54. Gary Gardner recalls a local Coffee Bar

 Gary Gardner wrote more of his memories

Audio overview podcast

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.

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 buy a Philips TV with a 12 " screen, which we all crowded round to watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

53. Gary Gardner writes about South Lancing Primary school

Dear Ray,

[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

52. Keith Lenham sent this memory

Keith Lenham keithlenham123@btinternet.com

Hear Keith's Story

Introduction

A friend suggested that I look at all the reminiscences posted on your blog.

Early Life

My name is Keith Lenham born in Lancing in 1945, my parents died when I was very young and my brother and I were brought up by an aunt and uncle in Grand Avenue.
I was educated at North Lancing Primary School and then on to Worthing Technical High School. My brother Les being older than me was educated at Worthing High School.

Fond Memories of Lancing

So much has already been written, a significant amount of which is very familiar to me, names, places shops etc with much of my youth spent in the Little Park, Lancing Manor and up on the Downs in the first and second clumps, the chalk pit and also the beach in summer.

Apprenticeship and Career

Upon leaving school I took up an apprenticeship with F G Miles who at that time was located at River Bank works in Shoreham, Much fun was had working on the design of the Bristol Boxkite which Miles made for the film The Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines. Bob Bushby was also an apprentice at that time. I subsequently worked for several other companies based in the UK.

Family and Cricket

My brother Les went on to play cricket for Sussex as a professional, he is now of course retired and living in Eastbourne but I’m sure that he will remember Mike Reynolds and Ron Kerridge. His son Neil also played for Sussex and likewise, he lives in Eastbourne.

Local Character

Horace Duke was mentioned in an article, this character I remember well, in his latter but still active years he was often seen on his Frances Barnet motorcycle around the area.

Just a snippet but hopefully informative


Regards
Keith

51. Mike Reynolds sends this great memory of happy times

A Glimpse into a Lancing Childhood

NEW Experimental AI-generated podcast from Mike's Story

In these times of coronavirus lockdowns, I found myself with time to browse the internet and found your website. I thought I would send you some of my memories of a Lancing childhood


My name is Michael (Mike) Reynolds, and I was born in Lancing in June 1937. My parents, Eric and Dorothy Reynolds,(I think a year or so before I was born), bought a new bungalow at 14 The Drive, South Lancing, and it was here that I lived with my family for the whole of my childhood. The family consisted of Mum and Dad, my Dad’s father, Frank Reynolds (Pop), and my brother Geoff, four years older than me.

The Family Business and Wartime Lancing

Before the war, Dad and Pop had set up in business with a bicycle shop in South Street (number 111 I think),- W.F. and E.F.Reynolds- but when WWII started, Dad was called up into the RAF, and my earliest memories of the shop have Pop in the workshop at the back mending the punctures, and Mum running the shop at the front. The other shops I can recall nearby were the World Stores, a grocery where the front of the counter was lined with glass-topped biscuit boxes, Surfleets Chemist on the corner of Penhill Road, Colbourns Haberdashers, Potter Bailies Grocers, Isteads Hardware shop, and on the other side of South Street was the Co-op, where the money was sent on overhead wires from the counter to the cashier.

School Days and Steam Trains

I walked each day to South Lancing Primary School, just over the Southern Railway line. I suppose I would have started there in 1943, but I can’t remember the names of my teachers. I remember that afternoon school finished at about the same time that the “Steyning Flier”, one of the last steam trains to run through Lancing, would come puffing through. We boys would run quickly up and onto the footbridge over the railway line and wait for the Flier to pass underneath, shrouding us in a cloud of smoke and steam – we also tried to spit down the funnel!

Playtime and Wartime Memories

As others of your correspondents have told, the war years made the beach a no-go zone, but with very little traffic on the roads, The Drive and Chester Avenue were our playgrounds. The horse-drawn cart of Mr Souter, the milkman, Lisher’s coal cart, or the rag and bone man’s cart were about all the traffic there was!


I don’t have any clear memories of the air raid on April 25, 1941, in which two houses in The Drive were bombed, but the bombed sites became makeshift (and not very safe) playgrounds.

Exploring Beyond Childhood

When I got a bit older, I had my own bicycle, and I was able to range further. First, the Cubs, and then the 1st South Lancing Troop of the Boy Scouts kept me out of (most) mischief, and at age 11 in 1948, I started at Worthing High School for Boys in Broadwater.


If any of the above jogs other memories, I can be contacted by email at reymor@bigpond.com

50. Hilary sends an article about Horace Duke

I was so pleased to find your website on “Memories of Lancing”. Indeed it did bring back a lot of memories and I am so glad you set it up.

I wonder if you remember Horace Duke, a flamboyant and eccentric character, who donned Edwardian dress and who used to cycle along the Lower Brighton Road in the 1960s? I found an old newspaper cutting of him, in a collection of photographs belonging to my late aunt. Unfortunately, I do not have an actual date on the newspaper cutting, but there is mention of “Mods and Rockers” in the article, and having looked up the Lancing Rep productions mentioned in the article alongside, I deduce the date to be around June 1967.
I understand from searching on the internet that he sadly died in 1995. But I have discovered no photographs of him online, which is a shame.

I wonder if anyone knows anything about him? The article mentions he lived in Brighton Road, Lancing. He certainly was an enigma!
I wondered if the article about him might be of interest to you for your website.

Our extended family moved to the Sompting/Lancing area between 1958 and 1965, but I now live in Norfolk, although my mother is still in Sompting.

49. Bill Lindfield

A new site that pays tribute to the late Bill Lindfield's life has been created by members of Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders

William Lindfield 23.3.1927 - 28.11.2011

http://www.somptingestate.com/bill-lindfield

48. Bill Lindfield Audio History

Coming soon, more from Bill Lindfield

Bill Lindfield