Upper Clatford, Hampshire

Age old custom?

Is this the church where brides 3/4 length wedding gloves were hung from the rafters till they rotted off? Upper Clatford snobs born in a bucket christened in a tub!

Mother's brother and sisters

Just after the war Dad, Mum and I would travel every other weekend to visit aunts and uncles and cousins on our Norton motorbike and sidecar. We usually based our visit with Aunt Flo and Uncle Stan (a wartime despatch rider, now back with his wife), they lived at 27 Wellington Road at the top end of a steep road about... [more]

A Childhood Revisited

So many memories, where to start? I was born 1961 and grew up in The Crescent, just off Weyhill Road.......the rattling trains full of gravel making the house shake, the outside toilet (visits in the middle of the night in winter were at olympic record level), Mrs Mabeys apple trees...scrumping i think it was called! The smell of the pig... [more]

The Library

Before Chantry Way was developed, the town library was situated in the building on the right of this picture.  The thrill of being able to indulge myself, for free, in books, books and more books still resides in me today. I swear I can still smell the distinctive aroma of the building once you stepped through its doors!

happy days

I was stationed in the RE's in Andover - Barton Stacey camp. Remember shopping in 'International Stores' supermarket as they had good looking girls ! I also recall being in a cafe when some of the Troggs came in. Happy days, must return for a visit some day.

Saturday afternoon shopping

I do remember Andover about this time. We lived in Tidworth at the time and my father had a car with petrol allowance as he was a Barrack officer. We went to Andover, mum, myself and him every Saturday afternon and had to park centrally. It had all gone when we last went - just modern car parks now.... [more]

The Old Andover Grammar School

This building, now a museum was in the 1940s the home of a famous old Andover gentleman Mr A C Bennett. He wrote a book about Andover St Mary's Church and played the organ in the church. He was also my piano teacher at 2 shillings a lesson(10p) and I don't think anyone tried his great patience more than I... [more]

Winchester Street Quaker Burial Ground

This picture brings back childhood memories of the 1940s. Behind the wall on the left was a Quaker burial ground, a small grassy area on which one was free to stand upon.Opposite the wall were thatched cottages which were destroyed by fire later in the same decade I believe. A friend of both me and my sister was living in one... [more]