47. Those Were The Days My Friends . . . Malcolm G Hill's Memoirs of Lancing Life 1947-1963

Malcolm G Hill

Those Were The Days My Friends . .

Hear Malcolm's Story

Memoirs of Lancing Life 1947-1963

Introduction and Early Origins

Like many of the people whose reminiscences of Lancing life appear here, I too came across this fascinating website by pure chance whilst trawling references on the internet to the Lancing/Sompting/Worthing area. So I trust my few recollections of growing up there will prompt further reflections among those of us scattered around the globe, and of course, those of you still resident in the area, and also prompt others to write accounts of our early lives and even perhaps engage in mutual correspondence whilst we still have time before our all too soon inevitable demise.

My name is Malcolm Gerald Hill. I was born in 1940, not in Lancing actually but in Hayes, Middlesex, but within a few weeks of my birth was taken to live with my grandmother, Mrs Gertrude Perkins at her home in First Avenue, Lancing on account of my mother's premature death from that scourge of early 20th century Britain, tuberculosis of the lungs.

Within a year I had been adopted by the Hill family, Mr Malcolm Thomas William Hill and his wife Eva Mary, who at that time lived on Crabtree Lane in a house called White Gates, a lovely detached home now replaced by an apartment block, opposite The Crabtree Inn and on the other side of the road to a row of shops, among which I remember a greengrocer's with the memorably evocative name of Hibdidges. The Hills had a daughter, Barbara Jean, eleven years older than myself, who unfortunately died in 2014 in her eighty-third year and lived with her husband Peter, also deceased this year, 2015, just outside Norwich in Norfolk.

32a Alan Marshall replies to David Nicholls

 

Alan Marshall said...

Hello from Lancing to Alan Marshall in Tasmania. Thank you for sharing these wonderful memories. I have formatted your text with subheadings and corrected some punctuation to make it easier to read.

---

School Days

David, thanks for all those wonderful memories you have brought back to me. I am somewhat younger than yourself (I was born in 1941), but I do remember the old schoolroom, and Mrs Thomas used to teach there. The name Miss Allman, I think she became Mrs Horne. At that age, I had no idea of people getting married and changing their name!

Michael Ayling was in my class at school. I attended there from about 1946 to 1952. The "new" dining room and kitchen were built at the top northern side of the playground, close to the bicycle shed. I will always remember the horrible smell of grease and food waste oozing out of the waste pipe from the kitchen, and that horrible minced meat, hard potatoes, and spinach! It was an awful taste for a 7 or 8-year-old.

Wartime Memories

The Morrison Shelter we had (in Grafton Gardens) was built underneath Mum and Dad's bed. We were taken there to sleep for the night whenever the air-raid sirens sounded. Several went off at the same time, giving a discordant, painful wail, all beating against each other and setting the tensions. We as kids did not know the significance of the tension, but on looking back, our parents had a hard time of it, didn't they?
I was born in a little wooden shack up the top end of Upper Boundstone Lane, just below the fence of the cemetery. A bungalow is built there now, in the corner where there's a bend in the road.
Back to the war years, and I was only almost 4 when it ended, but my main memory is of very quiet nights, very dark because of no street lamps. If any vehicle drove past in the night, it was always very slowly. And if a bomber flew over, it was spine-chilling and would keep me awake! Apparently, the Heinkels were twin-engined and not well synchronised. Even now, the sound of a piston-engined aircraft in the night brings back all those memories.

The Marshall Nursery

My Dad and his Dad (Percy Marshall) and Denis, his brother, had the nursery where Boundstone School is now. Boundstone Lane then really was a "lane"—a rough road with lots of puddles to splash in (and frozen over in the winter of 1947). The structure of that road, when upgraded, would have been very strong. Lots of flint, old bricks, etc., went in as foundations, and the top tarmac was compacted with a steamroller. I watched all that work with great interest.

Playing in Lancing

The Brooks, at the western end of Tower Road, was a favourite playground for us, where we would catch minnows, sticklebacks, and tadpoles. When the bridge over the railway at Western Road was being built, I watched them putting in the piles with a huge, noisy vertical ram. They raised the ram up to the top of the crane's jib, then let it fall at great speed onto the piling, which was gradually driven down into the subsoil.
Well, there are so many little things that come back once I get started. I hope these few lines do the same for others who read this.

Greetings from Down Under.

55. Mary Lethby neè Gascoyne remembers her days in Lancing

Mary Lethby nee Gascoyne

Hear the story

Early School Days at South Lancing

I was born in Lancing and attended South Lancing Junior School, where the Headmistress was Miss Cates. I didn't dislike school, but the only thing that bothered me was my eyesight. My desk was always in the front and then I couldn't always see the small writing on the blackboard.

