I knew that one day I would find someone who could give an explanation as to why the river Ver near New Barnes Mill is also called the Tar. Denis asked this question when he was a child and the… More about ‘Tar River and Flint Cottages – Denis Mardel’»
Category: 1930s
Walking to Park Street via Sopwell – Denis Mardel
Denis lives in Abbots Avenue West. He describes what the area looked like years ago before the shops were built. He also describes visiting his married sister in Park Street c.1936 and the route he took to get there from… More about ‘Walking to Park Street via Sopwell – Denis Mardel’»
Playing in the river Ver – Denis Mardel
Denis was born in 1932. He lived in the town and didn’t move to Sopwell until 1960 but he knew the area well and he and his mates used to play here often. Denis describes how they used to go… More about ‘Playing in the river Ver – Denis Mardel’»
The building of Doggetts and Wilshere
In 1931-2, subsidised by the government, the Workman’s Housing Association built 134 houses where there was once a footpath leading up the hill from Eywood Road. The estate was called the Eywood estate which later became part of St Julian’s… More about ‘The building of Doggetts and Wilshere’»
Fire at Sopwell Nunnery Farm
As reported at length in Sopwell: a history and collection of memories (Appendix 1), a fire was started deliberately in a corrugated iron shed stacked with waste paper in the area near the ruins called Sopwell Nunnery farm. This was… More about ‘Fire at Sopwell Nunnery Farm’»
Mercer Chronometers
Mercers was a family run marine chronometer manufacturing business. The firm started in 1858 in Clerkenwell London by the founder, Thomas Mercer. Thomas was born in St Helen’s Lancashire in 1822. St Helen’s was said to be the centre of… More about ‘Mercer Chronometers’»
Ladies Fashion shop at the Peahen – Jennifer Taylor
Jennifer’s parents came to St Albans in 1932/33 and opened a ladies fashion shop called ‘Adaire’ in the front of the Peahen hotel where they worked until her father retired. Interview date: 13 March 2014. Interviewer: Sandy Norman… More about ‘Ladies Fashion shop at the Peahen – Jennifer Taylor’»
North Western Hotel – Grant Peerless
Grant Peerless spent the first eleven years of his life living in the North Western Hotel in Holywell Hill. His grandfather took over the licence of the pub in 1924 and the family worked there until 1959. Grant shares his memories of what… More about ‘North Western Hotel – Grant Peerless’»
Living in Leyland Avenue – Melba Buckingham
Melba has lived in Sopwell for over sixty years. She maintains that she is the oldest person in her street. When Melba first came to Leyland Avenue, it was more of a community and she knew everyone in the street… More about ‘Living in Leyland Avenue – Melba Buckingham’»
Cottonmill Lane – Bet Cutler
Bet Cutler was born in Cottonmill Crescent in 1923. She has many memories as a child of the Cottonmill Lane area including what it was like at the swimming baths, the two houses which were pulled down to build Old… More about ‘Cottonmill Lane – Bet Cutler’»
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