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Photographed in 1980

Picture shows bridge over Trafalgar Road, 1980
Submitted to website by Ray Hamblett on 8-12-2002

Comments about this page

  • A childhood memory of Trafalgar Road is of carrying accumulators (for the wireless) – full of acid? – to and from a place on the east side near the bridge. What would Health and Safety have to say about that now?

    By Mike Baumann (11/10/2005)
  • I live in Gladstone Road, just to the right after the bridge. This picture looks wonderful compared to what is there now. I know you must change with the times – but do we have to destoy all that once was by doing so? Just look at the bridge and the old factory, the fantastic cars, the Jag coming towards the photographer and the little 70s Robin in the layby. They don’t make ’em like that no more! I happen to drive a 72 Regal. I moved here in 1987 from Mile Oak and it is the same up there now with the modern way of planning. By the way I am 26 yrs old. Am I the only one in the new generation thinking this way?

    By Andy MacIntosh (17/10/2005)
  • I live in St Nicholas Road near Trafalgar Road and it is interesting to see what it looked like. I didn’t think it had changed that much from what I can see in the picture, but there has been a lot of work done on it now so it looks a bit different, and the work done on it now looks stupid.

    By Kayleigh Luxford (30/11/2005)
  • I was born at 95 Trafalgar Road in November 1945 then moved to 6 Gladstone Road just under the bridge to the right. My sister Margaret got married at St Marys. I left there at 16 to join the army and now live in East Grinstead. Does any one remember the plane that crashed in Southwick?

    By Peter Crowhurst (14/01/2006)
  • My Dad lived in Southwick while growing up and has a newspaper clipping of the plane crash. It was a Valiant jet bomber which crashed and exploded in Croft Avenue, Southwick in 1956.

    By Michelle Turner (16/02/2006)
  • I remember the plane crash well. It was at midday, my dad had just picked me up from work to take me home for dinner. We reached Manor Hall Road when we heard the crash. The plane had bounced off the railway line and exploded in Southwick rec. We were the first people at the scene of the crash, one of the crew had bailed out (the plane was too low) and landed on the roof of Southwick railway station, the rest of the crew died in the crash. Some pieces of the aircraft engine were found as far away as Victoria Road by Portslade rec. I don’t think I will ever forget the crash. I can still feel the heat that came from the turbine blades.

    By Mickey Pittock (27/04/2006)
  • We were married in the lovely Catholic Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea and St Denis in Trafalgar Road and never thought that our marriage would outlive the Church! It should never have been knocked down.

    By Madelaine (born Jackson) and Charles Hutchin (19/05/2006)
  • I used to live in Gladstone Road back in the 70s and 80s. The only plane crash I remember was when a small plane clipped the top of Fishersgate flats in fog and crashed down next to the petrol tankers in the port. Mark Lamley and I watched as they brought the bodies up. Wierd what memories it conjurs up.

    By Kevin Farley (09/06/2006)
  • I live on the road at the moment and Trafalgar Road is the place to be. It has everything from rats to pollution and even the home of Curry Zam Zam Tandori.

    By Stewart Kirby (23/12/2006)
  • I also remember both of the plane crashes. The Southwick crash I remember from being in the playground at Our Lady Star of the Sea and St. Denis School, Vale Road, Portslade.  At this time my family were taking telephone calls at home for television breakdowns for the television company Family Television. At the time of the crash an aerial rigger, whose name I believe was John Harris, was blown off a roof by the blast of the plane crashing and unfortunately ended up wheelchair-bound because of it.   As regards Madeleine’s comments about the Catholic Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea and St. Denis, I could not agree more. This was a wonderful church and my brother and I were altar boys and served at the 8am mass every Sunday. Father Henry McCrae Lewis was the parish priest most of this time and he was a wonderful man. He was ordained later in life, and sometimes he bumbled his way through some services but I will always remember him for being very kind and dedicated. Also another priest I remember was Father Albon; a very quiet and sincere man. It really was terrible to see this church that held so many memories for me demolished. I also went to Our Lady Star of the Sea School which was right next door to the church. I remember the air raid shelter within the school grounds. Once a week we went to singing classes in a hut next to the church and we were taught by a Mrs Cuthbert, who always before lessons would insist that we all showed our hankies, which we did by holding them aloft and shaking them. I bet that used to spread a few germs. Some of my school chums which I remember were John Smith, John Hurst, Kathleen O’ Shea, Christine Shilling and many more which would probably bore you if I wrote them all down. Those were really happy days for me and, since reading these pages, memories keep flooding back. What a wonderful site.

