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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Tips & Ideas
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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 1551 - 1600 of 2029 in total
Lanes has got to be the best ice cream ever. I had Asian flu followed by bronchitis in 1957/58 and my brothers would cycle up and get a thermos flask of ice cream - I honestly think I owe my survival to them (my brothers and Lanes). I have never tasted ice cream as good,
As a kid in the eighties, I used to mess around by the Wellington Monument, back then it was like a jungle all around it, and you couldn't really see it properly unless you were right in front of it. A group of volunteers did a brilliant job of clearing a lot of the bushes back, so now you can see it better from a distance which I think is how it should be seen. We were told as kids that a workman accidently dropped his lunch into the monument when it was being built!
Living in north Watford from 1952 to 78, I have fond memories of factories such as the British Moulded Hose. Not a nylon stockings factory as its title may sound, but an asbestos factory which I remember one day caught fire when I was in the playground of Park Gate School. Other well-known factories I remember were the (B.A.O) British American Optical company just a short distance away which made reading ...see more
My wife used to live in the house on the right, Number 5 Mill Close. When we were courting I would walk her home from our nights out and we use to sit on the bridge wall. This is where I had my first kiss from her, she was 17 and I was 19 years old. We have been married now for 46 years and have two children and 4 grandchildren. This is where it all started.
My dad used to live in the end cottage up until the early 1950s (the one next to the car). Both my grandparents lived there until about 1965. The cottage was very small, with no running water and an old earth closet toilet. The water had to be collected in pails from standpipes every day. These were dotted around the village next to the older cottages that did not have any internal running water, and ...see more
After the war, on April 14th 1946, flying training ceased, and Lulsgate Bottom was abandoned by the RAF in October. The airfield was used by Bristol Gliding Club during the next ten years, but the accommodation became a refugee camp for Poles, whose children went to Catholic schools in Bristol.
In 1948 and 1949 motor race meetings were organised by the Bristol Motor Cycle and Light Car Club using a ...see more
Oh what lovely memories come flooding back, my mum and I would walk the winding river towpath from Glen Faba, where we lived, to Dobbs Weir, fish and minnow watching as we went along our way. In the summer my mum would get a hire row boat out from the man in the Fish and Eels pub garden, oh it was always sooo exciting - being so careful not to fall in the water, as we climbed into the boat, and then we were off, taking ...see more
Tring hosts a lovely Christmas shopping evening each year when the High Street is decorated, the shop windows have illuminated Christmas displays and stay open late and the place is transformed into a fairyland of old-fashioned entertainment and street traders. There are hot chestnut vendors, roundabouts, fairground organs, traction engines, musicians and dancers. The lovely ...see more
Howden School opened on a cold and snowy January day, I think it was the 17th. Before leaving our old schools we were each given a number and on arrival at the school we had to line up behind cardboard boxes with this number displayed. It turned out to be our houseroom number.
Everywhere smelt so -- new. After attending a small village school this school seemed so big - would we ever find our way around? Amazingly, we very ...see more
The Rivera!! Once a week after school in 1964- 65, a group of us (mostly 6th-formers from the Grammar School, which was co-ed by that time) used to gather upstairs in the Rivera Restaurant (on the right in the photo) and order tea and buttered teacakes - all we could afford - and we'd make them last an hour or more. I'm sure we were often noisy, and took up a lot of room, much to the ...see more
I spent many very happy holidays at my uncle's house, number 8 Beach Street directly behind the pub in the photo. It was an old house with very steep stairs with large ropes instead of handrails. It had no electricity although gas was fitted later. The large building to the right of the photo was bombed in the 2nd world war, it stayed a ruin until it was pulled down and made into gardens, later to become a crazy golf area. ...see more
My friend and I, still best buddies to this day, used to go to The Mayfair every Saturday night. We loved Motown and Northern soul and still do. Then we progressed to The Femina, at the back of The George. The name implied to my Mother that it was for girls only! Oh no. We had some good times there. Then, outgrowing Walsall, we were avid visitors to Top of the World, Stafford. We used to book our ...see more
I left Walsall at the age of fifteen, at the time of the date of this picture. I loved the trolley buses and watching the trolley conductor change the rails. I remember the Bridge well, as shown in this picture. It was my task on a Saturday to collect and return my younger nephew every Saturday morning from my older sister, taking him home to Mom for the day so my sister could work in one of the shops on the Bridge. On my ...see more
I read the letter from someone who remembers the policeman in the top floor of a shop overlooking the Bridge at Christmas. Well that policeman was Gordon (Sandy) Lewis - a cheeky chappie, who gave everyone a smile when they crossed the road. Sandy died a few years ago. I was a policewoman at this time in Walsall Borough Police, and many times I did 5 ways point duty on the Bridge, at the bottom of Park ...see more
I was a pupil here and Miss Dickie ('The Bird' as we called her) was our headmistress and much respected and revered. I believe she retired a while after. It was an excellent school though we did take it all for granted sometimes. We were always looking forward to when we could raise the funds for the swimming hall, which did happen eventually. The school's reputation was very good. The setting on the edge of Nonsuch Park ...see more
As a young child, I lived at number 5 Mill Terrace. It was my grandparents' house. Their names were Stanley and Alice Timberlake and they were able to rent the house because my grandad had worked for a local landowner by the name of Fitzhugh. My mother, Jeanette, was born in that house. We moved to the midlands when I was 5 years old but continued to visit until the mid-70s when Nan and Grandad moved to nearby ...see more
I was called up under the Bevin Scheme in April, 1944, and after a rather indifferent training at Annfield Plain Training Centre, was sent to the Hobson, as I was staying at the time in lodgings in Burnopfield with a Mrs. Crisp, husband Tommy and her two sons, Stan and Robert.
