A FACEBOOK page created by a trio of past and present Feltham residents to share their memories has become a big hit.
The page, entitled 'You can take the girl out of Feltham, but you can't take Feltham out of the girl' has gathered more than 900 members since it was created in 2010.
The three founding members, Kathleen Hope, Jan Smith (née Hadley) and Janice Denslow (née Budd), were friends in Feltham in the 1960s but only Janice still lives in the area. Kathleen lives in California, USA, and Jan is now based in Melbourne, Australia. They set up the group after finding each other again online.
The page has given rise to a vast archive of material from decades ago and Janice, 61, of Bedfont pointed with particular excitement to photographs of the now closed Feltham and Hanworth Paddling Pool, of which a number of the page's members have fond memories.
Kathleen's family previously owned Hope Transport in Hatton Road, and her and her two siblings, Ellie and Christine, formed singing group Hope Sisters who were well known in the area. She attended Longford Girls' School with Janice during the 1960s. The pair met up again for the first time since they were teenagers in California in 2011.
Janice commented on Feltham's community spirit in the 1960s, saying: “People lived, worked and played there. [Now] it's a whole different type of community My formative years were in Feltham, I lived there from the age of eight until my twenties. Wherever your formative years were, that's where your heart is, usually."
