Growing up in the 1940s

The street where we lived, Bennett Road, had a bomb dropped on it in 1944. Five houses opposite ours at number 14 were demolished and people were killed. The houses were rebuilt in the 1950s.

Crumpets and a parrot
My grandparents lived at the end of Bennett Road at No.1 Bristol Street. Their names were Mr and Mrs Richard Mason (they were my mother’s parents). Next door to them was the crumpet factory which made crumpets for sale in the winter months and coconut ice in the summer. As my Nan was well in with them, she was always well supplied with crumpets and coconut ice. The local men called the factory the ‘crumpet crumpet factory’ on account of all the young women working there.

There were very few motor cars in Bennett Road. The first I recall belonged to a Mr and Mrs Boston who won the first prize on the football pools of £75,000. I doubt you could buy a house there nowadays for that sum of money!

There were two corner shops. No 1 Bennett Road was a small grocer’s shop owned by a Mrs Smith, who kept a huge red parrot. She sold the shop to a Mr and Mrs Bridges, who maintained the grocery side. Mr Bridges worked locally as an electrician. At No 2 was a shop that never seemed to get it right. It was a fish and chip shop, a hairdressers, a bicycle shop and much else.

My father worked at the Hotel Metropole for a short time after he was demobbed. He was their printer and printed up all the embossed menus and other cards. He then joined the Prison Service and was at Pentonville and then at Lewes Prison.

School days
My brother Anthony and I both went to St Mark’s School. At that time the headmaster was a Mr Pinchin. I remember few of the boys at the school other than Billy Ingham, with whom I was always fighting and getting into trouble. We were friends nevertheless. There was one Jewish boy at the school who was subject of much ribbing. I remember that the grown-ups were very derogatory about the Jews who lived in Marine Gate as they supposedly stashed food in the war when everyone else was severely rationed. I see now how the seeds of racism can so easily be sown into young minds.

Armoured vehicle park
There was an armoured vehicle park on a piece of waste ground in Roedean Road, just behind Rifle Butt Road. Old tanks and personnel carriers were stashed there, providing much enjoyment for the local kids, who got smothered in black oil clambering about in the army’s old vehicles. When the tank park was cleared, they built the fire station there.

Comments about this page

  • My father built and owned the crumpet factory referred to. The company was called ‘Sussex Crumpets’. I have 16mm film of the factory and the works inside.

    By Lauren Costin (20/06/2006)
  • I am only 24 and reading about the street I grew up in, sheds new light on its layout. I always thought it was funny that there were three roads ajcent to one another – Bennett Road, Bristol Street & Princes Terrace. It would explain its village like size back in the 1940’s. It was nice to read about it as I didn’t know the street’s heritage.

    By Justin Brilly (21/06/2006)
  • My grandparents were Mr and Mrs Boston – they lived in Bennett Road and won the jackpot on the football pools.  I have fond memories of riding in their car.  Today you would be hard pressed to find a parking space and, you are right, today the houses are selling for around £250,000 in that area.

    By Laurence Gumbrill (12/11/2006)
  • I remember Mr and Mrs Boston at number 27. They had a German Shepherd in the late 40s and in the 50s they had a German Shepherd and a Border Collie. I remember the car that they bought after wiinning the pools, it was a Rover 75 I believe. Mr. Boston had an artificial leg as my father did. My father could have bought the house that he rented (number 35) for £400 in 1945, but nobody had any money then. As Laurence has said they are worth a mint now.

    By Mick Peirson (08/12/2006)
  • My aunty, Mrs M Norris lived at 37 Bennet Road from the early 1940s untill 2004. She was bombed out twice in the 2nd World War. She told me that she was not there at the time when it happened. This is very strange; she went to stay with her sister and they were bombed out as well. She said the bombs were following her.

    By Julie (15/12/2006)
  • Hi Julie, I lived at number 35, next door to your auntie from about 1945 till 1965.

    By Mick Peirson (17/12/2006)
  • Hi Mick, it is very nice that you remember my aunty. Sadly she died in 2004 at the age of 89. Do you remember her and her son Robert?

