Favourite Memories
Reconnecting with our shared local history.
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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Tips & Ideas
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How the location features in your personal history?
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The memories this place inspires for you?
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Stories about the community, its history and people?
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People who were particularly kind or influenced your time in the community.
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Has it changed over the years?
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How does it feel, seeing these places again, as they used to look?
This week's Places
Here are some of the places people are talking about in our Share Your Memories community this week:
...and hundreds more!
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Displaying Memories 951 - 1000 of 2029 in total
We used to live on East Hill estate, the bottom end number 69 Peter Head House. My mum Bobby, my 2 brothers, graham and Steven, me (Lorraine), and my sister Michelle - we had great fun there playing in the playground at the back of our block. We used to go to the sweet shop on the corner to get our black jacks and fruit salad chews, traffic light lollys; and if we crossed over the road and cut through the other ...see more
When we went to "Dick's" for lunch, there would be me, my kid sister, my parents and my maternal grandparents plus Mum's youngest sister. She was only 5 years older than me- "Auntie Betsy"- and more like a big sister. She was the prodigy of the family, learning to play the piano, and Grandma always used to pressure a reluctant Betsy to play something on the pub piano. This was at the time when Fess ...see more
I was child of Ramsey St Mary's in the period 1939 to 1960. My family lived in the last 'grey pebble-dashed' council house going north out of village (3/4 of a mile from Ponders Bridge). My father's name was Harry Stafford Jacobs and my mother's Francis Ellen Jacobs. As well as myself, there were four other children, George, Bernard, Claude and Pearl. Anything about this area, ...see more
Shovelled off to Boarding School, aged 7 (just), small boy, shorts, huge trunk, sandwiches and standing on the platform in London shivering and not just from the cold. School train huffing and puffing heading for Barnstaple feeling frankly miserable. All is new, all is not good and others sharing the same fate. Eventually arrived at St Michaels through huge gates, facing huge buildings and hordes of ...see more
My great-great grandfather was George 'Dood' McKie and he lived in a house about six doors beyond the Graham Arms Hotel which is shown in the Francis Frith photo number L203002. He was one of those Longtown characters who are now almost gone. For many years he was a roadman, which meant he would go along the road to where piles of stones had been left and by 'knapping' them, i.e. breaking them up with a ...see more
I remember going to grandads; he lived by the clay pit in Foxhole and he worked there together with his two sons. He lived in a cottage and the railway ran by the house. There was a large shed next to the railway and he built a swing for me to play on, only recently I discovered that prisoners of war worked there. I was wondering if anyone remembered anything or anyone from that time as I ...see more
I have very happy memories growing up in Battersea. My very special memories are of me and my friends Jackie Heath and Geoffrey Marshall going to Battersea Park and going into what was called the Jungle back then. We would get dirty and grubby, and we would stay there for hours just messing around and having fun. Also Battersea Fun Fair holds great memories for me, the things we used to get up to ...see more
Memories for Meidrim 1943 and 1957.
Evacuee 1943
Yes me and my brother was evacuees from London in 1943. We arrived in Carmarthen and were lead to the cattle market - all we had was a box with a gas mask in it. There was a label on our coat with our name and our address on it .
There were lots of other children there too. Some were crying, it was very frighting because we did ...see more
My grandmother and grandfather lived at "Oaklands", in Maesgwyn Road, opposite a corrugated iron church. The road was unmade and beyond the church to the sea was a large meadow where cattle and sheep grazed. On the other side of the road were quarrymen's terraced cottages. My grandparents moved there in the 1920s after Grandad retired. Born in 1925, I spent much of my early childhood with them in ...see more
It was a cold and wet evening when I had arrived in Peterborough, and having little money on me certainly not enough to pay for some hotel. I had been thumbing lifts from various towns, but as it was teeming it down with rain, I did not fancy getting soaking wet and so I sought to stay within some Church where I'd simply sit in one of the pews. But that was not to be, the doors were locked. Just around the side of the ...see more
I wanted to add my own memories of growing up in New Haw from 1965 until moving again in 1973.
The family moved from Richmond (then in Middlesex) to 187 New Haw Road, a detached 3-bedroom house with 1/3 acre of overgrown orchard and backing onto Bentley's Farm. Dad (Peter) worked in London and commuted daily from Byfleet & New Haw station. Mum (Jeanne) was initially a housewife, but also ...see more
We moved into the parade of shops in 1938.
