Favourite Memories
Reconnecting with our shared local history.
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.
Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.
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Tips & Ideas
Not sure what to write? It's easy - just think of a place that brings back a memory for you and write about:
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How the location features in your personal history?
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The memories this place inspires for you?
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Stories about the community, its history and people?
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People who were particularly kind or influenced your time in the community.
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Has it changed over the years?
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How does it feel, seeing these places again, as they used to look?
This week's Places
Here are some of the places people are talking about in our Share Your Memories community this week:
...and hundreds more!
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Displaying Memories 401 - 450 of 2029 in total
Eeh! Remember potted meat? You could eat it as it was or put it on bread for a sandwich, where is it now? Then there was dripping which was quite solid and spread like margarine on your bread for sandwiches. I worked in Leeds on the university in the late 1960s and early 1970s and when I got there I never had digs, my pal Tommy Bishop from the west end was with me so I called to see my Aunt Lilly and Uncle Jack who ...see more
I was born and brougt up in the village of Garboldisham in Norfolk and have so many memories of when I was a child - I always felt safe and everybody knew each other, a real village. One of my best memories is of the village shops - the General PO & Stores were looked after then by a lovely mixed race family called the Fades. However, the shop dearest in my memory is the little tiny cottage shop set ...see more
Hi, just been looking at the photos of West Hendon Broadway. I was amazed, during my last school years I worked for a greengrocer on the Broadway, Tim Smith, his shop is just out of the picture, left hand side where you can see the wing of a car, what caught my eye was the old 'trade bike' which I am sure was the same one that I used to ride. He used to load the bike up so much that I couldn't ride it, I had to ...see more
The Edwards family lived at Model Farm from 1953 to 1957. We went to Chinnor School, my brother Stuart went to Lord Williams, Thame. My mother Phyllis started 1st Shirburn & Luknor Brownies and was Captain of 1st Watlington Guides when Lady Valerie Parker was District Comissioner. She also sang in Watlington Church choir. My father Ben was Farm Manager, in his spare time he was a Special Constable. I ...see more
I was born in Drongan in Ayrshire, but every holiday we had we came to stay with my Gran and Papa, Ruby and Hugh Meudell. We were always so excited to be going"home." When we got out of Kirky on the bus we were glued to the windows looking for the burning bing, just outside the village. We knew as soon as we seen it we would be putting on our jackets to get off the bus, and our great holiday adventures would ...see more
MY YOUNG DAYS AT CATHERINGTON, RANDELLS COTTAGE, LINKHORN
Born in 1942 in Cornwall, my early years of school were at Clanfield. My holidays were spent at my grandmother’s house at Randells Cottage, my father was in the R.A.F and our family moved from Cornwall into a small house on the causeway. In those days the field opposite was used for the local fete, later it was moved to Catherington in ...see more
Memories of bringing up three daughters in the stables nest door to this house, as my husband worked in the stables under Dick Hern. Going on lovely picnics with the children and their friends in the summer within the fields etc.. surrounding the stables. Blackberry, picking a major memory at this time. Memories of cleaning this house for Mr & Mrs Colling who still lived there at that time. It is a ...see more
Our precious daughter was born here February 13, 1975. This hospital and the entire staff of the NICU were responsible for her survival. She was born weighing three and a half pounds. Only due to their skilled and continued perseverance at her birth did she survive. Today she has become a surgeon, and is giving back for all that was given to her. We, as parents, will always hold this hospital, and the ...see more
W O O D P L U M P T O N
A place, a name or a sentence? Almost Welsh in its length and complexity, the name conveys the notion of the idyllic countryside, natural food and a well fed community. In olden days when I was a lad, the local village children of Woodplumpton possessed a rural awareness sadly lost today. We all knew of the healing capacity of the dock leaf, could tell the ...see more
My parents lived at 23 Barripper Road (David and Mair Hallett) and my sister Mandy and I went to Miss Blights (Elmhurst Preparatory School) in Bassett Road. I remember walking past the farm at the top of the road (now Penware Parc) and being offered a kitten by the farmer. I remember horses ploughing the field opposite Penponds School and the steam roller which used to be parked in the layby between ...see more
During the Second World War I was sometimes taken by my mother to stay with her grandmother, Mrs Bevis, at the house called Rivermead, about 100 yards downhill from the church, by a sharp bend to the left. Mrs Bevis must have rented it early in the war, having left her home in Jersey before the occupation of the island. I was about 4, when the Germans were still in the ascendent, and we were enjoying tea out in ...see more
