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Pitch Place, Village 1908

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Bagshot, Church 1906 (ref: 57176)
Year: 1953 Clipping the hedge at St Annes
A memory of Bagshot, Surrey

My dad, Eric Berry, used to clip this hedge - BY HAND!
When we're little, things always seem bigger than they really are, but my recollections of watching my Dad clip this hedge on the days he did the gardening at St Anne's church, were pretty accurate. It really is as big as I remember!
I also recall going to St Anne's Hall ( a bit further back down the hill?) with my Mum, to collect our ration books. At the bottom of the hill was Fortuna's Ice Cream Parlour - I can still remember the lucious creamy taste! Yum!

Last edited: 26/01/2008 06:43 by Liz Schultz (nee Berry)  

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Bagshot, the Cricketers c1955 (ref: B4003)
Year: 1953 1955 & prior - the Cricketers etc
A memory of Bagshot, Surrey

I was born in 1947 (a home birth) in Grove End cottage which was, and still is, located pretty much across the London Road and railway line from the Cricketers pub. Although I've never been inside the pub, I have on occasion as a child, watched cricket with my Dad at the weekends. I notice on the satellite map that the cricket pitches are still there - the photo must have been taken on a day of play as ant-like figures are clearly visible, dotted all around the grounds.
Many things have changed over the years - Grove End was once surrounded by dairy farms run by Arthur Knight and Jack Wooldrige. These farms are now gone - one a golf course, the other an industrial estate. The woods near the railway station which in spring were strewn with blue bells, today play host to a housing development and major roads now criss-cross the old farm landscape.
The Pantiles Tea Rooms which once existed further along the London Road from the Cricketers have long gone together with the attached swimming pool my Mum used to take me to. They were turned into a night club where, in my twenties, I returned with old work colleagues to celebrate a friends wedding.
Next door to the Cricketers is Bagshot Park which of course still remains together with its royal residents. I recall going to a fete either there or Penny Hill Park and winning first prize in the fancy dress - I used the prize money to buy my Mum a set of 3 of those awful flying ducks which she dutifully hung on the wall!
At the age of 8 I moved to Camberley and I've posted childhood and teen memories of my haunts along the London Road between the Blue Pool and Duke of York Hotel. I now live in Australia on North Stradbroke Island off the Queensland coast near Brisbane - we all change and move on! Some things however never change, such as great memories....

Last edited: 26/01/2008 06:14 by Liz Schultz (nee Berry)  

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Camberley, London Road c1955 (ref: C12081)
Year: 1960 1960s and prior -London Road Haunts
A memory of Camberley, Surrey

I was born in Bagshot but moved to Camberley in 1955 when I was 8. I attended York Town Primary School which was, and on checking the maps still appears to be, located on the other side of the London Road, a bit further down from what was once the Odeon cinema. Later on, like Gaynor Henderson (Smith), I went to France Hill School and in 1966 also married a soldier from the RMA. I moved to Australia in early 1973 shortly after my marriage failed and now live on North Stradbroke Island with my new partner. When we talk of our early years I fondly recall my old haunts along the London Road - the Blue Pool and waiting impatiently for opening day on the first of April each year then nearly freezing to death,  the Cambridge Hotel and trad jazz nights in the room out the back, Moss Bros shop where as a child I'd press my nose against the window drooling over the saddlery, the Staff College stables I'd often make a detour to on the way home from school - I was horse crazy, visits to the library at the Council offices and the swings near the recreation grounds where fairs set up camp each year, the sweet shop opposite York Town Primary where I'd buy gob stoppers and sherbert dips, the Odeon Cinema - Saturday morning pictures and the sing-along and years later with boys in the back row, the Avenue and Globe pubs with their smoke-filled bars - great friends and mistletoe at Christmas, Roses Cafe where we'd finger jive to the juke box and make a coffee last 2 hours, the Duke of York Hotel where I had my first silver service dinner at age 18 - the waiter spoke in hushed tones and no-one else talked out loud - I'll bet it's different today!  I also recall taking part in ballet and tap displays at St Michael's annual garden fete at the vicarage and Overs store where I would visit the fabric and wool sections with my Mum. She made all my ballet and school outfits because I was very tall and skinny (my nick name was Beanpole), and nothing bought would ever fit me! One last regular haunt was a great little shoe shop just up the ramp from the Frimley Road traffic lights - I spent a good share of my wages there each month but new shoes made me feel fantastic!
Some things I know have definitely changed - the Blue Pool was filled in many years ago and turned into fancy apartments (my brother owned one), Overs is gone and the Odeon is no longer a cinema.  Of my others haunts I have no recent knowledge, but I do still have great memories...

Last edited: 26/01/2008 06:42 by Liz Schultz (nee Berry)  

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Camberley, London Road c1955 (ref: C12081)
Year: 1944 Born next door
A memory of Camberley, Surrey

I was born in the flat above the shop to the right and and just out of sight of the photograph in 1944. Home births were the norm in those days. I lived in Camberley and went to France Hill Secondary School. I remained in Camberley till 1964 by which time I had married my husband Andy who was a soldier at the R.M.A. We have travelled widely but have returned to see my family, who all still reside in the area, several times and we have now settled in Yorkshire. My first thought when I saw this picture was of the time when as a young teenager myself and a few girlfriends were asked to leave the cinema for mucking about and giggling and were not allowed back until we had apologised in person to the manager. Oh happy days! - what a different world it was then. Gaynor Henderson (nee Smith)

Last edited: 03/01/2007 22:29 by Gaynor Henderson  

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Camberley, The Jolly Farmer 1906 (ref: 57182)
The Golden Farmer
A memory of Camberley, Surrey

I used to live in Maultway North - the turning directly to the right of the Jolly Farmer - in the mid 1980's, so I have hazy memories of the pub as a customer. But I remember feeling the place to be cut off from the rest of the world - it was always a challenge crossing the London Road as the pub is smack bang in the middle of a busy roundabout. A million miles away from this tranquil image. The legend of the Golden Farmer (where the pub gets its name) always fascinated me - he was a farmer by day but a highwayman by night who robbed rich travellers on their way to London. Famed for paying all his debts in gold, he was eventually caught and hung from the gibbet which stands outside the pub, where he was left for all to see. His gold was never recovered and is rumored to be buried nearby. My efforts towards finding the treasure remain unrewarded! No longer a pub, The Jolly Farmer was first transformed into 'The Mongolian Barbeque', a restaurant. It is now a golf shop.

Last edited: 01/06/2006 09:19 by Julian Hight  

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