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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This week's Places
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Displaying Memories 35761 - 35840 of 36887 in total
This photo IS 1955 as you can see the garden is on the left of picture with giant Pear Tree and cooking apple tree in picture .............Finish story at later date when i've got a bit of time.
There used to be a very large weeping willow there that used hang over the river. We used to cast underneath it as fish used to congregate under it. This is the bank where I did most of my fishing from. On the left of picture was our flower garden, a pear and apple tree, a water well then a lawn then a vegetable garden right to the top, where the horse grips are. In those days the ...see more
This is where I spent my life from 2 years old till I was 13 years old. Fishing, rowing boats, paddling canoes and riding Kitty the horse in the field behind our cottage that my dad looked after and stabled at night for the owner who lived in the big house in Old Road. See the picture at top of Old Road - that's where we took Kitty and the grey horse we later looked after to be shod.
While my family lived in the lock house 1950 - 1961, my father rented the rowing boats out and also the fishing permits. This is only one place where they were moored. At various times they were both sides of the bridge and on both banks. On the left bank of this picture there was the swimming pool and on the right they built a boating club in the late 50s with kayaks & racing rowing boats from 1 to eight ...see more
MY FAMILY MOVED HERE IN 1950 TILL 1961 MY DAD WAS THE LOCK KEEPER 1950 - 1961 SEE OTHER PHOTOS OF HOW IT LOOKED IN 1955
This was where my mother and father were married in 1937. I used to walk up to the Church with the whole of Minehead Grammar School for our annual Christmas Carol Service. Our lovely music teacher, Mr Langdon, used to play the organ and I can still hear the bass notes reverberating around the Church while we sang 'God is Love' in Latin.
We lived above a shop in Northolt Road, South Harrow close to the station for two years. We had no hot water, no bathroom, and very limited space. It was our first married home. Traffic outside was constant. Despite all this it was a new experience and a lot of happy days. On one of our visits there from North America we travelled down Northolt Road (about 1990) and were surprised to see that the building was ...see more
This photo is of Rough Stones Farm, Walsden which in 1960 was owned by my grandfather and is still in the family.
After two ''BIG C'' scares and an operation I finally managed to get back to the HALFWAY HOUSE (Sept 09)....seemed just like yesterday Steve and Kim were so friendly...How the area had changed oxton school had gone also Birkenhead Instit.
I used to live next door at 295 (now demolished) to Halfway House on Woodchurch Road. I still have vivid memories of being taken into pub cellars from the age of about 3 to 4 during ...see more
Where was the White Bridge in Gilfach Goch? Any comments or information gratefully received. Jim
Penmaenrhos Quarry closedi n 1963. Does anyone have any pictures of it or the quarry boats? I am producing a book and would be pleased to hear from anyone.
I started at Berwick Road C of E School in 1957 together with some of the people referred to in the other memories ie: Heather Wallis, Christopher Bennior, Lorraine Staton. There were others obviously such as Margot Raynor and Linda Richards. Linda Richards lived in an old house in Berwick Road opposite the School - Berwick Road was just off the main Chester Road and the school had been built circa ...see more
I lived in Skewen from September 1983 to May 1984 - only a short time in my life but it made a big impression on me. My wife Fiona, new baby Siobhan and I rented a house at Caenant Terrace facing the railway and the mountain. We had moved to Wales from the south of England and although our new environment felt strange at first and looked rather harsh with its heavy industry and mountains, we were struck by the ...see more
My mother Patricia Bingham visited Bingham's Melcombe probably in the 1950's and told me, her daughter, that the house was derelict and the hall was being used as a hayshed! I do hope to vist the place at some time next year, and wonder who owns it now and if possible to get in touch with the present owner. Look forward to hearing from someone sometime. Hilary Bingham White.