I lived at 40 Church Street at the bottom of Hexham Avenue from the 1950s, in my mind's eye I can still see me ma black leading the big black fire range, she made the most wonderful bread in its big cast iron oven. In the yard we shared with Mary Dickson was the outside netty and wash house with a copper and a big mangle, me ma would be working for hours soaking the washing, dolly blueing it, washing it then rinsing it ...see more
I grew up in Towyn and lived in the same bungalow on Towyn Way West until I got married in 1985 at the ripe old age of 31 and moved to Rhyl. My Great Aunt Sarah owned Browns Holiday Camp with Mr Brown from before the Second World War and my mother and father worked on the camp until it was sold in the 1960s. It was just like 'Hi De Hi' in those days, my father did everything from organising the sports days, ...see more
I used to attend Sunday school here in the early 1950's. We usually met in the hall across the car park but once or twice a month we would be in the church. Later in 1967 I was married here. I was in the Army at the time and during a leave visit to my father and some school friends I met a girl. It was Christmas 1965. I came back in 1967 and we were married. Our daughter was christened here in 1969. She was ...see more
I was born in Hereford and for the first couple of months of my life lived with my grandparents in Lower Lodge, Lugwardine before moving to Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex. From about 1953-60, each year I spent much of the school holidays staying in Lugwardine with my grandmother (Gertrude Jenkins). I so enjoyed being there with her. Lower Lodge was a beautiful thatched cottage. Coming from Hereford it was the first ...see more
I was born at 7 Osborne Street, 1948 and grew up there. I got married at 21 and moved to Tarvin Drive for several years before moving on to Hull and then Little Brington, Northamptonshire where I still am.
I remember all the places that are mentioned and played as a child in many of them.
I must have been one of the first intakes into Arden which was the only building at the top of Osborne Street at the ...see more
How wonderful to hear of one of my dear friend's memories of 1960s Menith Wood. Although I was actually born at "Eardiston" Farm called Moor Farm, in one of the converted barns in 1949, I spent all but the first few months of my life living at Upper Claywood, which was situated just below Menith Wood by a quarter of a mile.
The position of the cottage was to look out over the ...see more
This is my second entry about Broughton Astley and may contain some references to items in my first reminisces.
As a person 'born and bred' in Broughton Astley, I have fond memories of the village as it was 'in the old days'. In the days before the 'Jelson Estate'; the 'Bruce Fletcher Estate'; the 'Deeley Estate', and the various other estates that sprang up all over the village. Seemingly ...see more
Many of the things that happened at D Y P were taken as normal. During the winter we ran around in the snow without shoes on, and why? because we did not have a second pair of shoes. The only pair we had were school shoes and they were not worn after school and there were so many times we got home and our feet were numb from the cold, but in truth we did not notice the discomfort. It seems strange now ...see more
I started Walker R C in the 1950's and remember my wonderful teacher called Miss Morgan - she was so sweet and kind. I had very long hair and she would often bring in lovely ribbons for me, I was very shy and she was so very kind to me and every one else.
The playground seemed so big and I felt overwhelmed - I'd never seen so many kids in one place. Many of the boy's boots looked ill fitted and some had the ...see more
enjoyed a drink (bottled Guinness) at both “The Travellers’” and “The Tavern” almost daily throughout his life. In fact he is still remembered for his love of dominoes. To this day if someone plays double 3, the call is “Matty Wilson” as he would always play this first if he had it. He also dealt in the demolition, and scrap metal.
There is a strange story here; Kate Wilson had taken in two destitute ...see more
I lived at 2 Fullerton Road from 1956-1965, it was a cul-de-sac in those days. It was lined with Plain Trees with sticky leaves. There were a couple of factories at the end on the left hand side, the names fail me now. Garages were at the bottom of the road that backed onto gardens of big houses. Roy Turner, son of Mr & Mrs Turner, No. 15, always organised a sports day every year with fancy ...see more
And the upper floor as the church for worship. This remained like this until approx 1880 when the old primary school was built. (This is now demolished and turned into a housing estate). Between the junior and senior school playground was a wooden building known by all as The Hut. It was painted green and was getting a bit dated. I suppose it had been used by the church for social events at one time.
The upper ...see more
And had an inter-house sports day annually that was highly contested. The school was divided into four houses, St Columbus, St Aiden, and St Patrick and St Cuthbert’s.
Church attendances were very high, poor Fr. Tuohey had to give three masses every Sunday to enable everyone to attend. These were given at 9am, 10am and 11am and were always full (St Michaels is not a small church either).
