Recent 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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Displaying Memories 27761 - 27840 of 36892 in total
Before the railways (railroads) came, there was no particular reason why people in Bristol, England should keep the same time as people in London.
At that time there was no practical way of communicating information about time over a distance. When the telegraph made such communication possible, it became necessary for people living in one area to agree that they would not keep their own local time, but would ...see more
There is no getting away from the fact that this is one the most attractive of all roads in Bristol. In Victorian and Edwardian times, Queen's Road was home to a number of institutions.
Here were the Museum and Reference Library, noted for its collection of natural history and geological exhibits, and a reference library containing over 50,000 volumes. The Art Gallery (1905) also housed a museum of antiquities on ...see more
The warehousing which dominated Prince Street, Narrow Quay and Prince's Wharf have been found new uses, largely cultural and media-based. The industry on Canon's'Marsh has gone, replaced by the new industry of tourism. With the construction of Pero's bridge, Bristol has continued the process of reuniting the two sides of its quay, creating and re-creating its topography to meet the needs of a different age.
Driving a major road through Queen Square. It is located in the historic heart of Bristol, just off Bristol's Floating Harbour, about half a kilometre south of the city's main shopping area, Broadmead. The square was begun around 1700 and was the first landscaped residential square in England outside London.
Queen Square in 1937 as workmen begin the first stages of driving a road across the green to ...see more
The High Street - the scene of many stirring events in Bristol's history and the heart of the city - was destroyed and lost forever during the Second World War.
As a city with docks and industry at its heart, Bristol was a natural target for German bombing during the Second World War. The German Luftwaffe were able to trace a course up river from Avonmouth using reflected moonlight. This path brought them right ...see more
St John's Gate in Broad Street in Bristol is the only surviving medieval city gateway, at one one time there were seven gates into the old city. Fortified gateways pierced the town wall at intervals. St John's Gateway, originally one of these, is the only Bristol one to survive. Portcullis channels are still visible within the arch. Queen Elizabeth I rode through here on entering the city in 1574. ...see more
Eastville Park swimming pool was built in 1905, and the lake in 1909, with the present boathouse dating from 1925. Since then, local road building has resulted in the loss of the original boundaries of the park and its walls, gates and drinking fountain. The swimming pool was turned into a community garden in in the early 1980s and the bowling greens, though nearly 100 years old, are still very popular. Original Victorian drinking fountain and toilets remain.
Bristol's great heritage started from humble beginnings. An Anglo-Saxon settlement by the name of Brigstowe steadily grew into a thriving port. After the Norman invasion of 1066, a castle was built in what is now known as Castle Park. The port continued to flourish and Bristol became one of England's principal ports. John Cabot sailed from Bristol aboard the 'Matthew in 1497, a voyage that led to him ...see more
Christmas Street, Lewins Mead.
Christmas Street was originally Knyfesmyth Street. When the knifesmiths moved away and anyway tended to be known as cutlers instead, the word gradually got corrupted and changed into something a little more familiar to people of a later time. So the stepped Queen Street by association became Christmas Steps.
St Peter's Hospital was one of Bristol's finest and most historic buildings, which had been home to pirates and an alchemist as well as a mint and a workhouse among many other uses. It was destroyed in the blitz 1941.
This photograph shows St Peter's Hospital in Peter Street, where the Register Office occupied part of the ground floor. The building on the left is St Peter's Church (c1930). This ...see more
A list of just some streets which have disappeared or changed their names since 1900.
Barr's Street (Lane until 1848) - Milk Street to St James's Barton - demolished and built over post-war for Broadmead Shopping Centre.
Barton Alley - widened in 1860s and became Bond Street.
Carey's Lane - Old Market Street to Ropewalk - demolished for underpass and roundabout.
Castle Mill Street - Merchant ...see more
Bristol Tramway Company and the glory days of the tram:
After the First World War the Omnibus Company changed its name from Bristol Tramways to the Bristol Omnibus Company/ In 1937 it was forced to keep using their very old transport fleet until replacements could be built. In 1949-50 over 200 vehicles were scrapped at the Kingswood depot.
In 1936 Bristol Corporation took an interest in the bus ...see more
It is ironic that these massive buildings that dominate the ridge at Ashley Down were known for generations as the Muller Homes. Their founder, German immigrant George Muller, was insistent on the title 'The New Orphan House' as he did not want his name to be prominent, for he considered himself merely an instrument in the venture. In fact, in his youth he must have seemed an unlikely candidate for such benevolent ...see more
'Cash on the Nail' the man said. . . and a century or so ago in Bristol he really meant it. For the deal would have been clinched on one of Bristol's four famous nails standing outside the Corn Exchange on Corn Street or, from the late 1550s to 1771, under a covered walk outside All Saints Church before they were moved to today's well-known site.
