Favourite 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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Search for your favourite UK places and read memories of the local area in days gone by.
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Tips & Ideas
Not sure what to write? It's easy - just think of a place that brings back a memory for you and write about:
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How the location features in your personal history?
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The memories this place inspires for you?
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Stories about the community, its history and people?
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People who were particularly kind or influenced your time in the community.
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Has it changed over the years?
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How does it feel, seeing these places again, as they used to look?
This week's Places
Here are some of the places people are talking about in our Share Your Memories community this week:
...and hundreds more!
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Displaying Memories 1901 - 1950 of 2029 in total
My name is Barbara Tucker & I spent several happy years during the Second World War at Pilton in Somerset. I was in the women's land army and can remember those wonderful days working with the animals and milking the cows at 6 am and working in the fields. I worked at Abbey farm and knew Paula Turnball & Flossy Billing. I would like to make contact with any land girl in Somerset. My contact details are
E-mail : simontuckerpgapro@yahoo.co.uk ( her son)
Telephone : 01823 400733
My father, Lenny Griffin, used to put these out every morning and store away in a shed at North Lodge Park every night in the summer. I used to go with him and when they got the smaller binoculars I was allowed to carry one. The big telescopes my fther used to carry one on each shoulder.
The mother of my work friend, John Wallace, owned the flat over what used to be the Pedlar's Pack. We often rode to Cromer from Leicester on our motorcycles and spent weekends there. On one notable occasion John's bike would not start after being ridden along the beach, and we spent all night with it in the flat's entrance hallway trying to get it started, fortunately with success. I don't recall ...see more
My father, Leonard Griffin, worked for the council as a gardener and helped build these gardens. He then helped maintain them until he retired. My memory is being allowed to run from one garden to the next and then the next but having to wait for my Mum at the end. I don't recall these as the rock gardens but as the sunken gardens.
I used to go along to Ffynnongroyw to play with my mate Mark Mellor at his parents which was the chip-shop. I remember playing on the beach and the old dock/railway buildings for hours on end. One day we found lots of 'jelly tubes', which was marked with 'explosive' that had washed up on the shore. Naturally me and a guy called Paul, (incidentally, whose house was demolished to make way for the widening of the ...see more
I have just read an amusing story about the Walls ices girls and how pretty they were - I was one of those girls - I can't quite believe someone has written about us! What fun we had. We all worked in the school holidays in the beach cafes, hard work sometimes but such good times.The beaches were packed and we sold lots of Walls ices!
The cliffs on this photograph were the source of much competition as we ...see more
As a child and adult, I remember the bridge and how long it was closed for boats coming up to the BOCM and Ranks flour mill. It had to opened in sync with the railway bridge and the trains. I remember the barges with big red sails towing more barges, and the year of a severe freeze when the river froze solid and looked like the Baltic with huge ice floes; people thought it might destroy the bridge ...see more
I remember from the mid 1970's I was planning to have a career as a Town Planner (ended up training as an RMN at St Francis) and was always writing studies on post war Haywards Heath. Needless to say, I was delighted to come accross the offices of the architect Douglas White who designed the very distinctive classic, of their time, houses on what was originally called the Harlands Farm Estate as well as ...see more
I used to play in the old Clair Meadow and remember the drinks machine which sold pink milk in a wax carton by the tree at the footpath entrance to 'the rec' on Perrymount Road which is still there...I spent many a happy afternoon there and remember well the lovely old green and cream buses going in and out of the old bus station, which to me at age 9 epitomised Haywards Heath as we had ...see more
In the early 50's many streets in Uxbridge were still lit by gas. So "lighting up time" had a whole different meaning. The iron lampposts were much lower than the lighting masts of today and were more widely placed along the streets. Street lighting then had a different function because the lights were to illuminate the pavement, not so much the roadway. I lived in Frays Waye which was entirely lit by gas and there ...see more