Our father opened a green grocery and florist shop at No16 I think? I recall that although the war years were devestating to many people I recall many fond memories growing up in Chipsted with my older sister Valerie. Our father was serving in the national fire brigade and managed to come home from time to time to help our mother run the shop and raise me ...see more
I was born in Battersea 1950, son of Mr & Mrs Redpath (Wally & Edith) I had two other brothers Terry & Garry. Fond memories of Battersea Park and of spending many days in and around the park with other kids from Elcho Street; Roger Hockham and Alan Flower. Many times waiting for the buses terminating in our street for the bus driver & conductor to go off for their break, whilst we searched the ...see more
I lived in Leasingthorn with my sister Beryl, we both went to the village school and l have many good memories of village life. My best friend was Jean Errington and the Saturday dance was one of the highlights of our week also the beetle drives with my grandmother, Ethal Willson. My mother was Ruby, her sisters were Lilly and Irene, her brothers were Jack and Robert. Myself, Robert, Denise, Robert jnr, Glyn and ...see more
I was born Heather Pickering in 1952 and lived from there on in Collyhurst Flats. I also remember playing on Barnies tip and getting into trouble from my mother for doing so. I went to St James primary school and left there and went on to Harpurhey High. My mother also went to Osborne Street wash house, but she used to go on a Wednesday and on this day during the winter we would have home made ham and pea ...see more
I used to live in Suffield Road (off New Road) and would play happily in the road despite this being the road to the refuse tip, and dust carts would be up and down all day. We would simply move out of the road and then resume our game of 'Tin Can Copper' once the dust cart had passed! I had a season ticket to Larkswood Pool - I could see the entrance to the pool from my bedroom ...see more
I lived in the huts from the age of four to the age of eleven. The huts were on Wistaton Road, where the huts were was called Park Place. Looking at Park Place from Queens Park to the left was a small field and going further left was Webb Orphanage, then a gully which was a short cut to West Street. Behind the small field before Webb Orphanage were the air raid shelters then the Chester and North Wales railway line and ...see more
My mum worked in Bearmans department store in the late 50s early 60s to fund a trip for to go to Switzerland from St Georges RC school Walthamstow. She worked in luxury leather goods ( selling suitcases) it was our equivalent of Harrods, what a wonderful shop, it made Leytonstone high street, we would go early my dad and I and meet my mum on a Saturday afternoon and have a cup of tea and I thought it was very posh. ...see more
Coldham Hall was a pub much loved by my family on the riverside in Surlingham, about a half mile downstream from Brundall. The landlord at the time the picture was taken was Billy Breach, who also ran a foot ferry across the water from the tiny dock in the left foreground to a small jetty (with summoning bell) immediately opposite on the Brundall side. As I recall from my earliest memories, around 1940, ...see more
I lived in Clayton Street. I remember playing in the street - rounders where our ball kept bouncing against the gable end of Mrs Lowndes house in Meadow Lane, and she wasn't happy! We had no gardens and we all played in the street. There was an air raid shelter built on spare ground opposite our house, it wasn't very substantial and we used to play hide and seek around and in it... I used to do odd ...see more
Living toward the end of Frank Bott Avenue, just before the circle where the road bends round into Rigby Avenue. With mum, Doreen, Dad, Cyril (he adopted Cyril as his first name because he didn't like the thought of his christian name William being used to make his initials W.C.), and my two sisters, Kristine (she adopted the K from the C), and Janice. Our immediate neighbours were Mr & Mrs Robinson; he was a ...see more
I lived in Upper Bridge Street and remember a few of the shops in town, I think! On the corner of Upper Bridge Street and the Bell Pitch was Franketti's fish shop with an awesome Art Nouveau till and free chips if you took them newspapers for wrapping, and opposite was Cliff Powell's fruit & veg shop with Baggot's little corner shop further down. Walking down Upper Park Terrace from our house you ...see more
Born in 1947, I grew up on Babington Road, Streatham. I remember the Home Guard a few houses up and Robin Hanson and I would play on the search lights left over from the war when we were four or five. There were three bombed houses on our road all at the top near Ambleside Ave where we would play. I went to St Leonard’s primary school. Mr. Sopper was the Headmaster and then Charles ...see more
I came to live at Leadgate when I was 12 years old and attended Leadgate Council School which was a large red brick building for infants and juniors, boys and girls. I was at the school for only 2 years, leaving when I was 14 years old. Those two years were good ones for me as I was fortunate to have a dedicated teacher called David Scott, who lived at Castleside. His influence remained ...see more
