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.
Search for Local Memories
Search for your favourite UK places and read memories of the local area in days gone by.
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
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.
Subscribe
Join the thousands who receive our regular doses of warming nostalgia! Have our latest blog posts and archive news delivered directly to your inbox. Absolutely free. Unsubscribe anytime.
Displaying Memories 36721 - 36800 of 36890 in total
My first memories of the Ffrith beach are of my grandfather who started the fun fair, which had an arcade, bingo and fair ground. There was also two boating ponds,cafe, ice cream kiosks etc. Many good days were spent on the beach, it's a shame that the Ffrith is no longer a family-oriented place to be. Back in my grandfathers day the Ffrith was packed with holiday makers and day tripers, what happened? Later on in ...see more
We moved into the parade of shops in 1938.
Our father opened a green grocery and florist shop at No16 I think? I recall that although the war years were devestating to many people I recall many fond memories growing up in Chipsted with my older sister Valerie. Our father was serving in the national fire brigade and managed to come home from time to time to help our mother run the shop and raise me ...see more
The white building in the forground is the Nell Gwenn public house, a well-known hostelry.
Note in this photo that the war memorial has been moved back and the wall lowered. Flats have been built on the Banstead house site. You could always see the green houses over the high wall from the top of the 164a bus. The corner shop, which I think used to be a bakery (top left) has gone and the road widened. The bus always used to mount the curb on this corner when turning towards the downs and Greenacre school roundabout.
The large oblong building on the left was Bassett House of which the ground floor was Waitrose. The Bassett Family lived at Hunters Lodge, Banstead and the three children grew up to represent England. Sheena in running and swimming marathons and Pippa and Karen won bronze medals for the British team in the horse four in hand World Driving trials They are both short listed for this years team [2006] and Karen is the leading lady driver in GB and the World.
Does anyone else remember the chain railings and posts, painted black and white around the green in front of these shops? I used to jump over them as a small child. They enclosed all the grass area.
This slipway was built in 1960. Prior to that time ferries left from Portsmouth Point.
The first time my father took me under the Hengoed viaduct I remember looking up and said to my dad that one day I would like to walk across it and wondered how long it would take us. When I got a bit older and a bit more interested in the viaduct, me and a mate got over the fence on the Hengoed station side and made the trip to the other side. Once half way across we stopped to take in the incredible views. I'll ...see more
Volunteer was built in 1703 and as far as we can find out, it possibly became a pub in 1840s. It ceased trading in 1973 when it was sold by the brewery to the Gray family. The Grays converted it back into a house. We bought Volunteer in 2001 and it still looks much the same from the outside. The door between the two windows (beneath the pub sign), used to lead into the Saloon Bar, which is now our ...see more
Ni chlywais erioed am unrhyw eglwys mewn dyffryn ym Mhenycae. Roedd pant lle roedd Nant y Grogfryn yn cyfarfod â'r Afon Eitha, ond 'Pentre' oedd yr enw ar yr ardal hon. Mae eglwys Pen y cae ymhell uwchben yr afon. Cofio mynd i chwilio am arwyddion y gwanwyn ar hyd llwybrau Penycae gyda dosbarth Standard 5 a Mr Parry'r Prifathro. Mae ardal Pentref yn dlysach o lawer heddiw.
The Old Mill I remember playing alongside the old mill. There was a family in the nearby farm - Edna and Audrey were the names of two of the sisters. The old pub went on fire during that period. There was an area for the children to play on the side the river. Cofio chwarae yn ymyl yr hen felin. Roedd teulu yn y fferm gyfagos - Edna ac Audrey oedd enwau dwy o'r chwiorydd. Aeth yr hen dafarn to gwellt ar dan tua'r adeg yma. Roedd lle i blant chwarae yn ymyl yr afon.
The Cheam Ladies Swimming Club used to train here in the winter months when the Cheam baths were closed. Pop Worsell was our coach and trained us. Fanella Webb and Pam Turner represented GB and I won county championships.
It is with great interest we see your picture of the village square, showing what is now the Post Office and largest post code sorting office in England. It also shows the Regency Gables Tea Rooms, we moved there in 2004. We run the free Community Parish information site... www.umberleigh-northdevon.co.uk and would be interested in any memories of Umberleigh, which we can put on the site.