    By Dave Broad (14/09/2007)
  • Hello David Broad, I like you remember both of the plane crashes. As for the Southwick crash, I remember being at home and my dad who worked at the Power Stations ring my mother to tell her of it. I remember him having a piece of the plane.
    I, like Madeleine married at Our Lady Star of the Sea and St. Denis and never thought it would go. I Googled the area to see what was there now and what a shock! I remember when it was redecorated inside and I remember making my First Communion there. We had to stand outside the door in the cold and wind. I dared to put my hands in my pockets. I was chastised by a lady that I did not know and told that I did not enter God’s house being disobedient. I wasn’t being disobedient. I was cold and seven and just want to warm my hands. Yes it was as you say David, a wonderful church. Like you, both my brothers were altar boys there. Do you remember Seán? I also remember Father Henry McCrae Lewis He was lovely I remember his anniversary do in the hall, a good night. As for Fr Albon, I have a few photos of him. Do you remember Fr O’Byrne? A young priest, he come from Co. Waterford not far from where I live now. He was drowned whilst on holiday here.

    I agree it was terrible to see this church demolished. Later on my sons went to Our Lady Star of the Sea School. When you I saw the names mentioned it brought back memories. I also remember John Smith, John Hurst and Christine Shilling and like you, many more. Do you know where they are now? I was in contact with Maureen Rockford until a few years ago. I know she went to Dorset with her husband’s job but I have since lost her address. I used to visit her mother when I was in England. As you say happy days and yes this is a wonderful site. I often pop in to catch up with what is going on. Drop me a line@ catym_e@hotmail.com as I’d love to catch up with what’s going on now.

    By Caitlin O'Shea (02/10/2007)
  • Hi Caitlin. Thanks for your email address and I shall contact you soon, my email is dvd_broad@yahoo.co.uk. Well I think you must be the girl I remember as Kathleen O’Shea. I remember you as having long black hair and, if that is you, then you were my first school boy crush. I haven’t seen John Smith or any of the others for years now. I would be most grateful if you could send me a photograph of Father Albon, he was really wonderful when my mother was dying with cancer and a great support to all the family at that sad time. I was only 17 when she passed away. I do indeed remember Fr O’Byrne, in fact he joined our church after Fr Albon and Fr Lewis. I had not realised that he had died by drowning, which is very sad as he must have been quite young. After your communion did you go to the shed-like building and have a breakfast, which I believe from memory consisted of a boiled egg, cooked by Mrs Maynard? Do you remember on a Wednesday we had to go just before the school finished for the day to benediction in the church? The May Day procession crowning Mary with flowers. Palm Sunday processions. I remember clearly the coke fires in the school and in winter warming up the milk that we had each morning in front of the fires. Caitlin, if you want any photos of the area let me know I would be quite prepared to take them and send them over the email to you. There is so much to recall and I shall keep putting my memories on here hoping to jog a few more memories. I shall contact you soon via email and chat about the old times. Where have all the years gone?

    By Dave Broad (11/10/2007)
  • I’m pleased that my picture raised memories for people. At the time I lived in Victoria Road, I had a passing interest in local history but could have had no notion that the picture would be on the internet in the next millennium! The above contributors’ names Luxford and Kirby are familiar, members of the families where known from my school days. I now live in Lancing.

    By Ray Hamblett (11/11/2007)
  • My family lived at 85 Trafalgar Road. My great grandparents were the Hobbs and my nan was Joan. We lived in the flat downstairs for a while when I was a child before moving to Leek in Staffordshire and then to Canada before finally coming back to England. My dad is Barry and he has fond memories of growing up there as a child/teenager. Sadly, my nan passed away in June this year. We are taking a trip down to Portslade in the new year in her memory.

