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Swingbrow
Swingbrow maps
Historic maps of Swingbrow and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Swingbrow maps
Swingbrow photos
We have no photos of Swingbrow, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Chatteris| March| Ramsey| Warboys| Sutton
Swingbrow area books
Displaying 1 of 10 books about Swingbrow and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Swingbrow
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Cambridgeshire memories
Graham & Fishers
The building nearest the camera on the right is (was) Graham and Fishers - founded by my great-grandfather Tom. His sons Alg (my grandfather) and Spencer worked in the business all their lives, and my father Douglas worked there until 1966. His cousin Richard also spent some time in 'the Shop' before setting up his own business further along the High Street.
The scene in the photo is actually very much as I remember it in my early childhood in the fifties, but it changed a good deal in the next 10 or fifteen years.
My parents and I had some rooms in the building, courtesy of my gt grandmother, Isabel (Bel), about 1948 - 50, and the window over the front door was that to my bedroom.
Later we lived in the cottage at the bottom of the yard, on Railway Lane. The main building had originally been one of the town's two coaching inns, and our cottage was then the pub or tap for the ostlers etc. In... Read more
Going to School in The Abbey
I was lucky enough to pass the 11+ and attend the Ramsey Abbey Grammar School,
What a picturesque place to be educated, although 11 year old children did not necessarily appreciate it. Going into the main building always seemed to make one stand up straighter and keep voices quieter (oh for such an atmosphere in modern schools!!). All teachers wore their black gowns and on speech days and other special days most wore their graduation gowns, often trimmed with fur.
My School
Lots of memories came back to me when I saw this picture of Ramsey Secondary Modern School, of lots of friends and lots of teachers and the headmaster, Mr Fluff Burton. I played a lot of sports in teams with friends as well, tennis, netball, swimming, didn't do very well though in athletics. Looking back other pictures of Ramsey brought back a lot more memories. My mum and dad had the Floral Restaurant and then they moved next door and took over Marriot's jewellery shop and a gift shop as well. They also started Ramsey Outide Catering Co and my dad had Cope and Kilby's baker's shop. Down the bottom from that place was the Gaiety Club, I used to go roller skating on Saturday mornings then when I got a bit older I went on a Friday night. Lots of famous groups appeared there as well. Time goes so quick doesn't it. Great to see Ramsey in those days, it certainly is different now.
The Rose And Crown
Mum and Dad (Roy and Joan) were the landlords of the Rose and Crown which is the white building in the middle of this picture. I was 14 at the time and Sarah my sister was 6. The pub also had a birthday while we were there 300 years (built 1661). The living accommodation was basic and the toilet was an outside shed and bucket but there was a flush job for the customers across the yard, I used that! We didn't have a sitting room so our TV was in the pub lounge, I would sit watching it doing homework with customers around me. I remember Jack Longland, the coalman I think, and his pal Bruce would sit behind me and pull my leg a little. Vic Pepper the green grocers just started helping out one busy Saturday night and did so unpaid regularly after that! Sadly the pub was pulled down in the 1970s, it would be listed nowadays. Fond memories.
New Girl 1955 at The Abbey
I passed the dreaded 11 plus in 1955 to Ramsey Abbey and still remember how awesome it was. I remember Mr Barnes was headmaster and Miss Oddy was headmisteress and very particular about pupils wearing the correct uniform. I did not appreciate the beauty of the place at the time but still visit Ramsey from time to time and consider it a privilege to have gone to school at the Abbey.
Growing up in Somersham
I was born in Somersham in 1940, in my grandmother's house, which was 1 West End.
My own house was known then as 6 Trinity Terrace, since changed to 90 High Street. Until the mid 1950s a lot of the houses were quite primitive, no indoor sanitation, the Terrace had a pump for the 6 houses. The only heating was a fire in the living room, the bedrooms were always freezing. My memories are of a friendly village although as youngsters, our only plan was to get out. I started infant school in what is now the library, and the junior school was closer to 'The Cross'. Life, in retrospect, was simple and fun, we, as children, could be absent from home all day and no one would worry, knowing that we would turn up when hungry. I do not get back to the village much now, having no immediate family left there.
Kirton/Graham Ancestry
This is a message for Ian Graham:
Dear Ian, Hope all is well with you? We are fine, having just become grandparents, we are being kept pretty busy!
I have lost your email address but found you here.
I have been contacted by an American lady who descends from one of your grandmother’s brothers.
Do you want her contact details?
Best wishes, Lin