The brass nails with their flat tops and raised edges to prevent ...see more
Queen Elizabeth I granted housewives the right to dry their washing on Bristol's Brandon Hill.
Bristol's most prominent land mark, the Cabot Tower, was 100 years old in 1998. But the official opening was marked by a disastrous fire, a confidence trick and some rather clever council penny pinching. The foundation stone of the Cabot Tower was laid on Brandon Hill in 1897, the 400th anniversary of John ...see more
It has long been claimed that the lady in black who haunts the beautiful old Theatre Royal in King Street, home of the Bristol Old Vic, is none other than the great actress Sarah Siddons. There are similar tales of Siddons haunting other theatres but why should she haunt the Theatre Royal where she rarely appeared and where nothing momentous happened to her?
The answer is that the Theatre Royal's ...see more
Bristol's great heritage started from humble beginnings. An Anglo-Saxon settlement by the name of Brigstowe steadily grew into a thriving port. After the Norman invasion of 1066, a castle was built in what is now known as Castle Park. The port continued to flourish and Bristol became one of England's principal ports. John Cabot sailed from Bristol aboard the 'Matthew' in 1497, a voyage that led to ...see more
Only a handful of people have survived the terrible fall from the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The most celebrated was young lover Sarah Ann Henley.
Sarah was a local girl from St Philip's in Bristol. In 1885 she was 22 and working in a Bristol factory when she was jilted by her boyfriend. The heartbroken girl made her way up from industrial St Philips to Clifton and the bridge and, in despair, she ...see more
"Hold his hand and, don't let him fall in", were my dear old mum's famous last words. As an 8 year old when this photo was taken, keeping an eye on an accident prone 6 year old brother was no easy task. Off we went on the old steam train all the way from London to stay with our grandfather in Pier Plain, and I remember little brother Billy literally running down the road with his brand new yacht under his ...see more
This shows College Green and its grand posh upmarket shops, at a time in the past when parking wasn't a problem.
Many famous people lived round the Green over the years including Mary Robinson; actress and mistress of the Prince of Wales, Sam Worrall; the town clerk taken in by the fraudulent Princess Caraboo and involved in the terrible Bristol Bridge massacre, and poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and ...see more
The Dutch House - this 17th century building once stood on the corner of Wine Street. It was reduced to a charred skeleton during the Second World War and for safety's sake it had to be pulled down.
The Dutch House was Bristol's best-known landmark before the Blitz. By 1732 it was the house of John Vaughan, a goldsmith, in 1810 it became the Castle Bank, in 1826 the Stuckey's Bank; and by 1855 it was occupied by ...see more
Bristol's premier shopping centre was turned into a wasteland of burned out buildings after major bombing raids in 1940, during the Second World War.
Bridge Street Summary
Bridge Street ran from High Street, rising up a gentle slope and turning left to the junction of Mary-le-Port Street, Dolphin Street and Peter Street.
Back of Bridge Street was between Bridge Street and the Floating Harbour (the ...see more
Having a harbour right in the city centre gave Bristol an unrivalled attraction for visitors who gazed in wonder at the sight of tall masts - 'In the middle of the street, as far as you can see, hundreds of ships, their masts as thick as they can stand by one another, which is the oddest and most surprising sight imaginable', wrote Alexander Pope in 1732.
A long street, full of ships in the middle ...see more
When Bristol started rebuilding in the 1950s, it promised itself a shopping centre fitting for the Young Elizabeth age of the new Queen Elizabeth II. The old, much-loved Wine Street, Castle Street, shops had gone up in flames in the first big blitz of November 1940. The new centre, it was decided, would look towards the future.
Fine plans were prepared, creating four roomy, open piazzas on the ...see more
Over a thousand years ago Bristol's harbour developed around the lowest bridging point of the River Avon. The exceptional tidal range of the Severn Estuary and Avon carried laden ships into the city and scoured the river of silt.
Local trade flourished between Bristol, South Wales, the Severn ports and Ireland. During the Middle ages the port grew in prestige, trading with the Atlantic seaboard, Iceland and the ...see more
Arnos Vale Cemetery is the location of the tomb of Raja Ram Mohun Roy - 'The Father of Modern India'. He died when on a visit to Bristol in 1833. This gentleman left home and 'sought knowledge by his extensive travels'. He mastered ten languages, encouraged the study of English in early 19th century India and was a journalistic pioneer in India.
