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France Lynch

France Lynch photos (3 available)

Old photo of France Lynch

France Lynch maps (2 available)

Old map of France Lynch

France Lynch books (13 available)

France Lynch memories

Caravan Holiday with Mum

We stayed in a small caravan on Ridings Farm, owned then by Mr & Mrs Rand. We travelled by coach from Gosport, Hampshire. Catherine Hackett, my mother,adopted me when I was less than a year old, she was widowed and had 4 children of her own and as you can guess she was very special. Gosport is a naval town on the opposite side of the Portsmouth harbour. We had no television, no car and so I had quite a limited childhood. To then find myself amongst this truly lovely countryside and the introduction to cows, calves, piglets etc was awesome. We spent another holiday there some 4 or 5 years later and they were the ...read more here
Contributed by Stella Flux

Gloucestershire memories

Caravan Holiday with Mum

We stayed in a small caravan on Ridings Farm, owned then by Mr & Mrs Rand. We travelled by coach from Gosport, Hampshire. Catherine Hackett, my mother,adopted me when I was less than a year old, she was widowed and had 4 children of her own and as you can guess she was very special. Gosport is a naval town on the opposite side of the Portsmouth harbour. We had no television, no car and so I had quite a limited childhood. To then find myself amongst this truly lovely countryside and the introduction to cows, calves, piglets etc was awesome. We spent another holiday there some 4 or 5 years later and they were the ...read more here
A memory of France Lynch contributed by Stella Flux

Early Life in Chalford

I was born in Chalford at "The Little House" in Chalford Hill in 1932 and lived there until March 1940. I was the youngest of six children who all lived in the cottage and have very lovely memories of both the cottage and the local school which I attended. My Mother was a local girl who was a clerk in the post office beore her marriage. Her name was Florence Emily Griffin, and she married my Father Christopher Hugo Chatteris in 1924 when they moved into "The Little House" prior to that the cottage was occupied by my Grandmother who died in 1932. I recently returned to Chalford, and although I remembered the hill was steep, at my now advanced ...read more here
A memory of Chalford Hill contributed by Dinah Milgate

My Grandmother

Chalford, the Church 1900

My Grandmother was born in The Round House, Chalford in 1901.

A memory of Chalford contributed by Joanna Smart

Extracts From France Lynch & Gloucestershire books

Stroud, Memorial Gardens c1965

Sidney B Park was a successful businessman; in Edwardian days he owned two drapery shops in Stroud. However, on 26 October 1917 his only son, Herbert, was killed in France, and in 1927 the Park family gave land to create a public garden in his memory. Sidney and his wife, Ellen, are buried in Stroud Cemetery.
An extract from from"Stroud Photographic Memories".

Chalford, on the Canal 1910

When this picture was taken, the canal had only recently undergone a restoration programme. Of the two pubs shown here, The New Red Lion (centre) survives. The Bell Inn (left) is now a private house. The retaining wall on the right was part of Chalford Station yard. The careful posing of the children adds considerably to the appeal of the photograph.
An extract from from"Stroud Photographic Memories".

Stroud, High Street 1910

Here we are looking down the High Street, with Smith’s chemist’s shop – still at this period with only one large window – on the right. Below it is Withey’s grocery store, long-established even in 1910. When the building changed hands a few years ago, a large number of early grocery orders was discovered in an attic.
An extract from from"Stroud Photographic Memories".

Stroud, Parish Church 1910

Here we can see a portion of the gardens of Bank House in the days before they became accessible to the public. Note the thatched summerhouse. A photograph exists, taken from the same position in the 1870s, showing Mr W Cheriton, a member of the church choir, balancing on one leg on the very top of the spire, during renovation work!
An extract from from"Stroud Photographic Memories".

Stroud, Church nave east 1890

The church exterior is of Bisley stone, while that used for the interior walls, most of the pulpit and the base of the font, comes from Painswick. The floor tiles are from Herefordshire. A few early monuments survive from the former church, notably a fine 17th-century memorial commemorating the Stephens family of Lypiatt. There are several good Victorian stained-glass windows.
An extract from from"Stroud Photographic Memories".