Longford (inc. The Red Hills)

Ah! The tuppeny rush. Hop Along Cassidy, Roy Rogers (was he the singing cowboy?), The Lone Ranger. Wonder if he ever worked out what Tonto meant when he replied "Kimo Sabi" **. Always a good mix of the Three Stooges, Old Mother Riley, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, and many others. Sometimes we would go to The Prince of Wales on Stoney Stanton Rd for a change. They didn't give you a ticket but something that resembled a metal playing card that was handed back in 30 seconds later. Sometimes we would go in the evening. One evening the usual air raid warning was flashed on the screen telling people they could leave if they wished, few bothered. When we left after the show, the house opposite had been hit and was burning nicely. I think that large house is now a temple of some sort. Back to the Rivoli. Don't get out that way much these days but last time I went by it appeared to be semi derelict. Norman ** Ke-mo sah-bee

To all of the people in Longford of my generation and older it was Oaks Yard it was changed in I believe the 70s to Oaks Place. In fact a a great Aunt of my kept the shop going into Oaks Yard, and friends of my the Fields family lived in one of the Terraced house down there. I myself was born in The Croft. And Morgana going to Bedworth via the Red Hills there was one one Red Hill it was and all the surrounding area a playground for us kids from the Croft.

So you might know John Cambell he was born in the croft.

Yes, I know John Campbell, also his two brothers, but he was not born in TheCroft. I live by my great aunt and the Rogers live between us.

Morning Morgana. My, the sea is very angry this morning, lashing down of rain, very windy. Welcome to sunny Brighton. Foxford school 1935 - the bike shed is across the other side of the playground, its back to the pub garden wall, it's crammed full of made up bikes, odd bits and pieces. For we kids have little money, no one owns a new bike, but my elder brother is fed up trying to find his bike, so he paints it pillar box red. Head teacher hauls him into study, not allowed, against rules, too unsightly, lets the school down, take it home. Foxford had no rest room, or place you could sit down to eat lunchtime sandwiches in winter - we sat in the cloakroom on two six-inch diameter pipes. As war drew near, we had three teachers go into the forces, no replacements, so the music teacher took over sports as well, bit of a mish-mash all round. They built a new gym and extensions with a lot of glass - about three years later comes the war. Bang! glass all gone. Did the same with Tusses Bridge, nice new bridge with iron railings, two years later, saw down railings for scrap iron.

You should come back to sunny Coventry, lovely here this morning. We had some ornamental iron flower boxes that were taken to make a couple of bullets but the guys with the cutting torch was delighted when he found the back railing so that went as well. About bikes. I never had a proper bike but like you did manage to cobble a bike together from bits off Wyken tip and any other bits I could beg or borrow. One inner tube got beyond repair so I stuffed the tyre with hay and that did the job quite nicely. Did you get involved with cycle speedway? I was a failure with the Hall Green Hawks. We had a track top end of Black Horse Road, no idea who owned the land but we never got kicked off. Norman

I moved out of Brighton twelve years ago, six mile east. Yes, I'm sitting in my lounge, 100 yards back from the cliff top, watching the sea with all its emotions. No, Norman not cycle, I had a trial at the Bees, absolutely hopeless, once again no photographs but I do have the insurance certificate dated Jan 1950. Now I have been trying to find out about the bomb at the Sutton Stop, but I'm pretty hopeless with this machine, but it as given me enormous pleasure and interest at this time in my life. I would have thought someone would have asked me the whereabouts of the 'well' we used for drinking water, just as a point of interest. Oh well! Now I do have something more I found, interesting and exciting at the time, 39/40 but I'm going over to the canal thread to tell that.

Walrus Hey, Why weren't you my best friend at school, here am I struggling with the past and you pop up and complicate my thoughts. lol. After all, one cannot look back down the corridor of one's life, and not have some doubts about the journey one. as made. The doors which one opened are now all closed. The doors one did not dare to open remain shut When I was at Foxford school I had a lot of friends in Longford and new it well, all those little terraced houses and streets but often wondered at the large vicarage, that stood back from the road, and it's large garden, often wondered did he have a higher say in the pecking order, or did he know the governor better, not to worry ask the governor myself shortly.

Hello Dreamtime. Yes, quieter than Brighton, suits me better, away from the hustle and bustle, nothing here in entertainment, just nice quiet walks along the cliff-top. At my age I think, who steers the path we lead, and why? Watching the slough die, the canal drain away, aeroplane under bridge, and loads more one off in a lifetime of things. Another incident that happened to me. A friend was killed accidentally, so I'm standing watching the burial, six men are lowering the coffin into the grave when the lead man steps back and disappears into the freshly dug grave behind him. The coffin tips up, nosedives in to the grave then falls back into the grave with a loud thud. In that split second how do you react? Hope your not offended by my story, but these things kept happening to me.

I'm in trouble trying to find the photo's. I've found them a couple of times but lost them again. No.7 was Coronation Rowand was built before 1900, my parents moved into one of them when they were newlyweds but for how long I have no idea, to the right and side there was allotment/garden as the photographer thought, then the cottage no.5 photo, then I lost the photos, and don't have the knowledge to get them back.

Morgana, your photos were great and shows me so much alteration since my day, if anyone is interested in those old cottages during 1920-40s the cottage 408 AG Rd in front as well as the side was all dug garden, the road side railings were as now, not one blade of grass. There was a path on the right hand side that led to a second house behind the one you see, not the building you see on the left, the two lads from the cottage went to the same schools as me from when they were five till fourteen. On the right back on the roadside was a further row of houses, one being the post-office. Back to Coronation Row, the haulage firm was not there then, the people that owned it when it appeared also went to school with me, but I have no idea when they moved there.

Simple way to find pictures Start Windows Explorer: In Windows 7 it looks like this. Notice that Libraries is highlighted. Move highlight to drive C: by moving cursor down and clicking mouse button. Then up at top right is a search box. I've highlighted it. Now type *.jpg (don't miss the dot/full stop between the asterisk and 'j') All the images on your hard drive will be listed as shown in the right hand box. Hope that helps.

Pixrobin, thank you, but as you get older, you feel like your brain's like a bucket, full of the old stuff won't let the new stuff in lol.