Aylesbury, England

[Sundae]

Can't help you there chick. They're all Geordies to us soft Southerners

Okat - a couple for Mem.
Photos of photos; sorry, don't have access to a scanner these days.
Thanks to my Mum who trawled through all of her Old Aylesbury books to find them.

Pic 1 - Caption: St John's Church, Cambridge Street, opened in 1883 as a daughter church of St Mary's and demolished in 1970. The site was bought by the Post Office for an extension of the telephone exchange and its car-park.
Pic 2 - Caption: Pictured in 1947 is the Cambridge Street junction with New Street. The pub on the corner is the Oddfellows Arms.

[memories]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

Can't help you there chick. They're all Geordies to us soft Southerners

Okat - a couple for Mem.
Photos of photos; sorry, don't have access to a scanner these days.
Thanks to my Mum who trawled through all of her Old Aylesbury books to find them.

Pic 1 - Caption: St John's Church, Cambridge Street, opened in 1883 as a daughter church of St Mary's and demolished in 1970. The site was bought by the Post Office for an extension of the telephone exchange and its car-park.
Pic 2 - Caption: Pictured in 1947 is the Cambridge Street junction with New Street. The pub on the corner is the Odllows Arms.

cant wait to show mum these great old phototos sundae girl , especially the church next to the oddfellows .
i always remember that church towering over the yard wall when i used to play in the yard.

[Sundae]

And one more.
Caption - St John's Church of England School celebrated its 100th anniversary in July 1956 by dressing in the style of clothes which would have been worn when the school first opened and having a procession around the town.

This picure is taken outside the telephone exhange (see the lawn outside) along New Street and the pub in view is the Nags Head. At the end of this street and to the left is the Oddfellows Arms, although the angle of the photo does not show it. What it does show, however, is the church.

Mum & Dad don't remember the church or the school (being Catholic and living on the other side of town at the time) but Mum worked as a cleaner in Tindal Hospital after I was born, and many of her fellow cleaners were Italian, because of the Italian POW camp set up nearby during the war (the men stayed, and sent for their female relatives). She remembers a cleaner called Louisa and both her children went to the school. She was older then Mum, and although staunchly Catholic, the convent I went to was still a private school, and the Catholic school my niece and nephew went to were too far away in a time when poor people couldn't afford cars.

I've reached the end og my Oddfellows observations. Hope you enjoyed them. Stay around for the other topics. This is the best forum on the internet in case you didn't know.

[memories]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

And one more.
Caption - St John's Church of England School celebrated its 100th anniversary in July 1956 by dressing in the style of clothes which would have been worn when the school first opened and having a procession around the town.

This picure is taken outside the telephone exhange (see the lawn outside) along New Street and the pub in view is the Nags Head. At the end of this street and to the left is the Oddfellows Arms, although the angle of the photo does not show it. What it does show, however, is the church.

Mum & Dad don't remember the church or the school (being Catholic and living on the other side of town at the time) but Mum worked as a cleaner in Tindal Hospital after I was born, and many of her fellow cleaners were Italian, because of the Italian POW camp set up nearby during the war (the men stayed, and sent for their female relatives). She remembers a cleaner called Louisa and both her children went to the school. She was older then Mum, and although staunchly Catholic, the convent I went to was still a private school, and the Catholic school my niece and nephew went to were too far away in a time when poor people couldn't afford cars.

I've reached the end og my Oddfellows observations. Hope you enjoyed them. Stay around for the other topics. This is the best forum on the internet in case you didn't know.

thanks for more oddfellows pics and its history sundae girl. i remember tindal hostpital very well. i had my tonsils out ages abour 3 and screamed the place down .... didnt want my mum to go , remember it like yestyerday. strange how some things stay so vivid in your mind from 40 years ago .

[Sundae]

The sky was blue today - not a given in England - so I went out and played with my camera. All pictures are from the Alfred Rose Park on the Elmhurst Estate in Aylesbury. It's what we call a Council estate, what you might call The Projects. Many homes are now owner occupied (like my parents') but the centre of the estate is still a a poor neighbourhood. Not the poorest in town though, and certainly not dangerous.

Alfred Rose left this piece of land for the benefit of the estate. There isn't an awful lot that can be done with it. But it holds happy memories for me. And it's a good place to go just to hear birdsong - you can't hear any of the main roads from here.

There used to be trees in a strip all the way across the park. And bushes and undergrowth. We used to run wild there, only steps from the real world on either side. Sadly, in later years, so did drug addicts and possibly paedos, or at least the fear of them. Still, the remaining trees at least show some of the climability that we rejoiced in.

[Trilby]

Oooooooooooo! I love that tree! It just needs a big full moon caught up in its branches!!

