Comments

Graham Funnel writes a comment to George Forrest

On the subject of the Lisher cart-horses, I well remember, as a child, seeing them in their flint stable and out on their rounds, in the late 1950s. I recall both Unigate and Co-op dairies finished using horses at about the same time as Lishers, around 1962. "Joey" the milk-horse, was a favourite with the children, and he reputedly knew exactly which houses to stop outside of. Joey was always given a carrot or some other treat when he got to our house, in Annweir Avenue, which probably jogged his memory of where to stop !

That's probably where my life-long affection for horses started, and why my family and I currently
look after so many elderly rescued ones !

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

44. Colin Harrison recalls Boundstone School early days

Collin Harrison

Hear Colin's story 

Cherished Childhood Memories

I spent my childhood in the lovely village of Lancing, and have so many good memories. Dad worked in the railway works after his discharge from the Army, right up to its closure, and Mum worked part-time in Fircroft House.

School Days

 I attended North Lancing county primary school, then one year at Irene avenue secondary and was one of the first years at Boundstone, the previous year we boys had been up there on 'day release' so to speak, to do woodwork and metal work, as those classrooms were the first to be built and finished. I remember all of the school being told we all had to pay a pound towards the construction of the school swimming pool, situated in the open behind the police houses, a right cheek as I left before its opening, so I never splashed in anger. 

Work and Wandering

I spent the 1960s working around Sussex, then wandered off to see the world, returning to live now in Eastbourne in my old age. Thank you again for the info and some of those wonderful old photos of the Lancing, I loved.

 
Yours, Colin Harrison, late of Fircroft Avenue.

43. Jo Christmas, born during air raid at Saxon Villas

Jo Christmas

Jo writes about the Canadian troops preparing for D-Day

Hear Jo's story

Birth During Wartime

I was just going through our file of important documents and found my birth certificate. It gives the address where I was born as 1 Saxon Villas, Lancing, on 10th February 1943. I have been on Google Maps, and that address isn't listed any more, so I presume it no longer exists.

Obviously, I have no personal memory of the time in Lancing as just before I was born, an attachment of Canadian troops moved into the area and, in fact, took over the house where my mother was staying. All the surrounding area was evacuated, I gather, as the whole area around that part of Lancing was full of army lorries and vehicles, loaded with ammunition, etc., as they were preparing for a possible invasion by the enemy.

As I was due at any time, they allowed my mother to occupy the upstairs bedroom whilst the troops took over the rest of the house. In the meantime, the local midwife was detached to try and find someone or someplace to take her in as the army wanted me rehoused as soon as possible. The young Canadian soldiers took turns to sit with my mother (she was confined to bed at this time with a severe case of toxaemia) and would talk to her about many things, including their families back home.

A Narrow Escape

One morning, one of the soldiers told my mother that all the lorries outside were loaded with munitions, and it only needed one bomb to land in the vicinity and the whole area would blow up. A short time later, the air raid sirens started, and aircraft began flying overhead. At the time, my mother was lying in bed on her own and only managed to clamber out and crawl under the bed whilst she could hear the bombs dropping not far away. Apparently, all the troops had fled into the air raid shelter somewhere close by and in the rush, no one thought of my mother upstairs. Mother was not even physically able to get downstairs, and shortly after the bombs started, she went into labour.

The midwife, in the meantime, was scouring the town for someone or someplace to take Mum in, but had to duck into the nearest air raid shelter to take cover as soon as the air raid siren started. However, she realised that this air raid would undoubtedly bring on mother's labour, and it wasn't until the all clear was sounded much later that she was able to continue her bike ride to mother's house.

As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she told Mother she could hear me wailing upstairs, and on arriving at the bedroom, she found me bawling my eyes out under the bed, blue with the cold, and Mother passed out! She was so upset that Mother had been all alone and had me under the bed with no one around to help her, but at least I was alive and kicking (or wailing!)

