New book celebrates memories of Sea Mills

Memories are being shared and refreshed in Sea Mills with the publication of a new book. How Lucky I Was is written by people who grew up in or visited Sea Mills as children in the 1930s to 1950s. It’s been put together by the Sea Mills 100 project, which has been celebrating 100 years of the Bristol neighbourhood.

Contributors to the book include current residents as well as those who have since moved away, with copies being sent as far away as Canada and Australia.

Dedicated to “Sea Mills children everywhere and everywhen,” the stories told in the book exude a warmness for Sea Mills as a special place to grow up. For many of the writers, like Peter Hodgson who still lives in north Bristol, the Second World War was a large part of their childhood.

In the book, Peter writes about the freedom he had as a child: “Our playground was Blaise Castle Estate, Kingsweston Downs, the riverbank, Shirehampton Golf Course, the only real concern was to get back in time to eat.”

The Gearing family, with Brian sitting on his mother’s knee. Photo by Deb Britton

Brian Gearing, another contributor to the book, ran an insurance business in nearby Shirehampton and also wrote for the Evening World – a competitor to the Evening Post until 1962. He died in 2015 and his written accounts of his childhood experiences in Sea Mills were passed to the project by his daughter Deb Britton. She’s sure her father would have approved of the venture.

“As a proud resident of Sea Mills and having been involved in many local campaigns during his lifetime, my dad would have been absolutely thrilled to see his writing published in this book,” she says.

The VE day party recalled by Brian Gearing in his wartime account of Sea Mill. Photo by David Watkins

Sea Mills 100 was set up in 2018 to celebrate 100 years of the “garden suburb”. Activities have included a weekend long heritage trail in June 2019 and the creation of a mini-museum in an old red phone kiosk in Sea Mills Square.

The new book is a real local effort; put together by Sea Mills 100 volunteers, proofread by locals and designed by Sea Mills resident and graphic designer Emma Hopton.

It’s being sold in Sea Mills at the Cafe on the Square for £5 a copy. Manager Heidi Simpson has even bought one for her 92-year-old neighbour, and she says buyers have told her it’s “a good read and a great connection to the past”.

The book is illustrated with some of the photographs which have come to light during the Sea Mills 100 project. Some of the perhaps most endearing photographs accompany the story told by Betty Coleman. She vividly describes growing up in a “sweet shop,” the Sea Mills Post Office and shop ran by her parents. The family lived in the adjoining house and the work of the shop intertwined with their home life.

Betty recalls in the book: “Bottles full of sweets were placed on the stairs waiting to be carried up to the stock rooms. Paper was in short supply during the war, so the paper seals under the bottle lids were left off. My little fingers became quite skilled at quietly removing the lids.”

The front cover of the book, featuring Betty stamping a parcel. Photo – Betty Coleman

The publication of How Lucky I Was has promoted conversation between neighbours of different generations. Dave Mallard, who volunteered with the Sea Mills 100 project, has bought several copies as gifts for his neighbours, “I’ve had a couple of doorstep chats and have a future meet planned with a neighbour who was born in Sea Mills in the 1930s and will remember a few of the folk in the book,” he told Bristol24/7.

For Sea Mills 100, the book is part of its legacy, a sentiment echoed by Deb Britton: “It is a real achievement to put together all these stories and what a legacy to pass on to younger generations whom I have no doubt will also enjoy reading it. One of my copies is reserved for my one-year-old grandson, and I am looking forward to sharing his great grandfather’s childhood memories.”

How Lucky I Was is also available online with delivery from www.seamills100.co.uk/shop

Mary Milton is reporting on Sea Mills as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a pilot project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media

Main photo of Betty and Barbara Wood outside Sea Mills Post Office in the 1930s by Betty Coleman

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