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Post by tauntongas on Feb 17, 2015 22:01:47 GMT
On a different website, someone shared a link ( maps.bristol.gov.uk/pinpoint/ ) that provides an interactive map for looking up old photos of Bristol, from the archives. Naturally, I headed over to Eastville and found a couple of pretty interesting photos that I thought might be of interest. Edit: "interactive map" mentioned twice. |
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Post by tauntongas on Feb 17, 2015 22:02:35 GMT
Two more...
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Post by midlandgas on Feb 17, 2015 22:21:03 GMT
Where my dreams began on the tote end
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Post by Curly Wurly on Feb 17, 2015 22:50:46 GMT
Fabulous pictures. The last two are availble on Alan Marshall's flickr feed, but possibly not the others. I think these are from the late 1930s after the opening of the "totalisator". My understanding was that both Tote and 13 Arches end were originally both earth banks. From the crowd (or lack of it) the suggestion is that the match photos are from a Reserve game.
Is anyone on here old enough to remember watching a game from the Tote before the roof went up in 1961?
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Post by badbloodash on Feb 17, 2015 23:00:03 GMT
Where my dreams began on the tote end Or the purgatory I have been in for the last 45 years |
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Post by Gas Since 1957 on Feb 18, 2015 8:38:36 GMT
Fabulous pictures. The last two are availble on Alan Marshall's flickr feed, but possibly not the others. I think these are from the late 1930s after the opening of the "totalisator". My understanding was that both Tote and 13 Arches end were originally both earth banks. From the crowd (or lack of it) the suggestion is that the match photos are from a Reserve game. Is anyone on here old enough to remember watching a game from the Tote before the roof went up in 1961? I'm old enough but genuinely can't remember a non-roofed Tote End (I was only between 4 and 8 years old between 1957 and 1961 so maybe wasn't too aware of the surroundings) - are you sure it was put up in 1961? I think that was the year the floodlights were erected, or could have been 1960. Didn't get to the Tote until about 1964 - Boys Enclosure followed by South Enclosure followed by Tote - that was the traditional route for growing lads back then! |
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badhand
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 182 
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Post by badhand on Feb 18, 2015 9:26:06 GMT
Fabulous pictures. The last two are availble on Alan Marshall's flickr feed, but possibly not the others. I think these are from the late 1930s after the opening of the "totalisator". My understanding was that both Tote and 13 Arches end were originally both earth banks. From the crowd (or lack of it) the suggestion is that the match photos are from a Reserve game. Is anyone on here old enough to remember watching a game from the Tote before the roof went up in 1961? I'm old enough but genuinely can't remember a non-roofed Tote End (I was only between 4 and 8 years old between 1957 and 1961 so maybe wasn't too aware of the surroundings) - are you sure it was put up in 1961? I think that was the year the floodlights were erected, or could have been 1960. Didn't get to the Tote until about 1964 - Boys Enclosure followed by South Enclosure followed by Tote - that was the traditional route for growing lads back then! According to Definitive History. Tote End roof added summer 1961. Original totaliser clocks installed 1935. Floodlights first used 6th September 1959 for game against Ipswich. North Stand constructed summer 1958. Not sure when the flower beds went in. |
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biggsy
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 149
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Post by biggsy on Feb 19, 2015 19:55:21 GMT
I'm old enough but genuinely can't remember a non-roofed Tote End (I was only between 4 and 8 years old between 1957 and 1961 so maybe wasn't too aware of the surroundings) - are you sure it was put up in 1961? I think that was the year the floodlights were erected, or could have been 1960. Didn't get to the Tote until about 1964 - Boys Enclosure followed by South Enclosure followed by Tote - that was the traditional route for growing lads back then! According to Definitive History. Tote End roof added summer 1961. Original totaliser clocks installed 1935. Floodlights first used 6th September 1959 for game against Ipswich. North Stand constructed summer 1958. Not sure when the flower beds went in. Correct,The first game with the new North Stand was home to S****horpe,a 4-0 win which was also the last home game that the great Harry Bamford played. the first three games played with the new tote end roof were all home defeats v Liverpool,Bury and Sunderland and subsequently meant relegation to the third division. The floodlights were indeed erected in 1959 and celebrated with a 2-1 win v Ipswich. I was there for all the above but not when the flower beds were created which I guess came when the ground changed shape to accommodate Greyhound racing in 1935 ,that was even before my time! |
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Post by Curly Wurly on Feb 19, 2015 20:35:43 GMT
If someone could get the rights to publish the photos, the ground history of Rovers would make a good book in my opinion - hopefully with a new chapter about to be written soon.
