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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Not sure what to write? It's easy - just think of a place that brings back a memory for you and write about:

  • How the location features in your personal history?
  • The memories this place inspires for you?
  • Stories about the community, its history and people?
  • People who were particularly kind or influenced your time in the community.
  • Has it changed over the years?
  • 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 34961 - 35040 of 36890 in total

MY TWO DAUGHTERS ELSIE AND EUNICE AND THEIR FRIEND MARY YOUNG ARE THE CHILDREN ON THIS PHOTOGRAPH.  THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN ON THE 'LITTLE SHORE' AND THEY WERE TRYING TO KEEP THE INCOMING TIDE OUT OF THEIR SANDCASTLE.  THEY ALL HAVE GROWN UP FAMILIES OF THEIR OWN NOW.  42 YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE THAT DAY.
I remember well the parade through the village on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee. My mother and several other mothers dressed six of us young boys as toy soldiers and we had to march in the parade.  However, the best thing in the parade that I can remember was a model of the Queen Mary.  It was loaded over a car.  You could not see the car, only the majestic liner floating through the village. ...see more
Old Weston & the Black Swan.   My first memory of Old Weston was back in 1955 and actually when the picture of the Black Swan was taken. I was stationed at RAF Molesworth from March 1955 to March 1957. This was one of the first pubs I went to after arriving in England that year. I have since visited Old Weston in 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005 and have visited Old Weston on every trip. The pub is now called The Swan. Lots of good memories from back then and always enjoyed visiting the area.
Greetings,  My name is Diane and I am an American who lived in the Grange on High Street in Islip in the early 60's.  My father was in the USAF stationed at Alconberry.   I have fond memories of Islip.  I remember going to the fair in the churchyard, walking to Thrapston for fish and chips and, much to the dismay of one of the local farmers, I remember chasing some cows around a pasture.  I attended a one room ...see more
I left Pinner Grammar School in 1963 and well remember this view as I sometimes cycled this route back home to Hatch End. Mostly I would go home the direct way through Pinner but I can remember putting in the extra miles to go via North Harrow for a couple of very good reasons!   On the left of the picture close to the bus stop was a good toy shop with a window display of model railways. As I grew older ...see more
Morris dancers were often asked to provide entertainment at church fetes in the Harrow area in the 1980's. On one occasion the Whitethorn Morris dancers and their Whitethorn Band were booked to entertain at a fete run by St Lawrence Church in Eastcote. I remember this occasion well as at that time I was the band leader and our noisy drumming spooked the pony and ...see more
Both my wife and myself work at the school. It is a fantastic place to work and live. We are also able to visit the church next door where Wordsworth was married. Many of the original features of the Caley house are still there and being well looked after. Jim & Carol Roberts Brompton Hall School
Does anyone remember my mother and grandmother?  My mother Sheila, married John Edwards and moved to Jersey in 1959.  Lily lived in Warborough till her death in 1979. She lived in Gravel Walk, Warborough until approx 1973 then moved to sheltered accom until 1979. My mother died in 1977. I went to the local village school where I remember teachers called Mr Dance and Miss Kirby. My father who is still ...see more
I arrived in Gravesend in mid 1947 as advance party to re-open "Milton Barracks". Our first night out was a walk around King St to see what we could find. It didn't take us long to find the pubs in Gravesend or to find the Prom.  We spent a lot of time on the Prom watching the boats and the birds. That's how I met a girl called Eileen Mockett.  We were married in Milton Church on the 21 August 1948.  I stayed in ...see more
I was 19 years old and loved cycling. My aim was to cycle from Blackpool, where I lived, to Barley Youth Hostel on Pendle Hill. Unfortunately, I calculated too little time to reach my destination and found myself at the bottom of Pendle Hill, Padiham, I think, at 5.pm. in December. It was pitch black and the battery on my front light was low. I was scared because the hill was steep and I had to ...see more
My grandmother had to work in the flaxworks during the First World War and caught her arm in a machine and severed it!  I was told she was taken to Yeovil and spent many weeks in this hospital.  In 1964 I spent two weeks in here but for a much nicer reason, my first son was born.
