Recent 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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This week's Places
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Displaying Memories 34561 - 34640 of 36890 in total
Lived at East Cwm Ivy as a child from 1973 to 1980. This photo does not show our house but the view from it to the houses you go past to go to the beach.
I need your help. The man who modeled for the statue seen in this photo is my grandfather. Unfortunately, the museum has the wrong man as the model, a relative with a close name who wasn't even born when the statue was made. Is it possible for you to get the original newspaper article stating who dedicated the statue as I believe that person was my grandmother. The model's name was Joseph ...see more
The Llanthony Post Office was originally the Mill Cottage and my great great great grandparents George and Margaret Harrison lived there. Just across the track from there was the Mill which was three storeys high, and George was the Miller of Llanthony. They lived there, as recorded in the cenus's of 1841 through to 1861, and from then on their daughter Margaret lived there with her husband Daniel Nichols, who was a carpenter.
This parade of shops always seemed very modern to me - flat glass fronts instead of the curved windows with recessed doors, and flats above the shops. It was the Traps Hill end of the town and so was the first place we reached when we walked from home. Luckily there was a sweet shop at the beginning of the parade so we could refresh ourselves.
I went to Saturday morning pictures here every week. We had a club with a badge that said "Grenadier" as it was a Grenada cinema, though the actual building said Century above it. There was a confectionery shop next door that sold packets of fake cigarettes - they were hollow tubes with foil at one end to look like glowing ash. We filled them with talcum powder and blew it over the kids in front of us. ...see more
The school i went to is still standing today..i remember the headmaster Mr Harry Healey...we had a drill hall it was the basement of the school which led us out into the playground...the boys and girls had their own playgrounds..school time was spent at 1 school not like it is today....the nit nurse used to come round and we had to have stuff put on our heads didnt matter if you had nits or not it was still put on . We ...see more
I have very fond memories of the pioneer market ilford my aunt & uncle peggy & ernie holmes owned the veg stall they had no children so as there only nephew i was a very spoilt 4 year old an added bonus was that my nan daisey macCarthy worked on the oppsite hardware stall again as her only grandchild i was spoilt i remember going home with bags of sweets and toys. sadly ernie died of hodgekins disease in ...see more
I worked for israels who had a fruit & veg shop opposite the town hall from june 1963 to 1965 in early 64 i noticed a pretty young girl walking past the shop each morning on her way to east ham station to catch the underground to the city (she had just left school xmas 63) we used to smile at one another but it took me till june that year to ask her for a date the rest is history we married in 66 lived ...see more
We moved to Fair Oak in 1950 and yes, Gloria, I remember Mrs Treasure and Mrs Dowse and was taught by both of them between 1950 and 1953. I also remember Hatch's corner shop, wonderful smells of sweets. I'm surprised the photos are dated 1965, I would have put them earlier than that. I think the Morris 8 in one pic belonged to the District Nurse who lived just there by the Cricketer's Arms. ...see more
REMEMBER, REMEMBER WE must have been thirteen. Cousin Keith and I sat on a small flight of steps, what remained of a burnt-out bungalow overlooking the village. It was May Day. Hot and somewhat sticky, but we cared not for the shinnanigins of the day. We were too old. Thirteen, you understand. Now, bereft of silly things like dressing up as dwarfs, blacking-up as Kentucky ...see more
I was 4 in 1960, but I remember my dad working as a goods guard on the railway at the back of our house in Church Crescent, He used to go over the garden fence to work, and catch the train to Brecon, and North Wales from Newport. We would watch for him going up and down the line, and wave from the garden. It was quite an experience catching the train from Bassaleg Station, which is now Junction 28 ...see more
I used to walk to and from school up the path on the right. It has hardly changed even to this day.