He came to England in 1830 to plead the cause of ...see more
The Llandoger Trow - It is rumoured that Daniel DeFoe had met Alexander Selkirk ( shipwrekced sailor who had been rescued by a Bristol ship) in the Llandoger, on whose story he based his book 'Robinson Crusoe'.
The Llandoger is also supposed to be the model for The Admiral Benbow pub in Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure book 'Treasure Island'. Blackbeard the pirate, who also came from Bristol, ...see more
Goddamn fish and chips!
At the very bottom of the Christmas Steps lies a building thought to date back to the 13th century, which has housed a fish and chip shop for well over 100 years. One of the first ever 'chippies' to open in England, this shop won a Best in Britain award whilst under the management of the inimitable Grace and Robert. After taking over the restaurant in 1964, the couple ...see more
Pisa has its famous leaning tower - and so does Bristol, with its drunkenly off-vertical tower of Temple Church in Temple Street. The tower isn't on the stupendous scale of its Italian counterpart, it's true. But its prominent position by busy Victoria Street and its proximity to Temple Meads station make it one of the most startling sights to be seen by newly-arrived visitors to Bristol.
Poor ...see more
My, how Bristol's once prestigious Park Street has changed. The picture from a hundred years ago shows just what a graceful place it was to shop in those Edwardian days of long ago. Strolling up, on the left, one could visit Avery's or Gilbey's for your wines and spirits, Arthur Cave or Bowen and Co, for a new suit and then pop into number 45, which housed the Servant's Registry, to see if they had managed ...see more
Frenchay Hospital in Bristol was built by the American Army during the Second World War. Frenchay Hospital is a large hospital situated in Frenchay, South Gloucestershire, on the (NE) outskirts of Bristol, England. The hospital, situated in the grounds of a Georgian mansion, Frenchay Park, started life as a TB hospital (Frenchay Park Sanatorium) in 1921, when Bristol ...see more
The Grange at Bitton was the home of the Seymour family, one member of which was Jane, the third wife of King Henry VIII.
The village is dominated by its open countryside setting. This relationship arises from the historic development of the Roman Road and then the coach route between Bristol and Bath as well as its crossing of the River Boyd. The road skirts around the foothills of Bitton ...see more
Whilst in the Army I was on the permanent staff of the College in the Seventies. Had a great time in Camberley with my family.
I was at Bembridge School above Whitecliff Bay from 1953 to 1958. I used to spend many happy hours in the bay and on the top of Culver Down.
My father Godfrey S Duckworth was Secretary of the East Berks Golf Club from 1950 until 1953.
I worked on this farm as a young lad before going to Agricultural College. I lodged with a family in the cottage in the picture.
I lived in the white bungalow on the right of the picture with my parents from 1953 until 1959. My father was Secretary of the Saunton Golf Club and the house was owned by the Christie Estates at that time. I have many happy memories of holidays at Saunton during that time.
Dear Francis,
As Christmas is looming, memories roll back to when Father Christmas arrived at Town Station on the train. One boy and one girl would be picked out of the crowd to recieve a present, and the present was a story book. How very lucky I was.
Jenny Savage (Dungey)
We are in year 1955 and I'm sure you older ones from around here will remember what Duffers were, this was a task game where all the gang joined in. We had different modes which would take our fancy, pole vaulting was where we would cut a length of tree, dress it up and use it for a number of duffers, like down the burn we would pole vault in different widths of the burn without falling in, well not on all occasions. Then ...see more
From age 11 to 16 I lived in Station Town from 1950 to 1955, at 2 Rodridge Street,( now thankfully the street has been demolished). When I saw the old photograph of the Main Street it was mostly as I remembered it. Booth's the Paper Shop was where I had my first Sunday paper job, deliveriing to the Main street, Sinker's Row and eventually finishing with the Pit Manager's House. All for 2/6. The shop ...see more
Wasn't there at some point a ticket box and steps leading down to toilets on the centre of High Row?
Hi, I am from Darlington and I would love to hear memories of the old orphanage/St Peter's School. Whenever I pass the building I am so curious, it is such a shame it is going to waste as it is a lovely building. I have researched it on the web and read stories of the Spanish children that were sent there, it's quite sad to think it could all be gone if demolished.