Just a little more. ...see more
I remember the Convent of Mercy as one of my fondest memories. I boarded there from the young age of five until I was eleven. Some of my best memories were of the summers when we made long daisy chains with all the daisies on the front lawn, long walks to the spinney in the early fall, May Day, and garden fetes and playing hide and seek in the closets on the second floor. I remember Sister Mary Rose ...see more
Old Bursledon was a wonderful and relatively safe place to grow up in. My sister and I, used to spend hours wandering along the many footpaths that criss cross the area and playing with friends in the village. Our parents never knew where we were and didn't worry - as were the times in the nineteen sixties and early seventies.
Helen (Lewis) Carter.
I lived at Mid Shirva Farm from 1950 till 1964. My father was the byreman, he was known as Wee Jock and my mum was Jan. I had a happy time growing up there; the summers seemed to be endless. I played in the fields during the harvest, following behind the workers with my dog trailing behind me. No shortage of babysitters, we always watched for the northern lights over the Campsie Hills, what a sight, I have ...see more
Harry was born at spennymoor 1877, he moved to metal bridge in 1898 when he
married Elizabeth Joyce born 1878 from Easthowle.They were married at St Lukes
church, Ferryhill by vicar Lomax, I actually went along and and saw the entry in a
very old register.
They had 10 children, my mother, Lydia b.1912 was the 8th child and youngest
daughter. When mum married dad, ...see more
It was a must in the 1960's. The Carlton was in the High Street near the post office, a few steps were at the front, leading to the entrance and it was always packed. They had a bar upstairs where you stood drinking looking down over the dance floor. Also there was a long row of seats behind an arch to sit and snog, if you wanted to. There was a big glitter ball above. I remember we had all gone to Martin ...see more
At the end of Villiers Street and on the opposite side of Whitehall Road was an iron footbridge that crossed the railway line. There was a mechanical signal just below the bridge. In these days when private cars were a rarity, I occasionally toddled off to the bridge from our home in Elthorne Road to peer though the iron railings at the station platform in the distance. If I was lucky there was a ...see more
I remember Batley Carr and Hyrstlands well. I moved to Hyrstlands in 1958 into the new council houses alongside the park, we'd all been re-housed following demolition of houses in Batley, Taylor Street and the houses between Yellands and the White Hart pub. The new houses were great as we had a bathroom inside not the usual trek down the street to a shared khasi with the complimentary key on a string fastened to a ...see more
I moved to Hatfield Peverel in late 1941, after my family was bombed out in London. My father took the Duke of Wellington pub over, where we lived until 1949. Yes they were good years in the village, but at the beginning we were outcasts as we were Cockneys, but after three months it got really good. ONly my dialect was a bit different and got me into a lot of trouble at school, the local church ...see more
We moved from New Cross, Deptford just before the war to The Heights Northolt. As a child then, memories are now somewhat fragmented but that reflects the conditions that parents faced. As a child there seemed much freedom, school was intermittent, lots of time, putting pennies onto the rails of the trains (I still go over those rails on way to Bucks), building a camp near the arch way into the ...see more
Entertainment
The Men: Mostly the pubs provided a good range of entertainment with darts, dominoes and cards being played. Some men kept greyhounds or whippets for racing, but generally gardening took up a lot of their time, as this helped to feed the family, and there were allotments enough for all. This also then led on to hobbies with things such as Leek Shows, Flower Shows and as about 15% of the allotments ...see more
My Mother and I arrived in 1974, from a divorced Warrington and the dilapidation of the north-west. Merrily drinking tea and eating custard tarts in the bare miners' cottage living room, sitting in a deck chair and eating from a camping table, food cooked on a camping stove. The 'village children' always formed a free to roam daily mass of fun and squabble and dirt who were always at play in the safety of our rural ...see more
I also remember Christmas1948, going out the side front door and seeing everywhere were covered with snow. It were so cold but it were beautiful. Now bonfire night were somethink else, we held our bonfire top of our street, Bright Street, later it had changed its name and became Brigg Street. People came from street to street, carrying black peas parkin cake, home made meat & potato ...see more
Born in Bulwell in 1959. I remember initially going to Cantrall Road school which was really nice. I remember Mrs Hare the headmistress, Mr Anderson and Mr Richy. I liked the latter but not Mr Anderson as he wiped writing from the top of the blackboard before I had finished writing it down then complained constantly that he couldn't read my handwriting (it was because I had to write it too quickly ...see more
