Basildon
Basildon maps (2 available)
Map of Berkshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Basildon books (12 available)
Maidenhead Town Walk Guide
Paperback
Berkshire Pocket Album
Paperback
Newbury Living Memories
Paperback
Basildon memories
Read and share memories of Basildon and Berkshire inspired by Frith photos
Be the first to add a memory of Basildon.
You can also read memories of nearby places in Berkshire below.
Berkshire memories
The Boat.
The boat in the photograph was completed in 1949 by my father George Watson. We lived in Palmers Green, London N13. I am up forward then aged 11. I think the picture was taken in 1949 as I can remember the occasion well.
A memory of Pangbourne contributed by Mr J Watson
fear of wells
The well incident at yattendon scared my father. We had heard about it through relatives and we lived in east tytherley at the time. I remember my father spending a weekend tapping floors and trying to lift flag stones in our kitchen because he was convinced that there was a well under our home- there wasnt.
A memory of Yattendon contributed by joy milligan
The Royal Oak
'The Oak' is the only pub and hotel in the village and in the fifties our next door neighbour was the cleaner there. She would cycle to the village from the farm on a heavy green bicycle in a slow and ponderous manner that has stayed with me to this day. I must have been about nine when the awful event happened that haunted me for years. Police came to the village school one day to ask our neighbour's daughter where her mum was going that morning as she was not at work. The doors in the porch of the pub had been sticking for some months and the cleaner had complained and asked for something to be done, to no ...read more here
A memory of Yattendon contributed by Maggi Stamp-Loshak
The Well House
This was where everyone waited for the buses that took us east to Pangbourne and Reading or west to Newbury, our main shopping town. Newbury had a thriving market twice a week and buses were frequent, eight per day.
The Well House did indeed have a well beneath it and following a tragedy at the Royal Oak pub in which our next door neighbour was killed, the building was renovated.
Originally it was an open wooden structure supported on a low brick wall but after the deep well had been filled it had the sides bricked in. Whilst this is less drafty when waiting for a bus it meant that we couldn't see it coming nor see who else was ...read more here
A memory of Yattendon contributed by Maggi Stamp-Loshak
Extracts From Basildon & Berkshire books
This general view of
Northbrook Street shows
the gable end to the left
of a shop front, above
which is a clock. This is all
that remains of cloth-
maker John Winchcombe’s
house. On the left is
Richard Shops and to the
left of it is an advert for
Rentaset – 9 shillings
weekly for a 19-inch television.
An extract from from"Newbury Living Memories".
One of the striking
features of this
photograph is that
many of the shops
have awnings to keep
their wares cool and
shaded in summer – a
rare sight today.
Though rather
cluttered, this
photograph of the
street does allow you a
distant glimpse of the
clock tower at the far end.
An extract from from"Newbury Living Memories".
The view from this bridge
has changed significantly in
the last 50 years. Much of the
greenery has gone and the
scene on the right is
dominated by Camp
Hopson’s furniture store as
well as several other modern
buildings. The canal is in
constant use today so the
towpath to the right of it is
broad and clear. The tower of
the old Town Hall can still be seen.
An extract from from"Newbury Living Memories".
Victoria Park lies to the east of Newbury town centre and covers an area of seventeen acres. The park includes a statue of
Queen Victoria (see photograph N61083, above), guarded by two terracotta lions, which originally stood in the Market Place.
An extract from from"Newbury Living Memories".
This familiar parade of shops
on the A4 was quite new
when this photograph was
taken. The scene is much
busier today, with much
more traffic and many more
pedestrians. A set of lights
enables people to cross the
road in safety between the
Health Centre and the
chemist, second shop from
the end on the left of the picture.
An extract from from"Newbury Living Memories".