Ruth
Our family used to have our holidays (from Birmingham) in Llwyngwril and my dad tuned pianos in the village during our stay. We used to stay over a village shop and the lady owner would present my brother and I with a tin which contained broken biscuits which we would sit in bed munching. I remember making a nuisance of myself in the corner garage and happy days on the beach, as well as train spotting. Happy early teen days!
Back in the 1950s, as an extended family, we always went to Jaywick Sands for our summer holiday. A regular walk undertaken was along the beach to Point Clear then across the ferry to Brightlingsea. It seemed like a real adventure at the time!
We came to live in Failsworth in l956 when I was 8, we lived in Firs Avenue where the school clinic was held at what used to be Firs Hall, where I believe the owner or manager of the local mill lived. There was an air raid shelter still in the back which wasn't knocked down until the mid 1970s - so it had 30 years of kids playing in it, sliding down it on coal shovels when it snowed. A lot of my relatives lived in ...see more
I remember when I started school - I think it may have been Brierley Street, but I left Crewe in l956, aged 8, so I am not sure, but we lived on Nantwich Road in a flat above the Co-op. From the late 1940s my dad (Sydney Alston) used to work for Rolls-Royce as an upholsterer. I used to play every day after school in Queens Park, in the paddling pool with my spaniel Gracie (it was safe in those days) and I always took ...see more
I was born in the large house halfway down the hill of the little hamlet of Rosgill, the house is called the Lindens. My childhood was wonderful. I rate my self a very lucky person indeed to have started my life in the lovely Eden valley.
My father helped to build Haweswater dam in the late 1930s and met my mother, who was a farmer's daughter, in Rosgill, the family name was Martin. The people I can remember ...see more
This was 1958 the time when I seriously got into drainpipes, drapes and rock 'n roll music. I was at Walbottle Secondary Modern School. I used to take in the leg width of my jeans by hand using a needle and thread to make them as tight as I could get them, and I went to school with these drainpipes on and a Donegal jacket, along with black crepe shoes with white bars of music on the front, along with ...see more
This shows Swanwick Shore Road about 1 mile away from Sarisbury Green at the bottom of the hill. The road came off the A27 roughly opposite the Red Lion Inn at Lower Swanwick and followed the shore of the River Hamble through Moody's Boatyard. At spring tides, this road was often covered at this point at high tide.
My aunt and uncle lived in a houseboat at the end of the road - about 150 yards from the ...see more
When we moved to Snapewood, neither of us could drive, our father started to take us out in a yellow and black Hillman Imp. For people who don't know, an Imp has the engine at the back. It was the first car to have an overhead cam.
The day trips we took were good, with us three kids in the back. We would go to Derbyshire, we would park at Black Rock and walk up the very steep crumbling hill to see the ...see more
I live in Newcastle, NSW, Australia and I am endeavouring to research my family tree. My relatives came to Australia from the Isle of Skye. John McInnes, (b.1820 on the Isle of Skye, parents Duncan McInnes and Margaret ?), married Catherine McInnes - same surname - (b. 1824 on the Isle of Skye, parents Angus McInnes and Mary McKinnon) in East Maitland, NSW Australia in 1844 and they had 7 children. Their ...see more
I am attempting to discover my family history prior to 1887. My relative, William Phillips, lived in 14 Council Street, Llantwit Fardre. He was born in Neath on 14 Sept 1852, I don't know when he moved to Llantwit Fardre. He married Rachel Thomas (b.18/7/1852 in Llaneth Verdre) in 1875/6 in Glamorganshire and they emigrated to Australia in 1886 with 5 children. Does this house still exist? Are ...see more
I too, as others, have many fond memories of holidays in Sizewell. During summer school holidays I travelled from Scotland to London to be with my grandparents. They were well connected with Sizewell and would take me there for their annual holiday camping at the foot of the Benthills just below where the power station is now. The Gunthers House surrounded by a wall did not stop me from sampling the ...see more
This picture is of the two Bursledon bridges over the River Hamble - the A27 road bridge in the foreground and the rail bridge behind it. Sarisbury Green is further up to the right on the A27 at the top of the hill. The photo is taken from the Bursledon side of the river loooking over towards Swanwick Shore, Lower Swanwick.
