Memories of Troopers Hill
from Joan
Hillside Cottage
The Friends of Troopers Hill
 In the 1930s and 40s Hillside Cottage was occupied by Arthur and Annie Friend who had married in 1900. They had eight children one of whom was Doris.
Joan who has allowed us to post these photographs was Doris's daughter and she has happy memories of visiting the cottage and playing on Troopers Hill when she was young. Arthur and Annie moved to a prefab in Eastville soon after the war.
By 1956 when Bristol City Council bought the site Hillside Cottage was a ruin and the area where it stood is now covered in material tipped there in the 1960s and 70s. Fortunately these photographs have helped preserve the memory of the cottage and those who lived there.
This photograph from the 1930s shows the front of Hillside Cottage. From the left are Doris Friend; her future bridesmaid Charmaine; Annie Friend and Doris's younger sister Nora Friend. In front of Doris is Annie and Arthur's dog Butch.
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 These 3 photographs clearly show the grass slopes of Troopers Hill and illustrate how the cottage got its name. All these slopes are covered in trees and tipped material. Arthur is in two of these photos and you can see that the right hand one is taken in the hay making season. Arthur also grew peas and became known as the pea man - perhaps the wild peas now growing at the edge of the woodland are living reminders of Arthur?
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  Water had to be fetched from the well, here Nora Friend is carrying the water and Annie is doing the washing in the tin bath.
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 Here we see Arthur with his chickens - behind can be seen the river and the stacks at the Board Mills and Netham.
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  More views of the Friends family and the area around the cottage. Ron and Stan were two of Doris's brothers.
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 Doris's husband Stanley working in the garden at Hillside with cottages on the top of the hill behind.
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  Two more shots of Doris with her own captions.
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