Portway
Portway maps (2 available)
Map of Somerset
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Portway photos (none available)
We have no photos of Portway,although these nearby locations do:Portway books (8 available)
Portway memories
Read and share memories of Portway and Somerset inspired by Frith photos
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Somerset memories
Shopping memories.
My father was a greengrocer and his shop appears in this photograph on the left side going into the Rex Cinema arcade, a butchers shop was on the right side. During the war years and into the very early 1950s, he was the largest greengrocer in Bridgwater, having the Eastover shop and one in Taunton Road, my parents looking after one each. They also had a third shop which my sister ran for several years. That section of Eastover, including the Rex arcade, Mr Jeal the ironmonger and several other shops were demolished in the early 1960s to make way for the rather bland row of shops that now occupy the spot.
A memory of Bridgwater contributed by Mr J Haines
Village memories.
This is a view of the top of West Street with the Post Office on the left. The Postmaster then was Mr Herbert Winn. Opposite is Tetts Farm with the milk churns awaiting collection outside. The farmer was Henry Best. The lady coming along the pavement is Mrs Louisa Stoodley. She was widowed in the First World War and herself lost an arm while working at nearby Lopen factory.
A memory of Hinton St George contributed by The Frith Memory Archivist
Names of people and buildings.
Here we are looking down West Street with the village school visible at the end. On the left is Tetts Farm with the milk churns, while next is Manor Farm, farmed by Reg Newick. The thatched building before the school is Old Farm, farmed by Rhesa Warry, with a little sweet shop next door. All these farms are now private houses. Behind the village cross can be seen the shop window of the Post Office while the large gabled building is the 15th century George & Crown Inn sadly burned down in 1960. The ladies outside are Mrs Evelyn Best from Tetts Farm, and on the right is Mrs Stenner who lived in West Street. West ...read more here
A memory of Hinton St George contributed by The Frith Memory Archivist
Working life memories.
As a boy of 11 or 12 I left school everyday at 3.30pm. I then drove the cows to Mr Goodings Mill about 30 or 40 yards away from Mr Shepherd's shop. After being milked I drove them back again. In wintertime I'd grind up mangolds. I was paid 1/6 for this. Then I worked at Mr Shepherd's shop running errands and did odd jobs etc. I remember very well he had fowl houses under the Bridge road but the Council made a hole in the road and horse-drawn lorries drove to the top and tipped everything down the hole until it filled up. That part of the road is called The Ramp. Opposite my ...read more here
A memory of Washford contributed by Mr GR Bates
Extracts From Portway & Somerset books
The caves were formed about 400 million years ago by the rainwater boring through the limestone. The underground
streams and lakes, which swirled around to form caverns, finally emerge as the river Axe. Until 1948 divers had only been
able to reach and explore Chamber 9. A tunnel was opened in 1975 to permit the public to visit previously inaccessible
chambers, and modern divers have explored as far as Chamber 25. The caves contain the deepest sump in Britain at 67m.
An extract from from"Wells Photographic Memories".
This is in essence the same building today; it is now painted
white and green, with bigger windows and no veranda,
surrounded by the car park. The river Axe tumbles from the caves
to feed a paper mill, built in 1848 using local stone. It was built by
the same family who built the church, the school, Wookey Hole
Club and many houses for their employees. The previous mill
had been built by 1656. The paper produced here is still made by
hand. The village flourishes on the tourist trade.
An extract from from"Wells Photographic Memories".
This building is no longer operating as a guest house; the caravan and camping park is now the main business, and it has
had an indoor swimming pool since about 1980. King John granted the manor of Rodney Stoke to Sir Osbert Gifford, and it
was transferred by marriage to Sir Richard de Rodney. The 17th-century manor farmhouse boasts a six-seater WC. The 12th-
century church of St Leonard is now in Perpendicular style.
An extract from from"Wells Photographic Memories".
This building was erected in 1911 when the original inn burnt
down. There has been an inn on this site since the 12th century;
it was originally a cider house, part of an orchard. It now has a
caravan park and a restaurant. The walnut tree on the left is over
a hundred years old and subject to a protection order. The son of
an earlier landlord died on the Titanic in 1912.
An extract from from"Wells Photographic Memories".
We are looking east. The village stands on the north bank of Doulting Water, also known as the River Sheppey. Thus the
name of the village may also derive from the words ‘dun’, meaning ‘a hill’, and ‘dwr’, ‘water’. The manor was held by the
Rodney family of Rodney-Stoke for many centuries until it passed to the Somerville family by marriage. Today, alpacas graze
by the Manor House.
An extract from from"Wells Photographic Memories".