A Gentlemen from Amblecote, Staffordshire By The Oracle | April 16, 2009 This public voice, dos not usually, print obituaries. However, three persons have signed their names to a tribute to Samuel Kinnear from Amblecote, and we feel it should be heard.Samuel Kinnear, universally, known as "SAM" was a successful business man. A veteran of the Second World War, a family man, who had two loves in life, ...see more
I left Coolham 1n 1957 to go to sea to become a Salvage Diver. I was very fortunate to have achieved my ambition and became the senior diver within Admiralty Salvage. My family lived and owned Hammer Cottage, together with Saddlers Cottage plus some land near Oak Tree Farm. I hold the original deeds for this property back to 1800. Should any one in the village be interested, I also have some pictures of Mr and Mrs ...see more
I was born in Perivale in 1957,. Our main high street was Wembley, and Kilmister's was a favourite shop for sports stuff. Aged 10, my dad took me there to get my first football kit for my birthday, and him being a Chelsea fan that was top of the list! Sadly for him when we asked for one in my size, they were out, so I suggested an Arsenal kit, and to this day - "Come on you GUNNERSSSSSS". I miss my dad, but have great memories though.
Jerry
The youth club at Rothwell was a meeting point for us all to have a dance and listen to music, the Searchers, Duane Eddie and Eden Kane come to mind. I also worked at Nickersons as a telephonist when I left school and took over from my sister Vanda when she left. I remember being really nervous when I first started, Jill Fox and Mr Eley were very nice and helped me to settle in.
I lived in Southend Road from 1940 till 1947 then moved to Kent. My grandparents lived at 16 Charnwood Gardens. I lived with my mother and older brother Byron, my father was away at war and I never saw him until 1945. I went to Glynwood Infants School and remember that I kept running home at lunch times as I hated it. I used to play up what we called 'the cut', off the top of Southend Road and I played in the ...see more
8 Manor Court Road. I used to live there as a child, up to the time shortly before my mum died. We had moved to Carr Vale by then. I always remember Auntie Elaine next door and that the kids all called me Mister Softie because when the ice cream man came and played his jingle I always went running into the street, wanting an ice cream. I also used to have to walk across Castle Fields every day to go to school in Carr Vale. Great in the summer but it wasn't so good in the snow!
The picture of the High Street, Paisley is part of my family history. My grandfather, Thomas Paton, worked for his brother, James, who ran a wholesale and mercantile stationers in the High Street. This would have been in the last decades of the 19th century, as it is likely James died around 1898. I have a few references to the business, and a reference written by James for my grandfather, who moved south and set ...see more
Mum said she was 2 weeks overdue and it was the worst winter, and all she could think of was to go for a walk up the steps of the Lickey Hills hoping that would bring me into the world!
Don't blame me for wanting to keep warm in her womb as long as I could!
Re: Selly Oak village, Burton's snooker hall - I will ask my dad what he knows of it as I know the Higgins lads, including my Grandad Albert Higgins, was a noted Snooker champ in his day.
I moved to East Barsham when I was 5 years old in 1988. I grew up in the village and got the opportunity to spend time with the children that lived in the manor at the time. I have many memories of running around the manor playing games and getting to swim in the outside pool. I moved away from East Barsham wen I was 12. My time there and my memories are very happy!
I lived the first 22 years of my life in Great Easton amd it is a place that will remain with me forever. My family are recorded as being in the parish for 400 years and my late father was the last one to remain, until his passing in 2001, in a very much changed village to the one I remember as a boy and most certainly how he would have remembered it having lived there all his life.
We all went ...see more
As a youngster living in Great Easton along the Welland valley, my school holidays in the early 1960s were largely spent at Seaton Junction station in Rutland. My friend Colin and I would cycle there with a bottle of orange squash and a bag of sandwiches and spend our days watching the trains on the Rugby to Peterborough line and also the Kettering to Nottingham trains over the viaduct nearby.
We ...see more
My parents June & Brian Cocklin owned the Cycle and Toy Shop at 14 Broadwalk from 1963 until 1975. I lived there with my brother Christopher and sister Leonie. The shop was next door to Diggi's Cake Shop and also the other side was City Electronics. (The organ / record shop). We lived above our shop and City Electronics. All of us children went to Pinner Park and Nower Hll High ...see more
Seventy years ago, I was stationed at RAF Upper Heyford and was selected to be included in the Guard of Honour when King George Vl visited in either April, May or June (memory not what it was at 88!) 1940. I do recall seeing two photographs of the event in which I was pictured. Over the years, with my daughter's help, we have tried to obtain copies - sadly, unsuccessfully to date. If ...see more
This picture is of the railway bridge over the Hamble, looking up stream from the road bridge which carried the A27 over the river. A little way to the right of where this picture was taken was the Red Lion Inn. I remember watching steam trains crossing the bridge on trains from Brighton/Portsmouth to Salisbury/Bristol in the early 1960's. Local trains were Diesel units - the line not being electrified ...see more
My aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs Arthur Dowsett, moved to Lower Swanwick in 1958 when my uncle retired after working for many years as a signalman for BR. They bought a houseboat, a converted motor torpedo boat, mtb234, which at that time was moored at Swanwick Shore, a little way along from Moody's Boatyard.