    By Julie (17/12/2006)
  • Hi Julie. I remember Marge as we called her and her husband Ernie and son Rob, and their cat Timmy? If I remember rightly, Ernie died at the relatively young age of 60. He worked at the Co-op by The Level as a driver. Does Rob still live in Bennett Road or has he moved? The last time that I was there was at my mum’s funeral in 1985. It is sad to see Brighton as it is now, but that has always been the same. Your old memories always conflict with the new way things are done now. In years to come the people of Brighton will have their memories and will be saying the same as me, “not the same when I was a kid”.

    By Mick Peirson (26/12/2006)
  • Further to earlier comments, my grandfather Herbert Smith also owned a crumpet factory known as Sussex Crumpets Ltd in 1949 at 74 Bennets Road, Brighton. I would be very interested in any information that anyone has about this. I also have 16mm of the factory.

    By Geoff Smith (19/01/2007)
  • I used to live at 23 Bristol Street with my two brothers, Mick & Keith.  I remember the crumpet factory and the bombing of Bennet Road – we lost all the doors and windows that night.  We attended St Marks School until it was damaged by bombs that hit the gas works behind the school.  We lost a school teacher and a copper that day.  Luckily most of the kids were at home having lunch.  I also had an auntie who lived in Ruby Road, lovely bakers shop at the end of the road. Black Rock swimming pool was one my favourite places even if the water was always cold.  Every Boxing Day my parents and us kids used to walk along the Undercliff to Rottingdean and have a lemonade and a bag of crisps and then catch the bus back home. Oh, for those good old days…!

    By David Taylor (03/04/2007)
  • Just to add to David Taylor’s comments – I think he means Rugby Place which was the next street down from where I lived in Bennett Road. The bakers was owned by Mr. White who baked lovely bread cakes and rolls. Sometimes one of us kids had to go to the bakery before going to school to get a loaf of bread which was still hot and tasted just right with some butter. We could also get stale cakes for a penny each. The site where the houses were bombed in Bennett Road before I was born was one of my playgrounds as a kid. As David said, good old days, so uncomplicated compared to today. The kids of today will never experience the freedom that we had.

    By Mick Peirson (23/04/2007)
  • I have just been catching up on the Bennet Road memories since I wrote the first bit just over a year ago. I remember you Mick and your younger brother and sister but I am not sure of their names. I think we called one of them Pippy. My eldest daughter now lives in Peacehaven with my granddaughter so the families tend to gravitate back to my origins. We live on Anglesey now which climate wise is completely different to Brighton.When we were down last Christmas I drove along Bennet Road and Princes Street and saw the cars nose to tail and double parked. Incredible really when we think back to when Mrs Boston’s car was virtually the only car in the road. Taffic there was awful and we were glad to get home where three cars in a row is considered a traffic jam. The memories will never leave though and I feel we were very lucky to have enjoyed our informative years in such a smashing little part of Brighton. Keep the memories coming.

    By Phil Mansfield (18/05/2007)
  • Hello Phil, Well here we are all these years later both with grandkids and getting on in years. Hasn’t time absolutely flown so fast. I look back with fondness on the years in Bennett Road. I can remember faces as clear as a bell from that time, but last year is almost a blur. I remember your mum and dad and I also remember your gran and grandad in the first house in Bristol Street. If I remember rightly your gran would sit outside on the path in a chair just watching the world go by on a sunny day. My brother’s name was Anthony (as was your brother’s), and you are right, my sister’s nickname was Pippy. I wonder if your dad and my Uncle Arty ever met, as they served at the same places in their jobs?  I know what you mean by traffic congestion in Bennett Road. I took some of my grandkids there for a visit one Sunday morning. There was not room for a moped to be parked. I showed the kids where we played and they found it hard to believe that there was only one car in the road, the Rover that belonged to the Boston’s. Have you ever met anyone from the road on your travels?  I don’t have much in common with Brighton now, it belongs to a different generation, which is quite natural. But when we lived there after the war there seemed to be a freedom that is missing today. It took about a quarter of an hour over the hill and you were in Ovingdean, different altogether. Did you ever see that old hollow oak tree that was opposite the farm in Ovingdean?  I went back there in 1994 and it was still standing, just about. I get a bit too nostalgic for those days, I know today is for today’s people, but there was a magic that is missing today.

