Mystery woman in Three Bridges
THE FIRST three postcards were dropped through the door of the Observer office.
The first shows a rather idyllic picture of a woman in Three Bridges.
The picture was taken in 1905 to the north end of Punch Copse and shows a woman sitting on a stile with Crossways in the distance.
Although the picture hasn’t reproduced very well, does anyone have any idea who the woman was?
As for the other two pictures, the first shows children playing in the road outside St Peter’s Church, West Green.
The Swan pub can be seen clearly in the background on Horsham Road. According to the information on the postcard, the pub had been refronted at the turn of the century.
The second postcard hows Brighton Road in 1903, looking north towards the level crossing.
On the left is the Capital & Counties Bank, now Nightingale House,
Bannisters, one of the earliest garages in Crawley, can be seen on the right with bicycles propped up outside.
According to the information on the postcard, this part of Brighton Road was developed in the 1890s as an extension of the main shopping area.
THE fourth picture was sent in by Bob Rashbrook and shows the lads of the Northgate Lions football team.
The photo was taken circa 1963/64.
Mr Rashbrook said: “Prior to the Crawley Playleaders Football League being formed I believe it was Vic Anderson who organised a football tournament for the youth of the town.
“There were various ages with the finals played at Langley Green. The winning teams received their awards from Gordon Pirie, a useful middle-distance runner in his time.
“Vic picked up on the idea when he used to do his rounds as a parks inspector and see kids playing organised football matches that they arranged themselves.
“He was not keen on the idea that council pitches were being used for this purpose so he did something about it.
“Games were played on a knock-out basis with, as I say, the finals at Langley Green.
“Northgate Lions were beaten in their semi-final but the victors were removed and the Lions re-instated as the winners had played a player that played for another team.
“The Lions were predominantly St Wilfrid’s School pupils and run by ‘Paddy’ Maglinchey,
“I myself am the tallest in the back row. Others I remember are John and Barry Butler, David Gibson and Eddie McDermont and Ray Downing.”
Are there any other Northgate Lions around?
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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