Lower Street

Hello Brenda,
I remember the day of that fire very well - having to rush home from the swimming pool with my mother, brother and sister in the pushchair - we lived in New Street next to the group of houses that were on fire - they all had thatched roofs, ours was slate - Will and Beattie Morecombe and daughters Margaret and Marion were next door to us. Thankfully, the fire brigade stopped it spreading any further. Mabel and Jim Yeo moved to number 20, Orchard Meadow, and we moved next door to them. Jim was a very fine gardener and took great pride in growing vegetables - everything in beautiful straight rows, with never a weed in sight. It's funny really, at the time, I never realised just how skilled he was - it is only in later life that you appreciate just how talented their generation was, and the pride they took in everything that they did - and I am not in the least bit surprised that you hate fire even some 70 odd years on.

Hi. I'm new to this site and am learning about my past, including my nanna (Nora Olive Rice) and her siblings (Edith and Cyril) as well as their parents (Reginald Rice and Bessie Webber). I have learned that they were living somewhere on Lower Street at the start of WW2 but have so much more to find out. I have never known anything about any family past my mum and nanna on their side. Thank you for the photos and it is good to hear about people's memories. I think it would probably be a stretch to find anyone related or who knew them, but you never know!

How lovely that someone remembers my grandparents especially memories of my grandfather a lovely gentleman he.was head gardener at Great tree for many years, I spent each summer with them I played with a girl who lived same side in lower stree in the end house can’t recall her name but happy days thank you for getting in touch it means a great deal.