I was about 13 at the time, and attending Peter Symonds’ School in Winchester. A friend, and fellow student, was Don Broomfield, whose father was the Police Superintendent at Eastleigh.
The Broomfields lived in the Station House, attached to Eastleigh Police Station in Leigh Road, and I visited Don there on many occasions, cycling down Leigh Road from Meadow Grove … a ‘breeze’ going, as it was downhill most of the way, over Ford Bridge, past Prices Southern Confectioners, North End Secondary School, The Leigh Hotel, Pirelli’s and Caustons Printing Works, arriving finally at the police Station on the corner of Toynbee Road.
I cannot remember whose suggestion it was, or how exactly it came about, but it was agreed that Don and I would spend the night in the cells … looking back, I suspect it may have been the ‘Supers’ idea, as part of Don and my ‘education’.
For whatever reason, to a 13 year old, the thought of spending the night in the cells was a little daunting and, to a degree, a little frightening, as it conjured up all sorts of unpleasant thoughts about the ‘villains’ who had spent nights there before us, and possibly had left something of themselves behind in the cells.
We were duly led to the cells and left to fend for ourselves…
My existence here today tells you that nothing terrible happened, and I now wonder what all the fuss was about, but I have to say, it was not an experience I treated lightly at the time, nor was it one I would like to think I would have need to endure again.
Related posts:
Growing up in Chandler’s Ford: 1950s – 1960s: Bicycle, Bicycle! (Part 5)
Growing up in Chandler’s Ford: 1950s – 1960s: A Summer of Hope and Sorrow (Part 6)
Growing up in Chandler’s Ford: 1950s – 1960s: Breaking Free from North End School (Part 8)
Growing up in Chandler’s Ford: 1950s – 1960s: My Passions with Bikes and Boats (Part 9)
Growing up in Chandler’s Ford: 1950s – 1960s: Witnessing My First Powerboat Race (Part 11)
Hello,
Really enjoyed your article. I lived on Belmont Road, so am quite familiar with the landmarks on Leigh Road. My father worked at Pirellis before the war. That’s where he met my mother the company nurse. During the war he worked on Spitfires at Eastleigh. I remember the Police Station a brick building with a blue lantern near the Town Hall.
Great memories. Thank you.
Joanna
Have just read your interesting article about a night in the cells. I went to Northend school with Don Broomfield and played in the same cricket team. I remember well his father being in the
station house on the corner of Toynbee road.
Do you have any contact with Don ? I have tried in vain to contact pupils who were at the school
in 1951/54 but all to no avail.
Regards Brian Wadham