Combs Ford In The 1970s

A Memory of Combs.

I grew up in Combs Ford, off Poplar Hill. Our Primary school is now a community centre. Back then, all our pocket money was spent in the Paper shop!! There was a large recreation ground (it's now been covered in houses) near Combs Church. We used to amuse ourselves climbing trees and riding our bikes (no internet then)! There used to be fields all around (Needham Road, going across to Combs Middle School) which is now all houses! We used to like watching the boys on their scrambling motorbikes. There were fields all along where Hill Rise, Verneuil Ave, etc, are now, as far as the eye could see, which are now acres of estate housing. We used to play on these, hide and seek, 40-40, treehouses, etc. We girls also liked to walk down Combs Lane to see the horses! It used to be dangerous as there weren't any pavements down there - my parents were worried that we'd be knocked down. Where Solar is now used to be a garage, and my dad's allotment had a field behind it (now car parking). I remember the Co-Op at the bottom of Poplar Hill (now demolished). I get angry when 'Combs' is mis-spelt on new maps, etc as 'Coombes', 'Coombs' etc. It always has, and always will be, 'COMBS!'

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