Tag Archives: Norton

Annette Haynes: WWII entertaining the troops 1940s

I was in The Sunshine Six, a dance troupe of local girls.  We used to go and put on entertainments for the troops at Savoy and Norton.
One night I remember when we were dancing, I kicked and my shoe came off, and it landed in the Colonel’s lap.  He came and presented it to me afterwards.  Annette Haynes nee Holloway b 1929

Joan Cokes: Early Days

My father was employed as a gardener and worked in several different places.   He worked for The Pier Hotel (now the George Hotel), in the garden opposite the school.  In Ommanney Road, there was a garden owned by the Bugle where he also worked. That was next to a vegetable garden for The Towers. He grew the vegetables for his own family in an allotment at the top of Victoria Road.

The bridge was a toll bridge and regular users got a weekly ticket. Dad worked for the Tophams over in Norton as a gardener, and so had a weekly ticketWe children used to sneak behind a charabanc to get over the bridge without paying.

I can remember getting winkles from Pier Shore and the Common up to Bouldnor as far as Stone Pier, and prawning off the Common – I remember seeing seahorses there.
Joan Cokes nee Cooper b1918