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I shall be visiting Gosport in October. I grew up in the area and would like to know if
there is a photograph available of SISKIN CHURCH which used to be just about at the railway crossing on Military Road.
My last visit 5 years ago took me to the spot where the church (a green corrugated building) was
on, it is now a field. Although the rail track is now a cycle path the station platform is still to be seen. Any information regarding this old church in which I sang as a choirboy in the
forties would be much appreciated. Thank You.
(I confirmed that there are photos of the Church on the site and provided a link to them, he
then sent in the following memories. Ian Jeffery)
Thank you very much for the information Ian. Much appreciated.Yes, that is indeed the church
where I joined as a very wee nipper inthe early forties!On the right side of the church was a wooden hut where I started Sunday School until about 7 and then joined the choir. My choir pay was 1/8d a
quarter. Needless to say we spent it on the way home and bought a bottle of Tizer and some fish & chips at the fish shop by the level crossing at the foot of Grange Crescent. (I don't
know whether it was the owners name but my mother referred to the fish shop as "Freddie Frost's"!)
The choirmaster at that time was a fellow by the name of Hughes. We referred to him as
"Smokes" as he was continuously surrounded by a cloud of smoke from his Woodbines....... with the amount he puffed I very much doubt whether he lived to a 'ripe old age'. He lived
on Station Road. Following the war just about everyone smoked in those days and never gave it a second thought as regards the impact on health.
We also used to fish off the ramp across from the church, I think it is Fort Rowner but not
sure. I had not been back for many years and now, of course, it is all fenced in. No one seemed to bother about 'safety' concerns in those days. I suppose we could all
have come a cropper if we had fallen in...... There were only a very few houses along Military Road at that time. Mostly homes for Lt. Commanders and the like. We lived on Virginia Park
Road. To get to the church we took a short cut across the old cabbage field.
I am now 61 and retired. I love walking so when I come to Gosport I walk everywhere,
Lee-on-Solent, Stokes Bay etc.. I usually drop in for a pint at the Alvabank Hotel at Stokes Bay. I cringed when they toldme the cost for a room last time!
During my last visit I noticed that the perimeter stones for the
church were still evident amongst the weeds/grass etc..Would love to retire in the area but the cost of living in the UK now is way out of my league, even on a Canadian
pension! Ian Coombe Montreal.
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