I spent some time staying with them during school holidays and from Jan 1968 until June 1970 I ...see more
I would like to hear from anyone who was in Heswall Children's Hospital in 1969 to 1971. I would like to find Denise O'Gorman, we were best mates, she will be in her 50s now, she came from Cherster. So come on, someone must be out there who was in the hospital. Even Ringo Starr was there, but that was before my time. He gave the hospital a boat for us kids to play on, it sat in the grounds. I hope to hear from someone soon.
I note that several Memory Writers have mentioned Knighton Woods and Lord's Bushes in their stories. I too remember these great places to play. We'd pretend we were soldiers defending an imaginary stronghold. We'd hurl pretend grenades and mills bombs at the 'enemy' from behind fallen tree roots and large bushes. However I wonder how many other youngsters who also played in these parts of ...see more
Powerstock was my local village from 1951 to 1963. We lived at Kings House Farm at the foot of Eggardon Hill. My father Eddie Whitaker farmed (the hill rented and his 13 acres) for 12 or so years before moving to Somerset. I have visited with my family several times over the years and stayed at the Three Horse Shoes pub on one occasion, there I met one of my peers from school and caught up ...see more
I have been researching my early schooldays and my first memory is of a sweeping staircase up to a landing where I was been held by matron whilst my mother seemingly abandoned me. She was unmarried (the horror) and at the time it was a girls' school that took a few boys under 7. As my mother could not have me at home, I was packed off to boarding school. I remember there was a brewery close by and every time I ...see more
When I was a child, my parents and my two brothers went to Bournemouth every year for 2 weeks holiday. I have nothing but happy memories of Bournemouth and Boscombe and the surrounding towns. I am now nearly 56 but I still long to go back in time and revisit the places as they used to be. I still go on holiday to Bournemouth. I think its my favourite place in the whole world, and now that my father is no ...see more
Well, this is a trip down memory lane. My mum and dad took sister and I there in, I think, 1967 or 1968 (I was 13). I remember listening to The Beatles/The Herd/Floyd (Arnold Lane) in the Hole in the Wall Club and my sister aged 15 ordering me to buy her 10 No 6 ciggies from the garage (I think) across the road. I remember the swimming pool and most of all my first 'girlfriend' called Patricia Henderson ...see more
I have a great-grandfather and several of his brothers who went to this grammar school in the 1830s and 1840s and they all had very nice writing with perfect copperplate. So maybe the severity on the outside was reflected in the teaching on the inside. My great-grandfather wrote with a quill pen on paper and I wonder whether anyone knows whether he used a quill at school. He knew a lot about New Zealand before he ...see more
I was a boarder at Adelaide College, while my father lived in London, my mother worked at Montebello Hotel. I recall the town then was crowded with American service people, who as I can remember were very generous with their gum and loose change!
I also lived for a while at the Woolacombe Bay Hotel, the owners then were I think the Johnsons. I wonder if there are any photos out there of the College? I believe it was pulled down in the 1960s.
Ilfracombe, what a lovely little town!
I spent many happy days during the summer holidays with my grandparents who lived at No 1 Park Lane. I played in the park opposite and in a wood across a field at the back of the house. There was a pig sty at the bottom of the garden where they kept a couple of pigs until they were ready for slaughter. The butcher, who only had one arm, slaughtered the pigs on the back yard, although as I remember he only had one ...see more
My father was born and bred in Pontlottyn, his name was David Llewellyn Morgan, known locally as Dewi. He worked for many years on the railway at Rhymney station, but I have early memories in the start of the 1960s when as a small child he used to take me with him, usually on a Saturday morning, to Pontllotyn cinema where he would show the films. I used to love to sit with him and watch ...see more
My grandfather and grandmother built Park Hill Farm together, with hired labour for the roofing. My grandfather was a farmer, wheelwright and a skilled carpenter, his elder brother, Thomas, who lived at the original Mellor family home (called variously Hill Top Farm, Hill Top Cottages) near the bridle path which leads to the River Tean, was a master at most ...see more