Portishead memories
Here are memories of Portishead and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Portishead or a Portishead photo.
Merchant Navy Memorial at Battery Point
One freezing cold day in December 2010 I went for a long coastal walk while staying with our friends Valerie and Jim Bougnague in Portishead. I was fascinated to find what I thought was a small lighthouse on the very tip of Battery Point but when I walked over a metal catwalk above the rocks to reach it I read a small sign: "This is a fog siren and may sound without warning. Please wear ear defenders". As I am deaf and rely on hearing aids to amplify sound I quickly beat a hasty retreat!
Just above the fog siren is a stone memorial to honour the lost seafarers of our Merchant Navy. A plaque explained that the location was chosen as it is the closest land in the United Kingdom to ocean going ships. There are two poppy wreaths attached to the memorial base and these were the first ones I have seen with poppies of different colours - presumably the blue ones... Read more
Memories After The War Years.
I was the eldest of six children,'the Allen Family', and spent all our happiest years in Redcliffe Bay and then Portishead, after coming from Britsol in the 1940s (our family was one of the casualties in the Bristol bombing). The lake was a special place to go, and really one of the only places in thse days. I spent my happy school / teenage years in Portishead and then moved to Bath where I now live. I am Betty, and after all these years am still in contact with my special school friend Ann (Edwards).
Portishead - Our First House
My wife and I bought our first house at Portishead, South Road, it was £2,200, we could only borrow, so the monthly payment was the same as a week's wages, no overtime or my wife's wages taken into consideration. We had three children and some happy times. I worked on the coal boats and then Albright and Wilson phos factory.
John Burge.
Margaret And Wallflowers
Margaret and wallflowers
The year was 1950. I was thirteen years 'old' and walking along this beach with Margaret, her brother John and my brother, Peter. When we arrived at the spot where the man is sitting in the photograph, I looked up and saw wallflowers growing on the cliff face.
I decided to climb up and pick some for Margaret. When I became level with the flowers, about fourteen feet above the beach, (it seemed much higher), I held on with my left hand and picked a few with my right.
As locals will know the rock here is very loose and crumbly, and the piece I was holding onto came away in my hand. I remember looking at it and beginning the slow motion fall.
I landed on my back, with a particularly large rock under my lower back. I was unable to move, rock and wallflowers still in my hands.
My brother, aged eight, was frightened for me and ran all the... Read more
St Peters Church
My father was Rector here from 1947 - 1964
Where I Was Born in 1951
This photo shows Woodhill Road, the houses at the top of the picture, the road I was
born in 1951. How the scene has changed over the years.
Long gone are the power station chimneys and the old boating shed where my Grandpa used to work. As a child I rode my pony around the lake grounds through
the village and then to the top of Naish Hill where I kept her.
Memories of Avon
My Home
I have lived in the village all my life, all 29 years of it. I have lived in 3 different cottages, the 1st was opposite the village hall, I am 1 of 4 children and I have many happy memories of living there till just before my 10th birthday. My father then got offered a bigger house just up the road. That was a very special house a lovely big garden plus I had my own room!! I then left school at 16yrs and worked for Sir William helping my father maintain the cottages and land. I was then fortunate to be offered my 3rd home in the village - where I have brought up my two young children and me and my husband are expecting child number 3. I have such happy memories of our annual village fete, beetle drives and village dances. I've seen many people come and go, sadly too many of them passing away. The village is now an ever changing place, but I will continue... Read more
Childhood Memories of Nailsea in The 1960s
I was brought up in Nailsea. My parents owned a toy and gift shop on Station Road rented from Bob Vance, later we moved to Noah's Ark Cottage. Built in 1666, it had all the original features intact, the stone walls, roses in the garden cultivated since 1666, and I also remember finding Green Nailsea and Bristol Blue glass when planting conifers. I remember the smell of freshly made buns at Parsons the bakers, Hewitts Spar on the corner of Clevedon Road and the local village policeman, Mr Genge. My school was Seven Oaks. The school dinners were served up by jolly cooks. I also remember the dentist Mr Scull, Reynolds sweet shop on Silver Street, Mr Aish the building merchant. I have so many happy memories of Nailsea and would love to hear from anybody else who remembers Nailsea in the good old days.
Nailsea Memories
My Grandfather was the late Robert (Bob) Dunlop Vance who owned and ran the old Post Office and who built the shops alongside. They previously lived at Westcroft on the other end of Station Road, and later moved to Hillcrest Road.
YMCA Agricultural Training Centre Ham Green Pill
In February 1949, my husband Derek travelled from London to start agricultural training at the YMCA Agricultural Training Centre at Ham Green, Pill, on a scheme known as 'British Boys for British Farms'. He arrived at Temple Meads Station, and caught a small train which in those days ran from Bristol to Portishead. Although born in London, he hated the idea of city life, so chose to study farming. One special memory of his time there is of seeing the Severn Bore. He subsequently obtained work at a farm in North Dorset.
Derek would be interested to hear from any other ex-training centre boys. Tel: 01590 681972
Pill Bicycle Shop
My maternal grandfather, Allan Henry Ball, had a bicycle shop in Pill prior to the Second World War. My mother had a photo of herself as a child outside the shop (in the 1920s). I believe that both my grandfather and his wife were born and bred in the area of Pill and Nailsea The window had whitewash advertisedments stating new bicycles at 10/6p. Unfortunately all the family photos disappeared on my mother's death. The family moved to Downend, Bristol at the Second World War and I believe my grandfather worked as an engineer at Parnells, Yate on Spitfire production. I know my mother, Irene Eleanor Ball, worked there also for a time. My uncle, Allan Ball, served in the REME for the war and later lived in Iron Acton until his death. His wife, Grace, died shortly after. They had no children. Another daughter was Roma who lived in Birmingham and was married to Cyril Rowley, I am not sure of their existence now, I do know they... Read more
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