A Grand Spell of Sunshine - The Life and Legacy of Francis FrithA Grand Spell of Sunshine - The Life and Legacy of Francis Frith

Share Your Memories

For well over 15 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.

A couple at a laptop

Add a Memory!

It's easy to add your own memories and reconnect with your shared local history. Search for your favourite places and look for the 'Add Your Memory' buttons to begin

Tips & Ideas

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! Enjoy browsing more recent contributions now.

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Reconnecting with our shared local history.

Visitors to this website have so far contributed 84,617 memories inspired by the Frith photographs. Join in, and take a moment to remember the places that have been important in your life. Where your family comes from, where you were born, went to school and got married; the towns and villages where you've lived and worked since. Recapture and rekindle those precious memories with this special part of our website.

Here are a few of our favourites for you to read today:

In 1932 my father Len James was moved to Brockenhurst as the 'village bobby'. I was born in 1931 and my brother in 1929. We lived in the Police house (now a renovated private home) and eventually both us boys went to the C of E Primary School. Dad had a standard issue police bicycle, on which he would ride to Lyndhurst and submit his report to the Station Sergeant there. In 1934 we bought a 1928 Morris Minor car ...see more

I loved to play on the swings, roundabouts and giant slide at Eastleigh recreation ground. The long polished brass slide was fun to try to walk up, slide down roll things down or pee down. I overheard a friend of mums who was expecting a baby – she said “It is wonderful now they can tell if you are pregnant by just peeing on a slide”. This amazed me that our humble recreation ground had such a magical slide! (This is a true tale!)

I was raised in Mountsorrel in the Soar valley near Leicester. It was a Norman village that lay alongside the river Soar under Castle Hill. The hill got its name from the mote and bailey type 12c castle built by the Beaumonts – Earls of Leicester who were given land by William the Conqueror. It is first mentioned in 1150 when its strategic position for a castle was first noticed. Some say the name of the village ...see more

Added 19 September 2020
I was 17 years old and lived at no 7 Tivoli Road, and when Father Christmas arrived at the front door with 4 cwt of coal my mum put newspaper down the hall and throughout the house so that the coal man could dump the coal in the shed. So Christmas Day we all sat around the fire to keep warm - and cold at our backs. We cooked chestnuts on a shovel and played cards, and my dad played the piano and we all sang carols. No ...see more

Added 26 December 2015
Each year, the excitement mounted as summer drew near. Dad would drag out the large wicker hamper and Mum would start to fill it with clothes, wellies and tins of food from Galbraiths or the Co-op. By school's end, the carriers would have come to cart the hamper down the tenement stairs and on to its journey. We'd be dressed in our best for travelling and then off to Central Station to catch the steam train ...see more