Vic Childs

1917-2000

Vic was born in Factory Place , off the Bedford Road , near the old Dial Farm. He was the son of Charles & Laura Childs who had 11 children.

He was educated at South End School and he remembers being at school when the German Prisoner of War camp was in Wymington Road . This camp was known as “Ploughmans” because many of them worked on local farms.

His first job was at Denton ’s Boot & Shoe factory in High Street where he trained as a clicker. When he had mastered the skills of clicking, he moved to The Tecnic Shoe Company in Harborough Road . He then moved to Benjamin Ladds in Moor Road , finishing his working days with D.B. Shoes in Rectory Road .

Vic had many hobbies. A great gardener, he had a very large allotment off Glassbrook Road and he owned the plot. There he kept rabbits which he took to shows and he was a member of the Rabbit Club. This popular club held its shows at the Windmill Club. He was a committee man for the Rushden branch of the British Legion and for the Rushden Hall Pensioners' Parliament, founded in 1948, for whom he was secretary for many years.

It was at the Pensioners' Parliament where I first met Vic and he invited me to show my pictures of “Old Rushden” in 1985, and every year since then.

Above all these many hobbies, he was a very enthusiastic photographer and an active member of the Rushden Camera Club, which he helped to form. He always made a photographic record of his holidays which he loved to show to many local societies. Amongst his collection were several pictures that won prizes in the club competitions.

This enterprising man opened a photographic shop at 15 Church Street for a short while in the 1960s with Mr C Mallet.

More than 80 years separated one of the oldest members and the youngest member of Rushden & District History Society, when this picture was taken in 1999. It was taken by the Evening Telegraph when subscriptions were invited, in preparation for the printing ready for the Society's launch of their publication of their Millennium Book, to mark the end of the 20th century. The book recorded snippets from the Rushden newspapers through the 1900's. Society members who volunteered, were allocated a 5 year span, to study in the cellar of the Evening Telegraph Office. We were asked to take 4 snippets per month over the 5 years and then the editorial team selected the final items for publication to show the local happenings throughout the last century. The book was so popular that a second print run was made the following year.

(left to right) Eric Fowell, Vic Childs & Jenny Comont - Picture by Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph

To see a selection of photographs by Vic click here, to see some in Hall Park or Carnival Queens