Surbiton

Read and share memories of Surbiton and Surrey inspired by Frith photos

Art Deco in Berrylands

Like many local children I spent most of my summers at this pool and on very hot days visitors came from all over south London. There were paved terraces to lie on, a cafe for refreshments, and a childrens' paddling pool. In the grounds outside were two tennis courts, which were well-used by the locals. It was a perfect example of Deco architecture but was closed in the 1970s. Oddly, the area of the pool itself was not built on and was incorporated into the surrounding "Open Space" which leads to Berrylands Station, although the area of the tennis courts became a cul-de-sac of houses. A small ...read more here
Contributed by Anna Farlow

Growing up in Brighton Road

I remember my happy childhood in Brighton Road so well. We lived at 114, heading toward the Portsmouth road. My grandfather had built the house. It lay back from the road.
Mr and Mrs Harper ran the paper shop that had a telephone cubicle in it.
There was a shop next to the Black Lion that sold lemonade for a penny a glass. My friend Susan Dunford lived further down the road, we would wander and play and it always seemed very hot in the summer. We went to the pictures on Saturday mornings, Sunday School in the afternoon, afternoon tea at Packhams, the lovely proper post office. I went to Hazlewood School, I had to go over Surbiton station ...read more here

Grandmother's flat above the shops

My family's house, just off the Kingston Bypass (now known as the A3) in Tolworth, was damaged as the result of enemy action in September 1940 and my parents and I stayed for a while with my grandmother in Surbiton. Her flat was on the first floor at the far corner above the shops on the left of the photo, just before the Odeon Cinema which lay slightly back from the building line. One of my enduring childhood memories is of kneeling at the window of her sitting room and watching the trolleybuses attempt to turn the very sharp corner from St Mark's Hill into Claremont Road without their two poles leaving the overhead electified wires. The crossover points of these ...read more here
Contributed by Noreen Ayton

Growing up in Brighton Road

I remember my happy childhood in Brighton Road so well. We lived at 114, heading toward the Portsmouth road. My grandfather had built the house. It lay back from the road.
Mr and Mrs Harper ran the paper shop that had a telephone cubicle in it.
There was a shop next to the Black Lion that sold lemonade for a penny a glass. My friend Susan Dunford lived further down the road, we would wander and play and it always seemed very hot in the summer. We went to the pictures on Saturday mornings, Sunday School in the afternoon, afternoon tea at Packhams, the lovely proper post office. I went to Hazlewood School, I had to go over Surbiton station ...read more here