This picture is the view from the main road of Harlow lock, Old Mill Resturant and weir and the towpath where the rowing boats and canoes were moored when I lived there. They were moored both sides of the bridge at various times, next to the swimming pool and then by the boat house that was built late 50s. I spent many a long hour fishing on that towpath, rowing the boats and paddling ...see more
I was 2 years old when we moved in, in 1950. My dad was the Lock Keeper, Alan Mclean Tait, my mum Florence (Always called Elsie)my sister Christina (Chris), me, Eddie & our spaniel Judy. We also had chickens and a cockrel. Dad Was Scottish and was in the forces - Royal Navy & Army, he was a Drummer Boy in Edinburgh Castle when he was 14. A Petty Officer in the Navy for 22 years, before he became a lock ...see more
I lived in the lock cottage from 1950 - 1960 with my father mother sister & dog judy Write it later Do it on word first But until then Hello to all my old friends in harlow mick david colin wiggy gary christpher wendy pat pam susan ect
I watched so many cup finals on black and white television when I was a boy never dreaming of the day that I might actually be there. But it happened in 1973! Would you believe my neighbour was a long retired football referee and received two tickets for every cup final! I don't think he had refereed since the 1940's and yet he continued to get his tickets - small wonder that real football fans ...see more
The school was converted for use as the campus for The United States International University in Europe. I was fortunate to be working as a Careers Advisor in nearby Watford whilst it was operating as a university and so I had wonderful opportunities to go inside. I can recall the Dean showing me around and encouraging me to play the organ in the chapel! The old school housed a university library and student ...see more
Tring hosts a lovely Christmas shopping evening each year when the High Street is decorated, the shop windows have illuminated Christmas displays and stay open late and the place is transformed into a fairyland of old-fashioned entertainment and street traders. There are hot chestnut vendors, roundabouts, fairground organs, traction engines, musicians and dancers. The lovely ...see more
I first saw Oxhey in 1956 when I would take the train from Hatch End to Bushey & Oxhey station (as it was called then) on Saturday afternoons to see Watford play football at Vicarage Road in the old Third Division South. The station is just around the corner from this photo. Chalk Hill is no longer a two way traffic road as it has become part of a giant roundabout which snakes around shops and the Bushey ...see more
The Queen's Head is little changed - maybe a horse trough on the pavement but the front of the building is pure English village pub! It was the starting point for many a village pub crawl and some fun times pushing wheelbarrows of tipsy teenage friends on charity fundraising days in the 1960's. Some of the black and white photographs of these adventures can still be seen hanging on the wall in the gents at ...see more
I was born and bred in Gravesend. This photo brings back many memories of summer days down the prom! We always came here with my mum. She used to leave us and our cousins in the park behind the cafe whilst they went shopping in town. We used to have a lovely time. As I got older I used to know Fort Gardens like the back of my hand and especially the concrete steps that led up to the lookout that was probably the ...see more
does anyone know where this road is??? we think it is an error as we cannot place it any where and research shows nothing on this road!!
I went to this school in 1983 to take my A Levels. It was then called (and still is) the Thomas Rotherham College. It is lovely to hear about other people's memories of this place from long before I arrived there! I adored my time there (albeit only 2 short years) and made some strong and lasting friendships.
I think it was 1986. My late mate David Tidmarsh and I were invited to his grandparents' farm for a week. I really enjoyed it. Fresh food everyday picked from the farm and cooked. David's dad, Steve, took us there. We went for walks, had a good laugh and went on days out. We didn't catch a bus anywhere, only to Cirencester. We walked all over the area. Would like to visit there again.
When I lived in the village there was a bakery at the building on the corner of this road where it went down to the canal. The flour was ground at the Mill over the drawbridge for making the most delicious bread you could buy in those days. My grandfather worked at the Mill grinding the flour. The last time I visited the village there was an antique shop in its place.
My dad had a yard here before the houses were built back in the 40s. He bought his first cows and used to milk them in a barn there. I can remember as a small child being in the barn with mum and dad when an aeroplane crashed just behind the village hall on the corner of the cross roads close by. The pilot had parachuted out and survived. The plane was trying to get back into Upper Heyford at the time. It must have been near the end of the war or just after. No one was hurt anyway.
My dad Bernard Kirham, much loved, greatly missed, was the first baby to be born here in the new housing estate in 1936. His mum Martha and dad James, brothers Joe, Jack, surviving brother Alfie, sisters Doreen, Nora, Elsie and surviving sister Gertie.Dad died recently, so it was doubley nice to view this site - thanks.
I was brought up in Claughton Village (Wirral) and in the holidays as children we regularly walked through Bidston Hill to Thermopylae Pass. We would spend all day on the Hill and at Thermopylae and walk home at the end of the day exhausted and happy after playing and running about all day. At the time we didn't know its real name, and called it The Moppoly Paths. Sometimes we called it "The Mops". The grandmother of a ...see more
This shot is not of the school but of the old school canteen, which we had to walk to. It was also where the youth club was held. It is now used for courses.
My mum was called Jill Drake and my dad was Bob Drake and he worked down the pit. We lived in St Johns Road and I remember that I was about 7 when the Elvington Players was first launched. The Pantomime was Mother Goose and somewhere I have a photo of it which I will try and find it. It was a great hit and I think most families in Elvington had a part. I remember that Pearl and Alf Tridini were in it and the costumes were great. All singing, all dancing.