Wartime Memories and Family Fundraising

I do remember some very cold winters with the school milk popping out of the bottles, so that we tried to thaw them out on the school hot pipes. In that freezing weather, we all wore homemade clothes, which luckily our mother could always manage. She was very good at knitting and sewing, so that in 1944 my sisters: Averill, Frieda and Veronica Gascoyne, our cousin Peter Voice and his friend Derek Denyer went out to sell tea cosies, bed socks, kettle holders and anything Mother had made to raise the princely sum of £21 for the Red Cross. Anything over went to the hospital. A newspaper cutting of 1944 has a photograph of the six children and reports that they sold dolls, toys, iron-holders, flannels, lucky dips, brooches, powder-puffs, shoe-polishers, bath salts and other articles in their third sale. The unsold toys were sent to the Hospital, and they received a letter of thanks from Sister Foster of Ward 1. Peter and the Gascoynes have an aunt, uncle and two cousins who interned in China.

Post-War Entertainment and Secondary School

After the war, my sisters and I would go to the Regal Cinema along Penhill Road for Saturday matinee. Then I went to Irene School, which was nice and near home.

Early Working Life - The Wool Shop

After leaving school, I worked in a lovely wool shop in Chapel Road, Worthing, called Evelyn's. At this time, in the '50s, there were another three wool shops in the town.

Railway Works and Cycling Culture

On my way home each day to Lancing Station, I would call in to buy my Dad the Evening Argus. No way could he leave his bike to shop when the Railway Works emptied. There were hundreds of bikes along North Road. You wouldn't dare cross the road.

Singer Sewing Machine Company

Then I worked for Singer Sewing m/c Co. in Worthing, and again there were three other m/c shops. Now there is only one left. How times have changed.

Marriage at St Paulinus

By the '60s, I was married to Derek in the Cokeham R.C. Church of St Paulinus, with Father Quinlan officiating. Even this church is now gone.

Working for Walter Bros

For a short time, I worked for Walter Bros, who were a well-known Worthing family, who had been trading for over 100 years. All the family were most friendly and approachable, not stuck up at all. Mr Leslie Walter was a well-known councillor and alderman, and when I asked him if he would have liked to have been mayor, he laughed his head off - "not likely", he said.

Mary Lou Fabric Centre

As time went by, they sold the business and my husband and I purchased the lease to the Lancing branch, calling it 'Mary Lou Fabric Centre'. I spent nearly 30 happy years there and never forgot a customer's advice: "always smile".

Musical Evenings with Dr King

My mother and father lived in Lancing, so it was very convenient to meet up when Dr King had his symphony concerts with a small group of passionate musicians. It was a perfect musical evening and we all loved it.

North Road Neighbours and Local Shops

Next door to us in North Road was a Co-op shoe shop, soon taken over by Mr and Mrs Lyons. We all got on famously, dressing up for the late-night shopping. In those days, Lancing had three shoe shops.

There was Mrs Mitchell, a florist, on the next block who had been in business when I was a child. Mrs Mitchel always remembered your name.

Also, we had a fruit and veg shop owned by Mr Boulter, who became so busy he opened three shops, and always called out at the end of the day, with his bargain prices.

Commuting and Friendships

I used to travel on the train home with one of the girls who worked at Woolworths. What a shame when that closed. I still see Olive in Worthing occasionally and recall when we walked home to Worthing in the snow when the trains had failed.

Reflections on Lancing

Lancing has treated me very well, and I consider myself so very lucky to have been born and bred here.

53. Gary Gardner writes about South Lancing Primary school

Gary Gardner

[Re:] Post 15 Alan John Marshall

Hear Gary's Story

I have just found your website and was very interested in Alan's Post, particularly regarding his experiences at the South Lancing Primary School, which I attended for a short time in the immediate post-war period.
The headmistress was Miss Birch, who was a strict disciplinarian and who wasn't averse to administering the cane to any pupils who committed a misdemeanour.
My situation was a bit special as my aunt, known as Miss Gardner, was a teacher at the school, which I interpreted as meaning the school rules didn't apply to me!
One day, I climbed on top of the grassy air-raid shelters which as Alan rightly pointed out, were strictly out of bounds.
I was duly dragged off to face Miss Birch, from whom I got a severe reprimand from her, culminating in her bringing her cane down on the arm of a rather old upholstered chair, which resulted in a cloud of dust flying into the air. My response to her asking me what I thought if the cane had been brought down on my backside. My response was by all accounts a show stopper, as I said in all innocence, " Miss Birch, I think you should have your chair cleaned as it's full of dust"
Nothing more was said, and I escaped unmarked.

