet, he was a great man. We lived at 14 Wolfe Road, 2 doors away was Mrs Fiddy who had a small shop in the front room, now gone, next to us were the Aldens and Mrs Miller.
On the corner of Brittania Road lived the Scotts.