Nostalgic memories of Mitcham's local history
Share your own memories of Mitcham and read what others have said
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.
Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.
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Displaying Memories 141 - 150 of 155 in total
Opposite the pond was my mum Lois's family home. My grandfather was a master builder and his name was Thomas Baker. My grandfather had his office in Newton House and as children my brothers and I liked to explore it but we were not allowed in the cellar. My ancesters the Slaters lived in Love Lane and grew lavender on their land. William Slater was a distiller for Potters & Moore and then he ...see more
I was based at St Helier Ambulance Station in Morden. On afternnon in 1968 we got a call to Three Kings Pond to a young lad who had paddled to the island and in doing so had cut his foot badly. I rolled up my uniform trousers but keeping my shoes on paddled out to the island where I bandaged his his foot and carried him off the island to the applause of the watching crowd
I did get the privilege to revisit Mitcham again this year. The fair green has changed little, there is now a main road running striaght to Tooting Broadway opposite the fair green, where the Bucks Head pub was there is a paved off area and the Old Majestic still stands but is now a cinema. Can't remember name, I am sure it was once a bingo hall too. My aunts used to live in Tynemouth Road and living in Swindon, ...see more
I grew up in Mitcham, born in 1976 and left there in about 1997. I feel like I have two Mitchams in my head - the old and the new. I felt a link with the place because my dad had grown up there and my grandad had links with Morfax and ran his own engineering company in the town later. My dad shared lots of memories with me about his growing up in the town and so I had a real feeling of place and continuity. During ...see more
I always remember the Cricket Green as the lazy hazy days of summer. My father played cricket here, I don't remember the name of his team, but we had to sit and watch him. I liked it when the crocuses poked their heads out of the ground at the beginning of the season. They would appear in glorious colour in all the corners of the green, with the cricket pitch in the middle. We were never ...see more
Opposite the Majestic Cinema, you can just see the Tudor brickwork of the Bucks Head Inn, on the London Road corner. It was very rare that my Dad would go in, but we would be sent there at certain times of the year. A seafood stall, parked beside the pub on a Sunday, would sell cockles, whelks, winkles, mussels, shrimp and jellied eels. My Dad would give my sister and I , or my brother Robert, some ...see more
Between the tree and the cinema you can see the roof and top floor of one of the blocks of flats in Armfield Crescent so we did not live far from the cinema. When we were small we were given a shilling to go to the Saturday morning pictures - The ABC Minors we were called. We even had a song we sang before the films began. Sixpence was used to get into the cinema and we had sixpence to spend on lollies or ...see more
The Fair Green was one of the first places my sister Valerie Cooper (nee Hook) worked in her capacity as an apprentice horticulturist for the Mitcham Council. When she went for the job they told her that she would have to do the same work as the men. If it meant climbing trees and pruning them , she had to do it too. If it snowed and the roads had to be cleared she would have to go out with them with the shovels ...see more
This photo looks like the 'Swan Inn" at the Mitcham end of Figgs Marsh where I caught the bus to Tooting Broadway to get the Underground to London. The trees of Figgs Marsh Common can be seen in the background. The road split in two here, the east side to Streatham and the west side to Tooting. The common was used for Football (soccer) matches on Saturdays and demonstrations in huge tents. I remember going to one ...see more
It was the 118 bus Colin. It went from Clapham Common to Mitcham Cricket Green. I also remember well those wonderful Leo's ice lollies. After those awful slabs of lard between 2 wafers that went soggy they were magic - Walls's! My family moved from Northborough Road to Rosemead Avenue in March 1940 as all the Lcc schools were closed. My sister and I went to Pollards Hill School. Both of my brothers went there or to ...see more
