The Beach 1887, Portishead
The Beach 1887, Portishead Ref: 20188
Memories of The Beach 1887, Portishead
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
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.
Portishead & local memories
Read and share memories of Portishead and Avon inspired by Frith photos.
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).
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.
