Post by Les on Jan 5, 2018 11:52:22 GMT
Maidstone I remember it well: Hi Margaret Vicars: I most certainly remember going a few times to the school of dancing at Peter Preedy and Anne Lingard. As you walked along Market Buildings Preedy's was on the left and there were a row of shops on the right hand side underneath where we used to go roller skating and before the fire station. Pettits, which was a fishing tackle shop, was one of these and I can't for the life of me remember the names of any others!! The massive floods were I think about 1963 (though I could be wrong there!!) and all of Fairmeadow and The Palace became part of the Medway!!! I was still at the Boys Tech. at Oakwood and the army did carry mainly old folk and women to the other side both ways. Until they put duckboards up I used to run to school from my home in Holland Road to Week Street; then over the High Level Bridge up Buckland Hill to the London Road and then along Queens road to the Tonbridge Road. And I still got to school in time to play football every day (anything up to 20 a side) before assembly. I then had to be home by 4-30pm to do my shift in our family run business, the bakery/Off licence shop. Nothing stopped us in those days did it? When J.F.Kennedy was assassinated I was sat in the ABC cinema in King Street with my great friend Trevor Miles. The film stopped and scrawled by hand on the screen was the simple message: JFK shot and assassinated in Dallas Texas at 3-10. There was a huge intake of breath and some people even started to cry. Everybody was totally stunned. I don't like all the changes to Maidstone (I have lived in Bristol since 1968) but it has and always be home to me and I was last there in May of this year. I used to see and visit my lifelong friend Trevor Miles almost every year until he sadly passed away in 2011. So although my main reason to visit is sadly not around any more I will always pay visits. It's the place where I was brought up and holds so many wonderful memories for me. This site started by former fellow pupil at St Francis RC primary school in Week Street; Peter Capon and now Les is always worth a visit..