    By Sarah (31/12/2007)
  • Carole Newell was my name then and I went to the Star of the Sea school in 1947. Made my first communion and Confirmation at the church. We lived in the prefabs in Vale Road then EastHillPark then Mile Oak then Gladstone Road; it was just after the war. If anyone remembers Me I would love to get in touch. My class mates would be pensioners now. I have several class photos. My mum went to the school in the 1930s.

    By Elizabeth Edwards (13/01/2008)
  • I didn’t go to the church school but in the early 1950s did go to the square dancing in the hut in the school grounds.  They were run by Gordon Brooks and his family and we had lots of good fun there. Then came rock and roll so it was goodbye to square dancing!  I agree it was a scandal that the church was demolished.

    By Den King (29/01/2008)
  • Does anyone remember Cripps Manufacturing Chemist that was in Portslade? I worked there packing drugs and the like for Chemists.

    By Sandie Waller (13/05/2008)
  • Cripps, the manufacturing chemists that used to be located in Portslade, were on the bend of Denmark Road, next to Vale Road Park. My Auntie Jean Martin (nee Smith) used to work there in the early 1960s and I was an apprentice around the corner at M.B. Metals Ltd., in Vale Road.

    By Alan Phillips (08/06/2008)
  • Can anybody remember the bus that got stuck under the bridge? It was sometime in the the 1980s.

    By Wayne Wareham (04/08/2008)
  • Elizabeth, I remember myself and Don Goldsmith giving a girl named Carol the bumps at St Peter’s infants school. Was it you I wonder with fair hair? Plus, I thought she lived in Vale Road. This would be the early forties as I was born in 1938.

    By Den King (17/09/2008)
  • I was really sad when the church was knocked down. My grandmother and family (the Mitchells) used to live at 16 Gladstone Rd, and my mother married in the church twice! She married my father there and, after he died in 1949, she married my stepfather at “Our Lady” a few years later. We moved to Drove Crescent and left there in the early 60’s. My memories are mostly about being beaten by bullies from the LCC Approved School in Mile Oak Rd, and one or two other ‘locals’ who I think it probably prudent that they remain nameless!

    By Roger Karaunaitis-Hudson (Carrots) (09/12/2008)
  • Calling Dennis King. Recently discovered your piece re square dancing in the hut behind Star of the Sea. Remember you well, together with Ron and Gordon. Dad and Mum (Bill, violin and Vi, piano) played “Olde Tyme” dances so when Square Dancing came along, I had a go at “calling”. From that begining, I was able to make a career as “Your Country Caller”. We lived in Hurst Crescent. Interested to hear about those times from anyone who might remember.

    By Gordon Brooks (11/01/2009)
  • I walked this road on so many occasions with my twin brother David as we went to the Baptist Church in North Street. To the right of the picture, just out of shot, was Kings the hairdresser and it was Ronny King who gave me my first crew cut! I also remember the Valiant crash but, as mercenary young boys, we went down the recreation grouind to see if we could find any pieces of the aircraft to keep! We moved from George Street to Beechers Road, Mile Oak, back in the early 50s. I now live just outside Bognor and my brother lives in Basingstoke.

    By Derek Fish (18/01/2009)
  • Hello Gordon, glad to see you are still alive and kicking. Yes it was fun in the old hut. I suppose it’s under tons of concrete now. I remember being chuffed when you picked me as part of the display team. I believe we wore black shirts with white tassles.Two questions for you Gordon, did you marry one of our fellow dancers, and did you run a hardwear shop in Henfield at some time? Did my namesake Eddie pass away a while ago? Can you remember any names from the old hut days? I recall the two Pats, Burton and Shillin; Shirley Mallet, that’s about it. I sometimes see my cousins Ron and Gordon but not very often. Ok that’s four questions but that will do for now!