My best memory of Little Sandhurst was being able to run freely through Wellington College woods as I was an avid fan of athletics and still am.  I lived in Edgbarrow Rise and can remember people like Peter Searle, John Irwin (now deceased), Peter Barber (now deceased), Derek and David Wood and many more.  My mum used to work in the local post office and her name was Maria.  I went to Scotland Hill school, the old ...see more
My Mum and Dad moved into the village in the 1930's into a new house in Rogers Lane and lived there for 66 years.  My father was the village tailor working from a workshop in the back garden.  My mother was very involved in the village life, joining the WI and also the secretary of the Old Peoples club for a while.  Also a member of the local tennis club.  My father was a Special Policeman during and ...see more
There was an air raid shelter under the green opposite the Three Jolly Wheelers pub. It comprised a number of concrete passageways. My mother my sister and I would use it on occasions when there was a particularly bad air raid. I remember it as damp and musty with bunks lined up against one wall of each passageway and side passages that contained a small kitchen and first aid areas. These were manned ...see more
My great grandad's brother was the blacksmith in the 1930s in Weaverthorpe.  This was my father's grandfather's brother. My father went to school at Weaverthorpe but lived in Helperthorpe. His father, Allison Clark was a farmer in Helperthorpe and lived at Corner House until he died in 1983.  My father lives in Australia (Melbourne) with his wife Jean.  Both are in their 80s.
I used to walk from Farnham Common down Templewood Lane to visit my friend Viv who lived on Rogers Lane in Stoke Poges. It didn't seem like such a long way back then. This would have been between 1957 and 1960. Both sets of our parents are buried in the Memorial Gardens at St. Giles church. Viv and I lost contact for 40 years, and found each other last year through a website. I now live in the USA. Stoke Poges holds fond ...see more
My family and I relocated to Llangattock in or about 1955/6.  We came from the American army camp at Dan-yr-Park.  I rather think that the local people thought we were aliens of some sort and regarded us somewhat disdainfully and not to be trusted.  However we soon integrated into village life and I hope we are remembered as decent folk.  We occupied a house in the new estate Plas der Wen and it was a great home to ...see more
I just stumbled across this site, and I had to post some of my memories here!  I remember so much of Hatch End, (I'm going to run out of characters in this box - may have to add anther one).  I remember Budgens and also Akropolis and I'm sure there was a hairdressers up that end too.  There was also a tailors along there.  I definitely remember the butchers as there was a young man in there I took a shine to, ...see more
I went to school in Bexleyheath between 1950 and 1954. I believe the school was in Pelham Road but I can't be sure. Maybe there was a separate infants school in North Street? I remember the excitement of the Coronation in 1953 when we spent a lot of time making flags. I was given a Coronation cup and saucer at school. Sometimes I would come up to the High Street as I joined the cub pack in 1953 ...see more
This 1953 view of the pond is instantly recognisable as so little has changed in the 21st century! I lived just down the hill in Oxhey Village between 1981 and 2006 and would regularly walk up to Bushey by this pond. In earlier years I would walk with my young son David and feed bread to the ducks. At one time there was a small duckhouse in the pond and it was so lovely to see families of ...see more
My Family moved to the house to the left of the school gates in 1957, before the school was built. I lived there until 1965 when I married and moved to the USA. My brother went to this school, and I used to cut across the field to catch the bus to my school in Slough. I have many fond memories of growing up in Farnham Common, taking the dog for walks in Burnham Beeches, stopping at the bakery on the corner of ...see more
Nearly forgot about the quarry on the Markham road.  Lucky to be still alive with all the dead sheep in there.