There were 2 other Bevin Boys occupying the house as well, so sleeping arrangements were cramped, to say the least!
I finished up staying ...see more
I attended Rosary Priory from September 1960 until July 1967 and was known as Shirley Hayward. I now use my full Christian name and have done for many years which is Shirley-Anne. I loved every minute (except for the Maths lessons - I was hopeless but Geometry was a doddle - strange that!) I didn't want to leave. My class spent the first couple of years in the huts while the new school was being built. I ...see more
My maternal grandparents lived in Palmers Green - firstly in Elmdale Road close to what is now the North Circular and then moving to Wentworth Gardens off Hedge Lane. I have many childhood memories of visiting my grandparents and looking around the shops on a Saturday afternoon in the 1970's. We used to cut through the small park at the end of Wentworth Gardens along Hazelwood Lane onto Green ...see more
I remember the boating lake with very fond memories. We used to holiday with my great aunt and uncle who lived in Reydon every year. My parents, with my brother and I would arrive in late July and they would return home a fortnight later. I would remain for a further 4 weeks and my aunt would then take me home.This was the pattern for a number of years. My uncle (Frederick Valentine Ladd) was a former Lowestoft ...see more
If you look at the Coastguard Cottages in the background you will see a small wash house in front of the cottages on the lower garden. In the back left hand corner of the wash house was an old large copper where my grandmother Kate Knight used to boil all of her white washing. The sheets hanging on the washing line was visible to all the traffic coming down the hill from Trevarion. My grandmother was always being complemented on how white her washing was.
"Hold his hand and, don't let him fall in", were my dear old mum's famous last words. As an 8 year old when this photo was taken, keeping an eye on an accident prone 6 year old brother was no easy task. Off we went on the old steam train all the way from London to stay with our grandfather in Pier Plain, and I remember little brother Billy literally running down the road with his brand new yacht under his ...see more
I lived at Reighton Gap from early 1948 to 1951. The picture of the shop brings back many memories as I worked in it aged 11 during the summer school holidays. My jobs were to handle the dirty jobs, handling of potatoes, paraffin, and fetch the soft drinks from the back of the store. It was a very busy cafe in summer so I had to also wash up and dry the dishes, my reward was 2 meals a day and 7/6 per week ...see more
I remember S C Cummins quite well, their factory was close to the corner of (I believe) William Street. My grandparents lived at 55 Martin Street for many years and my aunty lived on Earle Street. My uncle lived on William Street and indeed he worked for Cummins on a part-time basis delivering the vans. Crewe makes up a large part of my life, I was born there in 1955 and left there in 57 to move to Scunthorpe, but the ...see more
It was nice to read of some familiar names that lived in Seaton at the same time as me, Jon Sandy for one. I often think of Jane Sandy and where she is now.