It was my 4th birthday and we were staying in Caister at the Sycamore Camp in a caravan that my Parents had hired for a 2 week holiday. So the date 13th June 1958 and we took a trip in Dad's old car up to Lowestoft. After the usual cup of tea or bottle of Fanta and a Ham roll in the Fisherman's Cafe on Whaplode Road we continued to get on with the business in hand. Primarily to order some ...see more
Just look closely at the picture, sitting on top of the fountain was half the fun & excitement of coming to the pool. Water wings under my arms and the supervision of Granddad Russell I made my first attempt at learning to swim. Getting really daring swimming to the back of the pool, climbing out would lead to the open sea where only the brave would swim. The pool was accessed by steps from the road at the ...see more
The winter and spring of 1958 I was an ACC cook in the hospital kitchen. On one night duty I contracted tonsillitis and was put in the ward upstairs where the ghost of 'Sister Aggie', as she was known to us, was supposed to haunt and give comfort at their bedside of those who were about to slip away. She did not appear to me as I was not about to die. I had to sample our food which was sent up from the kitchen in ...see more
We moved into No 33 Crescent Road in 1948 - it overlooked Timber Hill recreation ground which in those days had a large emergency water tank where we caught newts. I am trying to place the house in the 1903 picture. From the look of the slope it was in Crescent Road and fairly high on the hill. Our house was near Jacobs ladder, with 'The Longships' in between. In 1948 milk was delivered by horse and cart ...see more
As a 12-year-old I sold newspapers every morning outside the cookhouse where hundreds of National Servicemen were going through the horrors of their initial training in the Guards regiments. I believe they earnt 28/6 per week, much of which they had to spend much of it on boot polish, brasso and blanco! Their breakfasts look pretty disgusting - porridge, greasy fried grub and then bromide laced tea - all in the same mess ...see more
I was a choirboy at St Luke's, we met for choir practice once a week. Mr Hatton was the choirmaster and took a register and we were paid for attending. Weddings were the big earner - we got two shillings or half a crown. It was all added up and given to us at the end of the quarter and I used to spend money on buying old coins at the shop by West Norwood Railway Station (opposite the Horns Tavern), which also sold ...see more
My father was a teacher at Pyrford School when Len Cowie was the headmaster. I remember Mrs Jones and Mrs Bugler and Miss Mcdermot and Mr Stevens, who lived by the old school in Engliff Lane. I remember being privileged to sometimes miss class and go swimmimg in the pool when my dad was taking his class for a swimming lesson (he helped build the pool), and once when swimming the Beatles came on the radio with 'I Feel ...see more
As a child we used to visit Margate on a regular basis, before the war. We used to have a tray of tea from the Nayland Rock Cafe which had a special smell and distinctive china. I would love to obtain a photo.
My memory of this great and very popular market was during the late 1970's as a young kid and was every kids paradise. My mum worked at what must have been the world's largest sweet shop/stall - Jim's Candy Cabin. Every Saturday my auntie used to take me along for the day (and you could spend the day browsing around). 1st treat was having a different Matchbox toy bought from the the big Wood's toy stall at the far ...see more
When I was in my teens I had a Saturday and school holiday job on Newboulds bread van, and although I went to other areas of Yorkshire, I was more often than not on the Dewsbury journey. Our major customer was Knights, who had several shops next door to one another on Ravenhouse Road. They used to take four /five trays of sliced bread - twenty four loaved per tray, plus loads of other types of bread ...see more
I was born in 1965 and I remember the 'Nativity' being at the gardens at Christmas time. I used to love looking at the different characters; the shepherds, the three kings, but best of all I used to love looking at the 'manger scene' at the far left hand side with the baby Jesus. The characters were the same every year but the enjoyment was always the same. I have a 19 year old son and I have never been ...see more
My memories of Dewsbury as a girl in the late 1960s, early 1970s. The market. The butcher my mum used (who flirted outrageously with her, and most likely every housewife in town, which she loved and I'm sure always made her buy extra sausage!). Traipsing round while my mum bought everything we needed for Sunday dinner, and some mid week meals until my legs ached! If my nanna was in tow, she wanted tripe, which ...see more
My name is Valerie (Connet) Acuff. I was born in 1940 at 24 Langley Ave. which was the home of my mother's sister, Nan Powell and her husband, Lol. My parents were John and Betty Connet. My mother was formerly Betty Bellamy from Stockton. After my father was discharged from the RAF he was a photographer and worked for Forrest Wompra in Middlesborough. When I was a year old my family moved to 4 St ...see more