    By Mick Peirson (26/05/2007)
  • Well Mick, you certainly have jogged my memory with Ovingdean. We often walked over the golf course to Ovingdean with the dog, past the church and down by St Dunstan’s and back along the undercliff walk to Black Rock. Sundays was always a walk in the morning along the sea shore and into the Bush Hotel for a couple of pints of Watneys Special and home for lunch. I do not think the pub is still called the Bush anymore. It was our preferred drinking hole as opposed to the Clyde which was always a bit dreary. Can you remember the cutting from Bristol Gardens to Edward Street? We found a loaded pistol there once and my Dad handed it into the local copper Mr Ickringill. He was a huge man and would clump you if he caught you up to no good. Coppers cannot do that anymore, sorry to say. Another thing I remember was a paper salvage factory by Wilsons Laundry opposite St Marks School. It went up in flames one day when we were in class much to the delight of us children. Once the memory swings into action there is no stopping and when you mentioned Mr White the Baker I can smell the hot steam coming out of the shop on a cold morning and the penny stales. What about the grocers at the bottom of Bristol Gardens where they had huge flitches of bacon and boxes of broken biscuits and the smell of the place was brilliant? As you say it is the fabric of a good childhood. Keeping writing.

    By Phil Mansfield (07/06/2007)
  • Its lovely to see so many fond memories of Bennett Road, Bristol Street and Princes Terrace. The area still has a strong community feel evidenced with the gardening club covering these areas where residents get together over a glass of wine to fund-raise for hanging baskets and local area improvements. We’d love to see some of the footage of the crumpet factory and would be interested in having it copied to disc to play at one of our social events.

    By Rob - Secretary Kemp Town Gardening club (19/11/2007)
  • Hi Julie, Robert Norris used to be my playmate when I was 3.  We played mud pies in my back garden.  I have a picture of us in 1952. Is he still alive?  And, if so, please pass on my best regards.

    By Linda George (in Australia) (31/01/2008)
  • Hi Phil, remember us? My brother Paul and I lived at the corner shop ‘that never got it right’ until 1952, when we moved to Princes Terrace. I have vivid memories of us flooding our bathroom and you standing at the bottom of the stairs underneath with water pouring through the ceiling. We weren’t popular when my Dad got home. We also used to colour water with the yellow from our paintbox and try to sell it to passers by as lemonade but we never got a bean – wonder why. I remember collecting newspapers and flogging them to the salvage company in Arundel Road for 1d. Happy days. I think my strongest memories of you are that you were always the one in the middle of any trouble at St. Marks! Wasn’t ‘Percy’ Pinchin an old misery – and Miss Kellerway (think that’s how it’s spelt) was like the old witch in the Wizard of Oz! Best Regards.

    By Carole Henty (nee Thayre) (17/01/2009)
  • My name is Raymond Bruce, my parents Gladys and (always on his bicycle)”Fred” lived at 61 Bennett Road. Friends were David Collison, parents Harold and Irene Collison at No.54, Robert Norris and Susan Cobett, always playing monopoly and The Shadows records with them. Other names I can remember: Charman, Pigeon, Kitcher, Coleman, Dale, Perry, Martell, Jones, Bridges. My next door neighbours were Mrs Howlett and Marie Carter. I went to St Mark’s School,my nick name was dobbin, as my ears stuck out. I was aware of the Weaver Brothers that terrorised the Whitehawk estate. I used to live in fear of “Totty” Peirson, two brothers that lived near Robert. To get to school, either I would walk through “The Twitten” into Manor Hill or round Princes Terrace and down to Arundel Road. Happy days.

    By raymond bruce (25/01/2009)
  • Carole. I remember you and your brother very well indeed. Strange that the incidents that occurred in our childhood seem to stick in the memory. My wife says I am still a ten year old trapped in a 65 year old body which I don’t mind at all as my childhood was wonderful.  Can you recall the Goddings who lived across the road from you?  As for St Mark’s School, which is now the Belfry Industrial Estate, my memories are very vivid and as you say I seemed to attract trouble without any effort. Raymond’s comments also trigger the brain cells and his mentioning some of the Bennett Road resident’s names opens up the recall doorway. Brilliant and thanks very much.  I shall mull over all your comments for weeks now.  Great.

