Favourite 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.
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Search for your favourite UK places and read memories of the local area in days gone by.
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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:
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How the location features in your personal history?
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The memories this place inspires for you?
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Stories about the community, its history and people?
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People who were particularly kind or influenced your time in the community.
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Has it changed over the years?
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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!
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Displaying Memories 551 - 600 of 2029 in total
Does anyone recall Austins cake shop/cafe, in Cheap St? Their pasties were superb and I remember eating a whole lardy cake to myself! One of their specialities was an item called 'Nelson Squares ', pastry top and bottom and sweet mix in the centre - never seen things like that since. Lovely memories.
My parents took over The Chocolate Box, a little general store which sold mostly sweets in 1946. I lived there in the old thatched cottage and the attached house, which was called the new house, as it was only two hundred years old (which also included the shop). I always thought the house we lived in was haunted, and my dad, Russell Oddy, thought so too. In fact, he used to swear ...see more
I can remember going to the shop almost everyday (I was born in 1967) with my mother, Gillian Boyland (nee Channon). I used to sit on the steps opposite where a lady by the name of Mrs Gill used to live. Mrs Marsh was the postmistress, and my mother knew her well. My mother was born in 1938 at Titley Cottages in West Monkton, where she still lives today! I can remember 'Dot' who also worked in the shop and the ...see more
To anyone living in and around Hanwell, Cuckoo School was the edifice which overlooked many of our homes. The school where Charlie Chaplain was sent as a boy had a gothic and slightly spooky appearance. Many a child would be told that if you looked up at the high windows you would see the plaintive face of a child's ghost peering out. I believe we all convinced ourselves that yes, we ...see more
Memories from that long ago tend to stick in the back of the mind until an association brings them out. Being a small child, the village green at Bearsted seemed gigantic and the village pond was just a pond. We used to paddle in the pond up to the top of our wellies, hoping that the water wouldn't run over the top and give us wet feet. The green was a favourite gathering place for a lot of children. One particular ...see more
How lovely to find some photographs of The Flying G, but I am surprised that there are no other comments when so many people went there. I went there twice, once in 1966 and again in 1967. The first time I was studying at St Godric's in London and Maureen Smith was going there in the holidays. She was a very focused and enthusiastic person. My friend Bev Chapman and I decided to go with her for a ...see more
My parents owned the Tip Top Cafe which was on the right of the picture where you can just see a parade of shops with flats above, which is where I was born. The bus stop in the forefront is where I used to catch the 65 or 265 bus to school in Surbiton. I also remember when the cafe was a meeting place for bikers (not rockers) and the cafe opposite was the meeting place for the Mods on their scooters.
My memories of Waterperry are all happy ones, my granmother Mrs Sparkes lived at no 4, the house was built in 1921, and my mother lived there as well, so some of the memories are from what she told me and some are from myself. As for what my mother told me, she as a child did not have it all easy in the school summer holidays, she once told me that she used to dread the school holidays as she had to go stone ...see more
I was born in Hawkhurst at some ungodly hour on October 5th, 1949 at the Little Fowler's nursing home, which is why I probably inherited some of its smuggling influence! At that time my parents were resident at Diprose, nothing more than a row of cottages with no electricity and one cold tap next to General Newman's farm along Foxholes Road. We lived here until 1953/4 and I always ...see more
At the far end of photo number H183005a - on the right - is a white wall. Mr and Mrs Barker lived in a one room plus a tiny kitchen downstairs, two tiny rooms up, from the 1930s until my great-grandmother died in the 1950s at the age of 93 - buried in the local graveyard. I have never been able to visit her tombstone - MARY BARKER - since I have lived overseas for 40 odd years. My memories are: I was the ...see more
I was born in Heath Town in 1950 in Tremont Street that was just off the Wednesfield Road. There was The Poplar public house on the right going towards Wednesfield, the next road was where I was born. At the top of the street was a factory called Charles Snape. I went to Causeway Lake Infants School at the top of Inkerman Street and then when I was seven went to Woden Road Junior School. I remember going to ...see more
I lived in Sherfield Rd from 1950-1960. I lived a few doors down from the Bridgers, the local haulage contractor, his daughter Beryl use to ride her horse at the head of the carnival procession each year, during the procession. Pigg's Bakery use to throw tiny loaves of bread into the crowd, (no health and safety in those days). I remember Mumfords fish shop, wet and fried, my brother and I would ...see more
The house on the left is where we moved to from up on the hill in the background. The window closest, my old bedroom. From some point in the eighties, I started to play the drums. They didn't stop for about ten years and were added to by guitars, bass and keys. I would just like to say sorry to all residents at the time. Having a rock/metal inspired drumming fanatic living in the community, can't of been easy.