I was born, in 1945, in the front room of my parent's rented house in Bristol Terrace, Bargoed. Open the front and you were on the pavement!!. We had no central heating, no double glazing, no indoor bathroom (tin bath hanging on a nail outside), no running water and we used the tepid water from the hotwater bottles on a winter's morning's to wash (ice inside the glass on bedoom windows). My sister and I had ...see more
My family of 8 moved to Duke Bar in 1960. I was 6 years old. We lived on Pheasantford Street, which is not visible on the photo but it was a right turn before reaching the Duke of York Hotel. I worked at Hudson's cake shop opposite the left side of the hotel. I worked for Mr and Mrs Hudson and served in the shop on Saturdays. I was 13 years old when I worked there. When I went home, Mrs Hudson would put any unsold ...see more
I first attended this camp in 1954 as a baby of 10 months of age and my first experience of the sea was with my father at that tender age. I attended for at least the next 10 years and learned to swim in the sea at Pagham and often played in the penny arcade and in the dunes behind the beach. I also used to fish for crabs at the old harbour and also fished with my father at the ...see more
In 1955, my mum owned the Beach Deckchair stand and the Penny Arcade named Funland. I worked on the beach chairs, and the Arcade in the evenings during the summer holidays. I recall that the bungalow next to the stand was called Laughing Waters and the elderly lady owner, had charge of her son's car in her garage; it was a vintage bull-nosed Morris car with spare petrol cans on the running boards! I swam in ...see more
I have just booked a holiday to Church Farm Caravan Site for May 2011 and the reason for this is I used to holiday there every year from 1975 to 1979. My parents had a caravan on the Saltings I think it was number 11. We used to driver there in my dad's Ford Zephyr car and I can still remember the registration and the long front seats in red plastic made to look like leather. Our caravan had ...see more
My parents had a florist's shop in Market square from 1932 -1962, I can see our Morris van parked on the square, with the Interflora logo & our name clearly shown. I was out in Egypt serving National Service when this photo was taken, but the cars & fashions pictured take me back to that era in sleepy Lichfield. The statue of Dr. Johnson is still in the square, but all the shops ...see more
When I was eight I was admitted to Saffron Walden General Hospital for surgery. My parents were told that I would be discharged home at the end of the week. I vividly remember the feeling of being suffocated when the pad of chloroform was put over my face to anaesthetise me.
During the week a young girl was admitted to the ward with suspected Polio. She was put into a glass encased cubicle and the next day she ...see more
I remember most of these places shown in the photographs and as I look at them memories flood back! I remember learning to swim by the steps on the quay and drinking cider whilst hiding amongst the sprat boxes piled high on the quayside. Taking empty pop bottles stored behind Plattens milk bar and returning them to the counter to receive money back on the empties! Walking the 'greasy pole' at Regatta ...see more
From our home in Kent, we went every year on holiday to Babbacombe during the 1950's and early 1960's. We stayed with my 'Aunty Amy' and 'Uncle Matt' at their boarding house, 18 Perinville Road. It was the most magic time imaginable. I can't remember it ever raining! It must have done, of course, but it seems as if the sun was always shining. We would spend the morning on the beach - usually Redgate Beach (now ...see more
When I was young we would holiday in a caravan at a site near to Hollicombe in between Torquay and Brixham. As we lived in Walsall in the West Midlands this journey, by coach, was not to be undertaken lightly and a day was usually set aside to complete it. We left town early in the morning and didn't usually arrive in Torquay until late afternoon. One day we went to see Mayflower II under construction. I ...see more
1970-1971'ish, there was a homeless man named Trevor Hughes who used to wander the streets around the Guildhall and the market. He always wore a daffodil in his hat and was the local character. The probation officers made sure he got his medications. He used to smash a window every Christmas so he could go to Bedford jail and get Christmas dinner, then the inmates and the guards would have a collection and he would ...see more
When I was a child, I lived at Axminster. My favourite seaside resort was Lyme Regis, about 6 miles away from home.
Even though I was told, on countless occasions, that Lyme lay in Dorset, I would not accept that fact and insisted it was a Devonshire resort. It was MY seaside town, and I lived in Devon - therefore Lyme Regis was in Devon - that's infant child logic for you.
Before I could ...see more
Memories! I grew up on Merryfields Avenue and I can remember this like it was yesterday, only the shop fronts were different. Back in the 70's I used to have an evening paper round from the newsagents. I always recall on a Friday when I'd finished and dropped the paper sack back, I would always nip in the fish & chip shop, for a bag of chips & batter bits. I remember the butchers, one of my school ...see more
My Great Uncle and Great Aunt (Joe and Rose) both passed away recently, so I decided to share their memory here. I am their Great Niece's daughter.