    By Phil Mansfield (15/02/2009)
  • Hi Phil, lovely to hear from you. Yes I do remember the Goddings, Roger and his older sister Margaret. Also near him there was Rodney Yarrow, but there wasn’t much young blood in Princes Terrace, so it was all a bit quiet compared to Bennet Road. A lot of the names Raymond mentioned were familiar, but a lot I’d never heard of. My Mum was quite friendly with Mrs Bridges which was great because she used to pass on her son Michael’s Enid Blyton books to us. Looking back on it all, that part of Kemptown was like a village in itself. There were shops on our doorstep for everything we needed, along with the very necessary cafes and coffee bar. We were really surrounded with everything, town, seaside and countryside. What more can you want. Take care and happy reminiscing.

    By Carole henty(nee thayre) (20/02/2009)
  • Hey Phil, I meant to mention yesterday, did you know that our photo is on Friends Reunited under St. Mark’s Primary School, Arundel Road. I’m sure that you are 2nd left front row, and I’m 4th left in the row behind – what a motley crew we all look. From the look on your face, you’ve got “little sod” written all over it. Speak soon.

    By Carole Henty (nee thayre) (21/02/2009)
  • Thank you Carole, I registered with Friends Reunited and looked at the school photo and I must agree with you that the little fellow looks like troible .I have found a school photo from 1953 when, of course, we were older and naughtier so I am getting the brains of the family – the missus – to put it up on FR so you can have a look and fill in some names for me. I will also put a profile on that site.Keep ’em coming.

    By Phil Mansfield (25/02/2009)
  • Hello Linda: Robert Norris is very much alive but sadly his mum Marge is not. She was my mum’s sister and she passed away at the Brighton General in June 2003. We still see Rob now and again and i will be sure to pass on your regards to him.

    By Andy (29/03/2009)
  • Just found out about the site. Wonderful memories and a lot of names I recognise –  I lived at 39, Bennett Road – my parent were Dennis and Hilda Cobbett. I remember Linda, Raymond, David Mick and Robert very well.Mick’s sister Pip used to be a good friend and I can remember his dad making jewellery. Can also remember Raymond’s Dad and ‘the bike’. Does anyone remember Mrs Austin and Angela and Tony. I now live in Worthing and have 4 grandchildren. Regards to you all, Sue

    By Susan Hobbs (27/08/2009)
  • Hi Sue. Have looked for you on FR, Facebook & Skype with no luck – just pure coinicidence that I looked at Bennett Road on this site. We went to Whitehawk Senior Girls’ together but lost touch when you married Bob and I married Derek. Hope we can catch up with all your news. Moved here to Spain 2 years ago after Derek retired and thoroughly enjoying the sun and relaxed way of life.

    By Barbara Etherton (23/02/2010)
  • If I remember rightly, there was a shop on the corner in the 50’s that sold bikes. I remember buying a Raleigh “Robin Hood’ three gear which I used to go to work from Nuthurst Road to the Grand Hotel where I was a pageboy complete with pillbox hat and brass button tunic. We lived at 37 Whitehawk Crescent (down the twitten). Who remembers the bollard there? We used to leapfrog over it. Once I did it on the way to school and had a hole in the crutch of my trousers which got caught and I I went to school with them looking like a skirt (no underpants in those days) and one of the admin ladies sewed them up for me, boy did I get shellacking from my schoolfriends and when I got home. I was only in the infants then.

    By David (Chris) Christie (07/03/2010)
  • Hello Barbara, lovely to hear from you after all this time. Remember those days very well. Glad to hear you are enjoying Spain and retirement. My email is suehobbs1@hotmail.co.uk if you want to catch up . Best wishes Sue

    By Sue Hobbs (Cobbett) (14/04/2010)
  • I am still researching my ancestor’s iron foundry called Black Rock that was in use in Rifle Butt Road in Brighton. I have had some luck in corresponding with Phil Easen, whose father worked there and very kindly gave me some details. William Saunders who owned and moved the foundry from Maidenhead, married Ellen Burridge in Datchet, Buckinghamshire. If anyone recognises any of the above names, please do contact me. Thank you.

