Nostalgic memories of Brimscombe's local history
Share your own memories of Brimscombe 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 all 9 Memories
This photo is taken off a knowle in Knapp Hill Lane, above the Factories, of Critchlies, (now demolished0, who made hair grips and knitting needles in the 1960s and Olympic Varnish, who in made working canal boats in 1890.
Knapp Lane exits into Toadsmoor Lane and past a factory once known as “Shiltons”, now closed, (who were wool staplers and working in 1890).
This area was known as the Knapp Lane ...see more
This photo is taken 100 yards up Brimscombe lane, looking back across the Golden Valley.
The lane itself leads back up to Thrupp Lane & Dark lane, which is on its way to Quarhouse and the Lypiatt Manor, (the "Haunted House" and home of the Duke & Duchess of Kent).
The photo looks towards the face of Brimscombe Hill, (and although its out of shot), the 120 degree Corner, is hidden by ...see more
Swells Hill is mentioned in the doomsday book where very little else in this photo is.
the row of a few houses in the foreground are the top part of Swells Hill, perched on the "Knoll"
Looking east up the Golden Valley to the other knoll of Walls Quarry, perched half way up Brimscombe Hill. Much as it has been since 1901.
The prominence of Walls Quarry and the steep encourages the siting ...see more
This is a very rare photo which is taken from a grass slope below a small coppice in a valley known as the "Moors" from the bottom of what is now called Orchard Lane.
This unusual photo looks up the lane, (from its nearest lowest point), SE towards the Brimscombe Hill & Walls Quarry.
The lowest point is actually underneath the railway bridge, just emerging as a stone wall, (bottom ...see more
My mother with her father, Alfred Stroud, mother Caroline, (my mother's name was Doris) with two sisters and four brothers came over by ship in 1902 from Stroud, England. Everyone was sick except my grandfather who ate pickled herring. They settled in Little York (Toronto, Ontario) where my grandfather was a building contractor.
I heard many stories of Stroud. The family always sang the old songs. My ...see more
I knew Fred Potter and his family in the early 1960s - Fred and I dated for a while. Many times we got off the bus on the main road (I lived in Nailsworth), often straight from school - he at Marling, me at High School. We'd then walk past the lake and up that hill - seemed no distance in those days - to be greeted with a lovely tea from his mum - and then some Charlie Parker from Fred's record ...see more
Having moved into Walls Quarry with my husband in 1961, I too remember the snow. It started to fall on Boxing Day 1962. We had a job to get home from Gloucester by car during theafternoon. By March '63 it was still thick and frozen hard. The postmen had difficulty doing hillside deliveries out from Brimscombe Post Office. Three of them had a week's holiday due, and were unable to take it before the 'end of the year' ...see more
I first knew Brimscombe in the 1950s. I was brought up between Toadsmoor and Middle Lypiatt. In this starkly isolated location, it took a devoted beer drinker to travel through the darkness to the nearest pub. My Dad was of such a breed, and every evening he would go to the Bottle and Jug of the Port Inn in Brimscombe, more or less opposite where the Brimscombe Poly School was. You may have spotted that ...see more
In the very cold winter of 1963 the canal port (known as the polly basin) froze over we were able to go iceskating , Brimscombe Hill had deep snow drifts and was shutdown but we still got the papers delivered !!! I was a paper boy at the time aged 11 yrs