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An Historical Photographic Archive of National Importance

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  2. Share Your Memories

Share Your 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.

Search for Local Memories

Search for your favourite UK places and read memories of the local area in days gone by.

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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

You can also Browse By County

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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Here are a few of our favourites

Visitors to this website have so far contributed 65,876 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.

Displaying all 8 Memories

Batemans My Grandfather
My grandfather, A J Hurd, was, for a time, Rudyard Kipling's head gardener at Batemans. He, my grandmother and my mother (now Joyce Richardson) and her sister (now Barbara Wainwright) lived in one of the cottages (which still exists) near the mill adjacent to Batemans. In addition to his responsibilities in the gardens, Grandpa also worked with the private hydro-electric turbine generator (which also still ...see more
Burwash, Bateman's, Rudyard Kipling's House c1955
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Added 11 November 2009

Living In Paradise 1950's And 60's
I grew up in East Finchley and one of our family treats during the summer was trips to the 'outdoor pool' with my brother, sister, mother (Dad was usually at work), aunts and cousins from Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire. Usually as little ones we spent our time in the small pool at the bottom of the waterfall. Usually wearing our rubber rings we all learned to swim, and enjoyed our picnics on ...see more
Finchley, Swimming Pool c1965
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Added 22 September 2012

Tanktops And Bellbottoms
Tank tops and bell bottoms-memoirs of a Birkenhead lad I was born in Birkenhead in 1954 at the back of Central Station, opposite the Haymarket, and still remember being hungry all the time. We were poor, as was everyone we knew. A Catholic family, no birth control, the more kids you had the more Catholics there were, the more donations the church receives. Rather cynical I know. And I remember Father ...see more
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Added 23 April 2020

I Was An Evacuee
Towards the end of WW2, I was evacuated to Bodmin. On arrival, we were taken by coach to a large hall. I suppose there must have been more than a hundred of us. At first, we noisily filled the hall, each with a single suitcase. At the far end, a number of posh looking ladies sat at a long trestle table. Then the locals came in through a side door and surveyed us before picking out someone to take home with them. My two ...see more
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Added 24 August 2020

Sharpenhoe Clappers & Sundon Hills Bedfordshire
In the post war years, as families rebuilt their lives again, Sundays really were special leisure days and those who were able, bought a small car and enjoyed their afternoon going for rides on quiet country roads. My father was a self employed carpenter and joiner and needed transport but, as having two vehicles was out of the question, he used his skills to re-construct a farm wagon, using ...see more
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Added 14 June 2016

Along Row From Home

I n 1965 my parents retired to Saltash and my father built himself a small boat. As it was moored off the end of the garden. He looked around for a dingy to get to and fro and eventually found one in Gunnislake. Guess who got the task of rowing it down to Saltash. What a journey for a towney that had hardly been in a boat before. Fortunately the dingy was small and light [fibre glass] and the weather good also ...see more
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Added 14 October 2021

Some Memories From 1916 To The 1950s
My father believes the man in the carpenter's apron in photographs 60995 and 60995x may be Francis New. The carpentry business he is standing in front of was eventually taken over my grandfather, John Bray, and his brother William. In the directories they were listed as wheelwrights but they undertook a much larger range of buiding work some of which is still on view today, e.g. the lych ...see more
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Added 17 November 2009