Easter Memories

"My grandmother was born in Moorsholm but moved to Lingdale when she got married. I remember visiting her all through my childhood and had many fond memories of both villages. At Easter time all the children of the village participated in a church parade and eggs were exchanged between family members. (These were decorated hard boiled eggs) Families went to the Easter Fields which were between Lingdale and Moorsholm and had steep slopes. We had races rolling our eggs down the slope to see who could get their egg to the bottom first and without breaking the shell. We also 'jarped' our egg, this was hitting an opponent's egg, round end to round end and then sharp end to sharp end. The one who had the unbroken egg was the winner. After these games we had a picnic and wandered into the nearby woods to hunt for the first primroses. Happy and friendly times! A community without much money but rich in friendship. I was 6 years at the time of this memory and my maiden name was Taylor."

A memory shared by Judith Green.

"My wife Margaret and myself started a bakery and shop in part of what had been 'The Manchester House'. We had a small gas oven, a 10 qt mixer and a pie blocker and that was about it! One Easter we made 500 hot cross buns in that small domestic oven and sold them very quickly. There was so much steam coming from the oven that the wallpaper in the room upstairs fell off the wall!"

A memory shared by Ian Mabbitt.

"I used to roll coloured hard boiled eggs on East Heslerton Hill with my sister and cousins on Easter Sunday. When they were all broken we used to have egg sandwiches and our teas at Gran's, who lived at the bottom near the church. When it was the Silver Jubilee we had a great village get-together. We lived at East Heslerton with our gran, grandad and auntie for many happy years."

A memory shared by Pam Abbey.

"I remember St Mary's church as a child on Easter Sunday, my foster mum was a wonderful dressmaker and she always made myself and her two girls lovely dresses and matching cardigans. Life was so uncomplicated then!"

A memory shared by Josephine Mary Scully.

"I can remember taking part in the Easter Parades, hundreds of children would walk or ride on the beautifully decorated floats, we would walks round Tupton on Ankerbold Road, Station Road on towards the Royal Oak up Ashover Road and end up at someone's house were we would all have a drink of pop and a bun. I was born and bred in Old Tupton and lived up Martins Lane I can remember helping Mr Wright from Wrights Farm on Martins Lane deliver milk to the houses."

A memory shared by Carol Hudson.

"My parents took myself and my late brother to Westgate on Sea almost every Easter from 1959 to 1971. Living in west London we caught the 2.40pm train from Victoria, arriving at Westgate on Sea about 4.10pm, a short walk along Station Road, St Mildred's Road then a left turn in to Rowena Road. At the Sea Road end on the right hand side of Rowena Road stood a building called Ledge Point (now the site is McCarthy and Stone retirement flats) which in the above picture is the large building in the middle with the mock Tudor style front. It was a Holiday Centre of the P.O.F.R. (the Post Office Fellowship of Rememberance). We would normally arrive on Maundy Thursday (the day before Good Friday) and leave on the Saturday following Easter Monday. We spent a lot of the time walking along the front by St Mildred's Bay and along towards Westbrook via the Sunken Gardens and onwards into Margate. I remember that Westgate had a nice selection of small shops in Station Road and St Mildred's Road a large post office, a cinema (still there), Jackson's Garage towards the level crossing end of Station Road. "

A memory shared by Philip Clarke.