Tyne Cot
Its the largest war cemetery in the world, named after a Geordie soldier’s observation that the German pill-boxes which once stood there looked like a typical Tyneside working man’s cottage. I went...
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Stories
Exploring the lives and heritage of Summerstown, from the trenches of the Great War to the vibrant streets of today.
44 Hazelhurst Road
The seventieth anniversary of a largely-forgotten V2 bomb incident which killed 34 people on Hazelhurst Road was marked in November with a beautiful and poignant service in a packed St Mary’s Church....
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The Corner Pin
The value of finding a relative of one of the Summerstown182, who can shed some light on the life of one of our number has never been more perfectly illustrated than by Lesley Martin’s poignant and...
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Buffalo Soldier
Chasing ‘T G Earl’, one of the more elusive names on our war memorial has been quite a job. But what a privilege to have been involved in the hunt to find something out about Thomas George Earl ‘A...
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Tinker, Tailor
Tucked away on the bend of Garratt Lane, just before it hits the Wimbledon Road roundabout, its sometimes easy to forget about sleepy little Bellew Street. It connects up with Huntspill Street but...
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The Baseley Boys
Alston road is the gateway to the Fairlight, on our guided walks we swing a right out of Smallwood Road and always stop outside Charles Barnes house at No8. We then get caught up in stories about...
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Dead Man’s Penny
Curious about the defining moment of my Grandad’s First World War experience, it was about ten years ago that we went to the Somme. We stood at the Ulster Tower and gazed down at Thiepval Wood and...
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Remembrance Weekend
It has been a spectacular week of Summerstown182 activity. Saturday’s Remembrance Walk was attended by six members of the family of Albert and William Dell and relatives of William Mace, Thomas...
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First Ypres
A highlight of our recent grave-seeking visit to Belgium was a trip to Ypres and the regular nightly Menin Gate ‘Last Post’ Ceremony. We had planned to get to the memorial in plenty of time to seek...
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Seeking The Sunday School Three
A year on from first becoming aware of the Sunday School Three and the incredible story of the emergence of their memorial tablet from a pile of compost in the rectory garden, it was time to make a...
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Tower Hill
The middle of half-term week probably wasn’t the most sensible time to visit the Tower of London poppy installation which everyone has been telling me is so wonderful. After a week in the tranquil...
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Two Tribes
The magnificent Dorset coastline stretching from Lyme Regis to Swanage has two Summerstown182 senitels. To the east is the Isle of Purbeck and the Jurrasic homeland of John Lander, the stonemason...
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