Mills, it was a lovely shop! Inside there were counters all round with marble tops. They used to grind their own coffee, and we children used to stand and sniff the smell….umm it was good.
There were wires around the shop with a bag that they used to put the chit in for what you had to pay. That ran to the glass cashier’s cubicle. Ruby Meaning nee Mussell b 1915
On the corner in the Square was Mills Tea Rooms ( now ‘Blue’) where you could see all the lovely cakes and buns they baked. We used to press our nose against the glass to see which ones we’d choose. My favourite was the one with coconut on it. Ruby Meaning nee Mussel b 1915
When we moved into Mill Terrace after we left the farm at Hamstead, it seemed so small. Three of us girls shared a bed, all kicking each other and complaining and of course we only had a bath once a week in the tin bath tub.
Ruby Meaning nee Mussell b 1915
Kelsey children at Mill Terrace, Phil on toy engine c 1923
I was born in 1, Alvina Cottage in Station Road, then we moved down to Mill Terrace. We were in the one where the passage way went through. At that time in Mill Terrace there was a lot of children. There was the Mussells; there were five or six of them, there was Joe – I think he was the youngest one, Ray, Ruby, another gal, and Perce, the eldest one, there was quite a few. And also there was a big family come to live there, Dicksons from Freshwater; there was about twelve of them kids. He used to ride about on a tricycle and do a few odd jobs. We used to try and pinch his tricycle if he left it up on the Common.
Phil Kelsey b 1920