    By Den King (02/02/2009)
  • Hand Over Hand Till You Meet Your Maid Go Doh-Cee-Doh And Promenade” Hi Den,great to hear from you, hope all is well.
    Pat Shilling was my cousin,sadly we lost her in 1958, just eighteen. I married Brenda from Southwick, but lost her in ’86. It happened yet again in ’97, with Molly my second wife. Clouds do have a silver lining, now I have a wonderful partner Kathie .We met through Cruse Friendship Group here in Worthing, with which we both now are active. Lifelong friend Eddie K passed away four years ago. For a short whileI did work for SCATS of Henfield. For a number of years I with St. Maryes Convent, ending up as “your friendly laundry man”. At age 40 I went freelance and
    “sang (called) for my supper”, but thats another story.

    By Gordon Brooks (25/02/2009)
  • With reference to the Valiant aircraft crash of 1956 in Southwick Rec. An account can be seen at this address… http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Specific_Crashes/1956-05-11_crash_of_valiant_wp202.htm

    By Chris McBrien (22/09/2009)
  • To Caitlin: I now live in Christine Shilling’s (now Ralls) house, she is my landlady, she now owns the florist at the top of Staion/Boundary road.

    By Dee Etherington (30/09/2009)
  • Looking at the photo, they must have been standing at my old front garden maybe a house away. I lived at 23 Trafalgar Road opposite the shops. The photo was taken 12 years after I moved to Brighton. Having only just found this site it’s strange all the memories that are brought back. I remember the plane crash- I also went to Benfield School at that time . My father got work repairing roofs to the houses damaged by the crash. I got myself a souvenir from the plane, I told everyone I had a piece of the cockpit in fact after I got a talking to from Dad he told me it was a cover from a wing light. How was I to know at nine- it was as big as me.

    By Mick Pittock (08/10/2009)
  • Mike Pittock, did you by any chance live in the Easthill or Mile Oak area as I seem to recognise the name?

    By Cait O'Shea (26/06/2010)
  • A friend of mine was walking along the Old Shoreham Road (south side) by the bus stop just before Trafalgar Road, and on that day it was really thick fog. There was a chap crossing the road by the bus stop and he walked into the side of the bus. My friend went to see if he was ok and the chap thought he had hit him so he turned around and punched my friend on the nose.lt is not always a good idea to be a good Samaritan!

    By Graham Knight (08/07/2010)
  • I lived at 51 Trafalgar Road from 1955 untill I got married at Southern Cross Church in Trafalgar Road 1973. Mr and Mrs Ken Packham lived next door,can any one remember my brothers? I have 6 of them – the Mitchell brothers: Carl, Gary,Neil ,Lynn ,Ian and Donn.

    By GAIL ELLIOTT /MITCHELL (08/01/2011)
  • My Great Aunt, Grace Pattison, ran a sweetshop/general store at 32 Trafalgar Road, Portslade.

    By Linda Penn (27/05/2011)
  • I would be very grateful to hear from anyone who knew of the Morgan family who lived at 124 Trafalgar Road for many years – at least until 1934.

    By Janice Merritt (20/07/2011)
  • For Sarah- I lived at 83a Trafalgar Road until 1951, then I moved to 72 Victoria Road. I was friends with your Dad, Barry for many years. Wish him the best from me. I have lived in Canada for 35 years.

    By John Birchfield (29/11/2011)
  • That’s strange John, I lived at 83 Trafalgar Rd when I was first married!

    By Tony Clevett (05/12/2011)
  • Hi Tony, yes very strange! I lived in the bottom flat. When I married in 1961 we lived at 67 Crown Rroad in a flat above my Aunt & Uncle Laurie Milham. I remember your name Tony just can’t seem to put a face to it. Also the names and comments on this site have bought back a lot of memories. Do you remember Hills the paper shop across from the Battle of Trafalgar?

    By John Birchfield (07/12/2011)
  • Hi John, yes Hills paper shop and post office. Mr Hills was a very “Air Force officer” type of man. A real gentleman. The Christmas window displays were always eagerly awaited for by us kids. We always got our annuals from there and years ago there used to be a large toy department in the basement. Also remembered is Inskips drapery shop on the corner of Banfield Street.

