Childhood pastimes
I was born at No 194 Whitehawk Road in 1937, and left the Whitehawk area when I was 18, which explains why I don’t recognise many names on this page. But I do recall many of the memories shared here. I remember bike rides to Barcombe Mills to get soaked boating, fishing all night off the Banjo groyne, sledging on the Downs in winter and rummaging in the Sheepcoat Valley tip for copper and lead which we sold for pocket money.
Do you share any of these memories? Please let us know by posting a comment below
Remembering the Sunday winkle man
Something not many of you will remember is the winkle man who came round on Sundays with his barrow selling winkles 3d a pint. The bread in those days was delivered along Whitehawk Road by horse and cart. On lucky days my dad would rush out to scoop up horse manure for the vegetable garden. I remember Ron Betteridge who became a policeman, and Brian Matthews, my best friend there for many years after I had left to live in Southwick. As I write other memories come back, of the wartime bombing of St Cuthman’s Church when Beryl Brown’s mum came home covered in blood from other victims, and of the doodle bugs above, droning their way to London. So many years ago, so many memories.
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I remember fishing on the Banjo Groyne, Barcombe Mill boats, the Corona man, the bread man, had too bring dog biscuits or the dog would eat his legs!! Anyone remember Les the local council/totter? Give us a dance Les and he’d skip along, wellies three times too big for him, almost leaving them behind. My mum played bingo in the hall, i would sit legs too short to reach the floor with a Pepsi paper straw in those days! Mum says “don’t drink out the bottle you, don’t know where it’s been”. because? I know the church was bombed, some bullet holes still remained, as with many buildings in the Broadway by Black Rock.
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