My paternal grandparents, Ernie and Sally Featherstone, lived at 11 Burnsall Avenue, Heysham with their son Jack (my dad) during the 40s and 50s. My maternal grandparents, Sid and Olive Wilson, and their daughters Mavis (my mum) and Norma lived at Cosy Nook Cottage, a few yards from Half Moon Bay in Old Heysham Village during the same period. My mum tells me that they didn't have a bathroom so when they wanted ...see more
Burley Woodhead. We lived in Shotover from my birth in 1942 until approx 1957. My parents moved into the house and the village 1939. When my brother Roger was born in Bingley in 1946 I remember picking him up, and bringing him home. The house then was up a rough lane, the top one of 2 houses and 3rd one being build around mid 1950s. The school on the edge of Ilkley moor ...see more
I often think how lucky we post-war Leytonstone kids were to be born in the East End of London, yet have the whole of Wanstead park, the flats and what we called the forest at the end of our street, Browning Road, to get lost in. The mysterious Quakers Meeting house that was surrounded by the massive and famous 'Red Wall' where we all scratched our names in the soft red bricks and ...see more
It's a few minutes before 8.30am, and I've just returned with the newspaper for Dad bought from the Riviera Hotel next door. I have to rush downstairs again in time to ring the gong for breakfast - Mr Lacey, the owner of Westhaven Guest House, always lets me ring it before breakfast and dinner, so I mustn't be late. After the other guests have appeared, I dash into the dining room and ...see more
I came to Alllerwash Hall, Fourstones, when it was a private girls' boarding school called St.Oswalds. The Second World War had ended that summer and my mother had died just before Xmas that year, I was eleven. I had had a terrifying time being moved from place to place with my mother who was dying of TB, and I'd been left in good faith at a boarding house in Jesmond, Newcastle, with Mrs B..... whom my ...see more
Just outside Windsor is a place called St, Leonard's Hill where beyond there was a massive pig farm. Wall's Pork Sausages bought all the pigs. It was owned and run by a man called Lovejoy. I worked there when I was twenty years old, both as a tractor driver and also a muck cleaner, cleaning pigsty after pigsty. My brother in law, was the head man and there was nothing you could tell him about pigs. He would carry ...see more
I remember my relatively short time in Wembley with great affection. At my mother's instigation we moved from Willesden to Lonsdale Avenue, Wembley, in 1953 when I was fourteen. My father paid the princely sum of just under 2000 pounds for the house - two-up-two-down, inside bath and separate toilet! - and for the privilage of moving to the more mundane Wembley. I had already finished school and ...see more
Hello, My name is John Ryan and I can remember Devizes when I was evacuated there in 1940 from Tilbury Essex. I was 11 years old. I can remember where we all assembled in what I think was the Catholic school, which I believe was St Joseph's. There was about 40 of us and I happened to be the last to be picked for accommodation with a local family. I remember the lady, her name was Phyllis ...see more
H.M.S. Sylph went hard aground on Aberavon Beach after breaking her towing hawsers
during a storm while being towed across Swansea Bay to be scrapped in Newport. This was in April 1927.
