Ask anyone ‘Do you remember when…?’ and you’re guaranteed an instant response and memories in return.

Our new Facebook group, We Grew Up in Hereford, has been asking just that question and your memories have been flooding in as more and more of you sign up to the page.

From pubs and clubs to shops and stuffed ponies (yes, really) Herefordians are clearly enjoying looking back… and sharing their memories with others.

Greenlands, once a Hereford institution, prompted a slew of recollections: Jill Hales remembers going across a bridge with ‘real water’ to see Santa in his grotto at the store.

Sandra Robinson recalls that “the sleigh ride really felt like you travelled through the night sky to Santa’s grotto".

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It was a memory echoed by Lyn Plant, who thought “the sleigh ride to see Santa was absolutely magical. It seemed we travelled miles and we never really went anywhere!”

And when Roddy Hankins asked members of the group if anyone remembered Dr Francis who rode around in a pony and trap and had the pony stuffed when it died, then kept it at the surgery, the huge response demonstrated that Hereford had more than its fair share of characters.

Joe Webster Haines reported that when his mum broke her leg “he (Dr Francis) came to our house in the pony and trap… I loved going to the surgery, stuffed pony in the hallway and his room had horse’s hooves for door stops … and all manner of wonderful things."

Jacqueline Bridges was a little less enchanted: “When I was a child I visited them with relatives, but no one warned me and I had the fright of my life.”

Carole Leake agrees: “That horse always frightened the life out of me.”

Martin Chambers threw down a challenge to name all the pubs that ever called Widemarsh Street home, and plenty joined in, but nobody managed the 18 that Martin believes there have been!

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Hereford's vanished shops are also bringing the past to life as people remember Woolworths, Littlewoods and C&A, Sid Wright's in Eign Gate where, says Margaret Bray "they had hares and rabbits hanging up with little buckets over their mouths", and Debbie Neale and Michelle Carpenter both said Bambers Boutique was their favourite shop.

Schools brought back plenty of memories too: "Anyone remember Hunderton Primary during the 70s and 80s?" asked Hayley Bob: “Fond memories apart from being threatened by a slipper in Mr Magor's cupboard”, while Marcus Bosch remembered Mr Wooten ‘smoking cigars in class’.

They say schooldays are the best days of your life and Darren Knott agreed, as he reflected on his time at Lord Scudamore Junior School: “The most fantastic school. Everything seemed possible, then.”

When Tony Hill asked if anyone remembered the Three Counties at the top of Aylestone Hill, Dave Wood recalled that “they had a demonstration of one of the first colour televisions there. Apparently it was the size of a small bungalow.”

Share all these, and loads more – the Mothers Pride Bakery is a fond memory for many whose parents worked there – Chadds, the Crystal Rooms, pubs galore, go to the We Grew Up In Hereford Facebook page and indulge in the nostalgia … then share your own memories of life growing up in the county