The Galleon swimming pool was all blue with a marvellous fountain at the far, shallow end. Above to the left was a sun balcony and a little counter where you could buy soft drinks and sweets. There was a wavey slide on the left side middle and a spring board at the deep end. Everywhere was painted summer blue. Oh the fun we had as kids and the place was always crowded on sunny days. I still have a photo ...see more
Seeing the fountain in this picture brings back childhood memories from the 1950/60s of sailing boats up and down the paddling pool at weekends or when your parents took you down on a sunny afternoon. Summer fetes and funfair on the grass area between the paddling pool and Norton Way South, last but not least playing in the small wood behind the paddling pool before the Council cut it down and spoilt it!
In 1954 I was assigned as a second Lieutenant United States Weather Forecaster to RAF Sheperds Grove. After a few months living on the base I moved to a Pub in Botesdale, but unfortunately I do not remember the name. Several rooms were available. Please let me know the name. L. I. Miller
I was born in Smeeton on April 23rd 1935. I remember staying with a Mr and Mrs Webb. As you approached Smeeton there were cottages on the left hand side, we stayed in the last one next to a lane. The cows came up this lane everyday for milking, quite often straying on to the garden, it was our job to shoo them away. Down this lane was a chapel which was on the left hand side, I remember singing ...see more
The house shown in the foreground of this photograph was the home of my Uncle, Percy Drury. This was sometime around 1940/42, I do not know how long he resided there. I lived at 115 Westbury Leigh with my grandparents Percy & Annie Drury. My grandfather was a flower pot maker and worked at the local brickyard. Why my grandparents went to live in Westbury remains a mystery ...see more
I was born in Bridge Street and went to Fairfield School, or "Fairfield Junior Mixed" as it was called when it became Co-Ed in about 1948. I remember the whole class having to walk up to Harris Park and stand round the fountain shown in the picture. Unfortunately we had to hold a daffodil during the walk and then recite Daffodils when we were round the fountain. I noticed when I was in ...see more
Hi everyone. I lived in Holcombe Rogus during the war years. My Father Leeming Greaves and Kathleen Korner had leased the Prince Of Wales Hotel. My brother Joseph and I attended the local School, I was 9 years old at that time. My Teachers name was Mrs Berry. Mrs Berry had a son Roger who spent a lot of time with my brother. It was a very busy time in Holcombe Rogus as the American servicemen ...see more
My claim to Fame I was born at home in Stirling Tower at Dryburgh Estate on the 26th November 1960 nee Cockburn. The first person to be born in Dryburgh for over 100 years.
The date is approximate. I was very young, about 6 at the time. I lived with my family in a village called Sandycroft, about 7 miles from Chester. We visited my great Aunt Jane who lived in one of the middle cottages in this picture. I remember a very small kitchen and her buttering an uncut loaf of bread liberally, then slicing it very finely for our tea. Afterwards we walked up the steep hill next to the row ...see more
My earliest memory of a Film I saw in Southall is a Hindi film called Love in Tokyo! 3 Great Cinemas, 2 Great parks (that's what I recall) and 1 Great Town - SOUTHALL when there was litttle or no car parking problems (not that I was a driver, I was too young) and respect for LAW was high.
this street is the scene of many a frantic cycle to the sweet shop (aka village shop) at the bottom of the hill, eager to hand over our week's pocket money to Mr Knight who ran the shop. This view is roughly from the pub on the corner (the red lion?), that was run by a landlord that strangely became rather irate when his triumph stag was pelted with mud balls from a strategically positioned hedge. happy days...
I was evacuated to Bluntisham from south London and stayed with the Reverend Kirby (Minister of the Chapel) and his wife and daughter Patricia. I used to attend the Chapel regularly. I remember it well and they were very kind to me.
My great-grandparents Robert Close and Annie Head were married at this church on January 8th 1888.
This picture shows the factory of Huntley & Palmers - the biscuit makers who were one of the largest employers in Reading in the 20th Centrury. Presumably the photo was taken at the end of a working day with the workers streaming out of the factory? Palmer Park was named after one of the founders of this firm.
I think this boathouse was where the Reading Working Men's Rowing Club was based. I remember boys from the Forest Grammar School rowing on the river here and the extraordinary pain in your arms as you rowed the last few strokes of a race!
I lived in the house on the right (Hazel House) just before the bakery from 1958-1988. Many memories of there. Anyone with any memories of Two Dales, please don´t hesitate to contact.
