Post by oxowhitney on Dec 28, 2020 9:10:02 GMT -5
I only came across this site recently. I read with interest all the posts from those of you who lived in Lee Park/Belle Vale in the late fifties and early sixties. I would like to share my memories of my time there. I lived in Lee Park from 1957-1971. We moved from Garston to a two bedroomed house in Lee Hall Road in 1957 when the estate was only half-finished. My first impression was I liked the colourful front doors and canopies over each one. Our road didn't have proper pavements and in the first few months of living there we had to put up with the noise of dumper trucks delivering building materials to the unfinished parts of the estate. There were no shops, the nearest being the Co-op at the side of Gateacre station. We tended to rely on mobile shops, many of them being converted coaches. i have a memory of "the sweet van" a small blue van which came to our road every evening and from the back a man sold sweets, cigarettes etc. Its arrival was announced by the ringing of a hand bell.
I spent a lot of my early teenage years hanging around The Nook and the area next to the railway. Me and my mates used to put a penny on the railway line and wait for the two car diesel to go over it then we would find it squashed to twice its size. Being a bit of a train spotter I used to like going to town on the train from Gateacre to Central Station. I believe the service stopped in 1972. We also used to trespass on the golf course looking for stray golf balls.
When we first moved there I continued going to my old junior school, Duncombe Road, in Garston. I can't remember why!! I had to get the 66 every morning and seem to remember there being a school bus in the afternoon which brought me home and also picked up girls from New Heys School on the way.
In my early teens I used to go to the Belle Vale Beat Club which was amongst the prefabs and not far from Joseph Williams school. I stopped going because a local hard case and his gang were rumoured to be going to "get" me! I don't know why, I probably looked sidewise at one of them.
I joined a scout troop called the 5th Childwall which was started by Mr. Kirkham who lived in Westbrook Road. My only real interest in this was being a drummer in the band. Once a month we had a church parade and after suffering an hour in St. Stephen's church our band went marching around the area
Other memories are Ma Guys shop by the station; going spud picking at a local farm; helping my mate Jimmy Sweeney collect milk money for Humphries; the building of the five blocks of multi-storey flats opposite the golf course and regularly being chased by the cocky watchman for playing in them.
These are just some fond memories of mine. My formative years were spent there and I made lots of friends. I now live in Spain but often think of the years I lived in Lee Park.
I spent a lot of my early teenage years hanging around The Nook and the area next to the railway. Me and my mates used to put a penny on the railway line and wait for the two car diesel to go over it then we would find it squashed to twice its size. Being a bit of a train spotter I used to like going to town on the train from Gateacre to Central Station. I believe the service stopped in 1972. We also used to trespass on the golf course looking for stray golf balls.
When we first moved there I continued going to my old junior school, Duncombe Road, in Garston. I can't remember why!! I had to get the 66 every morning and seem to remember there being a school bus in the afternoon which brought me home and also picked up girls from New Heys School on the way.
In my early teens I used to go to the Belle Vale Beat Club which was amongst the prefabs and not far from Joseph Williams school. I stopped going because a local hard case and his gang were rumoured to be going to "get" me! I don't know why, I probably looked sidewise at one of them.
I joined a scout troop called the 5th Childwall which was started by Mr. Kirkham who lived in Westbrook Road. My only real interest in this was being a drummer in the band. Once a month we had a church parade and after suffering an hour in St. Stephen's church our band went marching around the area
Other memories are Ma Guys shop by the station; going spud picking at a local farm; helping my mate Jimmy Sweeney collect milk money for Humphries; the building of the five blocks of multi-storey flats opposite the golf course and regularly being chased by the cocky watchman for playing in them.
These are just some fond memories of mine. My formative years were spent there and I made lots of friends. I now live in Spain but often think of the years I lived in Lee Park.