Nostalgia - What are your memories of Stafford?

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
We had a dual standard TV from Radio Rentals and I used to go there to pay the telly. Dual standard means it had a big switch on the side that threw the TV from 405 lines to 625 as you had channels on both back then. We never used it as most channels were available on 625 lines by then. One day, cleaning the TV, my Mum accidentally threw the switch and we had to call in the TV engineer because channels had disappeared. When he came he was not chuffed, as he'd been called to throw a switch.
My Old Man and myself took the piss out of her something rotten, until we got the Irish Death Glare !!! :eek: ... at which point we buggered off down the pub. :heyhey:
When we were first married, we rented a Baird telly from Radio Rentals. They must've seen us coming cos the bloody thing hardly ever worked.
It got so bad that I ended up ringing them to take it away, and threatened that if they weren't there in the next 30 minutes i'd be putting it out the front door in the snow and ice. 20 minutes later there was a knock at the front door............
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
My memories of cinemas in Stafford. (I'm not counting the Astra on 16MU although I saw many a film there as a kid. If I tried for a pix of that area now I'd probably get my head blown off. There was no such problem in the 50's.) Also there was a cinema somewhere around the Crabbery Street area, but I don't remember it.

Odeon: 1978 A little bit of history, built pre WW2. Probably saw more films here than the other two put together. Still struggling as far as I know. :(

Picture House: 1978 Definitely looking a bit sad. This is a cinema with a decent history. Apparently it's now a Wetherspoon's boating lake. :eek:

Sandonia: took a couple of years ago. Sadly I don't have an older pix of it although I spent many a happy hour in there watching X pictures as a kid .. (nobody really bothered about age if you went in the side to the 'bunny run' benches.) Believe it or not I actually saw 'Plan 9 from Outer Space' there which is widely regarded as the worst film ever made. :embarrass:

Haven't been to the new complex. Only pix I've got of that site is the old Express and Star Office block.

Cinemas.jpg
 

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
My memories of cinemas in Stafford. (I'm not counting the Astra on 16MU although I saw many a film there as a kid. If I tried for a pix of that area now I'd probably get my head blown off. There was no such problem in the 50's.) Also there was a cinema somewhere around the Crabbery Street area, but I don't remember it.

Odeon: 1978 A little bit of history, built pre WW2. Probably saw more films here than the other two put together. Still struggling as far as I know. :(

Picture House: 1978 Definitely looking a bit sad. This is a cinema with a decent history. Apparently it's now a Wetherspoon's boating lake. :eek:

Sandonia: took a couple of years ago. Sadly I don't have an older pix of it although I spent many a happy hour in there watching X pictures as a kid .. (nobody really bothered about age if you went in the side to the 'bunny run' benches.) Believe it or not I actually saw 'Plan 9 from Outer Space' there which is widely regarded as the worst film ever made. :embarrass:

Haven't been to the new complex. Only pix I've got of that site is the old Express and Star Office block.

View attachment 10262
I remember those 1970s adverts for Ansells Bitter. And similar ones up north for Tetleys Bitter.
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
I used to go to the Brownies somewhere around there in a big old building , and later in my teens to a youth club type of thing in that area with my mates (Something is coming into my head that it was The Evode club, but may be way off on that one....) . Maybe that was in the same building :hmm:
I can remember the insides , know it was around there somewhere , but memory too vague so can't remember exactly where.
 

EasMid

Well-Known Forumite
I used to go to the Brownies somewhere around there in a big old building , and later in my teens to a youth club type of thing in that area with my mates (Something is coming into my head that it was The Evode club, but may be way off on that one....) . Maybe that was in the same building :hmm:
I can remember the insides , know it was around there somewhere , but memory too vague so can't remember exactly where.
There was a building where Wilko's now is. There was roller skating etc at the weekends. We used it for basketball & indoor footie (you wouldn't call it 5 a side) etc in lunch breaks from the Tech late 60's/ early 70's. I can't remember what the building was though, it may have just been waiting for demolition.
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
There was a building where Wilko's now is. There was roller skating etc at the weekends. We used it for basketball & indoor footie (you wouldn't call it 5 a side) etc in lunch breaks from the Tech late 60's/ early 70's. I can't remember what the building was though, it may have just been waiting for demolition.
I used to go roller skating on a saturday morning there in the 60's .

