Gathering Local Stories

15 December 2013

Drawing by Garth England, Hengrove resident

Hengrove School fields fancy dress party for the coronation (from Mrs JA Thomas)

Hengrove School is open, 1954

Anne Webber's dance teacher Sarah in front of the Community Centre curtain

From Hengrove resident John Penny's presentation on Whitchurch Airport

Petherton Road Infant School - Balloons

We’ve been talking to lots of Hengrove and Whitchurch residents and attending local events to draw out interesting stories and visuals which will inspire Nils Norman's designs for a theatre curtain for Hengrove Community Centre. There’s been lots of enthusiasm for the project, with people keen to get their suggestions immortalised in the new curtain.

Material gathered so far includes historical photos and anecdotes about the airfield, paintworks and speedway track as well as other personal stories - even some lovely drawings made from memory by resident Garth England, showing the places he knew as a paper boy, telegraph boy and milkman in the area. You can see more of this material here on our Flickr page.