    By Tony Clevett (17/12/2011)
  • Hi Tony. Haven’t been on the site for ages, hope everyone is OK. You may remember that in 2009 I was in touch with Bob Gander (Robin) and we have been together all this time despite the fact that we never saw each other since the last year at St Nicholas School. We got in touch through Friends Reunited and I have to announce that we are getting married in October (better late than never). Hope we survive that long! On a different note, we have had a telephone call from Colin Winstanley (hope I have spelt it right) but unfortunately we have mislaid the number. Can anyone help please? Also we wonder if anyone has any information about Douglas Wren who lived in Mile Oak Road (top of Melrose Avenue). He was a photographer and had a greengrocers shop in Manor Hall Road with his wife at the time Stella (Simms). I last met him in Redhill in the early 90s but have had no luck tracing him. Regards to all in not so sunny Eastbourne at present.

    By Sylvia Carey (Whittington) (04/05/2012)
  • Hi Sylvia, many congratulations to you and Bob. Great that you met up again and I had a feeling you would both make it more permanent. We wish you well for your future together.

    By Tony Clevett (08/05/2012)
  • Good to see memories of Trafalgar Road. My father Albert Flude owned the grocers shop between Hills Stationers/ Post Office and Inskips on the corner of Bampfield Street for many years. He was very active during the war years when all the food was scarce and we all had ration books, buff for adults and green for children. We had to memorise our ID card number too during the war years, mine was 449-3! Hows that!? My wife Joyce worked for Ernie Hills until 1953 when we married. Tony Flude.

    By Anthony Flude (21/05/2012)
  • Wow this picture taken in the early 80’s? I was living in Vale Rd at that time and my father used to go to the barbers on the right of the picture to get his hair cut. I also remember a second-hand shop near there too! At that time Dad had a blue Mini Cooper which he had for 12yrs. I had a few friends living around that area at that time! The good old days!

    By Julian Hayward (21/07/2012)
  • My family moved to 33 Trafalgar Road (one of two bungalows) in 1963/64, just opposite Shelldale Road, but we moved to nearby Victoria Road in early 1968. I always found the place a bit spooky, especially after my big brother left to join the RAF in 1965. We shared a bedroom, and being alone next to the cemetery was scary for a young kid. The photo brings back many memories. Sadly, I remembered being bullied on a couple of occasions. Once on Trafalgar Road by a couple of young thugs who thought it would be funny if I kissed their shoes. On another occasion, in the nearby cemetery, another couple of young thugs wanted to beat me up. I told them that I had just come out of hospital (which was true) and they decided to leave me alone. My main memory is laying awake at night, waiting for the street lamps to switch off at 1am. It always frightened me. Interestingly, until reading this site, I knew nothing of the Southwick plane crash – even though my neighbours must have known about it. Perhaps, after WW2, they liked to keep such memories under wraps.

    By Mark Morton (08/08/2012)
  • Hello Janice Meritt: you asked, in July 2011, if anyone has known the Morgan family. I knew very well the Morgans from 1959 and for many years. If you read this, please contact me (pierre fayon@wanadoo.fr) and I’ll be very pleased to answer you.

    By Pierre Fayon (29/09/2012)
  • In reply to Tony Clevett, I too remember Mr Hills. I lived for a while, as a child, at 74 Trafalgar Road and had at one time, a paper-round at the shop. My one real abiding memory, apart from the gentlemanly character of Mr Hills, was the wonderful display in the cabinets on the right as you went in, of all the latest magical Meccano Dinky Toys. This has stayed with me for life and I am still selling diecast models, new and vintage, in my ebay shop at http://www.jumarktoys.com. The other thing, Tony, is that Robin, Mr Hills’ son, was at school with us at the time. One other piece of history concerns the nice bungalow that the family lived in, at that time bordering on a piece of land that was Petersfield’s Market Garden. The house next door where, as a pedestrian, you could turn left and end up on the West Hove Golf Course, was, for a time, lived in by Max Miller, the famous Brighton-born variety artist.