I remember when golfers weren't allowed to play golf on Sundays and the golf links belonged to the Leven folk. We had picnics on the slopes nearest the beach as our mother did not like sand getting into our sandwiches etc! So the golf course was her base, where she could sit and meditate in peace while my sister, brother and I had a great time on the beach. 1945 is just a rough guide as to when we spent our ...see more
My grandfather, George Pretty lived at a house called Belmont with his second wife Gladys, from the 1950's I assume until his death. I was a schoolboy at King's School, Worcester. My parents lived in Hong Kong and my mother arranged for me to spend the Easter holidays in 1960 and 1961 with my grandfather. My mother and my grandfather weren't close. He saw her as an ungrateful daughter and she ...see more
We moved to Roe Green Village in 1940 having been bombed out in the East End. My father was stationed at Mill Hill Barracks following his return from France. He found us a place to live in Goldsmith Lane, Kingsbury. We spent the rest of the war years in the village. We had our share of the bombing and I can remember a bomb falling in our back garden and my Dad was so upset that it had destroyed his well kept ...see more
My family and I, 5 sisters and a brother, lived in Nigel road just up from the Washwood Heath Road. I was born in the house in Nigel Road in 1948 so were my siblings. My memory is very vivid of my times there until I left home to get married in 1969. Ward End Park was our playground. In the summer it would be football nearly every day down at the sandpits, as we called them, no grass to play on only ...see more
I first came to Lower Swell as a 16 year old boy; that would have been 1967. I had attended Wilsons Grammar School in Camberwell London. Austen Nichols had worked at the school teaching metal work. He told me that he lived in Lower Swell and had a forge there. He and I got on really well. He was a good teacher and became a good friend. When he left Wilsons he invited me to visit him and that summer I did. I ...see more
I was born in Marshall St, Old Monklands. I remember playing in the Glen and having to cross a very busy road to get there.West End park was one of my favorite haunts. Iwent to St Josephs Primary school (I think it was called that, because they changed the name). In those times they used the belt as punishment, and I remember running home to my mum after being hit very badly with the belt. My mum ...see more
I worked at the bakery in the early 70's on franchise to Rowlands Bread. I was on door to door sales covering Handforth to Wilmslow; it was very rewarding. My round no. was 112 at that time and I shared the depot with Almonds; there they still had electric vehicles for the local rounds. We shared the depot with Almonds Bread then Mothers Pride took over which was when the depot got very busy ...see more
My uncle, Milton Beattie was gamekeeper to Sir James Baird, and he and his wife Connie lived in the gamekeeper's house on the far side of Clints - on the way to Orgate. My mum and I lived in the Hall Cottage, and I went to Marske School where Miss Marriner was the teacher, and we were all taught in one classroom. On nice sunny days, the whole school - I think there were about fifteen pupils - would go out on nature ...see more
Mr Joe (Cloggy) Jackson Almost everyone who met 'Cloggy' has stories to recollect of this colourful village character - Dave Quinn recalls: Mr Joe 'Cloggy' Jackson, Club Doorman and Saturday Evening vendor of 'The Pink', AKA Sunderland Echo. Invariably dressed in flat cap and tight fitting jacket, riding breeches and leather boots, Cloggy looked every inch a 'horsey man'. He claimed that as a lad he ...see more
I know records will prove me wrong, but summer seemed to start around the beginning of May and last until getting on to Bonfire night. We walked to Witton-le-Wear night after night to swim then walked home or, if we were lucky, got a lift in an empty meat van, not unlike the one driven by Corporal Jones in 'Dads Army'. When it got too cold to swim we set about building and guarding our bonfire in the park. There were ...see more
Vague recollections of my first days, being taken in my little blue coat and cap by the girls next door. I seemed to cling to them for ages. (Was this a sign of things to come?) Finally graduated to playing with the boys, sliding in the school yard in black boots with 'segs' in. It was all boys because the yard then was divided by a wall and the red brick toilets and you just didn't venture into the girl's half. ...see more
I worked at Tesco, Borehamwood approx 1982 to to approx 1987, which was situated where the old bowling alley once was. I have fond memories of working there, although it was hard work, the staff all got along whatever the age. Tesco only had 18 checkouts I can remember, there was no Sunday or bank holidays opening, there was a delicatesen at the back of the store and ...see more
Hi, I was born and brought up in Dipton, I lived in Annfield Street with my dad, Tom Bell, and my nanna, Maria Bell. I went to St Patricks RC School and have good memories of my time there with a few of the teachers being nuns. My dad worked at the local mine and worked very hard long hours and was filthy black, when he came home. I remember the tin bath in front of the fire, the outside loo and the coal house. ...see more
As a lad, in the fifties after Sunday lunch, my father would drive my mother, my two sisters and I to Seasalter. The beach was made up of pebbles and shells, not as comfortable as the sandy beaches further into Kent, on the other hand the sea always seem to be much warmer than the other beaches we would visit further east.