As far as I am aware, they met about aged 17 or 18 on a "Beano" on Southend beach one year, about 60 years ago during the summer. Joe fell for Rose immediately, and wrote with a stick into the sand, "Joe loves Rose". They stayed together for the rest of their ...see more
I remember travelling to Southend with my family on a steam train from London. My sister and I use to put our heads out of the windows. More often than not when we sat down our faces would be black with soot from the smoke of the train and our mum would try to wipe us clean with her hanky. When we arrived at Southend it was off to the beach for a paddle and a play then a ride on the boats in the boating ...see more
The Cambridge American Cemetry was built after the second war, during this time the odor of rotting bodies being buried at Madingley,caused my father to drive his taxi (photo) on the St Neot's Road or via Madingley Village depending on the wind direction. The sweet smell of death was often present during the construction. On another occasion my father, Ronald Newell, who owned the ...see more
Like Marion DelFavero, I remember Trevor Hughes. He used to sit on the fountain steps in the middle of market square. My brother was in 'the Force' in those days and he used to say when the weather was really bad you could expect Trevor in for the night. Apparently a very clever man who fell on to hard times for the love of a woman...so rumour has it. Certainly a favourite character of the times, many photo's taken with him.
It was around this time that the tram lines were taken up from Sunderland Road in Gateshead. The men stored the old lines in Somerset Street and Devonshire Street. As boys we would dig up the tar from around the streets and paste it on the road safety lamps when they were lit. It was great to see the watchy run around putting the fires out, or what he thought was a fire. We kept him fit. I too ...see more
I was seriously courting my first love and had been together for a couple of years despite pressure from her parents that I was not suitable. They did everything to stop the association. We were determined to marry and were unofficially engaged - the parents made it obvious that I was not welcome in the family. They took Joyce away to Niton in 1950 for a holiday so we arranged that I would take my motor cycle over ...see more
Mam and Dad, Lizzie and Edwin Ridley, moved into Slaghill (the cottage on the right of the picture) in 1948 when I was 3 years old. Dad died there in December 1978 and Mam moved up to Chapel Cottages soon afterwards. There were 3 of us children living there originally - Margaret, Yvonne and myself. My 2 elder brothers Lloyd and Norman had already left for the Army. Maurice came along in 1950 by which time my ...see more
After WW2 my father started a rabbit farm - for food and fur - at 'Four Gables' Crays Hill. I remember it was down a lane to the right from the main road, if you were going to Billericay. I went to the school for a couple of years. Dad took me there on the back of his bike, we had to cross the main road, I think. Four Gables was a tudor house and my parents later said it had been a vicarage, ...see more
Old forgotten characters of Penge and Eden Park:
The Duke of Penge
Nell Horley the midwife
Winny of the Eden Park Trading Agency
The Lad who gave a prize-winning fighter a taste of what it felt like to be on the receiving end
William Younger was born in 1901 into an ordinary working-class family, his father being a coachman, a strict disciplinarian and authoritarian, ...see more
I remember my father taking me to see Dr Kellarhar as an emergency case; he always took a paper with him and leaving it on purpose, as a thankyou. His surgery was very dark and every thing seemed to be brown. The waiting room was like the most quiet place on earth, everyone spoke in whispers, and it had a reception just inside the door as you went in, and the lady greeted you as you entered.
I think I am right in saying that Olby's had a wire cable system of sending money in small canisters from their counters to the accounts office. They used to put it in the canister, screw it into a lid attached to the wire, then fire it across the room by pulling a chain. It gave me such a thrill, and I would hope that any shoping included going there to see these things wizzing around; and just maybe get a penny from my Mum to get me weighed by this huge machine in the corner.
My father bought the mill in the 1960s and we moved in 1976 to South Africa. During the years living at the mill we all have plenty of memories spent living there. The most memorable was the first time we encounted the ghost of the mill. My mother called my two brothers and sister and myself into the hallway and demanded to know who had been playing the grand piano in the main lounge. We were not allowed in there ...see more
I lived in the mill from 1978 to 1982 with my parents, brother and sister. I was only five when I left but I have memories of seeing a lady and man both dressed in very old fashioned clothes around the mill pond. and nobody ever saw them except me. I'm sure they were looking after me and making sure I didn't fall in the water. It was a very creepy house and I remember our dog Polly would go mad in the hall at ...see more
Joyce and I were devoted to each other, trouble was her mother and father had taken a dislike to me feeling I was beneath their status and made it clear that I wasn't wanted. We were both 19 and in no financial condition to elope though we did intend to marry sometime - we were unofficially engaged. Her parents took her away for a fortnight's holiday to Niton and we arranged that I would come over on the ferry with ...see more