Westbury Leigh, The Village c.1955

Photo ref: W264001

My grandparents, aunts and uncles, plus my mum and dad used to live in Bowyers House down the lane from the Phipps Arms pub. My grandad, dad and uncles used to work in the Old Tanyard. I remember the smell from there, it was awful at times and used to drift across Westbury if the wind was in wrong direction. My aunt and uncle and my cousins lived in Bowyers House too for a while in the fifties and sixties until Oldfield Park was built in Westbury.

I lived in Warminster from 1940 till early the 1950s. My grandfather's family have lived in Warminster over 100 years. Went to Trowbridge Girls High. I remember the large house near where I lived that the Americans lived in Lupeans. Molly Butt's store, Mr. Syms store near the Cock pub, used to help him count food coupons, he has a son Ralph who taught me to ride my 2 wheeler. Very sorry to leave and return to London after the war. My friends still live there. R.

I too was evacuated to Westbury when I was about 7 years old, some time around 1940 to 1941. I lived on Warminster Road. We stayed with a family originally from Sydney, Australia. I remember when the street lights came back on, I was with my mother and we followed a man on his bike, lighting up the street gas lights. At that time it was as good as going to today's Disney World. I was so ...see more

I remember my first home in Westbury Leigh was with a family called Rowe, they seemed fairly old people to me (then a ten year old boy) but now I am eighty I don't suppose they were. One of the brothers, a Charles Rowe, owned two cinemas, the Vista in Westbury and the Palace in Warminster, and I was allowed as a treat to go to the Saturday morning children's show. The second family was Mr and Mrs ...see more