We would park the car on the wide grass verge opposite the sea wall and cross the road to the ...see more
I lived in Blean-y-pant Crescent and we would walk along the canal tow path to reach the lido. I remember that there was a farm house at the bridge where we'd turn left up the hill. My father and I watched the only fire ball I've ever seen, bounce across the fields and hit the shed of the farmhouse one stormy day. The Lido was heaven to us kids. The mums would pack sandwiches and sometimes buy us a packet of ...see more
I was born in Aylsbury in 1952 and lived in Linslade for the first 7 years, then moved to Bracknell. My grandfather, William Evans, and great grandfather, Joseph Evans, had both been the village bakers in Little Billington since my great grandfather built West View and its bakery before the First World War. He also planted the orchard for the fruit to make apple pies, plum pies and so on. I can ...see more
I was born in 1950 at Alexandra Park Nursing Home in Muswell Hill. My Mum and Dad (Ivy and Joe Abrahams) owned and ran the fish shop in Hornsey High Street and my Dad was not very pleased when Mum went into labour just before the lunchtime rush! I came home to live in the flat above the fish shop. It was a wet, dry and fried shop. My Dad used to have live crab on the slab in the front window and ...see more
I was priviledged to be given a guided tour of the Bank of England Printing Works at Debden. I had just started work at the Bank in the City in 1963 and my tour formed part of the induction process for all new staff. Our group of a dozen new staff were given directions to take a Central Line tube train from the Bank station in the City out to Essex where the Bank's Printing works had been ...see more
THE KITE FLYERS
The Second World War had just ended before I started school. In that summer the craze in the council estate was for kite flying. Me and my pal Brian used to watch the big lads, Sam,Teddy, Bobby and Ian, flying kites on the Green, just above Murray Road. The kites were made of garden canes split in two, or orange box laths split and shaved down, tied in the middle to form a cross, and the ...see more
Mum, Ivy Ironmonger, and her sister, Edie, were evacuated from London during summer of 1944 and I was born on September 19th that year. Mum gave birth in the front bedroom of number 78 Excelsior Sreet, Waunlwyd, one of the first houses up the hill on the right, past the Parade .....not too far from the Park Hotel. The owners of the the house, Mr and Mrs Stacey, were lovely people and really looked after us ...see more
My name is David Strutt and I moved with my parents to 5 Heol yr Ynys when I was only 6 months old, in 1941, having been bombed out in London. I have often wondered what happened to folk that lived there. We seemed to know lots of people. I remember Jimmy Sadd, Billy Ward who lived at Riverside, Mervyn Priddle, Mary Glasson who married Bob Ford (they had the grocer's shop), Joan Goodman, Cedric ...see more
I have many fond memories of Pontllotyn Cinema, it was a very big part of most of my childhood and teen years. I remember Mrs Jones with the torch, Mrs Lewis & my own Nan, Mrs Jones from Duffryn St. My nan's job was to bring around the refeshment at the interlude of the film, which always had a second part, sometimes really long films may have had a part 3. On Christmas time the kids would line ...see more
I have great memories of Methilhill. We lived in Perth but my Gran Cormack lived at 147 Simon Crescent on the main road. We used to stay with her during the summer holidays. Those were the days when you knew you were in Fife becuase the buses were red, not like the Stagecoach colours nowadays. Daisy Park was a great haunt and we spent many days and evenings playing there. That chute had to be one of the ...see more
One of my early memories growing up in Walker was of sitting on the step to the back yard in my grans lane and seeing a group of people all dressed up in their Sunday best. One of the women was carrying the most perfect baby boy dressed in an amazing long lace gown and delicate white shawl and I had never seen anything so lovely in my short life. All of the grown ups started to call me over to them, ...see more
I was born at Mayday Hospital. My parents still live in Baring Road and my mother has lived there from the age of 13, as my grandmother had the house before they did. I vividly remember playing 'up and down the road.' It is so sad children cannot do that safely any more. I also walked to school from a young age, as did my friends. It was a different world.
My Dad had the first car in the street. Brownies was at ...see more
I went to Gatley Primary these years. Happy memories, completely changed now. I am an aviation buff and saw the first BOAC b747 land at Manchester Airport from my classroom window. My teacher was a Mr Elliott, not sure of his whereabouts now but I shouted "IT'S A JUMBO" out loud - he replied "quiet, I dont care if its a pink elephant."!!!!!!!!