I was born at 24 Freehold Street in September 1939. My mother told me that a man who lived at the top of the street came down on his bike blowing a whistle to warn people of an air raid the same day. I can still remember most of the peoples' names who lived in the street.
There was a house at the top of the street that was a shop. I went to school with the girls from the family. We could play out in the street ...see more
I moved to Pickford Close (the turning halfway up in this photo) in January 1953 as a 5 yr old. I remember the sweet shop and gracious me the bus stop is still in the same place. It is strange to see just one small car compared to nowadays when it is a nightmare trying to park at all. I had a paper round with Mac's which was a papershop on the opposite corner to Lewis's.
My sister moved from Manchester in 1990 to Keinton as her husband was working in Shepton Mallet. We have been visiting the village at least 3 times a year, Easter, Summer and usually Christmas. Our children say they can smell Somerset - they mean fresh air, fires burning etc. Keinton has shown us a different way of life, we love to go to the local church on Christmas Eve and a walk on Christmas Day. We ...see more
Happily walking along Ayr beach with an ice cream from the Wellington Cafe, paddling in the sea with my parents! Eating wonderful fish and chips on a windy day. Getting breakfast rolls from one of the many bakers to take back to my aunt's. Going skating at the ice rink with my cousins.
During WW2 the pupils were evacuated and the school turned into a temporary Maternity Home. The Doctor attending the home was only part-time, but always on call. The Doctor lived a few houses away and at night time he hung a length of string from a bell next to his bed and out of his bedroom window. So a nurse could run to his house to raise him if he was needed. Such was the case at 2:30am on the 10th of June 1942. I was born shortly thereafter.
John E. Hutt, now living in Lewiston, NY, USA.
I attended this school around 1945 to 1949. In my final years I was School Vice Captain and represented the school at football, basketball, athletics and swimming. I was Middlesbrough Schoolboy Swimming Champion 1948 and played Water Polo for the Middlesbrough Junior and Senior Team. I also took part in the Mile Swim in the RiverTees starting at Yarm and in the 2 Mile Swim in the River Wear ...see more
This is a very exciting discovery for me because it is one of the oldest photographs I have seen of a part of old Alcombe that I can recognise, even at my great distance from the UK.
My Great-Grandfather, George Mildon had a school at Alcombe from the year of his marriage to Alice Frankpitt in 1874. He evidently bought the school from a Francis Ransome who had lived there with his wife Ann, their 4 children, his ...see more
I was born in the Shrubbery Nursing home in 1956. I grew up in Lane End, about 5 miles away. I have photos of me looking awful in baggy knickers on the Rye (the park in Wycombe town) as a toddler. There was a play area on the Rye that is still there, but in my day there was a little waterway for kids to play in, long since closed as deemed dangerous by present standards. My mother always used to enter the ...see more
My parents Monica and Jack Garrett ran the Frogmore Cafe from 1954 until 1978 when it became a dry cleaners when they then sold it to Sketchleys in 1980. I was their only son Richard.
Sometimes on the way to the Green we would watch the men walking up and down the Bowling Green. They really took things seriously! The Green was mown to precision and I'm sure the bloke that cut it measured the length of the grass with a ruler! We were amazed!
When the bowler would prepare to bowl my brother and I would shriek and put him off his run or whatever you call it! Since we did this most ...see more
Oh I know it always seemed so huge and scary, with its giant red doors, but my brother and I had such fun in the churchyard climbing the trees and exploring the broken tombs and crypts. Pretty scary as I always expected a monster to grab me and take me down inside never to be seen again! I think the horror movie of the time was about zombies and living dead and stuff! We also used to pick the daffodils and sell ...see more
My twin brother and I were born in 1960 and I think we were about five or six years old. Mum always did the shopping at Camberwell Green and we regularly and always unwillingly traipsed after her or my sister Cora from our home at 53 Rainbow Street through the green to the shops. If mum had been lucky on the horses or dogs we got a taxi back with all the shopping! More often than not she didn't and we had to ...see more
This photo brings back a lot of memories for me as a kid aged 5 in 1971, when me and my older brother spent around 3 hours on a Saturday afternoon playing outside the pub(Borough Hotel) and the steps of Woolworths (just a bit further up the street). Waiting for one of our parents to come out of the pub every hour or so with bottles of pop and bags of crisps for us, then saying only another 10 minutes, one hour later same ...see more
I was general manager of the George Inn from 1984 to 1998. I made many friends in the Borough, it was like a small village.
Is this caption right? 42064 seems right - this is the Board School established under Act of Parliament. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Leducation70.htm.