Attempts to haul her off with tugs were made but their efforts only rocked her back
and forth sinking her deeper into the sand. There she remained, and at low tide people walked around her ...see more
Fond memories of Whitley Bay: Taking the 17 bus from South Wellfield to the bus station, Whitley Bay, with John Taylor. Dressed in our best (and only) Mod gear we would go to the Spanish City to seek out lasses and avoid attention of any Rockers! With only a tanner each in our pockets we could get two rides on the dodgems and walk home. On summer weekends the place was always packed, I remember ...see more
My name is Barbara Tester and I live in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. My beloved (late) husband, Brian Tester, was born on 26th July, 1930 at No. 1 Station Cottages, 1 Station Road, Ardingly. His parents were Bartley William Charles Tester and Gladys Evelyn Tester. His father was a stonemason who carried out a number of pieces of restoration work in Sussex throughout his long ...see more
Getting up in the morning, before your mum & dad, meet your pals at the corner, head around Kilarnie Farm going to the River Devon to guddle some trout. We sometimes found a waterhen's or duck's eggs, so we would build a fire, gut the fish on a barbed wire fence, roll them up in mud, put them by the fire, find a can and boil the eggs in the fire. If you were lucky the tatties were ready; you could roast ...see more
My grandparents had bought No 64, Castle Drive (now 156) in the mid 30's. After the war ended they moved down to the Bay until they passed away in the 1980's. Each summer school holidays meant I had 4 glorious weeks with them & loved every minute. My parents had taken over the family newsagents in St Pancras, London & would drive me down to stay. Each of them would spend a week, then ...see more
I travelled with Mr Moor, the miller, in this Ford van as he went from house to house selling grain food for chickens etc. I also paid a weekly visit to the mill which charged our accumulator acid battery that powered our wireless (radio). I recently visited the mill and spent an enjoyable hour being shown around and seeing an actual copy of the distress message sent out by the Titanic which ...see more
My father, who is now 86 used to be a lorry driver worked for the MOD in the late 40's early 50's and regulary went to Cold Meece. So jump to the 1960's and he would take us quite often for the 'Sunday afternoon drive out' to Swynnerton and the Cold Meece area from Hanley; he knew it like the back of his hand. We used to go fruit picking, bird nesting (sorry - I''ve been a bird lover for a long time ...see more
I can remember setting off to London to see my sister from Boldon Colliery station and this started my interest in railways. I was hooked and was a regular at the station in the years of 1959 to 1963, trainspotting and being amazed by the variety of trains passing through. Several diverted trains and extra traffic workings were regular on this line and this was interesting to the spotters. Added ...see more
I was born at home at 2 Church Lake and had 2 older sisters, Jo and Barabara. Even as a baby they would take me off on long walks across the church yard and over to Bucky's Meadow towards Venn. Crossing the stream in flood, and crawling around the sides of the flooded quarries with them has left me with a discomfort of deep water. When I walk there now, I'm glad it hasn't changed too much, the grave yard ...see more
Although I was actually born in Holbeach Bank, and spent the first 3 1/2 years of my life in Holbeach St Matthews, I spent my childhood in Holbeach St Marks. My mother and father Ray and Greta Gray, moved to Holbeach St Marks mainly because of access to a school for me once I reached school age.
The house we moved to could not have been more convenient to the school, it was ...see more
I could not think of a better place to spend my early years than overlooking the old reservoir. My grandmother's timber cottage was one of eight built long ago, probably to house estate workers. Each cottage appeared to be occupied by a relative, an uncle or an auntie, everyone seemed to marry someone who lived just two doors away.
Before the war, water came from a communal well out the back but ...see more
I was born in 2 Pound Cottages in 1940. It was the home of my maternal grandparents Arthur John and Katie May Street. He was a gardener who worked for Col. Harper at Lamberts. I recall a house in Godalming that was hit by a bomb and being embarrassed by furniture on view! There was a lone grave in what is now the churchyard extension at St Peter's of a German airman who had been found dead ...see more
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
I was actually born in Bushey but I grew up in Edgware. I always thought it a funny little town but in it's own way it was beautiful. The parks were beautiful and always had Rose Gardens and ponds to visit. Walking was a way of life and cars were far and few between. High Street had wonderful shops to stop and look at and the hustle and bustle of London had not reached it. The Green Shield House was the ...see more
My uncle, the late William John Wilcox, was the proprietor of the 'Grapevine' from the mid 1930s through to the early 1960s. I remember it as a truly old fashioned 'pub' complete with a 'games room' with darts, shove ha'penny board and bar skittles. A game with the skittles placed on dots on the board, a wooden ball was suspended by a cord on a vertical pole. The player had to swing the ball in an arc to ...see more