    By Alison (26/07/2010)
  • I can’t tell you what a surprise I had when I found this page – I lived at 67 Bennett Road and remember Raymond, and his mum and Linda George and her brother Colin and the Pierson family and Robert Norris and Susan Cobbett. I also went to St. Marks School and remember Mr. Pinchen. The crumpet factory was just across the road and I still remember the aroma that came from it.

    By Louise Nash nee Berwick (29/10/2010)
  • Hi Louise. I remember you well and your Mum and Dad – they were quite friendly with my Mum and Dad. Your parents were lovely people. Do you still live in Brighton? It is really nice to hear everyone remembering fondly those days in Bennett Road. That crumpet factory seems to have left us all with a lot of memories!

    By Sue Hobbs (nee Cobbett) (03/11/2010)
  • Hi Sue – yes I remember your mum and dad too – I loved living in Bennett Road with Mrs Bridges’ shop on the corner – do you remember the penny box and twopenny box of sweets and saving every week for fireworks? By the way I now live in Wiltshire.

    By Louise Nash (12/11/2010)
  • Hello Louise – Yes I remember Mrs Bridges’ shop very well and saving for the fireworks. Do you remember the wool shop which was just round the corner? I used to spend hours in there. Which part of Wiltshire do you live in? We lived in Wiltshire for six years – near Amesbury. Loved it down there

    By Sue Hobbs (Cobbett) (14/02/2011)
  • It is a while since I have looked at the site and see that there are a few more names added. Sue Hobbs (Cobbett), Carol Henty (nee Thayre) who lived at the end of the road, and Louise from the other end of Bennett Road near Raymond Bruce. Really good memories. On looking back it seems that it was a very distant planet compared to today. I remember you all with fondness despite our childhood “falling outs”. It was a very happy time and we were so lucky living near the downs and the sea, what more could you ask for. Best wishes to you all. Mike Peirson (late of number 35)

    By Mick Peirson (09/04/2011)
  • Hi Mick. How are Tony and Pip? Remember your Mum and Dad very well and helping out with the jewellery for the market stall – still have a necklace and bracelet your dad gave to me. Best wishes Sue (nee Cobbett).

    By Sue Hobbs (19/04/2011)
  • Hello David Taylor! Only just seen your message posted in 2007. I’m certain that you are the elder brother of my school friend Keith Taylor. We were in the same Form 4A at Whitehawk Secondary with George Harber as master. We left in 1952 at the age of 15, and very soon after we lost touch, especially with National Service getting in the way (I think Keith was selected for the Army). Wondering if Keith is still around and whether we could make contact again. He might be interested to know that the following names from those days are now in regular contact: Alan Dart, John Kelly, Brian Pate, Allan Avery, Brian Pearce, Ray Brown and Brian Hatley. Two well known others, who have since sadly died were Ken Powell (the footballer) and Gerald Page. Also on this site there is a message from David (Chris) Christie. I’m sure he was also in the same class at Whitehawk. In the School Mag from 1952 he is listed as leaving to become a Pageboy. Sure enough, he recounts (above) how he started work at the Grand Hotel as . . . a pageboy complete with tunic and pill box hat! I can be contacted via and would be pleased to hear from any of my old friends.

    By Brian Hatley (16/07/2011)
  • I lived at 57 Bennett Road for a few years as a child when my father Raymond George bought his mother’s house. My dad grew up on the house with his 8 siblings. Ronnie moved to Australia I believe in the 60’s and when Annie his mother was widowed she moved to Australia with Linda, Colin and Michael. Jimmie, Mavis, Roy and David and my Dad remained in the UK. David and my dad emigrated later. Sadly my uncle Roy passed away a few year ago and my Dad died of cancer this year. I walked round Bennett road last week and it brought back lots of memories.