My memories relate to the war years and just after. My paternal grandparents lived in Scarisbrick. I can remember the house, kitchen and front and back gardens. It seemed a much bigger house than ours and probably was. I don't remember any houses on the opposite side of the road. When we travelled on the bus from Ormskirk, the light flickered through the leaves overhanging the road, creating a kaleidoscope ...see more
My GGGrandmother, SARAH BRYANT, was born in Litton in 1839. She married a WILLIAM CARTER of Welton, M.S.Norton.   She was the daughter of Thomas Bryant and Emily ??. Thomas was born in Stoke, Som.  Emily was born in Ashwick,Som. Thomas was a Brewers ser.   They had 4 children.  Sarah,  Mary,  Eliza,  Sydney.  All Litton born. If any Litton historians have any more details.please contact me. lewis.carter@ntlworld.com
I went to  St Barnabas school from 1950 until 1953, I have just found an old school photo from the above years.  I can put names to some of the faces but could do with some help with the rest.  Can anyone help?
My mum worked at Valence open swimming pool and my aunt worked in the buffet - what a result - in for free and free Oxo after the freezing water.  My mum looked after the ladies locker rooms - she remembers the boys trying to peep over the top of the girls lockers!  She remembers when they closed the pool and she lost her job, and saying 'no' to working at the Dagenham indoor pool, and a little girl ...see more
My parents, Harry and Nancy were married in this Congregational Church and I was a Sunday School Teacher and sang tenor in the choir in the late fifties before going to university. It has a splendid organ with a triumphant tuba stop that David Jones the organist used to good effect in blazing out the melody over new harmonies in the hymn-singing.
From the mid thirties until the building of the new swimming pool in Wellingborough. After the war in the late forties, fifties and sixties, the boys of Wellingborough Grammar School regularly had swimming lessons and their annual swimming gala here. Is this a picture of a swimming lesson?
This is a photo of Earls Barton Church in 1965, just two years after Susan Ford of Earls Barton married David Tall of Wellingborough 21 Sept 1963.
As kids, all of us "Fenside lot" would go to Sid Guests house in Granville Street for our haircuts. He had the front room done out with a mirror, seat and all the other things a barber needs. It was very cheap and all our mums could afford. Great days.
Christchurch was demolished in August 1890
My mother worked in the cafeteria at lunch time, collecting the money from the students. She seemed to know everybody in the college and when she passed away at the young age of 48, it seemed that the whole of Swindon mourned with us. Swindon is a place that I hold dear to my heart. Every picture that I have looked at today brings back wounderful memories of a town that I still call home even though I live overseas.
There were only 25 children in our tiny school, which was a shock when we got to middle school! We used to play up the common and when the nuns from St. Domonic's rang the bell for 6pm we all knew it was time to go in. On Sundays Mrs Jackson's grandchildren would come up from Chiddingfold and she'd take us all for long walks stopping along the way to pick up more friends. My best friend was Tessa! ...see more
I used to visit my aunt and uncle in the middle to late fifties. They used to live at the bottom of Smock Alley in a large bungalow.  I remember walking up to the post office and cross roads.  Smock Alley was just like a cart track. When I last went back a few years ago, to my amazement it was like millionaires row. How things change from your early childhood.  We used to go ...see more
My childhood holidays were spent each year at Lower Largo from 1952 until 1960. Mum, Dad and I lodged with a family called Robertson where we had a room and meals cooked for us by Mrs Robertson.  Every year the same families from all over came to Lower Largo at the same time so we always had lots of friends to meet each year again! Our journey from Edinburgh was on the train over the Forth Bridge which ...see more
me and noodle went to the erith musem and saw loads of cool stuff of how erith was during the war
Lived on Bata Estate 1954-1964, near railway crossing. Through crossing on left was sad row of shops, we knew as Mucking. Turning right down farm track (forbidden!) I could creep through undergrowth to an almost deserted settlement, very overgrown, with a wonderful pond and small church. Never saw a soul. Magical spot. This was Mucking village proper. Excavations had not begun in earnest, though Saxon (and Roman) stuff ...see more
Wimborne Folk Festival takes place every year in June - it is a glorious mixture of dancing, music and dressing up with visitors from all over England bringing their entertainment to the streets, squares and pubs of this pretty town. The festival attracts morris dancers and musicians who are delighted to perform in front of the huge crowds thronging the High Street and The ...see more
My grandma Annie Moody lived in Amble as a child. She was born in 1897 but I think they lived somewhere else first, but she and her parents are on the 1901 cencus as living in Amble. My mother (her daughter) Mary Maddison nee Stewart has many happy memories of visiting her granny and grandad there too. Before 1966 when I and my family lived up north at Seghill we took our summer holidays at a caravan park in Amble and I have ...see more
I can remember Feed My Lambs closing when we went up to the new school. I did 3 years at this one, an old type of school - one door for boys and the other for girls. The heating was from coke burning boilers and it was good to be able to go out and get the coke.  The other thing we lost when it closed was going across the playground to the outside toilets.  Lovely in winter.