This holiday camp was known as California in England and was owned by the Cartledge family. Mr Cartledge ran the holiday camp and Mrs Cartledge ran the Red Puppet cafe in Wokingham's Peach Street for some time, where a group of boys from the Forest school and girls from the Holt would meet for coffee on the way home from school.
At the time this photograph was taken the building in the background on the right housed the Grosvenor School. At some stage it became a surgery for a local doctor but I don't know when? By the 1950s it had grown to a surgery with several doctors, including a Dr Merrick.
By the time I lived in Finchampstead in 1975 this was a private house but otherwise the street looked much the same. The Adnams family owned the garage a little further down this street on the left, opposite the playing fields.
The building in the background is the Forest Grammar School which would have been newly built at this time - I think it opened in 1957. The headmaster at the time was "Wally" Jackson, who I had the pleasure of meeting rather too often as he wielded his cane for my latest infraction of the rules!
I used to live in Maultway North - the turning directly to the right of the Jolly Farmer - in the mid 1980's, so I have hazy memories of the pub as a customer. But I remember feeling the place to be cut off from the rest of the world - it was always a challenge crossing the London Road as the pub is smack bang in the middle of a busy roundabout. A million miles away from this tranquil image.
The legend of the ...see more
Look carefully between the first two trees on the left of the photograph. In the gap with the house in the background you will see a horizontal dark line which follows to the right. This is the railway line called the Harbour Line which operated until about 1967. The engine was driven by Mr Charlie Rands, who lived in Elm Road. In the main I remember it carrying timber from English Brothers, although it would ...see more
The opened sided storage sheds were owned by English Brothers.
On the left on his father's cycle is Malcolm French, an old friend. No doubt he is returning to the office of J Bellamy, Accountants, North Brink, where he was at that time articled. He worked in the town as an accountant during his working life.
I went to St Peter's School, shown by the side of the canal, half way up the picture on the left, and contained in the triangle. It was demolished prior to the canal being filled to create Churchill Road. This was an important site during winter for us local boys. Council workmen would shovel snow from the town and tip it on the canal bank. Snow meant ice and we were able to toboggan down the bank onto the frozen ...see more
This photograph shows the Red Lion pub set back from the junction of Malvern Road with Upton Road which is on the right. The traffic island was soon to disappear as this main road section became a one way system by the early 1960s. The pub still exists. Seasonal hop pickers would have used the pub as extensive hop yards existed behind the houses on the right. I lived in this part of Powick and was 5 years old in 1955.
This photograph shows residents waiting for the No.144 Midland Red bus from Malvern to Worcester outside the village shops. Far left is EW Bird's butchers, left is Cromptons newsagents, off picture further left is Procters general store. There were three shops in this row, all now closed. The pub sign behind the lady in the centre is for the Coventry Arms which was down the unmade short lane to the side ...see more
This picture was actually taken in the early 1960's and later turned into a postcard. The man on the motorbike is my late father, John Ridd, who was a local farm manager at the time. The motorbike by the way is a BSA Bantam - he was the only person in the village who had one like it!
Boat BK103 was named the 'Xmas Star'. I was skipper for 8 years between December 1957 and November 1965. The family had two new boats afterwards called Radiant Way BK210 and Radiant Way LH147.
The pub was originally known as 'The Gate' - hence the sign hanging over the door. The current name is a corruption of 'Borne's Gate' from the time of the landlord whose name was Mr Borne. The pub still exists, beside the stream of the same name, Bonesgate Stream.
The parked car is outside my great uncle's cobbler and shoe shop. When I was eight, I spent time 'working' in the shop for a few pennies The church opposite was where the local Brownies met weekly of which I was one.
I lived in Malton for many years and as a schoolboy sang in the church choir. Services alternated on Sundays between St Leonard's Church (the one with a spire) and the older St Michael's church in the Market Place. St Leonard's was eventually transferred to the Malton catholic following as diminishing membership of the Church of England Church could not support both buildings.
The author of Pembrokeshire book describes this pic as houses on the edge of the cliff. The buildings are actually an ex wartime camp containing a searchlight unit and some coastal guns. Now a caravan park.
The name of the hotel was The Munro Hotel, after the owner who built it. It's now called The Munro Inn.
