Rothley My Home

A Memory of Rothley.

It is now 41 years since I resided in Rothley, and there is not one day that passes that I don't think about it. Recently I found photographs on an 'Old Rothley' website, as I was browsing I found a photograph of my parents standing outside of their shop, on Woodgate. Another photograph was of my father in his shop, and there was also one of school children at the Rothley Infant School in Church Street taken in the 1920's and right in the front row was my father aged approx 6-7years of age. I burst into tears as I had never seen them before. My parents have both since passed away and are buried in Rothley Cemetery. Looking on website maps I walk around the village online, up and down every street that I walked as a child, and new streets that have since appeared - my, how it has changed. My name is Sandie Lee (nee Hunt) and my father was George Hunt the barber. My mother used to help him in the shop and also worked at Goodalls/Worthingtons. I now reside in Christchurch, New Zealand after having spent 34 years in Australia. Almost 2 years ago we experienced a devastating earthquake in which many people so tragically lost their lives. To experience something like that gives you a new perspective on life. Materialistic things don't matter anymore, you go back to your grass roots. Family, health and wellbeing are the most important things.......and memories - you become very melancolic. I miss Rothley now more than ever and truly wished I lived there once again, but unless I happen to strike it rich in the lottery it isn't going to happen. But the mind is a wonderful thing, it doesn't seem that long ago that I was sledging down Bates' Hollow; going to the fair in Town Green Street (does the fair still come every year?), going on bicycle rides to Bradgate park, going with my grandpa to The Bluebell off-licence for a bottle of pop and a pkt of crisps as a treat and queuing up on the green on a Wednesday night for the fish and chip van (it came from Mountsorrel). I remember Charlie Kitchen coming around delivering his groceries on a Friday night and getting a Penguin/ Fry's Turkish Delight as a treat.
All you lucky people who now reside in Rothley you are indeed very blessed, don't ever foreget it!.