Bideford, The Quay c.1955

Photo ref: B90057

Ma liddle sester came hwoam to Biddy a few yers ago and this wumman stopped and seyd, ‘Yur now, Ah thort Ah nawd ee when Ah seed ee, but Ah newd Ah knawd ee when Ah yerd ee speak.’ Up Biddy! John Polley

I was born in 1954 in Bideford. I went to a small private school near the strand but it closed down, then went to church infants school near St Mary's Church, then to another school near Abbotsham Road , then Geneva School. I had lots of relatives living in Bideford, my Aunts - the Bird family, my cousins - the Beer family, my father the De Rycke family. My father owned Rose Bird & Co a ...see more

I was at school in Essex in the early 50's but my parents lived in Bideford at ! Cottingham Crescent behind the old Grammar school. My stepfather Ernest Jewell worked for Beers , which I think was a builders, and my mother Edith Jewell was manageress of Bromleys, a bakery and restaurant about halfway up the High street on the right hand side , a couple of doors up from MacFisheries.. I would travel down for the summer ...see more

In 1948 when I was 9 years old I was sent to Wembley convalescent home in North Bideford after recovering from scarlet fever, I loved it there, it was like heaven on earth. we had no education, all we had to do was read a passage from the bible that we were unfamiliar with and learn it off by heart and then we were allowed out to play. In the grounds there was three large ...see more