Wincanton memories
Here are memories of Wincanton and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Wincanton or a Wincanton photo.
Those Younger Days
I remember Wincanton when my grandparents ran the grocery shop in North Street. I often stayed and poped next door to the wonderful cake shop then onto my great uncles who ran Parsons Dairies. I went out with my grandfather when he delivered the many boxes of groceries and I usually fell asleep in the soft leather seats of his car. The shop was sold when my grandparents moved to Somerton but I never forget those times in Wincanton and I have visited again when researching the family tree. Many of my ancesters can be found in the cemetery of Wincanton Parish Church and I also called into the church to learn more of that history. Recently I discovered that the King who was patron of the Medical Association had also visited Parson Dairies!!
Good Old Days
I met my late husband whilst working at the Cow & Gate in 1955. Although neither of us worked there for very long, we'd some good memories. We married in August 1957, at that time I was working at Verrington Hospital as a nursing assistant, or as we were then called, a nursing auxillary.
Many years have passed,since those days. We came to live in Ireland in 1971 with our three children, all of whom are now married with families. We have been back to visit Wincanton and other places around over the years, and have seen many changes, but nothing can take away those memories of the Cow & Gate in the good old days.
My Childhood
I was born in Templecombe Hospital in April 1943. My mother was Lilian Game (nee Atkins) and was staying with my grandfather, Ernest Atkins at 13 Silver Street, opposite the church (sadly now the site of a garage). My mother was married there in 1939 and was able to walk to the church because it was so close by. I was christened in St. Peter & Paul in May 1943. I have many happy memories of Wincanton, having stayed with my Gramp many times up until the beginning of the 1960's. They were happy days!
Conversion to Faith
I have great memories of the Church of St Luke and St Teresa. After instruction I was received into the church by Fr. Paul O' Sullivan, I had my confirmation there the following year. My husband and I were married at St Luke and St Teresa over 50 years ago, sad to say he passed away in 2005. Our eldest daughter was baptised in this church 1961, she was born at Templecombe that year. We came to live in Co. Clare, Ireland in 1971 but often visit Wincanton. On one such visit we were sad to find that the Carmelite Order had left the area. My first time to go into St Luke's was in 1955, when a friend, since deceased, brought me to Mass, being in Latin at that time it was difficult to understand. We now have 10 grandchildren carrying on the faith that I received at the Church of St Luke and St Teresa all those years ago.
Auntie June Cother
Auntie June, my dad's sister, turned 90 July 2, 2010. We had a wonderful party for her, at the Red Cross hall. The food was prepared by a group of ladies who certainly know how to put on a great spread. Auntie enjoyed her day. This year she will be 91, I will be with her once again to share her special day. Wincanton is one of the friendliest towns I have ever visited. I look forward each year to returning there and wish if circumstances were different I could live there. Leaning over the brick wall on the High Street, in Spring falls blossom, I think from apple tress...so pretty. One tends to wander around the streets looking up at the old architecture. I hate to see empty shops and empty pubs, there is a life, if only the locals would support their town. Of course parking is the biggest problem this town has. The roads are narrow through town.
Memories of Somerset
My Birthplace
My grandparents, Frank and Amy Hazzard, lived in Templecombe in Somerset. They lived in Lilly Lane Farm and then later in Yew Tree House. My grandfather, Frank Hazzard, was a farmer. He was blind, but was one of only three blind bellringers in the country. He was also a very good carpenter and I can still remember visiting him in his workshop with the wonderful smell of wood shavings. I still have a box that he made for me. My grandmother's maiden name was Foreman. I was born Gillian Mary Owen in Templecombe Hospital on 8th November 1946.
Wartime Evacuee
I was evacuated from Dagenham during the war with my sisters Joyce and Pat. They lived with the schoolmaster Mr Pearce, whilst I lived with Mr & Mrs Norris Tinylogs, Lily Lane. I remember working with Mr Frank Hazzard during my spare time, who was a wonderful man. Our time in Templecombe was made happy and memorable by the villagers who looked after us all.
Birth Place
My birthday, a very cold day 10th December 1944. My mother had been in a horse and cart delivering milk to the area around Wincanton when the cart turned over into a ditch, this started premature labour and she was taken to Templecombe as the nearest hospital. My mother Phylis Cruickshank had been living at Bitwood Farm, Charlton Musgrove, my father, Donald Stuart Cruickshank, a seaman recently demobbed, was working as a chef at a local hotel.
This information is mainly drawn from my birth certificate and my memory of various stories told by the family over the years.
I would welcome any information, however small, to fill in the many blanks.
My mother divorced my father in 1960 and burnt all records of their time together, I did not know how important this was in my own history, or I would have asked so many more questions when she was alive.
This period seems to have produced so many 'secrets' which today we would regard as commonplace.
I... Read more
My Birth Place
I was born in Templecombe Hospital on 13 April 1943, my mother was Lilian Game (nee Atkins) and was staying with her widowed father, Ernest Atkins of Silver Street, Wincanton, after leaving London because of the bombing during the war. My brother was also born there in September 1944.
1940s
My mother and my sister lived in Templecombe in the early 1940s. Her name was Pamela Tolhurst, mine was Antonia Tolhurst known as Tilly and my sister Francesca known as Fanny! I cant remember where we lived but think it was quite near Dr Goddard, who if I remember was well known for dabbling with explosives! We moved when the war ended and went to Ascot. Does anyone remember us?
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