Purley, Woodcote Memorial And Post Office c.1960
Photo ref: P121034
Made in Britain logo

A Selection of Memories from Purley

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our website to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was, prompted by the photographs in our archive. Here are some from Purley

Sparked a Memory for you?

If this has sparked a memory, why not share it here?

We moved into the spacious four-bedroomed maisonette over Purley Radio in Purley Parade in 1955 and I attended Christ Church primary school, just over the other side of High Street (sadly demolished in 1967). A policeman used to see us safely across the road after school and was often rewarded with some of our sweets from the shop in High Street. My bedroom was at the front and overlooked the 109 terminus bus stop, where ...see more
Does anyone remember or have seen any newspaper reports of a soldier who was AWOL and stole a sword from a house in Higher Drive , Purley in the 1960’s ? He was also spotted in Foxley Woods by a young girl . Later found and arrested .
From 1959 to 1963 I went to school at Whyteleafe County Primary, Maple Road, whence the older boys and girls were taken by (very old) coaches to Reedham's pool for swimming lessons. It was a bit odd, because we never saw any of the pupils or staff actually attending that school. It was all very mysterious, and although I lived only a mile away from it, all my friends and I only knew that children were sent ...see more
I spent my childhood living in one of these cottages on the waterworks gated property in Purley. I walked to school under the railway bridge that crossed the road to the left as I walked out the gate. We called them "The Purley Gates" due to their location and as a reference to the biblical "Peary Gates". I remember a nursing sister who walked under the bridge going in the opposite direction on her way ...see more