Photograph album gems

These photographs are from my mother’s album. My grandparents lived at The Barn in Greenways, Ovingdean and we spent our summer holidays there.

At that time, in the 1950s, Ovingdean was still a reasonably small village and Ovingdean Farm was very much a working farm.

The slideshow contains a rare shot of the village pond and you can just see Peartree Cottages on the right. This dates the photograph to pre-1932 as the cottages were demolished to improve the road which previously had a very sharp bend.

 

Comments about this page

  • Wonderful photo slideshow Carol. I grew up in Woodingdean and I remember as a young lad in the late 1940s early 50s the whole area between Woodingdean, Ovingdean and Rottingdean was our playground. Your 1950s photos bring back many happy childhood memories of the village. Many thanks for sharing.

    By Chris Wrapson (26/04/2015)
  • What an idyllic set of photos. This lovely place was one of my special places as a kid in the 40s and 50s. The photo with the village pond springs to my mind, but I do not remember the pond. But I do remember the two big conker trees that are shown in the middle distance as they were there when I was a kid. As kids we would visit Bakers Bottom as we called it (if I remember rightly). From our street, Bennett Road we would go to East Brighton Park just up the road, and then up the hill, over the golf course (with it’s bomb craters) and then down the hill to Ovingdean. In the photo on the left side there is an uphill slope which is the pathway we came down to the farm. Every year we would collect conkers. I have always remembered the sound of the rooks and crows that nested in those trees. I am often reminded of the sounds as I live not 20 feet from trees that have rooks, crows and jackdaws nesting and cawing all the time. Sweet memories of those days.

    By Mick Peirson (27/04/2015)
  • Although in those days Mick and I didn’t know one another, (we only ‘met’ through MyB&H) we were obviously around at the same time. I well remember my mother taking us for that same walk across East Brighton Park and on past the bomb craters on the Downs (where the Luftwaffe had missed the gas works!) and on out to Ovingdean where we would catch the bus back to Wilson’s Laundry and walk up Bristol Gardens and Bristol Place to our home then in Sussex Square. There was a large hoarding at the bottom of Bristol Gardens advertising a certain well known make of baked beans which whetted our appetites for the anticipated beans on toast for tea or supper. I’m sure they tasted much nicer then after all that fresh air!

    By Tim Sargeant (29/04/2015)
  • I remember the hoardings Tim, just by the bus stop. There is no doubt about it that we as kids lived in an almost utopian place for children to grow up in. Not five minutes away from the sea and not five minutes away from the countryside. As Tim says we did not know each other as kids but lived just around the corner from each other. When I think of the lives we had and the freedom we had after the war we were very lucky. I would just go around the bend if I were a kid today (not all of course) just existing no further than a few feet away from a coloured screen and quite happy to look at it all day. We had nothing but adventure, over the hills and far away so to speak.

    By Mick Peirson (01/05/2015)

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