New Page 1

By the residents of Perry House

There used to be lots of different little shops that have now closed down. There was one called “The Pantry” which was at the bottom of the High Street that sold all sorts of cooked meats. It smelt lovely. In World War 2 residents used to take their ration books to the Pantry. This is now a private home numbered 27.

There was a dairy in the middle of the High Street, also Cleares’ Coalyard where you could go with your trolley to buy your coal.

There was a shop we called The Corn Shop where Squirrels Health Food Shop is now. It sold food for animals and birds.

Where Lloyds Chemist and the Bookshop are now there used to be a good cycle shop called Lund’s. At the top of the High Street there was an undertakers’. Where the Nat West Bank is now there used to be International Stores selling groceries. There was also a shop called Lawleys which sold antiques. Where Walker and Campbell, the opticians now stands, there used to be a butchers shop called Halls Pork Butcher. They used to hang their meat and chicken up outside the shop. They used to raise the pigs for this butcher on a local farm which is the site where Burnham Grammar School now stands. The lane near this was called Piggy Lane. It used to be a common sight to see people driving their pigs along Fairfield Road and Hogfair Lane to other fields.

The doctor’s surgery was in the High Street in Doctor Summers’ own house. You didn’t have to make appointments, you just turned up. There is now a road called Summers Road named after Dr Summers which was constructed in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s. You could have your teeth extracted in Barker’s the chemists.

There was a cinema in Lincoln Hatch Lane called the Tivoli but we called it the Tuppenny Rush. It was very small and as well as the silent films there used to be live shows with strong men. The old school house in Church Street has been converted into a house and the playground built on.

There was no one way system in the High Street and no obelisk to stop the traffic going straight down the road.

Buses used to go up and down the High Street but there were far fewer cars then. Horses were used for transport and for sweeping the roads.

There used to be a market hall alongside the Five Bells pub. It had the date 1215 on it. It was disused when we were children but we used to play in there in the rafters. The houses next to it had dirt floors but they have all been pulled down now.

There used to be allotments which we could walk across to get to the High Street from The Green. These allotments have now been developed giving rise to Minniecroft Road, St Peter’s School and further housing. We were very sorry when they were built on.

A few years ago our Fire Station closed down. It used to be manned mainly by people who worked nearby – they used to rush when the alarm sounded.

There have always been lots of pubs in the High Street but sometimes they change their names although we still think of them by their old names.

Some things have not changed much for years. The barbers’ with the tiles outside looks the same as when we were children. John the Butcher and Hearns Butchers have been around for a long time. The oldest part of Burnham is The Garibaldi and the buildings around it. St Peter’s Church dates back to the 12^th Century. The Tuck Shop has been around since we were children. You used to be able to swap your old jam jars for sweets there.

The War Memorial used to be opposite the Working Men’s Club but they moved it to the front of Burnham Park Hall.

And how it has changed in our lifetimes by the children from St Peter’s School

Sands Garage used to be on the corner of Jennery Lane and the High Street where the new flats have been built recently.

We remember the Toy Shop which has now closed down and has become an Art Shop instead.

Our friends from Perry House told us that that it has changed many times remembering it as Ronnie Alders selling farm supplies. Martins the Newsagents has closed down and is empty and the Red Cross Charity shop has closed too.