An Evacuee's Story

As the midwife had been unable to find anyone to take Mother in, she was told by the army that she had to leave the house as they could no longer be responsible for her. With nowhere to go, she was preparing to put me into an orphanage when an old neighbour was in touch and arranged for me to be cared for as an evacuee by a friend of hers in Seaford, and mother then found a place to stay in a nurses' hostel in London. I remained in Seaford for the duration of the war.

The funny thing about that was that at the time, many children were being evacuated out of Seaford because of the many bombings by the V1s flying directly over the Sussex Downs and often unloading their bombs on the area. As our house was directly at the foot of Beachy Head, many bombs dropped nearby, and I gather I spent a great deal of time sheltering with them in the cupboard under the stairs!

A Search for the Past

Obviously, all this was told to me second-hand by my mother as I was too young to remember any of it. Having just found the Lancing address where I was born on my birth certificate, I have been trying to find it on Google Maps, but there is no mention of 1 Saxon Villas Close in Lancing, so I presume it no longer exists. Would really love to know if anyone in Lancing remembers where Saxon Villas used to be, as I would love to find out exactly where I was born.

Anyway, thought you might be interested to hear of wartime experiences in Lancing during WW11.

Regards, Josephine Christmas (nee Smith)

Editor Note: After a little bit of luck and research, we found Saxon Villas

42. A personal anecdote from George Forrest

George Forrest

Hear Georges Memories

This is not so much a memory of Lancing but rather one of my own growing-up experiences. I'll leave it to you.

Growing-Up Experiences

Just after the Second World War, there was a shortage of Virginian tobacco. I was only 12/13 years old, and I have no idea why. Turkish and Egyptian blends were available, and filter tips were becoming popular. The Turkish and Egyptian tobaccos were not to the taste of people brought up on "Weights, Woodbines, Park Drive and Rhodian No 3 with Players and Senior Service for high days and holidays. Some men tried to grow their own, my father included. As the start of a DIY process, growing plants was easy. The process of curing, etc, proved too much for the average handyman in his shed, so the whole idea died a death.

The Quest for Tobacco

As young lads, we had no idea of blends flavours and the like, all we knew was that it was tobacco. Adults smoked it, we wanted to be adults, so we wanted to smoke. There was a problem. The four of us pooled our resources. We realised a box of matches, a packet of cigarette papers and a machine to roll your own, BUT no tobacco. We discussed this and as an upshot, we divided into pairs, a pair on each side of the road, and headed towards Lancing Manor Ground, "doing the gutters" looking for dog ends. Thinking about it now makes me shudder, we were not aware of the dangers to our health, no one was, so we carried on collecting the dog ends and putting them in our pockets. 

The Manor Ground Adventure

 Arriving at the Manor, we went up into the top left-hand corner. It was quiet, and we could see if anybody was coming our way. A rather grubby handkerchief appeared, and our spoils were placed on the said piece of rag. We began peeling the paper from the tobacco. One of us came across a stained filter and queried it, but we decided unanimously that it must be that new Turkish tobacco and it and any further filters were added to the growing pile of tobacco. More shudders from me. After a while with a little practice, it was possible to produce passable cigarettes, and we began smoking. 

Feeling Like Film Stars

We lay back on the grass feeling just like film stars did it in the films, coughing a bit, not surprising really when you consider that were smoking filter tips and all the other rubbish. Even bigger shudders from me. A second and third cigarette was produced and smoked; we were getting good at coughing, and we were certainly getting practice. By this time, we were all feeling a little queasy, none of us wanted to give in, so it was a bit of relief when we saw someone coming our way, and we managed to escape without losing face. I don't think any of us wanted to smoke for quite a while after that. More shudders.

41. The Brooks by George Forrest

GeorgeForrest

Hear George's Memories

Tower Road Memories

When the war ended, my father returned from his army service, and a short while later, we moved back into Tower Road, a bit further up the road this time. This changed my area of play, new friends and neighbours, new places to explore and things to learn. 