[Sundae]

More climbing trees.
And I probably did.

And spring is coming.

[Sundae]

Now here I am playing with my panoramic setting.
Bear with me, it's new to me, and exciting.

Pic 1
Looking up the hill to the top of the park. See what I mean about not much can be done with it? It used to have a pitch 'n' putt 9 hole golf course, on which my (late) Uncle Charlie would thrash my Dad twice a year when he came up down London. No more, no more. I have always craved one of the houses at the top of the park though.

Pic 2
The bottom of the park from the bench I was sitting on. It looks washed out because of the direction of the sun. It's the more useful end of the park, with football pitches, a cricket ground and to the left the community centre where I went to playschool (kindergarten).

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

Now here I am playing with my panoramic setting.
Bear with me, it's new to me, and exciting.

Pic 1
Looking up the hill to the top of the park. See what I mean about not much can be done with it? It used to have a pitch 'n' putt 9 hole golf course, on which my (late) Uncle Charlie would thrash my Dad twice a year when he came up down London. No more, no more. I have always craved one of the houses at the top of the park though.

Pic 2
The bottom of the park from the bench I was sitting on. It looks washed out because of the direction of the sun. It's the more useful end of the park, with football pitches, a cricket ground and to the left the community centre where I went to playschool (kindergarten).

Looks like a great place for a rugby pitch.

[Sundae]

Not in the park. Shots from a council estate.
Everyone who lived here originally - and almost everyone up until the '80s - lived in Government sponsored housing. These estates were built to house low income workers. Included in such estates were a doctors' surgery, a pharmacy, a pub, a school and a row of shops, including a launderette. A sports' ground and/ or a park was also a given. Wide open spaces - greens - were part of the plan, even if they all ended up with signs saying "No Ball Games".

The first shot is on Hilton Avenue. It might not look like it, but it's really steep! My sister, our next door neighbour and I used to ride down it endlessly in the summer holidays. I started the dare of putting my feet on the handlebars... Idiocy of course, but until I went to Alton Towers it was the biggest thrill I could fathom.

The second pic is Elmhurst Road, which we live off. We're tucked away down a path, but at night I can hear the lorries shake the house. It's part of the ringroad round the town (the A41). We learned traffic skills very early.

[DanaC]

Welcome to the Cellar Mike! Nice to see a fellow Brit

[Sundae]

Well now there's a coincidence... I've been doing a lot of walking over the last week, and one of the walks I did took me through Broughton Crossing, home of the old Prince of Wales pub. It's now The Dog House as you can see. Shame - it's an ungainly name for such a lovely looking place.

We (very occasionally) used to go for a drink there when I was a child. It was more of an excuse for a walk to tire us out (it's about a five mile round trip from my house). Because it had/ has a large garden, it was a lovely place on a summer's evening.

Sadly the walk was not as pleasant as I remember it. The road is so much busier than I remember, even from 10 years ago. The country lanes are rarely quiet any more, and as there are no pavements (sidewalks) for half the route and the speed limit is 60, I spend a lot of time jumping onto the muddy verge.

Still, there are some lovely cottages that way and I did my best to capture them for y'all.

First, for Mike - The Dog House from the side and front.

[Sundae]

Picture 1: Broughton Crossing is just a wide place in the road.
There are about 8 cottages and a pub, but they're cute little things.
Sadly, the 21th century need to drive - especially in the country - does make them a little less picturesque!

Picture 2: Further along the same road, now into the village of Bierton, a more substantial place. It's mostly along a main road, which stops people thinking of it as a village proper, and many drivers speed through in the belief they are still in Aylesbury and there is nothing to see. I prefer to stop and smell the gardens from time to time!

[Sundae]

Picture 1: Literally opposite the picture above is a park. My sister, my next door neighbour and I used to cycle up here sometimes. It was much better than the Alfreed Rose because it had a proper playground. Also, because it was out of the way it was always empty, and had the sort of exciting things that were banned elsewhere. Barrel rolls, a very high slide, polished to a terrifying gloss over the years, and a rocking horse.

Only the horse remains, the rest has been tamed and replaced. But the horse... if you get on the back when some big boys are on it, you will be clinging on for dear life. You WILL leave your seat at the peak of the swing. Well, you did when you were a skinny little girl, can't say for sure now.

Picture 2: The Eagle pub. No, not a casualty of the smoking ban - this has been a house for as long as I can remember. It's funny to think just how many pubs this part of the world used to need though...

[Sundae]

Picture 1: Another conversion, this one in my lifetime. The back of the Wesleyan chapel, including graveyard.

Picture 2: The front. It's now offices.