Riddlesdown, Lower Barn Road c.1955

Photo ref: R30011

I was born in 1955 and grew up in Ingleboro Drive. Our house, number 12, backed on to the woods, and my brother Robert and I would play out there at every opportunity. Of course, as we grew, we climbed the trees, and I still have a visual memory of perching high up in the top branches of an oak that grew on the edge of the woods, looking directly down onto the roof of our house, and gazing out across the ...see more

I grew in Riddlesdown from the end of 1959 (when I was 3) until 1976, my parents leaving in 1980. As kids, we had so much freedom, especially as group of 4 or 5, with me, aged 9, as the boss. I remember my new red tricycle being stolen on Riddlesdown (the Downs, as we called it), when going to the ice cream hut for a few mins. The grass had been too long to push the trike any further. It'll get stolen, I told my ...see more

Mr Humphreys did indeed marry Miss Graham and he was the art teacher. Mr Mackay used to start every sentence with "ah zumm, boys and girls". I can also recall putting the RI teachers (Mr Hay) bike up on the roof of the office block once. Does anyone remember Mr Parker or Mrs Grimson?

We were born and grew up in Riddlesdown which, thanks to the Green Belt, has not changed much since my parents bought a house in Derwent Drive in 1939. Went to Roke which was pretty rubbish and then to Riddlesdown which was pretty good for me at least. The French teacher was Miss Graham who married another teacher, Mr. Humphries. Mr. Hay was an eccentric but I remember him waving the first ...see more