Our Memories

Much has been recorded and written of life during the Second World War and the Forties; but perhaps it is only now that we are recognising the sweeping social changes that shaped the years that followed, the decade we now look back on with nostalgia as the fabulous Fifties.

For Britain it was a time to get back on your feet: a struggle at first as the aftermath of war, the shortages and subsequent rationing, took several years to finally end. Nonetheless it was a time of optimism, of family and security, of the baby boom and the incarnation of ‘teenagers’.

The Fifties saw the start of a musical revolution, the birth of television and the beginnings of the mass motor industry. Heralded in with the Festival of Britain, it was the new Elizabethan age.

This project reflects on life in our village as recalled by those who lived here during that time – and who still live here to this day, more than sixty years’ later. In sharing their past lives with us and in particular with the village children, they have given us a valuable and fascinating insight of the period- and a rich history lesson that we hope will prove a valuable archive for generations to come.