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 36915 in total
My GreatGrandParents Were Robert William Shaw and Eleanor (Wilkinson) Shaw. He worked as a Roller Coverer at a Cotton Factory, I do not know what the name of the factory was. I know my Grandmothers name was Mary Eleanor Shaw, Born October 16th, 1883, in Sabden, Pendleton, Lancashire, R.S.D., She Married William Astley Jr., in Fall River Massachusetts, USA , not sure of date. He was ...see more
I was born in Whitwell (Herts) in April 1949 and started my schooling at St Pauls Walden CE School in September 1953. This the hill on which I lived. As I grew older I used to ride my bike to school (very little traffic then) but it is a very steep hill and I had to walk home once I'd reached the bottom. The car in the distance belonged to my 'Uncle' George who lived next door at 3 Trafalgar ...see more
my brothers john and alan and myself spent many hours in this pool such sweet memories, whilst we stayed with our grandparents during the summer holidays
Darrock Park was my play ground almost every day. The whole park was kept in great condition,the 18 hole putting green, tennis courts and of course watching folk on the bowling greens. I walked throught he park on my way home from Gourock Primary School and often took a detour into the walled gardens and through the green houses. The park is now a shadow of it's former self, I return to Gourock as often as I can and know that I'm lucky to have enjoyed the park when I did.
I was born and lived in Denbigh from 1942 to 1942. I have so many wonderful memories of Denbigh Living in Lentel Pool we used the shops at the bottom of Henllan street there was a Hairdressers,Green grocers and my favorite the grocers were I used to love the smell of vinegar which you could get your bottle refilled from the very large barrel. Can any one recall Miss Proffit ex school mistress ...see more
This is where my father (1924) and grandfather (1896) were born, their cottages were just round the corner slightly further up the hill, Gt Grandfather (1844) rented 2 cottages for his family of himself, his wife and 9 children, when Grandad married he evntually moved to the cottage near where the car is with his wife and my Dad. It is larger so it was as he got a little better off! The wooden stable ...see more
There is a public house on the front right of this photo. If you look closely, you will see it is named "The Rose" and the initials GWJ are above the door. My great-grandfather, George William Jones, owned this pub at the time this photo was taken. George died in 1896 and his wife, Annie Rowell Jones came to America with two of his children, Edith and George, who was my grandfather. A third child, Norah ...see more
My Great Great Aunt Annie Bennington, like her mother before her, carried refreshments and postcards to sell from Milldale down to Reynards Cave. She also fixed the rope from the cave and visitors paid for it's use in helping them up and down the steep climb. She is the lady with her back to the camera in this photo.
Other than as a name on a map, I hadn't a clue about Gosport before joining the Royal Navy in 1949 and becoming a Portsmouth rating. My Visual Signals training had taken place, firstly, at Cookham Camp near Chatham and, latterly, at the Main Signal School at East Meon, Hampshire. On the completion of my training I was drafted to HMS Opportune. Later I served in HMS Rapid and, finally, HMS Rinaldo of the 4th ...see more
My mum and dad met walking down this road
I remember having swimming lessons with school at the old Dewsbury baths. I know it later became a squash club because I had my wedding reception there! I live in Brighouse now but don't get over to Dewsbury very much, so I don't know if the building is still there.
This is for my mum really, she new a waiter that worked in the Hoskins in 1954, his name was Nikos and he was from greece, he dissapeared, she asumed back to greece, my mum has since died but i know she would be pleased if i found him. If anyone has a memory of this man please get in touch. I was brought up in Oxted, went to Beadles primary school and oxted county school but moved away in 1966. I lived in Eastlands ...see more
My earlies memories center around the Barrow Common area of Brancaster, Many of you probably do not beilieve in such things, but at this time as a family, our lives were profoundly affected by these happenings. If you are interested, the details are at http://journals.aol.co.uk/chunkichick/TheLifeBeyond
One hundred years after this photograph was taken my husband and I visited these ruins during a holiday when we celebrated our Silver Wedding. We had came back to the West Country so that we could visit all our old haunts. We met in 1960 and had very little money so our courting had to be very economical! We spent many happy hours at Mount Edgecumbe after getting the Cremyll Ferry from Plymouth. We married ...see more
I went to Roe Green school, living in Princes Ave. We had to walk across the grass to the pool to have swimming lessons, very cold water, but great fun. Funnily enough my sister and I have been recalling our lives in the area recently. She went to Kingsbury County, while I went to Orange Hill, all the shops have changed og course but the basic layout is still the same. It appeared countrified back then. The ...see more
i visited seaton sluice in feb 2007 to track where my father was born,silverhills,hartley.i managed to find the address he was registered at in 1901 census,but can anyone tell me anything about silverhills,or his family,his name was redvers wilson,born on 14 th may 1900,he had one sister that i met,called nancy,but am sure there were others.
I'd love to know if anyone remembers any members of my mother's family from Howden. Her name was Alice Saltmarshe (born 1921), her sister is Annie (Doreen), and her parents were Nellie and Jeffrey Saltmarshe. Jeffrey's brothers Bob, Bert and Jack also lived in the town. I'd also love to hear from anyone who remembers Joan and Jim Pollard from Howdendyke!
My husband was at RAF Benson in 1969. We got married in November, but could not find any accommodation around the airfield. In desperation we rented a tiny caravan in a farmer's field south of the airfield. There was no running water and the one outside tap tended to freeze in winter. The few caravans were managed by an elderly couple - the old lady I remember vividly, as she had long straggly grey ...see more
My husband George nicholas worked at penrhiwcieber colliery for 40 years.
I used to go to the swimming pool when I was young . My name is Betty Nicholas nee Davies.
I have so many memories of Burton Bradstock. My brother and I sometimes stayed with an aunt and uncle there for the annual escape from the Midlands, where we lived. Often, these visits engendered large family outings to the beach. Oh, the misery of those early bathing costumes! The beach was more pebble than sand, and there was a potentially dangerous 'shelf' under the water. We had a wonderful time with ...see more
worked there in kitchen with aunty jean cousin lynn was the proprieter and jackie his wife.
When we were children we used to toboggan down St Nicholas Hill in snowy weather, which was wonderfully exciting as it is so steep. I was married in St Nicholas Church on 25th July 1959 which was an exceptionally hot day, temperature about 90F. My husband's grandmother lived in one of the council houses at the bottom of the hill, just over the road in Markham's Chase. His mother and father lived ...see more
My mother and father moved into number 1 Church Lane, just seen on the right of the picture, in the 1950s. Four children were born in that house and were christened in the church. It remained our family home until sold in 1993. My mother father and brother are buried in the church yard. My mother Jean worked for Miss Heywood who lived in what was to become the Priory Hotel. After Miss Heywood's ...see more
Little did I know that when I first visited Cockfield when playing for my school football team ( Middleton in Teesdale) that one day I would make my home in this lovely village after having been all round the world in the forces, and that I would feel so welcome, the people are so friendly and down to earth, it was like coming home again, although it is less than 20 miles from where I was born and bred I seem to ...see more
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.
