Woodford Halse memories
Here are memories of Woodford Halse and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Woodford Halse or a Woodford Halse photo.
Fishing For Tiddlers as A Small Boy in A Stream in Woodford
I remember as if it was yesterday, walking from 7 Manor Road, the house I was born in. My grandad and granma, the Peasnells, lived there for some time. I used to walk with my cousin John, he was a few years older than me, down the road to stone bridge, just before the tunnel, which lead to platforms up the wide stone steps which have now been bricked up. Anyway, I use to fish that little stream (it was big to me in those days) with a cane and a length of cotton and bent pin, with a worm on the end. I was as happy as Larry, catching sticklebacks and bullheads. I have now become an avid fly fisherman at 58 years old. Woodford Halse has many happy memories for me, it's sad that it had to change. I remember the smell of coal and smoke from the steam engines, my grandad was an engine driver there. Happy, happy days.
The Gorse BR Staff Association Club
My mother and father (Charles and Lilian) ran the Club from 1954-1957 approx. We lived in just one part with a large living room, a kitchen which led to the back area of stables and grass and 4 bedrooms. Most of the upstairs rooms in the rest of the Gorse were unused except for the Billiard room, but as an eleven year old, I spent many hours just wandering from room to room - I really don't know how many there were but probably in the region of 20 - all empty. There were old-time dances there and rock n' roll nights and because the railway was so important in those years, the place was very much an integral part of the community. Many happy memories from those years.
To School From Manor Road
Each day my journey either was via the cinder track (there was the old reservoir running alongside and the iron railway bridge stood in those days, the railway was still operating I think or in the stages of being dismantled) or we walked over a somewhat ricketty wooden bridge at the bottom of Castle Hill, there were a few hens scratting round just before the bridge. The hill was so steep when you were a kid, and doubtless when you are an OAP. At the top was the electricity shop and the post office and we went round to the school, the old cinema being used for indoor dancing and lunch. Testa's garage with the hairdresses just along and Northrop the butcher was next door. Going home via the shops down Station Road, Nobby Brown the greengrocers, Mace (run by the Edwards family, my mum worked there for a while), Wickens, the Co op across the road, Faulkners shoes, Le Bonne Marche, Sargeants butchers, Bank, unknown corner shop with net curtains, Lancasters,... Read more
Childhood
My father was the village policeman until 1958 and we lived in the Police House which doubled as a Police Station (there was a counter for public use at the front of the house). We left for Corby in 1958 when I was 6.
My memories are of the blacksmith's forge (opposite the secondary school), Nobby Brown's dairy (next to the railway station), the picture house, Northrop's butcher's shop, the Fleur De Lys pub (landlady Jean Shrimpton), black topped bread from the bakery, the Fox and Hounds pub, bus journeys on a Bedford OB bus, Saturday shopping trips to Banbury on the train, cricket at Preston Capes and the village primary school.
Other names I can recall are John Kingston (dairy farmer), Francis Cross (farmer from Preston Capes), Len Summers (or Somers), Dennis Raines (who drove railway shunters), John Moore (the vicar) and Les Northrop (the butcher).
Early Years
My early memories of Woodford, were being taken by bus, from Byfield Primary School, to the Moravian church, in Parsons Street, for the polio injection, also of going to the cinema, which was opposite the Post Office, to see the Big Country.
Some of my relatives, worked on the railway, I spent a lot of happy times, watching the comings and goings, to the sheds, watching the Master Cutler and the Yorkshireman, the two high speed mainline trains, at that time.
Memories of Northamptonshire
Early Schooldays.
My memories of Byfield, where I lived on the brand new council estate, in Lovett Road, are idyllic. I was there from age 6 to 10, then we moved to York.
We children had to walk what seemed like miles, in all weathers, to the village school which was on the opposite side of the village. Passing the sweet shop on Dolls Hill, where halfpenny chews, sherbert dips and gobstoppers were the treat of the week, we would race down the hill to the stream at the bottom,over the bridge, then through the centre of the old village which had an Inn on either side of the road. One of these, The Rose & Crown(?) used to be the meeting place for the Hunt, an incredibly exciting and glamorous event...I was lucky enough to get "blooded" one year, much to the horror of my Mother.
The smell of fresh bread coming from Mr. Smith's used to slow us down, and we used to peer through the door at the very... Read more
Childhood Byfield
I have just discovered this thanks to my son-in-law who lives in Pennsylvania USA. I lived in Byfield from 1952 to 1965. My father, Eric, was the landlord of the New Inn which later became the Cross Tree. He retired in 1965 and we moved to Leicester where I still live. As with other contributors I can well remember the bakehouse - everyone taking their joints there on a Sunday morning to be roasted as the ovens were always on. Russels shop, Jack Boddingtons cycle shop - he used to recharge the accumulators - a type of battery which supplied the power to radios in peoples homes - no TV then. That is just a very brief part of my memories It will be interesting to see if anyone remembers me.
When I Was A Boy Living in Badby
As a boy I used to cycle or walk through Badby Woods (then lovely-now wrecked) into Fawsley Park and fish all day in two of the Lakes. The Hall was deralict in those days and supposedly haunted by the "White Lady". Later the Hall was taken over by a Timber Company. Nobody bothered us kids fishing. I joined the RAF in 1955 and when I returned to the area 30 years later Fawsley Hall was a Hotel, Fawsley Park is now Private property and fishing the Lakes costs a fortune. Badby is now a Rich mans dorma village with no shops (used to have 3), no Pubs (used to have 2) and no character (used to have loads). All the family's who lived there when I did have all but gone. Progress ?????
Holidays
I often stayed with my grandparents during my school holidays, spending many happy hours working alongside the men at Stan Shepherd's farm. I still visit the village and feel very much at peace when I walk round. If anyone remembers Mr. and Mrs Burbidge or has any stories I would love to know.
Boddington School - Maureen Simpson.
I attended the school from 1946-1951. The teacher at first was Miss Semper, who I do not remember too well. After her came Mrs. Pat Bishop, who was a lovely lady, she and her husband lived in the school house in the playground. She was influential in getting the first children from Boddington through to Grammar School, giving extra classes after school in her own home. I remember her getting us musical instruments, and taking us down the fields to study wild life and flowers. She had a dog which had too many puppies to feed, and we used to bottle feed some of the pups after school. Mrs. Bishop was a wonderful teacher, and influence on all our lives, I am sure. There were still only about 2 dozen children at the school when I left, I believe the village had approx. 100 residents in those days, as did Lower Boddington.
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