The 1950s in Downend
The Queen succeeded to the throne on the 6 February 1952 on the death of her father, King George VI. Her coronation took place on 2 June 1953.
This year plenty of activities are taking place to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee, and it’s a good time for us to reflect on what was happening locally all those years ago.
Local people have already shared some amazing memories of our area in the 1950s:
Diane was a teenager at school in 1957 when she and her friend Jenny and were called into the headmistress’s office and told that an aeroplane – the Britannia – had crashed near to their homes in Downend. They were given permission to phone home to check that all was well and, to do this, they had to go out of school and find the nearest phone box. Her mum had heard both the plane flying very low and the crash, but thankfully none of their relatives were harmed. Diane notes how amazing it was that the pilot managed to avoid landing on any houses, since the area was relatively tiny.
Clarissa reflects on how social attitudes have changed since the 1950s, as everything was about appearances – you had to wear the right clothes, go to church, be seen to do the right thing. She remembers attending Christchurch in her best clothes, including lace gloves and a hat. After her father died, her mother was told that she must need a man and received a few ‘offers’ from local upstanding men. However, she chose not to re-marry. Clarissa and her mum became very independent, and turned their hands to any house maintenance that needed doing. She thinks that times are better now than back then, when everyone was so judgemental, and if you were different in any way you were not accepted.
Barb describes the shops in Downend village back then – at least three banks and the ‘flower bank’ on the corner. There was the Downend Drapery, Masons the butchers, a lovely ironmonger down one side and on the opposite side Youngs the newsagent. Horsemans, a TV and radio rental shop, Brittons, two greengrocers. The Downend Press and a garage on the corner of Cleeve Hill with a bench outside on the corner where teenagers would meet their friends on the weekend. The Enterprise Hall was where the Co-Op car park is now. She used to go to a youth club there before it moved to West Park Road.
Jennifer recounts moving into one of the first of the new houses in Bromley Heath Road, built by Doug Leonard, in 1953. From the back room, her family could see Friesian cows grazing the fields, where eventually more houses and the Sandringham Public House were built. She recalls that a brightly coloured Macaw used to watch passers-by from its perch outside a cottage in Cleeve Wood Road, and that there was a dairy in Downend Village. This was spotlessly clean and run by two sisters, who made and sold the most wonderful clotted cream with a thick creamy crust – delicious!
A few points about the 1950s...
A few questions...
Please email us your photos and your memories of the 1950s and we will share them here!
Email: downendchap@gmail.com
Address: CHAP, 49 Overnhill Road, Downend, Bristol, BS16 5DS
Please do not send original documents or photographs, as CHAP cannot return these items.
Please send good-quality scans or photographs of images instead, along with a description of who and what is shown in the picture, the approximate date it was taken, and the name of the person who took the photograph.
The group is also keen to receive written reminiscences without pictures, to gain insights into how local residents or visitors experienced life in the 1950s.
