Resident's Memories

See also photographs contributed :by

D Richards Mrs. W Wiltshire E Lydiard C Mann
       

See Also the Stoke Standard for a collection of Memories

 

Caroline Clark  North Road.
The family remember Hill house being bought for somewhere between £150 or £170 in 1915.  [It was sold to Mr. J Dent at the auction for £160 - Ed.]
Just north of Knightwood farm was a pond that used to have ducks.
T Wigmore born 1854 was the tenant of lot 48
The Barn at Field Farm on Rock Lane used to be used as a Chapel before the Baptist chapel was built.
She remembers buying her sweets from the shop at top of Rock lane. [Now called Rock Lane farm it was called Beaufort House when it was the village shop and off license- Ed.] and the cider  press located on Rock Lane opposite the footpath to Barn Owl Close.

On the corner of Rock Lane and North road is a collection of cottages at one time occupied by Mrs. Cullimore, Mrs Ockwell and Mr. O. T. Wigmore. Curiously Mrs Cullimores's kitchen was located across the yard next door to Mrs. Ockwell's cottage, and Mrs Cullimore could often be seen carrying the meals from the kitchen, across the yard to the house.

 

See George Hartnell for his memories of Harry Stoke.

Mary Date April 1966 onwards
I was born at 56 Rock Lane, Stoke Gifford. My parents house backed on to a cow's field. in which was a derelict house (we called it ;the barn;) and played there constantly. The barn has now been demolished and the field built on, this is now Field Farm Close.

What is now Brinn's Close used to be a farm.

At the far end of the village is Ashman's farm and they owned the land that is now Oxbarton. When the Winterbourne road was built, this also went across their land, so in order to get the cows back and forth for milking, an underpass had to be built by the contractors. This underpass has now been cleared of cow dung and is the underpass from Stoke Gifford to Bradley Stoke North.

At the top of Rock Lane was a lane, which went by the side of Pearce's, past Gales Farm, over the railway bridge to Hambrook. The lane is partially there, but has opened up considerably due to development at Bakers Ground.

Each summer St Michael's School (OSR) held the Rose Fair and there was a ‘Rose Queen’. She was chosen by the pupils from the Year 6 girls (bearing in mind each year group consisted of approximately 15-20 children, half of which were girls). There would be a procession through the village with the Rose Queen and her assistants (all the other year 6 girls) on a float at the head.

Sports Day took place in the playing field (by the Trust Hall). In the playing field was a very tall tree called a Poplar tree, after which the Poplar Rooms was named. The tree became unstable, due to its size and was felled. It had always been there in my life time and due to its size I noticed its absence and felt sad.