This is my home.
My brother and I, aged six and a half and five, were evacuated to Wetley Rocks at the outbreak of war in 1939.  We only stayed for six weeks but the time is imprinted on my mind.  We were billeted in a farmhouse which belonged to, I believe, the Ridgway family who lived in a grander house nearby, now demolished.  Miss Ridgway lived there with her brother.  Their father was a pottery manufacturer.  The farmhouse had ...see more
This particular photo holds a lot of memories. Tthe bakery on the right hand side was owned by an old lady Mrs Rymes. My friend Di and I thought she was at least 100 years old back then!  She used to sit in a chair in the corner of the shop, her son was the baker and the baking was done in a small building to the right of the shop just out of the picture.  They used to sell the most beautiful (and warm!!) current buns ...see more
I worked at Market Square Cafe in 1949, fond memories of working for the Arpinos Family. Left in 1950 went to Margate to work and met my husband and I went by Rydam Boat to the USA (Mississippi) in 1955 and was married. Any one from Alsbury Road School can contact me at bobbyjones96@hotmail.com to catch up on memories.
As a young person we went to Jaywick every year for a holiday with my mum and dad.  We had great times, walked along the sea front and went to Clacton and always went to the Three Jays.  We stopped in Meadow Way.  I went back with a friend who also had holidays in Jaywick as a kid and it seemed very run down.  We are going back again this year to see how it is being refurbished.   Terry Webb.
How wonderful to find this web site.  I am the second generation of my family to be born, brought up and still live in Porthcawl.  I consider myself very lucky to live here and fully appreciate both the seaside and the country which is easily and quickly accessible. Porthcawl is a great place to live it retains much of the community spirit I remember from childhood. I can still walk down John Street and meet local people I grew up with.
I was born in Rothwell in 1949 and have lived there all my life and remember when it was a picturesque village where everyone knew each other.    What changes have taken place over the years.   I remember going to the Corn Mill with my dad on a Saturday morning to get corn for dad's pigeons.   We had to go over a foot bridge, across the mill pond, past the big water wheel and into the storage ...see more
It's not really a memory I have of this picture, but my 1956 Ford Popular was supplied by the Ford Dealership, A & S White of 37 St. Mary Street, seen on the right in this picture.  Now apparently a Weatherspoons Pub.
I was a 13 year old boy from Wilmington, North Carolina, USA. My father was a Sergeant in the US Air Force, assigned to Burtonwood RAF Station. We rented a flat at 35 London Rd, Stockton Heath. It was over Mr. Alfred Ward's Butcher Shop. His wife operated the Sweet Shop on the opposite side of the road. Their son was named Terrance. London Road was lined with small shops; several ...see more
My grandmother, Ellen Crow lived next to the Lindsell shop in the village. During the summer holidays Mum and I would go on the 12 o'clock bus from Chelmsford to visit her. I had many relatives in the village and surrounding area. Granny had 13 children. I was the youngest grandchild. I have such fond memories of the village. I visited there about 3 years ago. it has not changed at all. I now live in the suburbs of Chicago. Judy Pitt (nee Burr).
I remember walking to school in the winter from Hedgerley, only to arrive at the gates and seeing this view but the whole car park and playground being flooded.  No school today!!!  Sometimes it was a couple of days before the water had drained away.  Also on the left of the picture is where we used to stand waiting for the door to open for our school disco etc.  Great school, loved Miss Painter, can't say the same ...see more
I remember Ramsdons living at Betton House in the 1940s - 50s.  I myself lived at Moss Lane Farm, Betton from 1939 to 1959.  My fathers name was Arthur Holland.  I also remember delivering the newspapers to Betton House and that there were several small yapping dogs.  I think after that Tellwrights lived at Betton House.  Brenda Bailey nee Holland.