I believe that John Arlott went there, and Ruth Ellis. My children went there, both as Infants (nearest building) and Juniors (up to age 11) between 1973 and 1981. This was the last of the "old schools" in the town, where children were expected to learn, ...see more
I used to go to the school here - St Michaels. Every week we walked up to the church, two by two, past the farm where Wild Ridings is now. I remember when there were cows grazing there and harvest festival service was relevant to the farmers.
Later I worked at Church Hill House on Ward 4 (1973). The Hospital has gone now and estates cover some of the fields - but not all, grass and trees are surrounding the ...see more
This photo will always be significant to me as we were married in the castle on 10th of June 2006. It is a lovely setting with beautiful gardens.
Pop was at it again with his mates. To the front of this picure the Tudor faced building...THE BEEHIVE PUB, there was a fella called Stumpy (well known older gentleman). He was a gentleman with one leg, who propped himself up against the downpipe of the pub, and who would challenge anyone to put the money down on the path and try and kick his remaining leg from beneath him to win the pot. As he then would give ...see more
The building on the left with gable roof is where my Mum In Law got her bouquet for her wedding.
This is where my husband's Uncle and Auntie got married, brother to Janet Halls nee Smith.
The story of the family dunking.....Once upon time there was a naughty little boy aka POP, and he and his friends decided they fancied the bibles and candles from the local church, they decided to run for it, and he and his mates decided to finish the day by pushing out an old coal barge. Just for a laugh, the powers above then made him fall straight into these docks...... this was followed by a good beating from the ladies ...see more
The building on the left, the old Post Office, is now the TSB Bank. My Father-in-Law can remember the trams travelling in front of these buildings....no shelters, so the poor old Teddy Boy got wet!!!!!
My Father in Law aka POP (Michael Halls) can remember the building on the right as Ancient House. This was a big book shop which is now Lakelands kitchen shop.
I was born in my Grandparents house - "Wimbourne" - in the valley below the Mill. Many pleasant hours have I spent sitting in the kitchen with my grandmother shelling peas that granddad had grown in the garden. The Mill could be seen from the kitchen window high on the downs. When travelling through Bridge on the Canterbury Road, we would all try to see who could spot the Mill first, a sure sign that we were home again!
The first building on the left was the old Post Office (owned by Mees). Just to the front of this is a small footpath that leads to my Mum-in-Law's (Janet Halls nee Smith) old school. It was also the village hall. It still has the green tin roof..... noisy when it rains!!!!!
My Mum-in-Law (Janet Halls nee Smith) came from Sproughton and her mate June lived in the cottages to the left of the mill.
1970's and 80's: We had a great childhood playing at this end of the village. It was quiet except for the cars of people that lived up here. Everyone knew each other. My old house is in the background, all you can see is the gable end and the chimney. In the 1970's the Fowlers lived next door and they had the orchard behind, which they later sold and a bungalow was built there. On the hedge that you can see ...see more
1971 - 1984: Whilst I lived in village the Post Office was where you got all you needed in an emergency. As a little one, I personally loved the vending machines on the wall. In those days we all used to be sent out for groceries even as young ones, as the village was safe and everyone knew each other. Where the barn is, on the right, the old peoples' flats were built, and the ladies and gentlemen used to stand ...see more
1980's: This is where we went every Sunday for Sunday School, taken by Mrs Warren. Also where the first village disco was held before moving them to the village institute. Where the photographer is standing was the playing field and woods.....which contained the love tree!!!!!!! Further round was the Goffin, that today has been cleared and looks great. But was scary and dangerous in our day!!!!! hehe
1970 - 1984: As you look at this photo the last building on the right, the barn like cottage with the small window, is Rose View. My mum and dad bought it for £1,000 in 1970, and set to work modernising it as I was due 1971 and my brother 1975. When they purchased the cottage it was a 1 up and 1 down, no electric or inside running water and the toilet was up the far end of the garden. My Dad built the double extension ...see more
Tettenhall was a logistical centre for the Normandy Landings. Americans were stationed in Danescourt House - long since demolished. However several of the troops have returned over the years, some of whom were "mothered" by Auntie Grace - Mrs Grace Green, who at the time was the stewardess of South Staffs Golf Club, situated next to Danescourt. The Golf Club became a central reception centre for ...see more
My family and I lived in Forge Cottage (known to us as the Blacksmith's Cottage) from about 1962 to 1964, whereafter we emigrated to Canada. I have fond memories of the cottage and its low ceilings, the Aga in the kitchen, the huge garden which bordered a school (St Michael's?), and of course the church up the road where we went once a week. I remember playing in the garden and finding pieces ...see more
Mrs.Ball at the Post Office.