I lived here as a child of nine in 1950-1. We rented it from the owner, the delightful Sylvia Townsend Warner, author, who lived there with her partner, Valentine Ackland. The house literally stands with one wall in the river Frome. Paintings which hung about the house by "John Crask" must have had a special significance for the couple. You could sit in the library and watch the rabbits on the ...see more
I was born in 1942 at Oswaldkirk postoffice. My mother was the youngest of three sisters. Joyce the eldest was a nurse in Leeds, Olive the 2ed helped run the shop and postoffice, and my mother Nancy who also helped in the shop. My father Harry was away serving in India, and did not return until the war was over in 1946. I return to the village each year to go to the family graves in the ...see more
I lived at 31 Wallingford Road,from about 1939 to 1947,anyone remember me?? Tony Barker
Having researched my family tree recently, I discovered that my great great great great great grandparents came from Great Amwell. Their names were Edward Plume and Mary Veers. They lived there for many years and had nineteen children. I visited Great Amwell today for the first time, and thought it was a very pretty and peaceful place. My Plume ancestors are buried in the churchyard on the right hand side ...see more
During the war I too was evacuated to Wales, I went to Bargoed. Three months after my return to Birmingham I was put away by my father. Put into the care of Birmingham Children's Committee. I stayed in the homes from 1942 to 1947 and then was "boarded out" to Haywards Farm in Cefn Hengoed. I went to Ystrad Mynach Secondary Modern School untill 1949 then started work at Tredomen Engineering Work's. I ...see more
That building to the left with the little spire was my school when I was 11 in 1966. I have spent many hours catching newts in that pond in the foreground. It was partly surrounded by a brick and concrete wall and they would tuck themselves into little caves.
We lived for 9 years a few doors behind where the photographer is standing. The shop with the awning on the right was Roxtons, a very trendy 'hunting shooting and fishing' shop where you had to be landed gentry to get in the door. If you were to watch from our upstairs window shortly after closing time, every night, the same guy would stagger up the road and have a pee in Roxtons doorway. With his heavy beard, ...see more
My dad took me and my two older brothers for a weeks holiday in a tent. We arrived in Hope Cove to a glorious sunset and put the tent up in a field with cows in it. I remember my dad frying a breakfast on a primus stove. My elder brother held this as one of his dearest memories and he kept a picture of Hope Cove on the wall in his study.
When I was ten years old our dad took us out for the day to see Stonehenge. I remember he parked close to the ring of stones and then my brothers and I climbed on them. Not so easy now.
One of my earliest memories was from in a push chair. The zoo was parading through the street, I don't know which street though, and this elephant steps up onto the pavement and forces my mother back into the hedge. I have a surreal memory of that huge leg being very close to me.
I was a member of staff at Rauceby Hospital 1951 - 56 and have many memories of Sleaford at that time. I was a member of the Sleaford weight lifting club which had a work - out room on the first floor of a building in the market square near the traffic lights. I remember Gerry Cotterill who was tragically killed in a car accident. I remember Frank Lakey who was the dental technician to Mr . McArthy ...see more
I have two early memories of Windsor. One, not far from here and having my photo taken with a huge parrot. The second is a bit funnier. We lived in Chalfont St Peter and when I was about 9 in 1964 my elder brother and his mate took me for a day out to Windsor. We bought Rover tickets and bottles of Tizer and waited for the bus. We all finished our drinks and then the double decker Green Line ...see more
I walked past this clock every day on my way to school. Down past the clock on the left was a news agent where I learned to shoplift. Almost every day I would steal from them and never got caught. I also started stealing from the Handy Stores at the top of Gold Hill common, anyone remember that place? When it was getting knocked down I found an old plaster wall picture which I took. I visited my mother in ...see more
I worked in High Wycombe as a young man in my 20's and discovered the Swan pub, see the sign? Every weekday lunchtime they did a roast dinner and pudding and a coffee for a set price. No menu. I remember the dining room having some big and some small tables and the same people went there for lunch every day. Because I had only been going there 2 days a week for 2 years no-one actually spoke to me ...see more
Probably just behind the photographer was an old fashioned mens barber shop. All the old men would go there for a haircut and mums would take their sons too. What the mums never knew is that when you sat in the alcove to have your hair washed there were numerous naughty pictures that could only be seen from in there. I wonder if any boy ever told his mum what he'd seen?
