Chapel Street

A Memory of Rockland St Peter.

Hi,
We moved into a cottage in Chapel Street about 1952. The building was on a sharp bend at the top of the lane that led down to the mere. Many a motorcyclist came to grief on the corner and it would not be unusual to find a motorcycle propped up against the gate post of Tom Banham's field on a Sunday morning. We lived there until 1966 when we moved to Attleborough. My father took a job with a house working for Sid Southgate on the farm and was employed by his son 'Dick' after Sid retired.
Memories of Rocklands are many and varied, as are the memories of some of the village residents, 'Humpty' Banham, 'Bummer' Overton and Jim Davey to name a few.
The street has changed enormously in the number of houses. As one turned off the main road at the crossroads Mrs Allen lived on one side and Bertie Chapman and his family lived on the other. From there right through to the Bell pub there was probably twenty houses. Now the street is almost solid with dwellings as far as 'Ducks Paddle', an S bend half way through the street.
The pond that I first did any fishing in at the top of the drive to Sid's farm has long gone. It dried up when the pipeline was put through. Also the farmhouse has gone some say as a result of the pipeline, it crumbled and fell down.
So much to recall, oh happy days.
Alan.

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