Westlecot House (now March House) with the Hayward-Jones family. Imo H-J and self at fete at the Manor house dressed as Shah of Persia and Aga Khan. Old Mrs.Ollie home help/cleaner. Pony called Snowball and being led by mother to Chiseldon Camp (then deserted) to catch newts. Alf Cooper (of Coopers Metals) at Og St Andrew Manor - interested in horse racing. Dancing ...see more
My greatgreatgrandfather, Chenery Elliot, was the Innkeeper here in 1969.
My great grandparents David Moore and Rachel Elliot were married here on 11/11/1869 by Rev T Palmer.
I was only a toddler when a light plane landed in the cricket field beyond the allotments at the bottom of Regent Street. Everybody around dashed down to see the spectacle. Few had seen an aeroplane actually on the ground. It was common to run outside to see one actually in the air. (This was before W.W. II, when it was possible to count dozens or estimate up to a hundred or more.)
The pilot ...see more
The Youth Hostel in Cynwyd was a converted watermill. It was very old and very damp and I stayed there one wet weekend in April 1967 with my girlfriend Angela Chapuis as we were heading towards Snowdon. I had a top bunk and banged my head on the low roof beams! What a wet weekend! The memory lingers as the following day we moved on from Cynwyd and stayed at Llanberis before our attempt on Snowdon. The weather was so ...see more
I used to work and study in Manchester for several years in the 1960's and frequently travelled back to my home town of Hatch End to see my girlfriend, Angela Chapuis. Sometimes she would come up north to see me. One wet weekend in April 1967 Angela and I set off from Manchester to visit North Wales in my old car. We stayed in youth hostels and hoped to climb Snowdon as both of us enjoyed outdoor ...see more
My friend and I would await the arrival of American ships on their way to Manchester. We would shout "got any gum chum?!" to the crews. We would occasionally be rewarded by a packet of sweets being thrown from the ship. Far tastier than the English equivalent!
My parents kept our caravan at Overstone - on the far side near the lake. One year, 1953 I think, the National Caravan Rally came to Overstone and the field filled up with hundreds of caravans. I think this photo is the milk queue!
Moat Farm Park? I find this surprising as its claim to fame is surely the preserved buildings of the Tithe Barn and surroundings. The Barn itself is the site of Harrow Museum and hosts various fund raising fairs, events and concerts each year to pay for its upkeep. On many of these Bank Holiday Monday events the organisers invite local performers including Whitethorn Morris Dancers. I have played ...see more
My Mother has traced her family to a shop down Station Road, an ironmongers, which is still an ironmongers we believe. He was Richard Snowdon Beal and lived with his wife Lydia at number 1-3 where his shop is - anyone know of anymore?
On the left of this view is the pub sign for the "Railway Hotel" - a popular drinking venue for older members of St Anselm's Youth Club and the Hatch End Young Conservatives! Next door is a garage forecourt sign - this was the Cornwall Garage where I bought a lovely blue Triumph Spitfire two-seater in 1970. I returned there in the 1980s when they had a Fiat franchise and bought a couple of ...see more
I lived in Hatch End from 1956 until I went up to Manchester in 1966, so I got to know my local shops both as a helpful schoolboy running errands for my mum to MacPhails the greengrocer and later as a teenager buying my records in Giles and my half pints of Benskins in "The Railway".
This view on the left side shows Payantake Supermarket, Signal Service radio shop, Woolworths and Spurlings Vauxhall ...see more
I am looking for details of Florence Gammon, formally Dunk from Rye, Sussex. She was married to Herbert Gammon, also from Rye. The children were Arthur Eaton Gammon, 9 and Alice Gammon, 12. Her father was my great great grand uncle, Leaf Temple Dunk, 1834, from Rye.
Having lived in the U.S now for 35 years this photo makes me very homesick as I haven't seen the old place since 1972! I remember walking down Lord Mayor's Walk and turning the corner next to the building on the right which used to be a greengrocer shop. Our Mam used to send us here to buy daffodils. Just underneath the arch on the right of the Bar there used to be a Butcher's ...see more
I am now 57 years of age, and live in Australia. I was born in Stone, Stafforshire in 1949 and would love to go back and visit.
As a child I remember walking along the canal and standing watching as a blacksmith mended a horse's shoe. I remember hating school but even at that very tender age I was interested in the history of the school that I attended. Every day at home-time I walked on the stone footpath that was ...see more
My friend Alison and I spent many happy hours drinking coffee in The Griddle and Grill on Gatley Green during the 1970s. My mother used to call in when she was at school too, although it was called 'Lawrences' then. As far as I know it is still owned and run by the Lawrence family, and still looks very much the same.