This photo shows me, my mother and two of my sisters walking home, in either 1967 or 1968. I am the small boy looking back towards the camera. We lived in a bungalow not visible in the photo, on the left hand side almost opposite the large house on the right. This house was owned by Mrs Turner, from whom we would buy our eggs and whenever we went round there, she would always give us a Nuttalls Mintoe.
Loved the youth club on Pant Street .  Also the gym with boxing, weights, football, judo etc.   The snooker hall was great and the famous cafe Aserattis Gattis with the pinball, wurlittzer, bottles of coke and the steamed pies.  And the annual Balfour Barry trips.  What a life.
This is not the lower high street at Wadhurst but the Flimwell Crossroads with the A21 passing from left to right and the road to Ticehurst beyond.
Can anyone help me with some 'lost places' in Bristol? I'm trying to locate where Navarino Place was...and also St-Augustine-the-Less church. My Gtx3 grandfather died at no.6 Navarino Place in 1857 and many members of my family were christened/married at the above church. I'm trying to piece together their lives and what it would have been like for them working in Bristol at that time.
youth club on pant street the cafes aserattis gattis (spelling?) pin ball wurlizter coke snooker hall, balfour barry trips
The Staty Fair is really called 'The Statute Fair' as it is held one night only but the high street is actually blocked off for 48 hours. My family have lived in Kimbolton for over 500 years, my grandad had the butchers shop in the high street 'Whitemans', and my nan had the 'Saddle' public house. During the war they lived at number 40 and had doctors and nurses staying with them. All my family return to Kimbolton and are buried in the cemetery.
In the late 19th century both this inn and the windmill itself, which was a short way away, were run by members of the Coldman family --- brothers I believe.
When my maternal grandparents' house "Hobart", Mount Road, Cranleigh was bombed during World War Two we were housed temporarily above the the Crown Inn whilst the bomb was defused and the house put back in order.
Cranleigh (Junior) School was hit by a V1 rocket at 9 am on a Sunday morning during the Second World War. The following day we started using the Village Hall for lessons. I remember sitting cross-legged on the floor as there was insufficient seating. Had the rocket fallen 24 hours later, the death toll would have been very high indeed.
I lived in Grenoside between 1957 and 1965 and I remember the post office offering children some wonderful goodies. We used to buy bags of sherbert , all colours and red was my favorite.  We would lick our forefingers and dip into the lucious powder sucking off what stuck to our fingers as we pulled them out of the bag. I am drooling already as I recall the yummy taste and laughing as I recall the ...see more
I love this photo of Loughton High Road as it shows just on the edge the cinema we used to have. Kids could go to Saturday morning pictures. We could see locally all the latest films.  To depart this asset from our town was not really progress I think.
Hi Bob. I remember your mother behind the Post Office counter. Your cat used to regularly attack our dog as we passed your front gate on the way to Burraton Park.  We both went to Saltash Grammar School in the late fifties.  I lived with Mrs Richards at 382 New Road a matter of a couple of hundred yards away near what used to be called the Coronation Inn and later was renamed the Rodney.  Roger's shop was further down New Road from us.  I believe it is now a Spar Store.
At the top of Cats Hill were three large houses, one was called Netherfield House and had been donated by the Booth family to the Salvation Army.  My father ran the house as a residential home for 29 gentlemen, and I worked with him for several years.  The house now, I believe has been converted into luxury apartments, and I would love to have some pictures of it, any of the past and some ...see more
My grandparents lived in Little Common for as long as I can remember. My family spent many summer holidays at Grandma & Grandad's. In the early sixties we would take the train from Letchworth to King's Cross, a taxi to Victoria Station, then a train to Cooden Beach and a taxi to Grandma's. We would often walk to Cooden Beach to swim or sometimes catch the 259 bus to Bexhill. In the mid to late sixties, ...see more
I remember Saturday morning matinées there in the 60s, brilliant time spent! Sneaking in sometimes when the cleaner forgot to lock the side exits! Fantastic.
