King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Inspect Troops on the CommonBrenda Hardingham remembers when she was a young girl at Horfield Junior School on the common. One day the children were all taken out into the playground. They saw the troops march out of Horfield Barracks and line up on the Common, then a black car pulled up and out got the King and Queen to inspect the troops. Brenda remembers the Queen turning to wave at the children all lined up at the school fence. Later when she returned home and told her family, her mother wished she had sent her to school in her best coat!
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Girl's Escape from Horfield Lodge |
Attempted Kidnapping! |
Sheila Good, who has lived on Rozel Road for many years, recalls a time when Concorde Lodge used to be a hostel for delinquent girls, called Horfield Lodge. Sometimes these girls absconded and ran away down Hughenden and Rozel Roads - on one occasion the girls didn't have any shoes on, they had made their escape so quickly! Sheila remarked that they didn't know the area, so they must have felt quite lost in the roads bordering the common.
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According to the Horfield Miscellanea, an attempt was made to kidnap one of the Reverend Fanshawe Bingham's children whilst they were playing in the hayfield, in June 1882. The Reverend stated that Horfield was quite isolated in those days, and very few police were around, so that they were 'rather pestered by undesirable applicants for relief, mostly imposters and vagrants, on their way to and from Wales'.
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Playing Outside the BarracksLocal resident Gwen remembers playing with a friend on the Common, opposite Horfield Barracks, during the Second World War. The girls stopped playing one day when they saw soldiers leaving the Barracks and getting onto busses outside. The girls waved the soldiers off, and they waved back and continued to play. It wasn't until many years later that Gwen realised they must have been going off to war.
The Last Hanging at Horfield Prison
Judy Patterson lived on Bishop Road when she was growing up and remembers when the last man
was hung at Horfield Prison in February 1953. Miles William Giffard was executed for murdering his father. Judy
remembers hearing the noise of the prisoners all through the night before the
hanging. Her parents were also involved in the all night protest outside of the prison.
Judy and her brother also used to play ‘Knock Out Ginger’ on the big prison doors. |
The Shrapnel CollectorCliff Trott and Chris Thomson both remember hearing about a boy who would go out and collect shrapnel from local bomb craters, during World War Two. One Saturday night a bomb fell on the common. The next morning the boy went out to the crater to see what he could find - he ended up missing church and spoiling his Sunday Best! His mother must have been furious!
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German Prisoners of WarDuring the Second World War, German POW's were held on the common. One local resident remembers that they had white patches on their clothes to distinguish them, and that they could make wooden guns which actually worked. These guns were given to his father who then gave him the guns to play with his friends.
Another story has come to light from a gentleman who's grandfather was one of the POW's held at Horfield. He says that they were held in tents at the top of the North common, opposite the Barracks. The prisoners were allowed to roam the area freely, suggesting that they were perceived with no danger locally. Indeed, some developed good relationships with the local residents and the soldiers at Horfield. |
Playing with AmmunitionStan Simms remembers playing with his friends in the sandpits outside the army sheds where the sports centre is today. They used to find a way into the buildings, pick up ammunition and take it home with them. Once home they would put the ammo in tubs and hit them with a hammer and nails, firing them off down the street! They also played with ammunition in a barn belonging to one of the farms on the common. He remembers exploding a shot gun shell in the barn - the pellets going straight into the board walls and missing the boys by centimetres!
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'Little Wales' |
Manor Farm Estate |
Lots of Welsh people moved to Horfield to work in the local factories. They became known locally as 'the thrupnes' because they would work for less money. There was a general dislike towards them because it was thought that they were taking all the jobs.
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One local resident remembers moving to the new Manor Farm estate with his family. It was still under construction when he moved there so there were no roads or pavements, just lots of mud. A man living on Bishop Manor Road at this time drove a furniture van. Every morning he would take local school children up to the common in his van so they could continue their journey to their respective schools with clean feet.
Incendiary Bomb in the Church
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As you walk into Horfield Parish Church, if you look at the floor, to the right of the door you will see a small dent in the floor with a plaque next to it. This is the site where an incendiary bomb fell through the roof of the church and could have caused great damage, if it wasn't for the quick action of the Reverend Richard Hambly. The plaque reads:
'By this spot fell a WWII incendiary bomb which was extinguished by the then curate Revd. Richard Hambly thus saving this church building from major damage. Praise be to God.' |
Leaving The Barracks in 1958 |
The Boy Hero |
One local resident remembers tanks on transporters leaving the Barracks by the side gate. He notes that he never saw the main gates of the Barracks open. Later when he was at school, he became friends with the son of a Commanding Officer at the Barracks. This gave him unrestricted access to the site and he remembers the GPO using the drill hall for sorting their parcels at Christmas. Another resident said that he and his friends saw the Barracks as a place of terror, and so they never played nearby.
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The Reverend Fanshawe Bingham recorded the sad tale of Archibald Walters in his Horfield Miscellanea as follows:
'About 1860 two little boys wandered on a cold winter afternoon from Stokes Croft to Horfield. In those days there were but few houses between the two places, and the boys lost their way in the fields, and at night, being unable to go any farther, they laid themselves down to sleep under a hedge. The younger one evidently complained of the cold, so the companion took off all his clothes, except his shirt, and covered the other with them. Early next morning they were found by a labourer on his way to Berry Farm, barely 100 yards away. There they were at once carried, and every effort made to restore them, but the elder boy only regained consciousness sufficiently to utter his companion's name and then died. The younger boy, owing to his companion's unselfish care, had not suffered so much from the cold night, and recovered.' There is a plaque in Horfield Parish Church dedicated to his memory. |