I have many other anecdotes of my first few years spent in Lancing, but I'll save those for another time.

Best wishes
Gary Gardner

 Gary Gardner wrote more of his memories

Summary

The text provides a personal account of Gary Gardner's childhood memories from the 1940s and 1950s in Lancing, England. The author vividly recounts his early experiences, including listening to Glenn Miller music at a local coffee shop, playing on the beach, and being fascinated by an early television set in his neighbourhood. These anecdotes highlight the impact of his surroundings and his early interest in music and technology.

Early Influence of Family and Music

Being born halfway through World War II, all the menfolk in the family were away in the services, so my mother was a big influence in my early years. I remember her taking me to a coffee bar which was located a few hundred yards up from where Woolworths used to be. This coffee bar had one of the early jukeboxes, which in those days played the old Shellac 78s. I quite clearly remember hearing what I later discovered was Glenn Miller playing one of his hits. It was only very much later in life I heard a record of Glenn Miller in a record shop, and instantly found the music familiar. I then realised where all those years ago where I had heard this music. I've been a fan of Glenn Miller ever since, and now have a reasonable-sized library of his music.

Childhood on the Beach

During the war, access to the beach was not permitted because of the large concrete blocks that were there to help prevent German landing craft coming ashore. At the end of hostilities, these blocks were removed and were used to make a base for a car park that was on the seaside of the coast road going towards Shoreham. 
My first reaction on seeing the sea for the first time was to run into the sea and look for the plughole, as the only water I had seen previously was in the bath. My aunt had a beach hut along this stretch of beach, and we spent many happy hours there in the summer. When the tide went down to expose the sand, my old nan and I would go shrimping with a net and then bring the shrimps back to the hut and cook them over a paraffin stove. I loved eating them for our tea before packing up and going back home to my aunt's bungalow in Monks Avenue. The beach hut remained with my aunt for many years.
The next-door neighbours were the Last family who used to own a chemist shop on the High Street on the opposite side of the railway station. Their hut was a much bigger one than ours, but they did have a big family.
Childhood memories of Lancing Beach are with me still, even though I'm now getting old, but look back fondly of these times gone by. 

Life in South Street

For a short time, my mum and I lived in the block of Flats in South Street, which was located next to a small park. There were shops at street level and we had a small flat on the second floor. Across the road was a parade of shops, including an electrical shop which sold a very limited range of electrical appliances. They have one of the shops on the opposite side of the road under the flats, which they used as a repair workshop.

Watching a TV the first time

I remember the owner of the shop inviting the residents to come down to the repair workshop as they had something interesting to show us.  The room was packed when we arrived, and I had to be picked up so I could see what was going on. At the other end of the room, there was what appeared to be a small screen on which there was a moving picture! It turned out to be small TV that one of the technicians had built from odd parts he had acquired,  of course,  this was a one-off unit and not for sale, but again it left a lasting impression on me, and almost certainly why that in my later years my interest in electronics became my hobby. It wasn't until I was 11 in 1953 did my aunt bought a Philips TV with a 12 " screen, which we all crowded round to watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

45. Jenny Shackley (nee Charman) writes about life in Lancing from 1947

Jenny Shackley.

I have just read all the memories of people on your website.

Hear Jenny's story

Early Life in Lancing

I was born in Lancing in 1947 at 8 Tower Road. My Dad used to work for Frank Lisher and, in fact, looked after the shire horses referred to in one of George Forrest’s comments. My sisters (of which there were 4) used to go to the stables to watch the horses being fed or mucked out, or get ready to go out. My dad loved these horses dearly, and whilst I don’t recall, he must have been heartbroken when he did not look after them any more.

School Days

I went to South Lancing School, both infants and juniors and then on to Irene Ave for one year and then on to Boundstone Comprehensive when it was brand new. Oh, how privileged we did feel with that school. I had Mr Jones as my first form teacher, and he said to me, “Are there more of you Charmans at home?” as apparently, he knew the rest of the family.

I stopped on for an extra year to do GCE and was sad to leave the school to go to work. I then got married after a few years and finally ended up in Bristol, where I still live.

Fond Memories

I have a sister who still lives in Lancing and was an usherette at the Luxor, and I do visit about three times a year. I still remember fondly the sweet shop in North Road where we used to go on the way to school, the bread shop opposite South Lancing school where we used to buy a crusty roll for a farthing and eat all of the insides, leaving only the shell to eat on its own.

In the summer holidays, I had friends who had one of the beach huts and we used to spend many happy days on the beach. I still like to go down to the beach whenever I visit.

All in all, your website has brought back many happy memories.

Jenny Shackley (nee Charman)

jenny.shackley@blueyonder.co.uk