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Swanage
Swanage maps
Historic maps of Swanage and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Swanage maps
Swanage area books
Displaying 1 of 18 books about Swanage and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Swanage
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Swanage.
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'The Dorothy'.
This view shows my father's cafe/bakery 'The Dorothy' and other relatives shops were the tea gardens and chocolate shop.
Caravan Holidays in Swanage
I have been holidaying in Swanage for 46 years, staying on Ullwell caravan site then Phippards. Happy days walking down to the tap for water, the water use to trickle out of the tap but did not bother us what so ever. The showers cost 10p a go and were usually cold, standing on a red slimey floor, nowhere to hang your clothes or towel. Then there was the shop that didn't sell newspapers! Just sweets and toys and the odd grocery item, but all us campers had great fun! As kids me and my brother made friends with all the other kids on the site, happys days. Now I'm almost 47 and have my own caravan on Shorefields site at Priests Way, the old Phippards site is a distant memory as now it's covered with houses!
Church Holiday
The one and only time Ive been to Swanage was in 1959, when my friend Judith and I were sent on a Social Christian Movement Holiday! Neither of us were very religeous, but had mums who thought we should be.
I cant remember much about it, except that we stayed in a Church Hall, that had a stone floor. We were given palliases (we didnt know what they were either) to fill with straw, when we first arrived and showed the trough where we were to wash each night and morning!
'Chores' had to be done each day, such as potatoe peeling or cleaning, before we were taken out for walks along the cliffs. I do remember the sandwiches! They were weird. A combination of all that was supposed to be good for 10yr olds, marmite and jam, peanut butter with dates, that sort of thing. Unheard of in my home!
Dorset memories
Stoneleigh Cottage, Worth Matravers
My grandparents who lived in London bought Stoneleigh in 1926 and this is where my grandmother lived during WWII away from the bombing in the city. My grandfather, mother and her foster brother would come down when on leave. But before the war when my mother was a small child they used to have a great time with their friends down at Winspit swimming off the rocks and camping in the quarrymen`s caves. Quite a bohemian lifestyle. My grandfather used to enjoy the company at the Square and Compass and old Charlie Newman was one of his great friends. I too remember staying there in the 50`s. The cottage still had a privy in the bottom of the garden and there was no mains water - we used to use rain water from a tank outside and bath in an old tin bath in front of the fire. Electricity had been connected by then.
Crossways
I stayed at Crossways (a beautiful 1920/30s? bungalow) on a family holiday for 2 weeks in 1961 with my parents, sister, grandparents, great-aunt and a family friend when I was 6. I remember it as one of the best & happiest family holidays I ever had - despite my sister (then 2) having sunstroke after a boat trip around Brownsea Island and going hysterical over a grain of sand on the car rug! We also met family friends on honeymoon in the New Forest - the bride was later found to have TB and my sister & I had to be tested and innoculated on going home!
The house was a large bungalow situated at, as the name suggests a crossroads about two roads back from the sea front in the centre of Sandbanks. There was a large garden full of big pine trees. It was a very hot summer, hence sister's sunstroke. I was filmed by southern TV on Bournemouth station with... Read more
JENKINS FAMILY, CHURCH KNOWLE
This is not so much a memory, more of a request.
Does anyone remember the Jenkins family from the 1950s - I believe the Rev Jenkins was vicar at St Peter's, Church Knowle at the time.
I am trying to trace his son David who was a mechanic in the RAF back then. He was very good friends with my parents.
If anyone can help me I would be very grateful.
My email address is bayntonpower@sky.com
My Mother-In-Law's Father Owned Stoborough Garage
During this period my mum-in-law, Rosa Crumpler, lived in Stoborough, attended the local school and her father, James George Crumpler, owned the garage. Her claim to fame is that she regularly filled the tank of "Lawrence of Arabia's" motor cycle (on display at Beaulieu).