I have vague memories of a zoo on the water front at Largs. It definitely had a monkey that got loose inside the small building on occasions and would steal your scarf.  There may also have been various birds. Can anyone refresh or debunk this memory? Any details would be welcome.
This is actually a photo of the Garden Hotel, which stood in Sandgate Road. It was empty from about 2000, had a fire in about 2005 and was demolished soon after. But it was quite prestigious in its day: such as the 1960s, when this photo is said to have been taken.
I was born in Bovey Tracey in 1952, on a Wednesday afternoon, the eleventh of June. I arrived in the middle of a garden party being held at 'Grey Gables' a house owned by a Mrs Pedrick (I do not remember her husband, but we children called her Aunty Lottie). My parents, my older sister and I lived in a house called Lemnos. I do not remember the name of the street it was on but I do remember that from our front door if ...see more
During the 1940s, I lived in Weymouth, but from May 1942, when I was 5, until July 1947, I was a boarder at the school.  I was happy there, and still remember the names of my teachers - Sister Anne, Sister Edith and Sister Magdalene, and also the names of many of the other nuns there then.  We had a walk every Tuesday and Saturday afternoon.  We walked in twos - with one nun leading the ...see more
I was 8 when I moved to Steventon.  We used to live in Didcot while I was a baby.  I enjoyed Didcot and liked the town side of it.  Also we moved here because my mum and dad wanted to live in the countryside while I was growing up to my teens. My mum is called Sharon Tappin and my dad is called Clive Tappin.  So far we have been here for a year and I really like it here and also I am settled in to the school. My name is Rebecca Tappin.
I used to go to Oxhey school which was opposite Bushey and Oxhey station.  It had outside toilets and a little bike shed with a bench where we used to play ball against the walls.  There was a church (which I think is still there) where we sung hymns and such. Or maybe it was the church hall, too far back to remember it exactly. I used to walk to school from the Bushey Hall Road, a long way for a child of only ...see more
Lots of happy times (and a few hangovers ) in the Bull pub in the early sixties.  In the days when the door was in the front,  there used to be a small bar to the left with a dart board and pin table with a small hatch/bar where you got your light and bitter or Watneys Red Barrel.  I left hornchurch in the mid 70s, must go back one day...
Hi My partner owns the cottage to the left of the main Romsey road, that is Ivy cottage, next to Puckpit cottage the side of which adjoins cadnam road, Joyce purchased this in 1997 when she left the Isle of Wight and took up lectures post at Southampton Univercity. Joyce wanted to be in Lyndhurst as she grew up their, but also her mother lived in the village and it would be nice to be near her and Barbara could ...see more
I left St Mary's Secondary to go to work in Riddochhill Pit. Wow!. Left the coal mine to work for Ritchie Brothers for a couple of years and headed to Lancaster to join my big sister, Veronica, in Lancaster.  I sold Life Insurance for The Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society for a year or so and then emigrated to BC, Canada.  Memories of kicking the can, "rounders", using the fireplace ...see more
I courted Bob Turner's daughter Pauline, and have very happy memories of times spent at The Serg. Where is Pauline now???? Dennis Nichols
The years were 61 and 62. I was the son of an American Serviceman stationed at the Air Base. My father chose to send me to the local elementary school. I was a tan kid from Florida starting the 1st grade In England! My parents would laugh as they heard my speech change and I become one of the local kids. My first grade teacher was Mrs. Hunt. I used to play at a place called "The Rec". It was a magical ...see more
I briefly attended Charlestown Infants' school in 1942 as it accepted children a years earlier than Mount Charles Infants (just a mile away) which I lived just a few yards from on Porthpean Road.  I was four years old at the time. During those war years the quaysides around the inner dock had corrugated iron buildings that were used in the fitting out of inshore mine-sweeper vessels.  These boats ...see more