Drew Family Diaries

Born in Kirkby

I was born in Kirkby, in Diamond Avenue, in 1960 but we moved away when I was a baby.

Family Diaries

My mother and grandfather both kept diaries which, from 1914 to 1960s, were set in Kirkby. My grandfather, Gordon Parkin, ran a shoe shop in Station Street until 1959 when it was taken over by Fred Flint and then Gordon Sugg. To understand the diaries, I found I needed to understand people and places from Kirkby, in particular Station Street.

A Walk Up and Down Station Street

To do this, I first compiled an imaginary walk up and down Station Street around WW2 and now. I visited Kirkby in August 2023 and updated the “now” part based on an actual walk. I retained the imaginary walk as an archive version, not least because I had translated some of the text into narrated photos and I have not yet updated those. These are also available on a separate, dedicated page.

Individual Building Histories

I saw a suggestion that it would be good to have individual building histories. I thought based on the information I have that I could do this for Station Street. So, I have done this and it is those posts that are in this section.

How the Posts are Organised

The posts are organised as per the walk. This starts at the old station/spring factory goes up to Nag’s Head/Four Lane Ends and back. This means the odd numbers come first and then the even numbers at the end. The odd numbers are arranged in ascending order and the even numbers in descending order. There are entries for all buildings and intersecting roads but some are more detailed than others. The level of detail reflects my own personal interests and the amount of material I have available.

Community Review

I have shared one post a day with the Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group and the Kirkby-in-Ashfield People Facebook Group. Contributors have kindly shared photos, memories and comments which I have incorporated into the posts. These groups are referenced from the posts. However, to read posts you need to be a member of these groups. Membership of both groups is available free-of-charge.