I remember the fish shop/butchers in the High Street, it was called Gurrs and they used to smoke the fish out the back of the shop. It was situated between Boots and Rossis. Before the swimming pool was built, the land was full of trees and bushes where we played as kids. We always went over there after coming out of the Saturday morning pictures at the State Cinema, 6d downstairs, 9d upstairs. I used ...see more
I lived in Barkinside from 1952 until 1969. My parents were there until 2007 so I have seen so many changes. We originally lived in Clayhall, St Claire Close and my parents moved to Brandville Gardens in the 90s. Both my brother and I went to Fairlop and had a really sound eduaction there. I became a Civil Engineer and Stephen ran his own very succesful IT company. Marments had to be my favourite shop ...see more
My grandfather John Johnson was born around 1900 and lived all his early life around Billy Mill and Seaton Sluice. He told me that as a boy of about eleven he spent two weeks' holiday with his friend, the lighthouse keeper's son, on nearby St Mary's island and that they were able to explore part of an ancient underground tunnel leading from the island to Seaton Delaval Hall. I believe they were only ...see more
Situation of Farm: Glebe Farm was situated in the centre of Brough approached along a track off the Fosse Way,,the A46 and approximately 3 miles north of Newark.. About 800mt away was the very busy war time Winthorpe aerodrome. My association with the farm was through a family relationship; Mr and Mrs L E Stephenson, uncle and aunt, together with their son. They were tenants of the property, ...see more
There at the time when Cawthorne was a tour operator and whether it was coincidence or not the tour operator was called Harry Cawthorne coach tours. I do believe that they were an established firm; it could well be that the village was named after the Cawthorne family. My mother who was called Ivy Mitchell was to organise a trip to Blackpool to see the Blackpool illuminations. The thing about it was that we lived in ...see more
The second year we came to Leverington was 1968, June and July. We decided to air ourselves in England. Instead of two, we were three boys this time, and we came in my car. Tom knew us from last year, but it was his duty to deliver his standard speech on the rules of the camp : "This is a WORKING CAMP, NOT a HOLIDAY CAMP ! When you do not work in the fields, you can enjoy yourselves, but I don't want to ...see more
I was seriously courting my first love and had been together for a couple of years despite pressure from her parents that I was not suitable. They did everything to stop the association. We were determined to marry and were unofficially engaged - the parents made it obvious that I was not welcome in the family. They took Joyce away to Niton in 1950 for a holiday so we arranged that I would take my motor cycle ...see more
I remember it as a school; the headmistress was Aunty Vera (I do not remember her surname). The classrooms were in the stables and I remember as students we believed there was a tunnel to a church on the moors. I remember going for walks on the moors, sitting on the raised lawn in the back doing handiwork, swimming in the little creek, cleaning Chapel silver and some of the students and the many pranks we played...but also were caught doing! What a wonderful time of life and so many memories.
I grew up nearer to Queensbury but no pages for that little spot. I can recall playing on the streets almost all day, the streets were safer then. We played five stones and whips and tops, we whipped the heck out of those little spinning pieces of wood. Boys and girls all played together in such innocence. We could stay out until the lamplighter came along to light up the street lights. Then go home to ...see more
It was wonderful to read ‘Memories of Brambletye Boys Preparatory School 1967 – 1971’ including a mention of the catering staff:
"The food was always prepared and brought to the ends of the tables in large aluminium trays by some curious little Spanish couple called Angela and Manuel. I was never sure where they lived but it appeared to be in a large cupboard at the end of the dining ...see more
In the late 50's I moved to Rochford Road, just a few hundred yards from the airport. My dad, had learned to fly in Canada during the war and was now back working as a booking clerk for British Rail at Prittlewell. As a youth, there was nothing to do but explore 'the prarie' or wander over the 'greasy spoon' cafe at the airport. Most of us lads would take up plane spotting out of boredom. In those days ...see more
I moved to Dagenham with my family in 1949. We lived in Cartwright Road off Hedgemans Road. I have memories of long hot summer holidays off from Finneymore Road School. The days were filled with trips to Leys swimming pool, where we would spend most of the day. We would bag of crisps and a hot Oxo drink if we had enough money. Parsloes Park was another full day out. The large ...see more
I remember the Harvest Festivals of my childhood in the 1950s, which were held in the Methodist Chapel. Women of the village spring cleaned the chapel before decorating it with produce, flowers and greenery. The displays were splendid, and central was the produce around the pulpit - this was added to with the children's baskets given during the festival. The chapel would be full and voices and organ ...see more
Lived on the Estate up until it was demolished, we were then moved to Wimbledon.
7, Lowestoft House was our address, Lowestoft was at the bottom of the Estate near the railway. Went to St John's primary school in Usk Road ( long since demolished ). Remember in the winter the ice on the inside of the windows, and freezing cold clothes to put on in the morning. The flats all had a yard, and the kids ...see more