Her first memory is riding in a large pram with her younger sister, Maureen, being pushed around the streets of the town. Mrs Coles, 54, who now lives in Kettering said: "My second memory was going to the clinic where we had milk and vitamin tablets - and a play on the rocking horse.

My mum Brenda was well known in the town, for many years she worked in the local post lady, working at the post office with Mrs Dacre.

Along the High Street she recalls the large Co-op, selling fresh fish, a greengrocers where you could buy half a pomegranate, hand-made sweets bought from Mabel's shop [Piper's] and Brown's shop [Alexandra St./Finedon St. corner] which was open all hours.

She said: "I also have memories of Burton's best carnivals and late-night torch processions and every year we had the fair come to the 'Rec'. As kids we hung around 'Dixons field' and 'Hoggs Hole' but remember a lot of time spent in the Mission Rooms and where I attended Sunday School, choir practice, youth club and St John Ambulance meetings."

"I also remember going to my first dance, which in those days was a dance , not a disco. An important lifeline was the 413 and 295 services of United Counties buses as many people did not have cars when I was growing up."

"School was known as 'the school in the High Street next to Meads Dairy' as opposed to the mysterious church school at the other end of Burton."

She said: "I couldn't wait to start, just to play with the big dolls house in the classroom. I enjoyed playing that day but couldn't believe I had to go again the next day. We had a thing called the Tuck Shop and we all had a bottle of milk from the milk monitor and rich tea biscuits."

"Our head teacher was a lovely man called Mr Pentelow and Mr White was another favourite teacher as he excelled in making paper mache models. A not so favourite thing was the annual sports day which invloved a long walk to the Rec."

"I have happy memories of happy school days in Burton Latimer, friendships made in school lasted forever."