There used to be a Saturday market on the left in that covered area and I used to buy a plate of cockles there and eat them with a cocktail stick. That's not very interesting though but I'll tell you something that is. When I was in my early twenties (late '70's) I met a guy, through work, called Charlie Winston who must have been 50 years old then so I am guessing he has moved on by now. He had a ...see more
I had a Saturday job in that Woolworths and at the end of the day one of my jobs was to oil that old and dingy wooden floor. I have two glden memories. One was being asked by Mr Ch***** (removed for legal reasons) to turn the boxes of loose biscuits around and date stamp them again a year hence. They had reached their Best Before date already. The second is working in the cage where the soft ...see more
We moved to Hungerford in 1987 just two months before Michael Ryan shot 14 people. See that white house way down on the left with one window in the top, well I lived in the house just after that. You can't see it very well but it is sited on one of the old mills and is called Mill Hatch. So called because the hatch where the water turned the wheel is still in the back garden. We had trout that lived in the ...see more
We found an old bike that had no chain and no brakes. Every day after school we would get the bike out of the gorse, where we had hidden it, and take it in turns to free wheel down this slope. Then push it back up and someone else would have a go. I would have been seven.
Gold Hill common has an upper flat grassy area and then a sloping area, which leads down into the town, which is covered with scrub, not the town of course. This photo is right on the edge of the upper part. In 1963, when I was a boy of eight, the army came and laid on an exhibition, I guess this was a recruitment drive. They carried out a mock battle with half tracks and guns firing blanks and yellow smoke ...see more
Of course they had been nicely re-furbished and with all mod cons like running water and electricity. It was a nice experience living in a thatched house and, believe me, they aren't full of spiders and not as much of a fire risk as you would think. We had a very big fireplace in a tiny sitting room and I am a pyromaniac. I remember one day a guy knocking on the front door and, with a very ...see more
I well remember Banstead station in the 1950's. I used it to go to school in Wallington from 1953 to 1959 and then to go to College and then to work in London. At this time I lived in Nork and of course in those days the trains were all steam trains. My father used to go to work by train in the 1940's and always said that at 8.00am , standing on the platform waiting for the London Bridge train, you could ...see more
We were clearing the last furniture from my mother's bungalow a few weeks ago. A heartbreaking task, having lost her in April. Behind the last set of drawers, on the floor, I found an old sepia photograph. It showed a group of children with some adults, outside a building which must have been a chapel or a school. From the clothes they wore, the photo would have been taken in the early 1920s. Later, I searched ...see more
My grandparents lived in Park Road, and as children myself and my sister used to go tiddler fishing under the suspension bridge. My sister's cat, Danny, used to follow us and join us in our endeavours. And my cat, Honey, got stuck up a tree. I remember being terrified crossing the suspension bridge as it swayed from side to side - better than any ride at Alton Towers!
We moved to Handforth just after the war started,we lived at 31 Wallingford Road,in those days it was just a little village,and everyone knew each other,we never locked our doors!I went to the little church school in the village and Sunday to the methodist church for Sunday school.I can honestly say it was the happiest time of my life.Behind our house was a huge RAF camp,where we spent many happy hours hiding and ...see more
I have lived in Knowle for most of my life,I went to Knowle School before Arden School was built. The Rev. Sharpe was the vicar and took us for history lessons about the church. I also learnt to play the piano with Miss Muriel Mawbey in her studio situated in an old bungalow type building at the back of Chester House Antiques. There was an old petrol pump at the back of Chester House and a yard where the ...see more
I was evacuated during the war for a time to Whitwell and spent it with my Grandfather Walter Williams who lived almost opposite the Bull PH. My elder brother born 1938 was just about old enough to attend the local school opposite the watercress beds Granddad used to teach the piano and tend other peoples gardens his own looked a mess. I remember nissen huts, used I believe by the Army during the ...see more
In the late 1950's I was the village policeman at Great Waltham. The police house was the last two-storied house at the Barrack Land end of Cherry Garden Road with my 'office'being in the kitchen and the tsble there was my desk. Next door to us was a lovely old lady - Mrs Woods and on the other side the Hornsby family, daughter's name Jenny. My duties in those days were not very onerous consisting ...see more
We moved to Colindale Avenue in 1942 shortly after the house was repaired from bomb damaged. Friends were quickly made and I spent many happy days playing in the park opposite the Tube station. The Police grounds were also a spot for games and we played on the anti aircraft gun that was near to the aerodrome. Dad had an allotment on the side of the Underground which gave us access to the Police training grounds. ...see more
MY GREAT GRANDPARENTS THOMAS AND LOUISA SPARKES AND THEIR CHILDREN MOVED FROM MINEHEAD TO CARDIFF. THEIR YOUNGEST CHILD HILDA WHO WAS MY GRANDMOTHER TOLD STORIES TO MY MOTHER AND ONE OF THEM BEING THAT SHE COULD REMEMBER RUNNING UP THE CHURCH STEPS TO HER CHRISTENING IN 1900 WHEN SHE WAS 4 YEARS OLD.
