Nostalgic memories of Barnstaple's local history
Share your own memories of Barnstaple and read what others have said
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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Displaying Memories 1 - 10 of 19 in total
I am now 89 but I was only 7 when I was collected from the pavement at the end of Yeo Vale Rd in 1940. I was given shelter at number 41 Carrington Terrace the home of Mr. & Mrs. Gear and their daughter Mary. They were wonderful to both me and my sister Phyllis and I had always kept in touch until Mary died aged 91 last year. All our lives we had regarded each other as brother and sister. I have so ...see more
I came to Barnstaple in the year 1940, from Plymouth 24 hours, so I was told just before Plymouth was heavily bombed. I lived with my Mother at number 5 Gaydon Street with a lady I came to address as Aunty Rose, my Father at the time was stationed at an RAF airfield not far from Barnstaple . Now what I can remember is; just across the road, a ...see more
Not exactly 1965, but around that time. I was/am the grandaughter of the Bidgoods that ran the PO. I used to go out with my Dad delivering groceries in an old Standard 10 van. I can remember every inch of the whole building, parts of which we weren't supposed to go in! Sadly it was demolished some years ago.
I'm fairly confident that the people below occupied the properties at that time;
No 1 - The Vicar of St Marys' Magdelain in Bear Street, he lived on his own, a short, dark and mysterious man with bushy eyebrows.
No 2 - Occupied by the Burges's and also owned [or rented] a walled plot of land just opposite.
No 3 - Owned by the Dimeo family, ex RAF.
No 4 - Occupied by spinster Ms Damon and her Mother.
No ...see more
It must have been in the early 1950s when an Aunt and Uncle, actually cousins of my mother's from Bolton, came to visit on holiday. In those days I remember there were rowing boats for hire from the boathouse moored near the entrance to Rock Park and the South Walk which can be seen in the 1899 photo. That means it must have been there for a good while before the relatives took me out in one of the boats and rowed ...see more
I was 19 years old, in the R.A.F. at Chivenor from October, 1948 to June, 1949 and was at the dance-hall in Barnstaple one of those nights in April, 1949. Across the room was the loveliest girl I had ever seen, brown wavy hair to her shoulders, etc., for me,it was love at first sight.
I walked across and said "Excuse me, Miss, would you like to dance?"- to my great joy she did just that, and as we danced for that ...see more
I was an apprentice in Mr Richard's tailor's shop, Barnstable, horse in window with a man in riding gear. Mr Diamond instructed me, a nice gent. I had to go back to Bradford before my apprenticeship was completed. I have happy memories, go for holidays now. I would like to have a photo of the shop.
Arriving in Barnstaple in 1957 from Hampshire, a 17 year old blonde haired young man, my first employment was at the High Street branch of Macfisheries, employed as a shop assistant/delivery boy delivering orders on a large black bicycle with an equally large wicker basket on the front within the Barnstaple town area.
I was immediately made to feel welcome by all that I met, and had many happy years in Barnstaple, ...see more
As my fourteenth birthday hove into view and we entered the summer of 1939 it became clear that we could soon be at war with Germany. Bushey Heath was just fifteen miles north-west of central London. My parents felt I should be out of the way of the expected bombing raids, so they sent me, not to friends but to friends of a friend, Mr and Mrs Ovey. Mr Ovey was Pastor of the Barnstaple ...see more
My aunt was the Manager of the Imperial Hotel which once stood on the bank of a river (whose name escapes me), in the 1940s. I spent several holidays with her which were great experiences for a young boy from a relatively sheltered existence in a schoolhouse in rural Scotland. My Aunt May (Mrs Strongman), known to the staff in the hotel as "MADAM", was my mother's older sister. I had never stayed in a ...see more