You are here:
Willington
Willington maps
Historic maps of Willington and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Willington maps
Willington photos
We have no photos of Willington, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Great Barford| Cardington| Blunham| Bedford| Sandy| Old Warden| Elstow| Kempston| Everton| Biggleswade| Houghton Conquest| Eaton Socon| Eynesbury
Willington area books
Displaying 1 of 6 books about Willington and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Willington
No memories of Willington have been shared yet - be the first!
Add your memory of Willington
or of a photo of Willington.
Bedfordshire memories
The RAF And Cardington
As RAF children, all three of us were christened in the picturesque church in Cardington, which is the unofficial 'favourite' church for RAF personnel! I obviously don't remember my own christening and wasn't about when my older brother was held over the font, but I do remember my sister's christening because she's nine years younger than I, so the memory is quite vivid. I also remember making much earlier visits to the charming old pub - as far back as when I was only two years old, in fact! - before we were posted to Cyprus. Not allowed into the pub itself, the kids would play outside, rain or shine, but I was awaiting heart surgery and so could only sit and watch, unfortunately! I enjoyed the lemonade and packets of crisps with the ltitle twist of salt in blue paper, but I never ate the pickled cockles that the grown-ups would bring out to us on the jar's lid. Yugh! I've no idea if the area has changed -... Read more
Basic Training
As a young 18 year old, and very excited, I was joining the RAF. My excitement died a little as I went through basic training - all that drill, wow, anyhow I got through it and considered it all very worth while. My first leave, in that blue uniform, I looked very smart and was proud to have served.
Working Memories.
I was the main weekday driver of the launch photographed during the student holiday periods of 1955-1958. When I drove it, the name was 'Silver Stream'. It was the largest of a set of three electric launches which carried paying passengers for trips of about 40 minutes duration from the steps on the downstream, north side of the town bridge. Typically this launch would carry about 40 passengers maximum. Silver Stream was a magnificent launch to drive, giving a silent drive, almost no water disturbance up to the 6 knots maximum for the river, and had a tubular rudder form which surrounded the propeller. This permitted a very tight turning such that most of us could turn round in places where the river was reduced in width to one and a half times the launches length. The two sister launches were smaller. Silver Spray was a shorter less sleek version of Silver Stream and had a single section canopy (possibly in the background of this photo coming downstream). It would... Read more
SILVERY OUSE
I was a summer season driver of these boats during my college holidays in the early 1960s. We operated four boats, Silver Foam, Silver Stream, Silver Crest and my own boat, Silver Dawn, which I believe came from the Norfolk Broads.
The mornings were spent at Fenlake cleaning and polishing to the high standards demanded by Mr Smith (`The Guvnor`). We then came up through Bedford Lock for an afternoon of trips. We mostly ran to Newnham Bridge, but occasionally ventured to Queens Park, although the river was shallow here and I once hit a submerged log by the Britannia Ironworks. Some evenings we ran private hire work and I twice drove the regatta boat (mainly supplying crates of beer to the umpires!). My fellow driver, Stan, nicknamed me 'Dexterous Ted' after the well-known cricketer, Ted Dexter, either as a compliment or a joke.
I Was A Projectionist at The Picturedrome
I worked there for a few years with Stan Hunt at the Picturedrome, and the Plaza which was nearly opposite across the river was owned by a man called Mr Cheetam. I also worked at the Plaza as a relief projectionist and also another cinema in Ampthill owned by Mr Cheetam.
They were great days and I now live in Leicester but now see that all four cinemas in Bedford are gone, what is left? I thought the Picturedrome and the great cinema The Granada were listed buildings so who had them demolished should be shot. These cinemas have brought great memories to a lot of people and been destroyed by Bedford Council.
Don't you think the Granada would have been great for live shows. What a big waste but thinking about it all, councils like wasting money and never mind listed buildings, demolish them.
I still like to visit Bedford allthough many changes have happened and I have reunited wth Stan Hunt's son Lesley who now works at... Read more
The Granada Cinema
I worked at the Granada cinema from the age of 15 and it was the best time I had, the building was unbelievable with many secret or forgotten doorways... Does anyone have any photos before it was demolished? I can't understand why it was allowed to happen. I visit Bedford occasionally and I still can't believe the building has gone, such a shame. I have the best memories of working there. The new complex just doesn't compare, it's awful. I remember working with Les and Andy the projectionists, and Charlie Fields and Noreen Chand who were the managers... If anyone knows where to get in touch with them or has any photos of the cinema I would be grateful..
HAPPY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES.
HAPPY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES. In the summer of 1952 (I was 7 years old) my grandmother took me on a 'Farm Holiday' in Bedford to stay with friends. At this time I lived as a child in 'industrial Newcastle upon Tyne'. We alighted from a steam train at a small station in Bedford, I think it had crossing gates, where I met 'Uncle Sam'. He arrived in a red coloured lorry with 'pig bins' on the back (he used to visit various farms in the area to pick up and drop off pig bins) and I eagerly climbed into the cab with my grandmother. Uncle Sam and family lived in a cottage-type annex of an old diptheria hospital. The hospital was composed of a small number of separate 'Army looking' wooden buildings looking onto open fields and farmland. I remember cornfields in particular. Uncle Sam was a part-time caretaker at this hospital, it was then disused with metal bunk beds inside. There were apple and plum trees at the... Read more