I was delighted to find this photograph as the Edward Archer Vince who owned the shop shown and mentionned in the text was my Great Great Grandfather and my Great Grandfather Frederick Harold Vince grew up here.....
Researching my maternal family tree, I have found that my Grandfather's family originally came from Sible Hedingham and Castle Hedingham. John Newman's occupation was given as stockman and his wife Jane worked as a straw plaiter. This was in approx. 1876/77. Are there any Newmans still residing in either of those two places? It is thought that they lived in Church Street, and John's father ...see more
What a nice surprise to see your post, Charles Greenham was my Grandfather and I spent many a good holiday there in the 60s Thanks
I remember being mainly in the Cubs and a short time in the scouts in the church hall adjacent to the church. Ken Howlett was the Scout Master and I believe the Vicar at the time was Prosser. I later took confirmation classes at this church with a school friend of mine Stuart Askins, we both lived in New Century St. We were later confirmed at Llandaff Cathedral. Have lived for the past 33 years in Australia and still have fond memories of my home town.
I lived in Rye till i was 11. I still class it as home even though Im 30 now and I miss the place like crazy. Maybe one day I will convince my other half to bring me home.
My older brothers were sent to Addingham during the war(WW2). They are trying to trace other people who came to Addingham and/or people who took in these children to their homes.
Living on the island was like living in paradise - it seemed like a constant holiday! I remember walking from 'Danehurst' along Pitts Lane across Binstead Road and up Cemetary Road to school every day. I loved walking to the beach through the woods near Quarr Abbey and through to Fishbourne. I loved going to Sunday School at the Church of the Holy Cross and being in the choir when Mr Wrigley was Rector. My ...see more
South Wingfield Church is situated right beside the river and it was reported to me when I was looking round the graveyard (I'm a fam hist fan) that they have /had problems when the river flooded disturbing the graves and drowning the deceased. Of South Wingfield there is a working flour mill, at one time powered by the river just along the road round the bend and opposite to this stands a row of stone ...see more
I went to the High School in Ludlow from 1941 - 49 and then went back to teach there in about 1956. I had a flat in Broad Street just below where this picture stops and used to go to this church of St Laurence on a very regular basis- they were wonderful days. I ran the Guides and also re-started the Sea Ranger Crew with a boat on the Teme.Ludlow was very different then as the old town hall was standing: I had such a ...see more
I worked for Trimpell ICI Shell at their Heysham complex from 1962 until1975 Starting as an apprentice electrician and ending up as a shift engineer.I worked under another memory contributer to these collumns Mr Edward George who was a section Engineer and site Instrument and Electrical Manager for many years, a man who brought much new thinking and ways of working to a great ...see more
Born in Harwich in 1940, I have many fond memories of Church Street both as a schoolchild and as a teenager. The car parked on the left of the picture is an Alvis estate car which had the exceptionally nice wooden side panelling. It is parked outside David Wills, the baker, and did in fact belong to Mr Thomas Wills, who I always called "Mr Tom". It was used for the daily bread and cake run to his sister's shop, ...see more
I have in my possesion a pocket watch, the final proceeds of a family will of which William Loveday was one of the executors. It was given to my grandfather, one Arthur Raven as a keepsake in clearing up the last few shillings of the bequest. In searching my family history I came to Chelmsford and found that the shop known as Lovedays Jewelers was still trading. I so entered the shop, thinking I just maybe lucky and ...see more
I was bought up in Farnham, attended Clare Park in Crondall and then Weydon School, went to College at Brookwood. My parents were Terry and Bonnie Hunt, we lived at 37 Firgrove Hill, there were 4 of us kids, Tan, Kitt, Dody and Monty. I have many good memories of Farnham and area. Mom started up the youth club next to what became the Redgrave Theatre, Us kids helped clean up the Maltings buildings. My parents were friends of the Elphicks, Kirks, Jayes, used the Spotted Cow as a local.