    By Sara George (05/10/2011)
  • Having Just discovered this page, memories have come flooding back. I can remember Mike Pierson, his brother Tony and their sister Pippa - her real name if I recall was Geraldine? I also remember Sue Cobbett and her family, who if I remember lived next door to the Norris’s. My brother Derrick and I lived in number 23 next to the Goodman’s at no 25 who in turn lived next to the Boston’s no 27 and the Maclines(?) at no 29. Furthur along Bennett Road lived the Austin’s, the Charman’s and the George’s.

    By Brian Payne (06/10/2011)
  • Hi Brian. Hope you and Derrick are well. I remember you both and your Mum and Dad with very happy memories. Best wishes to you both.

    By Sue Hobbs (Cobbett) (20/10/2011)
  • I would also like to say that I remember Brian and Derrick Payne from my days in Bennett Road. I also remember well before the time that Brian and Derrick and their mum and dad arrived in Bennett Road. At Number 23 Bennett Road if I remember rightly lived a sweet old lady who we called “Nanny Payne”. Nanny Payne was good to us kids. Nanny Payne was the last house for five houses between the “bombsite” as we called it and Number 11 Bennett Road. The gap was caused by a stick of bombs that wiped out five houses from Number 21 down to Number 11. I think this was in 1944 when the enemy tried to bomb the gasworks just down the road next from St Marks School. We had so much fun on this bombsite. We gained access via Nanny Payne’s front path as there was a gap in the fence. I always remember the pathway and the black and white squares. One day us kids spotted a big rat on the bombsite and called Mr. Dale from Number 47 who came down and killed the rat with a lump of metal. The dead rat hung around for ages, the kids were enthralled by it. Sweet joyful days. My best wishes to Brian and Derrick.

    By Mick Peirson (18/12/2011)
  • Does anyone remember the Collins sisters, Daphne the oldest who became Miss Brighton a few years later and me Sandra (Sandy) born in 1947 at 56 Bennett Road as was my sister Shelagh in 52. I was so excited when I was told about this site. I used to play with David Collison- I think we where about 4. I would love to know where he is at and where his life took him. Aunty Irene I called his Mum. I was last in Bennett Road around 1998. I did get to see Irene. She was still very involved in her church- I wish I could remember more of my chilhood in Bennett Road. My parents were Irene Joan and Ceciel. My mum called him Cyril. I now live in AZ America. I am looking forward to any input.

    By Sandra Donnelly (19/01/2012)
  • Hi to everyone on this thread, I run a Youth Club in Saltdean, for teenagers aged 11 – 16. We are currently doing a project about how life has changed for teenagers since the 1940s, and the young people are really keen to talk to people who were teenagers in the 40s, to help them with their project. It’s a long shot, I know, but if any of you ‘fit the bill’, and would be interested in talking to some teenagers about what it was like to grow up in Brighton in the 40s, I would really love to hear from you. We can offer tea and cake! As part of the project the young people will also be recreating modern day versions of 1940s photos in Brighton, so I would be equally interested to hear from anyone who has any images we could borrow for inspiration! All their work will be displayed on May 4th at Saltdean Friendship Centre (where the youth club is held), and they will be putting on a fashion show, showcasing trends from 1940s to present day too! Any input from anybody would be hugely appreciated. Many thanks for taking the time to read this. Elle Dyson ellebdyson@gmail.com

    By Elle Dyson (05/02/2012)
  • Hello Sandy Donnelly nee Collins! I am amazed to see your message. I used to live opposite you at 57 Bennett Road. I remember your faces so vividly and really wanted to look exactly like you. I believe you used to go to dance classes and you all looked so elegant and pretty. Do you remember the dressmaker who lived close to you? A lovely woman but very crippled with arthritis. I live in Australia but visit Europe annually. Love to hear from you.

    By Linda George (24/07/2012)
  • Hi Linda, I have not looked at this site for ages so I have only just seen your message. Yes I would love to contact you, I also get to Brighton once a year. I am going to see if I can find you on the computer. Wow I am excited. No I cannot remember the dress maker.

    By Sandra Donnelly (05/06/2013)
  • Linda George, how can I get a hold of you? I’d love to connect. The elegant one must have been my sister Daphne!( 5 years older). She took dance lessons -  I did too but not for long.

