South Killingholme

Family at Home

My great-grandparents, named Evison, lived at Riby Lodge about late 1800/1900. This is as clear as I can be, my great grandfather was the gardener for Riby Hall and connected to the church either as a curate or lay preacher. They are buried I believe in the church yard. As a child I visited my Great Aunt Constance who lived at the Crossroads and I attended at least 2 weddings at the church when the family married, once as a bridesmaid, the receptions were held at the school near the church. As far as I can remember, the children of my great-grandparents were George, Arthur, Herbert, Fanny, Alice,and Constance, there could have been one more. Alice was my grandmother.

3 Old Chapel Lane

Old Chapel Lane c1955
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My grandparents, Reginald and Elizabeth Smith, lived at #3 Old Chapel Lane, the second house from the right in the photo. What a shock to see it! It brings back wonderful memories of them and my childhood.

3 Old Chapel Lane

Old Chapel Lane c1955
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My grandparents also lived in this bungalow and I too have cherished memories. My grandpaernts where in it till around 1981 when sadly my granddad died. My grand parents names were Edith and Arthur Carter. My dad was born in this bungalow on May 7th 1945 just as the news of the surrender of the Germans came, my nanna always said she missed out on the party because my dad came along hehe. My aunt and uncle also lived here Gordon and Jean Carter.

ELSHAM IN THE THIRTIES

During the thirties in Elsham, keeping healthy was very important. Yhe health service didnt exsist, all we had was orange juice and cod liver oil. Our cottage was very damp, one of my sisters died from pneumonia when she was
just 4 yrs old. Many old residents also died from pneumonia, it was known as the old mans friend.
The Elsham people were extremely poor. Everybody grew their own vegetables, that was the only way you could survive. All the men worked on the farms for just a few shillings a week, the cottages they lived in belonged to the farmers, and every May Day Thursday they had to cycle to Brigg, report to the Angel Hotel, and ask the farmer who owned their cottage if he would employ them for another year. Very often the farmer wouldn't, and they had to get out of the house, which was known as flitting.
The present residents of Elsham are very lucky people.
REX WHITEHEAD

V E Day

I was born in Elsham 1934. We lived in a thatched cottage, where the village hall stands now. My grandfather was the local joiner, wheelwright, preacher, and clerk to the parish council. My father had milk cows and chickens. In the wartime we had prisoners of war, Germans and Italians. Elsham Hall was occupied by the army. We all had a fantastic time on V E Day. Rex Whitehead

I remember the W.I. paying £50 for a WAAF billet, so they could have their own premises in which to have meetings. I carried the the water supply in buckets from my then home, Bigby Manor. John.

Grimsby Bull Ring

Bull Ring c1965
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I was a teenager at the time of the photo. I remember cycling through the Bull Ring at a heck of a pace having picked up speed coming down Deansgate Bridge,
then having to brake hard to negotiate the chicane into Victoria Street.

You can clearly see centre right the top of the underground toilets which I believe are still there.

If instead of going into Victoria Street you turned left, on the right was the Black Swan, affectionately known as the Mucky Duck. There was another pub/hotel on the opposite side of the road to the Black Swan but I can't remember its name.

All of the buildings in the foreground were demolished, but I think the building to the right of the white one in the background is Chambers Coffee Shop, the smells coming from there were amazing.

Sadly most of the old buildings have gone, along with the character of the town.