My first memory of Chellow Dene reservoir dates back to the mid-sixties. My grandparents Jack and Betty Parkinson lived at Chellow Grange Lodge, just down the road from the reservoir, and when I visited them - my parents and I lived about 20 minutes walk away - they would often take me there. A few weeks ago I visited the area for the first time in 30 years and was pleased to find it almost unchanged, although the fountain has now disappeared!
Apparently my Gr Grandfather John Freeman owned a blacksmith shop that was situated just on the left hand side of the road here at the beginning of the 20th century. He also made the 'fences' that protected the bases of many of the trees on the Hurts Hall estate. I've never been able to find any written infromation about him or the 'smithy' though.
We moved into Colindale Avenue in 1942 shortly after the Tube station was bombed. I and my two brothers spent many happy days playing in the park opposite the station. I still keep in touch with friends that I made 60 years ago and we remember the long walks that we made around the aerodrome past five ways corner to Mill Hill and back through Burnt Oak. I later played cricket in Sunnyhill Fields for a local amateur team. ...see more
In the early 1950's walking past the little white cottage that is now The Country Park Inn, towards Ferriby, one could see a selection of little ships (Puffers) pulled up high & dry on the river bank. that were used as houseboats. At weekends, visitors to these little boats could be seen painting them, and charging batteries with wind powered car dynamos. Behind the cottage was the Earles Cement quarry's, ...see more
The castle is beautifully restored now but when my sister and i were wee it really looked like a haunted ruin. We used to scare ourselves silly running through the middle door to get to the playpark on the other side.
We moved into Colindale avenue in 1943 shortly after the tube station was bombed. My father was a guard on the northern line. I spent many happy days with my many friends playing in the police college grounds on the anti aircraft guns that were there. Together with my best friend Douglas who lived in Booth rd we wandered for hours in the "back". An area of waste land behind the lower part of the houses in lower Sheaveshill ...see more
During the summer of 1960 I attended a two week summer camp for English Secondary School students and students from other European countries at the Brown Rigg camp: Students from Germany, France, Belgium and Norway, as I remember. The non English students were older than us- we were 15 they were 18 and older. It was a life-changing experience for me. I made many new ...see more
My family, the Wilkinsons, were Lockeepers from 1851, and left between 1891 and 1901.
my husband john and myself recently visited warnham church and surrounding area's especially to find the graves of some ancestors (i am doing my family tree!) and found the graves of george street, and several others, george was a well known cricket player, and played for sussex and england (once) before his very sad untimely death in 1924 (a motor bike accident) William & Mary were there too ...see more
i have very fond memories of my great auntie mary (street) who lived in no. 42 friday street, and died a few years ago (i think she was 99) she lived almost opposite the greets pub, which used to belong to her parents, late 1800's early 1900's
my great great grandparents mary&william street had this pub in the 1800's and my grandmother says she used to have to get up at 5 a.m. to go and clean for (grandmother and she'd better do it properly) or there would be trouble, gran was 8 years old then and her parents had the greets beer house in friday street!
