Nostalgic memories of Colerne's local history
Share your own memories of Colerne 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.
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
Displaying all 8 Memories
I was born in Box and can remember playing football against Colerne
in the late 50s what a slog up road hill , They always won because we were to tired,
But downhill all the way back. anyone else remember ?
The Colerne 'cross-tree', as it was called, which can be seen at the left side of this photograph of the market square and church, was an elm, I think. It was already looking pretty ancient when I lived there in 1940-42. In fact you can see in the photo, taken some years earlier, that it's hollow at the base. Does anyone know how long it survived?
Looking at the place on Google street-view, I ...see more
In 1974 my parents lived on a residential Caravan Park (2 Fox Corner, Thickwood Caravan Park, Colerne) and I am after some history of the site, for family tree purposes. They lived there for only approx. 8 months and then moved away. Does anyone have any photos of the old Caravan site locally - perhaps someone in the Parish collates such information? I was told that it was an old Prisoner of War camp, ...see more
Following my previous memories, it might be worth mentioning one or two of the Colerne shops and tradesmen. On the south side of the marketplace, opposite the 'cross tree', was a shop, a greengrocer's I think, kept by a man called Louis Jenkins. Further along the High Street, at the corner of Tutton Hill, was a butcher: I don't remember his name; and somewhere near there, on the north ...see more
Those of us at Colerne school who passed our 'scholarship' exam at the age of about eleven usually went on to Chippenham Secondary School, which probably goes under a different name now: it's at Hardenhuish, just off the Malmesbury road at Chippenham. We walked from Colerne at about 7.30 a.m. to catch the train at Box, about two miles away. This train consisted of a small tank locomotive ...see more
My grandparents lived in Colerne, my mother Minnie Louise Rowe was born there around the 1880s and my father William Simpkins lived in Colerne with the Aust family from when he was a baby. I was born in Bath in Kingsmead Road in a nursing home, we used to visit my grandmother Rowe in Colerne, she lived in Rose Cottage. In Colerne's High street on the Bath end was a very small shop and on the right side of it was ...see more
My memories are of my Aunt and Uncle's house. They lived in Bank House from the 1930's until 1992 when my Uncle died. We had some great times there. He kept a pig and chickens and had a great vegetable plot. We would sometimes go to the Liberal Club for a game of skittles. My Uncle was a member of the local parish council. His name was Commander Cheetham. They were both well respected members of the village.
My parents and I came to Colerne in late 1939, having left London shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, and lived at Ford, a few miles from Colerne, for a few months. That winter, of 1939-40, was a hard one, as I remember. My father worked for a building contractor on the airfield at Colerne, and I remember him coming home one day with a piece of telephone wire coated about an inch ...see more