The Brooks and Cokeham Lane

The area we knew as "The Brooks" was close at hand, a way into the countryside. The brooks started at the end of Tower Road, where Carnforth Road now begins, no more buildings, just fields. The boundary to the open fields was Cokeham Lane, and this had a long line of large elm trees, sadly now gone. Cokeham Lane at the bottom end was no more than a track which ended with a solid white gate at the railway line.

 

On the south side of the railway line on what has become a much larger industrial estate were a couple of businesses, I can recall Solarbo, Lancing Packers and I believe Manhattan kitchens, I believe the correct name was Robinsons, A number of people from Tower Road worked there and rather than take the long way round, illegally crossed the line by climbing over the gate. I know a number of people with a criminal record, having been caught trespassing by the British Transport Police, were taken to court.

Fields and Streams

The Brooks consisted mainly of fields, some of which were planted, but mostly because of the streams crossing them, not suitable for crops. I believe there were two streams, one I know would have been the Teville Stream, not sure about the other. It was a new world to me, and I spent a lot of time there just meandering, catching sticklebacks and frogs in the streams, and watching nature. Many happy days and memories.

The Snake Encounter

One such memory I recall was on a bright, warm summer's day, three or four of us were just wandering, doing nothing in particular, walking down beside a hedge and came to a gate, originally a five-barred gate, a little dilapidated, but still substantial enough. Anyway, me being me, showing off decided that I would try to vault the gate. I was fitter then and managed it.

Over the gate and in mid-air, I looked down at my landing spot, the grass flattened by other people using the gate had become the ideal spot for a huge snake to do a bit of sunbathing... It was the largest snake I had ever seen outside of a zoo. 

A while ago, a newspaper cartoonist named Styx drew characters running in midair. That was me. 

Gravity being what it is, though, I managed to land astride the snake and was immediately making haste to get away. The poor snake was probably just as startled. I ran. The other lads caught me up but were still laughing. I was told later that it was undoubtedly a female grass snake and probably pregnant. I was not waiting to find out; it was a big snake that was enough.

Most definitely a case of look before you leap. It didn't deter me from going down to the brooks, and I spent many more happy days there. Hope you can laugh at this as I now can.

40. George Forrest talks about Steam Trains

George Forrest

Hear George's story All of George's messages in one 

Playing With Trains

One thing about being 7 - 8 years of age, living on the south side of the railway line and going to school on the north side of the line meant having to cross the railway line four times a school day. It didn't matter whether the gates were open or closed, it was almost obligatory that we, that is, three or four of us, went over the footbridge. 

We waited for a steamer to come through in order that we could become enveloped in steam and smoke. If a train wasn't due, we would wait. To our minds, it was essential that we smelled of smoke. Often this made us late home for dinner ( we didn't have lunch then), only posh people had lunch. I can still hear the tellings-off that I got from my mother to this very day. And the occasions that, having finished my meal,  my wrist was grasped and I was hauled back to school at a rate of knots.

Roger Price and the Luxor Cinema

One of my friends at the time was Roger Price; his father owned a small grocers just below the Luxor cinema. If you stand facing the Luxor, you will see to the right a gap, next was a very old cottage, it might have been two, next was the grocers, then a shop I can't really recall, the third shop was Newberry's, a tobacconist and confectioner.

Very few shops had window displays, but one warm sunny Sunday afternoon, our family was out for a stroll and happened to pass said grocers. There in the window were two sacks of rice, these were being attacked by about 8 - 10 mice. They had gnawed a hole and were busy eating. We watched for some minutes, they were far too busy eating to notice us. We left them to it, didn't wish to disturb them. Though from that day on, my mother never bought anything from Mr Price that wasn't in a tin. .

Building Memories

The next two buildings were detached dwellings, now offices. My father was employed as a trainee bricklayer on the site nearest the Farmers Hotel, and my mother lived in one of the thatched cottages opposite. She spotted him and as they say, "The rest is history".



Enough for today ATB

George Forrest