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Three Bridges memories

Here are memories of Three Bridges and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Three Bridges or a Three Bridges photo.

Barkers

High Street c1955
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When I was a kid I had to walk from Pound Hill to Barkers every Saturday morning to fetch a gallon of Blucole paraffin for my dad. Barkers was the local garage/taxl rank. We lived in Pearson Road and then moved to Mill Road, Three Bridges around 1960.
You can imagine 8 year old kids nowadays walking the best part of a mile there and back on their own actually out in the fresh air with no hand held gaming device to keep them happy.

The Fox

My parents managed the Fox for most of the 1950' and '60's. My love of railways came from the Loco crew who drank there and gave me (unofficial) footplate rides!

Barmaid

I worked as a barmaid in the Fox when Three Bridges had the bad flood and the pub was flooded, it was an old fashioned pub in those days with a public bar and saloon bar with darts on a Friday night, good old fashioned fun.

The Fox

The Fox was demolished in the 1990s and  replaced by a modern pub a bit further back from the main road, now called The Snooty Fox I think.

Three Bridges/Pound Hill

I lived at Cornerstones which was built for me in 1963/4, this is on Milton Mount Avenue. Both my sisters went to the Convent and then Milton Mount College.
I used to fish in the lakes at Milton Mount with my Uncle in 1950/4.

Memories of West Sussex

My Parents Were Married Here

Parish Church 1903
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My mum and dad were married here and I was christened in this lovely old church. My parents were both from old Crawley families.

Gamekeeper

Tillgate Mansion 1907
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My great grandad worked as a gamekeeper on the Tilgate estate. He moved with his family from Suffolk to Crawley in the 1880s.
I have many happy memories of visiting my grandparents at Tilgate estate. They lived in the house next to the walled garden. I used to help pick the peaches and strawberries that my grandad grew. They were sent to London to be sold.
The estate was beautiful in those days. It is now a public park...

Wolseley Cars

The Fair, Upper Square 1905
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The car in the photograph is a Wolseley. I am the Secretary of the Wolseley Register and recognise the car. The interesting thing is that a similar car exists in Hertfordshire and that also has the wicker tubular basket on the rear of the car.

Tilgate Mansion Crawley West Sussex

Tillgate Mansion 1907
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This is the first time I have ever seen such a wonderful photo of Tilgate Mansion, other than bits of it in the backgound of faded family snaps. It means a lot to me because my father, Peter, spent part of his youth living there sometime in the late 1950s with his family (Tayman of the Crawley area) and when he was courting my mother, Elizabeth Robinson, they spent many happy hours walking around the estate and lake.

Dad regaled me with many tales of ghosts and I can see why! It is such a shame they tore this place down, it was magnificent - all I have ever seen were some steps when I visited the site and some old photo's long since lost...

Dad used to play by the lake and took me there when I was a little girl.
Thank you so much for posting this picture...Blessed be. Pixi in Australia.

Evacuees

Tillgate Mansion 1907
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As a small boy, my father-in-law Derek Munson was evacuated with his siblings to Crawley. They stayed at a farm house (which was later owned by Peter Butterworth - any further info on this would be much appreciated) but used to go to Tillgate Mansion for their baths once a week. He was very sad to hear that it had been demolished.

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