I came to live in Seaton when I was 2 years old in 1954; my parents, Jane and Harold Wood, at the time lived in the house 'Trenance' which was Mrs Pearce's property at that time. Seaton holds fond memories as a child growing up. I remember ...see more
I saw the first wooden pile hammered into the river bed, and watched it day by day until it was completed. Steel piles was driven into the river bed for the concrete structures, when they got well below the river bed it was that hard they had to use pneumatic drills. At high tide water used to seep in places through the piling, to bung the leaks, sawdust was put into the close to the piling, the water pressed the ...see more
As a young lad we visited the Constitutional Holiday Camp for a number of years, as far as I can remember I went with my parents from about 1949 to 1955. At that time my parents were living in East London which even by then was still suffering from the results of the wartime bombing, and to visit Hopton was of course a breath of fresh air (in more ways than one). I can always remember the chalets ...see more
One of my friends was Ivor Usher, and he had this unusual place of residence - Prudhoe Castle. Together we were able to run around the castle walls with our bows and arrows, catapults, etc... We didn't need much imagination to see ourselves as soldiers defending the castle from the attacking Scots. Ivor must have been quite brave, as I believe that one day he scaled the ruined central tower. Apparently when he ...see more
Prudhoe Castle has always been a part of my life since I was born in 1938. My mother moved to Prudhoe Castle, where she was employed as a maid, to be nearer to my father who lived in Castle Dene. They eventually married and produced my brother Don in 1934, then me in 1938. After the war ended in 1945, various residents came to the Castle, one of them being Senor Hosea Paniego, who was the ...see more
In our school holidays, I and one or two more used to go with cattle drovers, there were often a thousand Irish cattle arriving at the cattle dock on some Saturdays. The front of the herd would be at the Town Bridge as other cattle were still leaving the cattle dock. We would guard all the sidestreets and passageways. Cattle would be sold at the market, then were taken to various fields outside of town. One drover, ...see more
Hello, my name is Mick Turnbull. I was born in 1957 and lived at 1, Cairns Avenue. My parents were Robert Davison Turnbull and Jean Turnbull. My mother's parents were Adam and Nellie Chirnside and had lived in the same house of which the ownership went back to the Smith family who, it seems , was the Manager of the mine leading up to the closure of the Colliery. Robert Chirnside had moved south from ...see more
Boston was a war garrison in the war, It was an exciting time for teenagers growing up, Different Regiments was billeted all round the town, we collected army badges from the men; I had a tin full. The airforce used to drill in a morning in Liquorpond Street. War games were played in the streets, the make believe wounded had notes pinned to them to say what injuries they had.
The airborne used to practice in a ...see more
I remember Valence swimming pool from the late fifties. I lived in Bushgrove Road and went to Valence School and used to go early on a Saturday morning with my mates to be first in there before the crowds. I couldn't swim, but that didn't matter 'cos I had an old van tyre to keep me afloat (I've still got the damn valve marks in my ribs now). I remember jumping in and not being able to breathe for about a ...see more
Born 1943. I briefly attended Lonesome with Roger Watts. He lived in Eldertree Way and I lived in Eldertree Place. Then to Bordergate and Bond Road School in 1948. Met David Grayson, Dale Foster, Robin Theobold etc.. On Bordergate I played with Dereck Stevens, Alfie Sallis, Micheal Barnet and many others. We would hang around Stuart Place and the old rent office. We also roamed Mitcham far and wide. Fishing in the Three ...see more
It was the 118 bus Colin. It went from Clapham Common to Mitcham Cricket Green. I also remember well those wonderful Leo's ice lollies. After those awful slabs of lard between 2 wafers that went soggy they were magic - Walls's! My family moved from Northborough Road to Rosemead Avenue in March 1940 as all the Lcc schools were closed. My sister and I went to Pollards Hill School. Both of my brothers went there or to Alfred ...see more
I am told that once upon a time buses ran through Romford Market towards Gidea Park. Apparently I was happily standing in the queue with my mother and newly-born sister in a pram waiting for a 174. I held tight to Mum's coat so as not to lose her. Imagine my surprise to find that the coat in question belonged to a stranger, and my mother and sister had boarded the bus and were moving away! Luckily the ...see more
The shop with the blind outside was built by my grandparents in 1932, they already had two shops in Milford High Street, opposite the Post Office, a confectioners and a grocery shop. Grandpa and Grandma decided to expand the grocery business to the new premises and the old shop became an off-licence. Cecil and May Knight lived in the flat above the new shop with my dad Frederick, and his first wife Marjorie ...see more
I remember my first day at Willingham School. I was so daunted by Mrs Readers presence. She was so authoritative and strong of mind and confidence. She never demanded respect, she would never have to because she earned it. Mid-morning milk was not a favourite as it seems it was always necessary to put it next to a radiator, so it was always warm...yak. Dinner times involved a march up the road to the old ...see more
In October 1958 I was sent to Yarrow for two weeks to recover from a complicated operation. I have a sense of dread about my time there; my arrival into the panelled and imposing hall as my dad disappeared down the long drive, still haunts me and none of the staff helped me to feel any better - they were unfriendly and at times very unkind. The atmosphere was heavy with lots of silence and I never ...see more
I was brought up on Broomfield Lane; wonderful memories of Wares Creamery which was a cafe and sold amazing ice cream, where Hale Grill is now. We used to play with dentist, Mr McKnight's daughter Amanda; they had a tortoise who lived in the garden...so exotic! Hours spent in the library and the reliable 'bobby' in the police station on the corner of Leigh Road. Such a lovely place to grow which we took so much for granted.