It was the year President Kennedy was assassinated. My two sisters and I lived with my Grandparents, Bob and Katie Myram at Home Farm, Bearwood. My mum was ill in the U.S. and we stayed for the year with my grandparents. We attended Bearwood County Primary School and Mr. Sparrow was my beloved teacher! I have such happy, wonderful memories of that year, the Beatles, my friend, Marian Allen and a wonderful ...see more
My family lived in The Lodge (house on far right of picture) for about 47 years. The Lodge is the gatehouse to the mansion called Adderbury House which became a home for elderly after the 2nd World War. The two pubs you can see are The Red Lion (still exists) and The Wheatsheaf which is now a house.
As a boy i would wander through fields and in water, go fishing, make swings was happy with things: Would roam with the dog slip on Algae green log, smell rain on the grass polish Grans brass: Climb dykes, collect conkers leap Cargills, I was bonkers, make carties with prams watch Salmon jump Dams: I summer pick berries six weeks in black wellies, up dreels of soft fruit to give your mum loot: In autumn lift ...see more
The busses we used to go anywhere we couldn't walk. This part of the broadway looks like where the barbers was and cheap jacks where we all bought hoola hoops in the craze.
i was in the hospital as a patient for nearly two years, as a six year old boy, i had quite a good time considering i was far from home(portsmouth),the nursing staff were brillient,how they put up with us boys god knows,our schooling was good fun as well,i will always remember nurse johns bless her, she had so much time for everyone,and could draw great pictures on the blackboard,i had weights hanging from my leg for ...see more
What a great place this web site is. I certainly love the Burnt Oak as I knew it between 1947 and 1969 when I then emigrated to SA (since back in Weston super Mare). All the memories you folk have mentioned are mine too. I used to go to Mill Hill though and collect old sleeper wood cut down for firewood, using my trolley with old pram wheels on it. The wood was tarry and always set the chimney on fire. ...see more
We use to fish in the Quay by going down to the water by the little jetty shown in the picture. I fished with a small wined up fishing line. Must have been about 9/10m years old. The only fish I court I couldn't take of the hook because it wriggled to much, never fished since!!
I am searching for any references or memories relating to the LOVELACE family I am told there was a Lovelace Place and a Lovelace Chapel in the Roman Catholic church. If any person has any such knowledge, please contact me via this site.
I was born in Plymouth of Welsh parents, there was no work in Newport Wales when my Father got out of the Navy, so, we moved to my Grandparents house in 50 Wallscourt Rd Filton, until our house 13 Canberra Grove Filton became available. My Father along with my Grandfather worked for the BAC, my Dad was a Blacksmith, I remember sometimes on summer nights walking up to meet him from work. I remember my first ...see more
My memories of the Savoy are of learning to ride a 2 wheeler bike in front on the wide pavement and of everybody dancing there when the war was over. Then of going to the cinema on Saturday mornings when Mr Scroggins used to keep all the children in order. They are happy memories.
I was born to Jewish parents whom had a ladies clothes shop in Kensington Gardens (The Lanes) my Father died in 1941, My Mother now a very young widow decided she wanted us all to live above the shop because of bombs etc, it had 2 rooms upstairs which we used as bedrooms, a small room we used as a dining/living room, with gas fire which she told us if the Germans invaded we would sit in front ...see more
I used to attend Sunday School classes at this church, when we lived in The Drive Coulsdon from 1962 to 1965.
One day after church my Mum, who had come to meet me, had an old holdall in which was the prettiest tortoiseshell kitten which we named Cindy.
I remember well the village green ,the stocks and the enormous elm tree, we had to walk from school beside St Margarets church, over the green, past the tree and the stocks to the village hall where we had our lunch(ugh school dinners) do you remember Mrs Kensington? Sorry to say the tree was lost to dutch elm disease, the stocks were moved to side of the main walkway into the churchyard. Great memories of the village I left in 2000 Wendy Leach
In June 1964 a group of us Belfast grammar school boys crossed the sea to Liverpool and took the long coach journey south to spend the school summer vacation working in the Bournemouth beach cafes. Three of us shared a bedroom at Pat and Alvin's, a short bus ride from the town centre. Our "digs" cost just £1.10s a week each, out of a wage of £5 at the beach cafes. The cafe provided lunch and in the evening we ...see more