The river is the Kennet and this view shows the junction of the Kennet river (from low level bridge on the right) and the Kennet and Avon Canal (towards the locks straight ahead). The tributary to the left is towards the West Mills flour mill (water powered). The view is upstream (West).
The mill in the photograph is Low Mill at Grassington. My ancestor William Irving lived here with his family before 1820 until his death in 1843 aged 84. He was a woolcomber. His son James Irving also lived here with his family until his death in 1873 age 93. He was an overlooker. The mill in the photograph has three sections. It is only the centre section which has been demolished. The other two ...see more
The buildings from left to right are the Post Office with Drakelow Press printing and bookbinding firm in buildings above and behind it. Established prior to 1827 by a Stephen Dodd, in 1951 it became known as Drakelow Press. The there is the Black Horse pub, a wool/haberdashery shop, a grocery shop, Gibbs and Dandy Ironmongers which was a treasure trove of nails, screws, string, buckets, mops etc. Then on the corner a cafe.
The buildings from left to right are an antique shop, then a sweet shop that was full of the most delightful assortment of sweets all in glass jars and weighed out on brass scales into white paper bags. Then Dudeney and Johnston the grocers - they had a man who went around the villages on his bicycle one day a week taking grocery orders which were then delivered by van to your door. The door with a canopy and ...see more
This is my great grandfather.
The shop next door to The Ampthill News was and still is Cheesman's the chemist and the shop next door to that was Underwood's an electrical appliance shop.
The large building on the left edge of the photograph is Ruswarp Mill. A mill has been here since Saxon times and the first written record of this mill appears in the Domesday book. The name Ruswarp may have originated from the mill. The mill was water powered and the river would have been dammed to make a mill race. Dams in this area are known as 'scarps' and if the dam was made of wood, the brushwood was ...see more
This is a swing bridge - it swings horizontally. It actually swings out in two halves to rest over the pointed timber structures that can be seen in the river. These timber structures are known locally as 'dolphins' and are sometimes used when maintenance of the bridge arms is required. The large building on the far side of the river at the end of the bridge to the right is the Dolphin Hotel. Presumably it takes its name from the bridge dolphins.
This photo shows my great grandfather's shop, nearly opposite the one owned by Jesse Boot. The shop has (on the left hand side of the photo) the name S. Page (Samuel Page) just above the wooden statue of Jonas Hanway holding an umbrella and the name of the shop was Hanway House; Samuel Page being an Umbrella Manufacturer and Dealer in Ladies and Gentlemen's waterproofs and all kinds of Travelling ...see more
This is my grandfather standing in his whelk house looking at the boats as they unload. He died after a motor car accident on Beach Road in 1934.
No 23 Middle Street, Yeovil was a chemist's, name Francis.
The Smithy was destroyed by fire about 1900. A new Smithy was built in its place.
One of my brothers worked at the fish shop 'Packman's' next to the greengrocers and the lady with the pushchair and small child is my sister-in-law and her children.
This photograph shows my father's car reg EDE 3 at the traffic lights in Castle Square. He was William Gywther Thomas, Divisional Highways Surveyor. The reason the car looks as if it has been abandoned was that the traffic lights had failed and father was investigating the reason at the control box on the corner of the street to the left of the photograph out of shot. The police are there to direct the ...see more
The gentleman in the foreground of the Quadrant in the dark suit is my father Albert (Bert) Brandon a local business man. He opened a fruit and flower shop at 12 Albion Street which was previously his mother's shop and sold haberdashery and household linens. Then, before his retirement, he started The Princes School of Motoring. He is waiting for my mother to come out of the bakers and she is possibly the ...see more
This view shows my father's cafe/bakery 'The Dorothy' and other relatives shops were the tea gardens and chocolate shop.
Re Smart's Fish Saloon. My parents Peter and Wyn Pellerade owned this from 1952 to the early 60s when it was demolished to make room for flats. The site never got used but has recently been developed into a doctors surgery. This was in the ancient rights of Bishopstoke, the original post office. It was a beautiful 4 bedroom cottage with the shop space of three rooms on the side.
My family and I are convinced I am the man walking next to the man in the jacket and tie who appears to have his arm around a child. The Austin A40 pick up truck in the foreground behind the telephone box could be the one I owned at about that time.
The premises on the left of the photograph were the house and business of Thomas Langstaff, a rope maker, between c1810 and c1900.
