Elsing

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The Bawdeswell Plane Crash, The Willows and The Rectory.

Although I was just a little lad I can remember seeing the smoking debris of All Saints Church after the Mosquito crashed on it.

I was staying in "The Willows" which is opposite the church with my mum, my sisters, my cousins and my aunts, who were all evacuees from London.  It was a miracle that the plane never hit the house.

Next to the Willows was a corrugated iron building and I remember that there were a lot of cars and lorries that seemed to be stored there. I remember how dark it was in The Willows but my mum told me later that it was because there was no electricity, just oil lamps. My mum bless her ...read more here
A memory of contributed by Joe O'Brien

Occupations in Great Witchingham

I have found out that my great, great, great grandfather, William Brigham was a baker at Great Witchingham (1841 census). My other GGG grandfather, James Smith, was a miller.
James Smith's son, Frederick, was the grocer/draper/flower seller (1871 census).
William's grandson, Frederick, became the rate collector, coal and oil merchant by 1896.
Would love to find any pictures of the area.

A memory of contributed by julie angell

My hometown

I was born in 1928 at Woodhill, Gressenhall and moved to Dereham at the age of 6yrs and left when I married some 20 years later. It was a happy childhood in spite of the war years, in fact it added to the excitement of those years, dashing out to crashed planes, collecting shrapnel, army badges etc and of course the generous handouts from the American troops of chocolate, gum, cigs plus the grub when we went on to the bases at Shipdham and Wendling, bearing in mind that our food was rationed.
Then the Evacuees came to Dereham. I was one of the helpers that walked the children to their new homes.
This influx of children meant that the schools ...read more here
A memory of East Dereham contributed by tony blades

Bird Family

Hello My name is Chris Dann I am a direct decendant of Frank Gilbert Bird of Honingham, England and I am looking for decendants of his brothers and sisters. Frank had an older brother named Charles Edward Bird born in 1893, a younger brother named Cyril Victor Bird born in 1900  and a younger sister named Olive born in 1892. Olive married a Stanley Shickle and they lived in East Dereham. Frank also had a younger sister named Kathleen born in 1904, Harvey George born in 1906, Eric Perival 1908 and Melville Eve born in 1910. The family grew up at Tollgate Farm and sometime after the 1901 census the name of the farm was changed to the Grange Farm.
read more here
A memory of contributed by Chris Dann