Jack & Unice Spencer were my grandparents, they owned the boats on Pickmere Lake. My life after the war was idillic when living with them, thousands flocked from Salford & Manchester to camp, fish and row my grandad's boats. We charged 2 bob an hour, 10p in to-days money. On a Saturday, before dark, I used to row across the lake putting eel lines out with my grandad, then on a Sunday, row out ...see more
I was born in 1942 and brought up in Walthamstow in NE London. We were a working class family and Dad always provided us with 2 week's holiday, if possible 'by the sea'.
In 1951, Dad chose Dawlish Warren. I was 9 at the time and we probably travelled down by train from Paddington, changing at Exeter St Davids and getting a local train for Dawlish Warren but I have no recollection of that. ...see more
We used to live in Phrosso Road, off George Vth Avenue, and I used to be allowed to go to Marine Gardens on my own, or with my friend Katharine Green. We loved daring each other to jump over the long channel of the fishpond! Oh what simple pleasures! My sister used to work in the cafe, which I used to think was incredibly glamorous! Judy (Harrop) Hemery.
I remember this hospital with great affection and gratitude. I was there for nearly 4 years as a student and then staff nurse 1966-1970. It was never ever called 'Royal', its title was The Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital. I lived as a student nurse in the nurses homes, Hitcham House and then Hitchambury House in my final year. The training for nurses was outstanding and stood me in good ...see more
My father worked for Eagle Star Insurance and during the war the company was relocated from London to Cobham in a large house called Oakmead (?) and my mother joined him (they lived in Westcliff Essex). When Dad joined the RAF my mother stayed in Cobham, she enjoyed the dances at the village hall and cycled around the area. Is Oakmead still there and does anyone remember the Eagle Star? After the war my father still ...see more
It was 1971 and as a 7 year old I remember my dad Stanley Mason (1921-2002) taking me to "Brooklands' stadium to watch Romford FC. We always stood in the same place on the terrace. I worked as a 'Saturday boy' when I was 14 for the greengrocers LW Moore & Sons at number 38 High Street, Romford for about 2 years. I delivered fruit & veg around Romford to various locations on an old black bicycle with a basket on the front. Very happy memories.
I grew up in Farncombe. My grandparents lived opposite the railway station and all my other relatives lived in the village. My grandmother had worked as housekeeper to the Phillips family whose son, 'Jack', was radio operator on the Titanic. I attended the local village school and remember the toilets had no doors, only sacking on nails, and the air raid shelters in the playground. My brother-in-law was a ...see more
In the 40's and early 50's the Goodland family lived in one of the pair; with their son Norman, and during the war a boy called, I think, John Hunt lived in the other. No relation to the Hunt family who ran the Post Office and shop, and had a son called Bruce (nic name Rooster). This bus stop was just far emough from Wherwell School (run by the fierce Miss Strugnel) to qualify for a school bus pass, though we often ...see more
My paternal grandparents, Wright and Bertha Veall, lived in Ewyas Harold for many years at their small farm named, 'Woodside' situated on a hill about a mile from the village centre and just off the road to Rowlstone. To reach it, you crossed the narrow bridge facing the Temple Bar Inn, passing the Spracklings' house on the right and the Dales' cottage on the left, the last in a small row of ...see more
So many happy memories of Maesteg - where do I start? I was born in 1947 and lived at No 3, Plasnewydd Street until I was about 19. My best friend when I was young was Paul Spracklen (with whom I re-kindled our friendship a few years ago, and we now chat by phone most weeks). Friends also were; John Eley, Ian Davies, Andrew Davies and David Hodder. My sister, was and is Helen. I went to ...see more