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Post by eastville1966 on Feb 19, 2015 21:01:21 GMT
Was at Ikea today. Spent most of the time stood in the car park explaining to my son where the Tote End was, the location of the South Stand and telling him of the golden days of the early 1970s. Didn't buy a lot but he came away much wiser. My work here is done.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2015 21:08:55 GMT
Fabulous pictures. The last two are availble on Alan Marshall's flickr feed, but possibly not the others. I think these are from the late 1930s after the opening of the "totalisator". My understanding was that both Tote and 13 Arches end were originally both earth banks. From the crowd (or lack of it) the suggestion is that the match photos are from a Reserve game. Is anyone on here old enough to remember watching a game from the Tote before the roof went up in 1961? Certainly.We had rattles and hooters.There was a little cover in the corner next to the North Stand .Saw us put three past Liverpool in torrential rain .Peter Hooper had a stormer.Rovers and Liverpool were Div 2 then (Championship).April '59.First match v Forest 1955.Radford ,Bamford ,Allcock,Pitt,Warren ,Samson ,Petherbridge, Biggs ,Bradford ,Meyer ,Watling. I think was the team.(Dai Ward came soon after them and we also had a right Garry Kenneth type called Paddy Hale.No finesse there but not one to fall out with . |
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Bridgeman
Alfie Biggs
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,549
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Post by Bridgeman on Feb 20, 2015 2:49:54 GMT
What's clear is we have some loyal supporters with good memories of the 1950's, I have a job to remember what happened in most games this season let alone 60+ years ago.
I love hearing about it all, keep those memories coming Gasheads....
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brizzle
Lindsay Parsons
No Buy . . . No Sell!
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 4,293
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Post by brizzle on Feb 20, 2015 16:05:21 GMT
What's clear is we have some loyal supporters with good memories of the 1950's, I have a job to remember what happened in most games this season let alone 60+ years ago. I love hearing about it all, keep those memories coming Gasheads.... Here's a few pics and cigarette cards that might interest you then Bridgeman, there's even a picture of Paddy Hale that geoffreybungle mentioned in his post. I don't recall ever seeing him play, but his picture is immediately recognisable to me from the back pages of the Evening Post and the Evening World. It's a funny thing, but I still feel more ''tuned-in'' to that era than I do to the present. It seems to me that we were doing OK until we stopped producing our own youngsters, and attempted to buy-in players. That policy was relatively successful early on, but we later didn't buy as well as we had done previously. But the lads that we produced ourselves mostly seemed to make the breakthrough, and some went on to play at a higher level. steve-bristolrovers.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/bristol-rovers-1956-57.htmlThere was nothing like the good-natured banter of a match at Eastville in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in fact it was this friendliness that made a trip to Eastville so much more enjoyable than a trip south of the river, where it was all angst and bitching. The crowds at Eastville were good too, and they always made way for a lad trying to get to the rails at the front, where you could sit on the perimeter fence and dangle your legs over the side. With all due respect to the present team and manager, looking at those photos made me realise (once again), how far BRFC has fallen in the past few years. |
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irishrover
Global Moderator
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 3,372
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Post by irishrover on Feb 20, 2015 18:06:13 GMT
They're good pictures - the one with the dogs looks like it could have come out of a 50s Noir film with Robert Mitchum. It's a bit ghostly.