I remember the one for the brownies and the club thing being somewhere where the Iceland carpark is now , or across the road where back of Farmfoods was in later years.

Just wish my parents were still alive to ask , as driving me mad not being able to remember properly.
 
Last edited:

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
I used to go roller skating on a saturday morning there in the 60's .

I remember the one for the brownies and the club thing being somewhere where the Iceland carpark is now , or across the road where back of Farmfoods was in later years.

Just wish my parents were still alive to ask , as driving me mad not being able to remember properly.
Near there was the Blue Room Club.
I never knew what sort of establishment that was.
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
I like these pix because I was a Rec Kid. Another before and after type pix. I took the top one in the 50's with a hand wind on Brownie box camera, 120 film as far as I can remember. The shops at the top of the Rec were not long built, and the houses to the right of the shops had yet to be built. There used to be goal posts set in the Rec back then. If you look carefully upper centre right you can just see the iron pole that served as a passable steam boiler I mentioned on another post.

The bottom one I took 3 years ago trying as best I could for the same angle. Camera was a small Canon Ixus 275 HS point and click job, not much bigger than a Swan Vestas match box but gives 20 megapixels. So over 60 years between the two. The Rec itself hasn't changed that much except for some nice trees here and there. The camera technology has changed mind bogglingly (if there is such a word.)

Rec5.jpg
 
Last edited:

Entropy

Well-Known Forumite
The difference 25 years can make ....

View attachment 10273

I remember sledging down the hill before they build on there for the technology park as a kid. great fun!

Also took a walk up to my old stomping grounds on Kingston Hill yesterday. not much has changed apart from the 2 massive trees on the hill between the park and the Morris Man car park.

Some great memories as a kid growing up there.
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
My memories of Kingston Hill was before all the houses were built. There used to be a small sandstone quarry up there where my Old Man would take us for climbing practice. :) Sadly I have no pictures.
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
My memories of Kingston Hill was before all the houses were built. There used to be a small sandstone quarry up there where my Old Man would take us for climbing practice. :) Sadly I have no pictures.

I used to go playing over Kingston Hill when I was staying with my gran on Tixall Rd.

@BobClay Were the Romany gypsy caravans on the Tixall road , by Kingston hill near Tixall Rd/St. Thomas's Lane junction in your days? I remember my dad buying my bike from them. He got the rust off, painted it up yellow and got a roll of black & white sticky tape to decorate it. They came around Baswich selling 'lucky heather' most days , and once when my mum refused as hadn't got any spare money, the gypsy lady put a curse on her. Mum laughed it off, until she went into the kitchen and cut her hand open on a can :o

I always think of those Romany Caravans now when I drive past. I used to think it would be great to live in one when I was a kid.

The houses on Kingston Hill were self builds, a way of buying a house cheaper. My Aunty & uncle bought one of the first ones up on Avon Rise. Between all the people purchasing them , with various trades, they got them built when they finished work and weekends . I remember his saying though that once your house was finished , you didn't feel like carrying on with the rest of the estate.
 

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
My memories of Kingston Hill was before all the houses were built. There used to be a small sandstone quarry up there where my Old Man would take us for climbing practice. :) Sadly I have no pictures.
I've lived on Kingston Hill for nearly thirty years but had never heard of a small sandstone quarry.
Where abouts was it ?
 

Entropy

Well-Known Forumite
My memories of Kingston Hill was before all the houses were built. There used to be a small sandstone quarry up there where my Old Man would take us for climbing practice. :) Sadly I have no pictures.

I've lived on Kingston Hill for nearly thirty years but had never heard of a small sandstone quarry.
Where abouts was it ?

I heard that it was at the bottom of Sunningdale Drive and Colwich Crescent, where the small green "playing area" is, just dont have a ball with you or made lady on the corner would come out and shout at you, threatening to call the fuzz.....she never did :D

I still remember the golf house being there before it was knocked down for Kingston Hill Court to be built. Morris drive on wards was still a HUGE building site. lots of fun knocking about in the foundations / builds wrecking havoc :D
 
Top