I am the lady at the door with my husband Don Weston. The date is about 1959 because that is the year we had electricity in the village and started to sell ice cream. Hence the Walls sign. My parents Mr and Mrs Caesar Evans started the tearooms here in 1922 and after my mother died in 1952 my husband and I ran this little business together very happily for fifty two years until his sudden death three years ...see more
This view shows my house. It is the one at this end of Springfield Terrace - you can see a number of the terrace chimneys peeping out over the top of the hill to the left. We overlook the River Torridge. You can see the old medieval bridge in the background. Our terrace was built around 1850 for the managers of the railway company (the old Torrington to Barnstaple railway ran just in front of our house until ...see more
When my parents moved to Wokingham in 1950 I understand that it had a popululation of 5,000 and my memories are of a sleepy market town. I gather the population is now about 60,000 and it certainly shows when I return - it seems very built up and very busy. We lived in Easthampstead Road and I see that this road now has many more houses, with infilling and houses built in back gardens etc. but it is still very recognisable.
The group of three boys on their bicyles reminds me of hot summer days riding back from the Forest school to my home in Wokingham. We would often stop here - outside the hardware shop (Husseys?) and have a last chat before going our separate ways - clearly there was not much traffic about! In fact I could well be the boy on the left but if so I cannot recognise the other two. At this time Wokingham had a Boots ...see more
My mother, Joyce Clark (formerly Smith) born in 1924, recognises this photograph of Quarry Hill. Her father William Smith was the sawyer for Mabledon Estate (on the right) and was responsible for felling the trees on the right of the photograph. Mabledon Estate (the gates are just off the photograph) was owned by the Deacon family who were London bankers. Mum's Uncle Charlie (Charles Eastwood) was the bailiff ...see more
My late husband's father and uncle owned the grocery shop known as Hook Brothers. This shop was forced to close when Barclays Bank took over the building in the early 1960s. The closure meant that links were severed with noted local residents such as the Mountbatten family at Broadlands.
The white weatherboarded house was the farmhouse of the farm where my mother, Joyce Clark, worked along with another 3 girls in the Land Army during the Second World War. It was called Cogger's Farm. She was there whilst the Battle of Britain was fought overhead. They grew hops, wheat, barley, oats and enough vegetables to supply the local school. The oast houses behind the house belonged to the farm. The ...see more
I worked in the restaurant at Grange Farm until 1957. The West Ham United football team used to come in for a meal after their training session.
This photograph shows two ladies chatting together in the foreground. On the right in the floral dress is my mother Mrs Beatrice Farnsworth. My family have been farmers in the locality for three generations. My mother's car is parked on the road just behind her. The shop to the side is Perham Cox, which was a family grocer, which also delivered groceries to our house on a weekly basis. The other lady is Mrs ...see more
The Morris car depicted in the photograph was overhauled and bodied by my late father, Arthur Parker, in 1951-2. He had removed the body from a c1937 Morris 8 van, overhauled the mechanics and the chassis, and built from scratch a new shooting brake style body. As a 7-year old I was thrilled to be able to help with the work and immensely proud of the result. Unfortunately, when father came to register the car the ...see more
The owner was my grandfather George Rowe. My father, his son, was born in Tenby in 1905 and died in late 1999 aged 93 years. You might be interested to learn that the boat (M26) in the middle of your picture was called ''The Annie'' and was wrecked near Goscar Rock in a severe storm. My grandfather (the skipper) was found half drowned by my grandmother on the beach. I recollect from accounts given by my father that the ...see more
The buildings featured from left to right - (I do not know the history of the white house), then there are the pillars which are the entrance to the churchyard and mortuary chapel. The church, built in 1865, was used until 1980 for funerals only. It was then declared redundant and turned into a Heritage Centre. In the churchyard, which is still used, are the graves of several Second World War Canadian, Polish and English ...see more
My father was a greengrocer and his shop appears in this photograph on the left side going into the Rex Cinema arcade, a butchers shop was on the right side. During the war years and into the very early 1950s, he was the largest greengrocer in Bridgwater, having the Eastover shop and one in Taunton Road, my parents looking after one each. They also had a third shop which my sister ran for several years. That ...see more
My grandfather bought Smiths Car Showroom after the war when it was the Green Dolphin Cafe. I can remember going to the cafe in the 1950s when I was small. I think it is now a windows showroom.