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harrybuckle
Always look on the bright side
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 5,424
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Post by harrybuckle on Feb 20, 2015 20:07:18 GMT
Great pics and good to show them to a wider audience. MANY MORE PHOTOS AND INFO ON A SUPERB FACEBOOK GROUP CALLED BRISTOL ROVERS LEGENDS Over 1500 members
Always looking for more memories and memorabilia of Rovers long history.
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Bridgeman
Alfie Biggs
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,549
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Post by Bridgeman on Feb 20, 2015 20:49:17 GMT
What's clear is we have some loyal supporters with good memories of the 1950's, I have a job to remember what happened in most games this season let alone 60+ years ago. I love hearing about it all, keep those memories coming Gasheads.... Here's a few pics and cigarette cards that might interest you then Bridgeman, there's even a picture of Paddy Hale that geoffreybungle mentioned in his post. I don't recall ever seeing him play, but his picture is immediately recognisable to me from the back pages of the Evening Post and the Evening World. It's a funny thing, but I still feel more ''tuned-in'' to that era than I do to the present. It seems to me that we were doing OK until we stopped producing our own youngsters, and attempted to buy-in players. That policy was relatively successful early on, but we later didn't buy as well as we had done previously. But the lads that we produced ourselves mostly seemed to make the breakthrough, and some went on to play at a higher level. steve-bristolrovers.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/bristol-rovers-1956-57.htmlThere was nothing like the good-natured banter of a match at Eastville in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in fact it was this friendliness that made a trip to Eastville so much more enjoyable than a trip south of the river, where it was all angst and bitching. The crowds at Eastville were good too, and they always made way for a lad trying to get to the rails at the front, where you could sit on the perimeter fence and dangle your legs over the side. With all due respect to the present team and manager, looking at those photos made me realise (once again), how far BRFC has fallen in the past few years. Brilliant, great seeing the old photo's of players when I were a lad even though I never got to see them play, Dad was a red, in a family of 7 and we literally 'didn't have two pennies to rub together' so going to football matches was an expense that was never affordable. Grew up blue and white courtesy of my brothers and following write ups in the Green'un and Bristol Evening Post  |
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brizzle
Lindsay Parsons
No Buy . . . No Sell!
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 4,293
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Post by brizzle on Feb 21, 2015 0:41:21 GMT
They're good pictures - the one with the dogs looks like it could have come out of a 50s Noir film with Robert Mitchum. It's a bit ghostly. I don't know if it's me as I am a little ''tired'' and it is late, but in the 1956 team picture doesn't Dai Ward look a little like a young Marlon Brando?  |
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rennesgas
Alfie Biggs
First Rovers match 1964
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 82
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Post by rennesgas on Feb 21, 2015 9:02:34 GMT
Love this, thanks to all who posted, great memories
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brizzle
Lindsay Parsons
No Buy . . . No Sell!
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 4,293
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Post by brizzle on Feb 21, 2015 13:03:28 GMT
The attached link is a brief resume of Geoff Bradford's career with us, intertwined with our own history from 1949 to 1962. Two things strike me from reading the article, firstly I have read several times in recent years that Bill Shankly was interested in signing Geoff but I was never aware of it at the time. Imagine seeing him run out at Anfield alongside the great Liverpool players of that era. And secondly, I have only come to realise in later years the level of football that BRFC were playing at. At the time I always thought that we were also-ran's, but it would appear not. bristolrovers.wikia.com/wiki/Geoff_BradfordI always found it a bit sad that at the end of his career Bert Tann played Geoff at full-back, not that he wasn't a competent full-back mind you, but it just didn't seem right to me. |
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Post by wiseoldgas on Feb 22, 2015 14:00:53 GMT
Saw my first game in 1945, and was fortunate enough to see the GREAT team of the 1950s who were so close to reaching the top tier of English football. I've been manhandled by the great Bert Tann in Eastville Park and subsequently signed on amateur forms my him. Just a gentle plug for my new book due out later this year which will encapsulate the period 1945-1955. Just a boy from Bristol (part two) #UTG
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