When bread and dripping was a treat and Leigh Park was new | Nostalgia

In 1949 CPO Eric Austwick had been drafted from Scotland to HMS Vernon and moved to a house in Leigh Park.

Mind you, it was not Leigh Park as such.

The family lived in what was then 70, Botley Drive, Stockheath, Petersfield, Hampshire, such was the postal address.

In the early 1950s Botley Drive was extended towards Hulbert Road and renamed Purbrook Way and 60, Botley Drive became number 2 and the Austwick’s became number 12, Botley Drive with the road becoming a T-junction with the new Purbrook Way.

In the family group below we see Eric with his wife Margaret and three children Kathy, Eric and Stuart.

After a couple of years Eric was drafted to Portland. The family ended up in Maylands Road, Bedhampton.

In the photograph take in the garden, right, we see the three Austwick children Eric, Stuart and Kathy.

The houses in the background are those of Eversley Crescent. The gardens were all open with little privacy so I expect there are fence panels these days enclosing the gardens.

• Seen in 1950 letting his niece Margaret nibble some of his mother’s home-made bread is Paul Pannell, who lived in New Road, Bedhampton. Margaret, now Lane, lived with her parents Ray and Peggy Pannell in Knox Road, Stamshaw, along with two sisters and a brother.

The photograph was sent to me by Christine Pannell, of Ladywood House, Pymouth Street, Southsea. She tells me Paul is her husband and that he would have taken Margaret into the kitchen for slices of bread and dripping. [lovely!].

Christine says: ‘It was at a time when children found things to do without want, want, want all the time.

'Paul was a good uncle to Margaret and would take her paddling along the foreshore at the end of Knox Road, Stamshaw, long before the motorway.’

• My mention of the famous people who visited Portsmouth was seen by Edwin Amey who reports: ‘When I was in the dockyard in the 1970s we made souvenirs for presentation to visiting dignitaries.

‘The type of gift was manufactured to suit a strict pecking order, ie royals/sheikhs at the top and MPs or similar at the bottom.

‘The workshop held a small quantity of HMS Victory's oak, and copper bolts removed during restoration work. From this material a joint effort was made by machine shop engravers and the joiners’ shop to produce these offerings.

‘The gifts were usually a cigar/cigarette box with a silver plate inscription, a small wooden plaque engraved with Nelson`s prayer and a copper motif. Finally a paperweight made from a copper bolt, polished and engraved with a silhouette of HMS Victory.’

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