My sister and, I have such fond memories of 'our' bungalow in Lake Way- Happy Returns. Its door was painted purple. Our week in Jaywick was the highlight of our year. We were so excited to go there. I was only eight when we stopped going, but I remember Tony's Bingo. A bottle of sherry used to be passed at the top of each place at the bingo- if you got a line or a row when it was in front of you, you won ...see more
Hi All, one of my memories of Grays old High Street was the café. Walking down the High Street toward the beach, on the left hand side was the cafe, it was called the Green Door and was owned by Bert Herrington. He and his wife would serve; she did a wonderful egg and chips and a big mug of tea. There was an old juke box in the cafe, well not old then of course, it was 1960 and I remember every time I ...see more
The view is looking over Holborn Hill towards Black Combe. Holborn Hill is old Millom, the new part of Millom was built when iron ore was discovered in 1855 at Hodbarrow and the iron works was built and Hodbarrow mines opened. It then became a prosperous town with a population rising to 10,000 people. My memory is of Holborn Hill and a five year old girl who was evacuated there at the beginning of the war. ...see more
We had been in Grantham in England prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Mother and Father decided to go home to the 'Broch' believing it would be much safer for the family. The shuttle from Grantham to Peterborough was without incident, but joining the London-Aberdeen express we were crammed into carriages packed with soldiers as they were being re-distributed to many different places to defend the ...see more
I started at Brockhall on a Monday, just after my wedding at the weekend. I worked on AK1 before I started my Enrolled Nurse training. Coming from Mauritius, it was absolutely fantastic meeting others from there and other commonwealth countries. I have some great memories about my mentors and most especially the individuals with disabilities living there. I used to feel sad leaving the guys when ...see more
I remember this bridge from when I was little and living in Higher Denham. We often walked into the village this way, past the lovely brick wall and past the hut where we got free orange juice after the war. My grandmother ran the pub, THE PLOUGH, which was up the road straight ahead in the photo. My brother once fell in the river near this bridge. We were in the tiny newsagent's shop in the village, and he went ...see more
I remember the British School so well, especially the headmistress at the time, Miss Gilbert. She was very strict, but generally fair, and much respected by my parents. One thing that stays in my memory is the enormous rocking horse which lived in the hall; it probably wasn't as large as I remember it, and it was already quite an old horse with a real horsehair tail. I remember also Miss Gollop who I ...see more
In 1950 I lived with my parents in Church House - the partially obscured building on the right. Except for three years during the war I lived there from 1938 to 1958. I remember the spire of the church being struck by lightning (in 1944,I think) and it catching fire. At the far end of Church Platt was a small car park for the White Hart where I used to play endless games of football with my ...see more
I was a pupil at St Margaret's from about 1959 to 1963. My fondest memories are of the beautiful house and grounds, we were so priviliged to live there. One summer was so hot we were taken to swim in the river nearby, across the fields. In winter we played lacrosse and tennis and netball in summer and competed against other local girls schools. On Sundays, we walked to church along a track to the ...see more
I have lived in New Haw most of my life. My family moved from Kings Road to Farleigh Road in 1949. One of my first memories was being taken to the New Haw Clinic for day care as my mother worked in London. There I encountered Nurse Lytle whom I met later at West Byfleet and Fullbrook School. We nicknamed her "The Nit Nurse". Pocket money in the 1950s was not very generous - but at the age of 5 I clutched 2d ...see more
Born in the North Mid like most people my age (1931), I lived my first 25 years at Tottenham Hale, at the end of Brograve Rd., facing the Station Green. The green had a nice fence around it before the war when hundreds of people crossed the green on their way to the Lebus Furniture factory that was on the other side of the railroad tracks. Ferry Lane started at the Hale and went east, through ...see more
Born in 1940 at Tunstall Rd, I spent hours of my childhood at the edge of Cowlishaw Walker's pool, reached through our neighbour, Mrs Sargent's garden, which sloped steeply up to the railings round the pool. I only had to put a jam jar among the rocks for a stickleback to swim into it. Pussy willow and hazel catkins hung around the pool and in spring it was a mass of frogspawn. The tiny ...see more
I was born at Dixon Street, Blackfyne, Blackhill, County Durham. My memories are from when I started school in 1943 at the Tin Mill School, Derwent Street, Blackhill, as far as I remmember I did not like it. Blackhill was shadowed by Consett Iron Company as it was then known (later known as Consett Steel Works), most of the men worked there. It made Blackhill a dirty place to live in because of the ...see more