    By John Upton (31/10/2012)
  • Hi John, yes I remember Robin Hills was at school with us and he is on the right of the group in my photo of us on this site taken during our assault on Pevensey castle. I remember that I first met you when you lived in Trafalgar Road and I lived in Buckler Street. Your Mum, lovely lady, once paid for me to accompany you to the Rothbury.

    By Tony Clevett (01/12/2012)
  • Interesting to come back and read the comments under this picture that I submitted 10 years ago. If any one is interested in more Portslade images and comments I have started a Facebook group for Portslade and Fishersgate https://www.facebook.com/groups/389187537825221/

    By Ray Hamblett (04/12/2012)
  • Hi Tony and all who remember Trafalgar Road area. Thought you would like to know that Bob Gander (Applesham Way) got married in October last year. We had a lovely wedding despite our wrinkles and we are still in Eastbourne. We had been searching for Douglas Wren, a mutual friend of ours and I am pleased to say that, after a lot of searching we found that he was living in the West Country. Sadly he wasn’t able to come to the wedding as he was admitted to hospital that weekend but hopefully we may catch up with him when the weather improves and we can go on our travels. So good to keep up with all the news. Regards to all on site, Sylvia Whittington

    By Sylvia Gander (01/02/2013)
  • Further memories of the 40/50s: Where the chap is standing on the right on the photo is the top entrance to Shelldale Avenue. The corner place was a hairdressers shop (I use the term very loosely) – the chap who worked there was named by us kids as Acker Waller (what his name was really I have no idea). I remember as a kid going to have a “haircut” – we were not allowed to talk and the men had their hair cut before the boys. When it was your turn he would put a short plank across the arms of the chair, lift you up to sit in it, belt you round the ear and say “and keep still you little sod”. He then procceeded to cut your hair with manual clippers which had the effect of, every time he stopped, plucking a bunch of hairs out. We walked out of that shop with a sore head and a haircut that resembled a basin cut. I can’t remember what the cost was but I imagine it was cheap. Memories – they are priceless!

    By Kenneth Turner (02/03/2013)
  • Sylvia ~ Did you live at the top of Foredown Drive in the late 1950s? Keith Alexander and family would have been close by. Also did your brother go the Portslade Boys at the top of Applesham Way? I remember him riding his bike, he had enormous feet. One day the 8a bus from Mill House lost control and went into a house on the west side of Foredown. Regards

    By Christopher McBrien (08/06/2013)
  • Kenneth, that barbers at the corner of Shelldale used to charge 9d. for a lads haircut whereas Forrests at Southern Cross, opposite Coughtreys Model Shop, would charge 1s 0d. That meant a saving of 3d. which needless to say went on sherbert, 1d, chews or caps for one’s toy revolver. There’s a barber’s bus comes round where I work and they charge a fiver. A fiver to cut yer barnet!! Regards

    By Christopher McBrien (08/06/2013)
  • Dear Gillian
    Sorry but we have had to delete your post. We are no longer allowing the posting of requests to find third parties, as sharing information like this breaches their privacy. We recommend you try Friends Reunited website if you want to track old friends or neighbours.
    Comments Editor

    By Gillian Smith ,nee Bacon (02/12/2013)
  • Looking at the photo of the railway bridge brings back the memory that in the 1940s there was a sign on the wall under the bridge saying “Bill stickers will be prosecuted”. This of course brought the chalked comment (no spray paints in those days) ‘Who is Bill Stickers?’ or ‘Why pick on Bill Stickers – other people break the law as well?’ and of course ‘Why what has Bill Stickers done?’. We only had the radio in those days so this would pass as entertainment!

    By Kenneth Turner (04/03/2014)
  • Dear Emily,

    Sorry but we have had to delete your post. We are no longer allowing the posting of requests to find third parties, as sharing information like this breaches their privacy. We recommend you try Friends Reunited website if you want to track old friends or neighbours.
    Comments Editor

    By Emily Loretto (16/06/2014)

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