    By Sandra Donnelly/Collins (05/06/2013)
  • I haven’t looked at this site for a while but was interested to see Linda George’s comment about the dressmaker – I remember her very well – her name was Elsie and she used to make clothes for my mum and myself (my mum was Lily Berwick) We lived together with my father at no. 67 next door to Mr and Mrs Long and Linda I remember playing with your brother Colin with his fort and soldiers along with the Cahills and June and Maureen who lived further down the road – anyone remember them? Happy happy days.

    By Louise Nash (01/09/2013)
  • I was bought up in Bennett road and my gran used to live in Whitehawk Crescent. My family name is Justice, we now live in Newcastle and have done for a lot of years.

    By Mr B .Justice (01/05/2016)
  • Hello Brian: I remember you when you lived in Bennett Road with your mum and dad. I remember your mum’s Geordie accent as well. If I remember rightly your gran lived in the shortcut as we called it through to Whitehawk Crescent. I remember you and your family moved up north. That was a few years ago now.

    By Mick Peirson (02/05/2016)
  • Further to my earlier post Brian did you have a brother named Tony?

    By Mick Peirson (02/05/2016)
  • yes mick I do have a brother called Tony he is fine and not living far from me and it is a long time – about 65 yrs. 

    By Brian Justice (03/05/2016)
  • Brian…….65 years, and how fast it has gone. I still get nostalgic about Bennett Road after all these years and how free we were then compared to the kids of today, lumbered with what is going in their heads. My  grand kids are obsessed with Facebook, it would drive me crazy to have to look at that every five minutes. I only go on Facebook rarely to keep up with what my old military mates are getting up to. Did you live at around number 18 in the street?. I can’t remember if it were either you or Tony that had one of those little 3 wheeled tricycles with the pedals on the front wheels. I remember this well as I had a go on the trike and fell forwards banging my nose on the pavement (no wonder I remembered it). Your mum had long dark hair if I remember rightly. We must have been only about 5 or so at the time. I have a fairly good memory for long ago, but keep a diary for everyday bits and pieces or I would forget. Give my regards to Tony.

    By Mick Peirson (05/05/2016)
  • It could have been Tony with the tricycle I can’t remember having one but we probably shared it anyway. I am trying to get Tony on this site so keep a look out for him – take care for now. 

    By Brian Justice (06/05/2016)
  • Hi Mick Peirson. I am looking for the Thompson family who had a shop in Brighton. Allan Thompson, born 1931, went to Jamaica with the army in June 1949. Any information would be helpful. Thanks.

    By Irene (22/10/2016)
  • Irene, there was a Mr. and Mrs. Thompson who had the shop at the end of my road Bennett Road in the ’50s. The shop number was No. 2. The shop sold general sort of small household odds and sods like screws, nails etc, as well as paraffin. Later on they moved into a shop in Whitehawk Road opposite the bus garage. I don’t know any of the history of the family.

    By Mick Peirson (24/10/2016)
  • Thanks Mick Peirson.

    By irene barker (14/11/2016)
  • I used to do a morning paper round in the Bennet Road area before I went to school. On the morning of the air raid I was blocked by a policeman telling me not to deliver the papers because of the raid. My father was so worried he stopped me delivering papers again. Strange how we remember the things of so long ago. 

    By John Bannister (26/06/2018)
  • Hi Everyone,Absolutely fascinating reading all these comments,I was actually born at number 35 Bennet Road on January 18 1946,This was my Grandads home Frederick Pierson,My Mum was Margaret,And I do remember Michael,Totty and Pippy,I am in touch with Pippy we swap Xmas cards every year,Although I was very young I do have very fond memories at 35 Bennett Road,I actually grew up in New Cross Gate London ,I now live in Bridport Dorset,I was married to Irene for 52 years,Sadly she passed away just over 2 years ago,I wish everybody the very best of health, stay safe during these very odd and difficult times, Barry Board.

    By Barry Kenneth Board (19/04/2020)
  • my great grandmother Rosina Bradstock was killed on her doorstep by shrapnel in 1944, my grandparents lived at 16 Bennet road Eileen and Les Bradstock. My mum told me she was in a basket under the stairs at the time, she was a baby.

    By Mrs Denise Pullman (26/02/2022)

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