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Memories of Merelbeke - een randgemeente van Gent

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Belgium 1970s

256

MERELBEKE

We lived in Belgium in the 1970s. Dad, Eric Hayles was working for Volvo Europa at Oostakker near Ghent and we moved into a house in the Verlorenbroodstraat in Merelbeke. We hope you enjoy our evocative photos of life in Merelbeke, a suburb of Ghent.

56 files, last one added on Oct 27, 2014
Album viewed 1765 times

GHENT/GENT BELGIUM

We lived near the beautiful city of Ghent (Gent) in Belgium in East Flanders (Oost Vlaanderen) from 1974 till 1978, although dad was there for about another six years after that. We hope you enjoy some of our photo archive from those happy times.

48 files, last one added on Oct 27, 2014
Album viewed 396 times

MERELBEKE FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS

Some of our wonderful neighbours and friends when we lived in Merelbeke. If you know any names that we haven't mentioned, please add them below the photo.

109 files, last one added on Oct 27, 2014
Album viewed 590 times

DANSCLUB TERPSICHORE MERELBEKE

Mum and dad had dancing lessons at the Dansclub Terpsichore in Hundelgemsesteenweg in 1977-78. These are pictures from one of their social functions.

15 files, last one added on Mar 15, 2014
Album viewed 419 times

OUT AND ABOUT IN BELGIUM

13 files, last one added on Mar 23, 2014
Album viewed 336 times

Our Welsh friends, the Davies Family

We attended church at the Evangelisch Centruum, Burgstraat, Gent, where we got to know the wonderful Davies family from Wales (the clue was in the name!) Charles and Betty, Godfrey, Joseph and Noel. There were also two sisters who weren't in Belgium. Charles was an accomplished artists and signwriter. He once had a job painting the Coca Cola logo on lorries, so he must have been very good! He also painted a sign for our neighbours opposite which read "Bobinage van motoren".

11 files, last one added on Apr 26, 2014
Album viewed 319 times

Documentation

Leaflets and other documentation from our time in Belgium

4 files, last one added on Dec 05, 2017
Album viewed 111 times

7 albums on 1 page(s)

Belgium 1990s

VISITS TO MERELBEKE IN 1990s

In the 1990s, along came the internet. Jonathan put "Merelbeke" into a search engine to see what he would see, and stumbled across the website of Sint-Michielsschool. After writing a greeting in the guest book he received a reply from Guy van Heddegem, and a friendship developed which led to Jonathan visiting Merelbeke in 1998 and writing a song which was performed at the school's Eindejaarshow. He visited again the following year. Here are some pictures from those shows.... we hope to bring you some video clips in the future too. Photos mostly by Jonathan Hayles, captions by Guy van Heddegem.

40 files, last one added on Mar 16, 2014
Album viewed 333 times

1 albums on 1 page(s)

296 files in 8 albums and 2 categories with 5 comments viewed 123,448 times

Last additions

GITO Merelbeke flyer van 1975 4/42772 viewsDec 05, 2017

GITO Merelbeke flyer van 1975 3/42703 viewsDec 05, 2017

1/4328 viewsDec 05, 2017

GITO Merelbeke leaflet from 1975 2/4323 viewsGITO Merelbeke flyer van 1975Dec 05, 2017

Cards at Number 31457 viewsOct 27, 2014

Wilfried at his mother's in Moortsele454 viewsOct 27, 2014

Wilfried's mother in Moortsele451 viewsOct 27, 2014

Wilfried and Lydiane at Wilfried's mother's in Moortsele464 viewsOct 27, 2014

Tram near the Gravensteen in Ghent, 1978733 viewsOct 27, 2014

Wilfried adds the finishing touches to his villa450 viewsOct 27, 2014

Lydiane makes sure Wilfried is doing things properly454 viewsOct 27, 2014

Wilfried adds the finishing touches to his villa441 viewsOct 27, 2014

Random files

Sint-Michielsschool 1999349 views

Our Merelbeke home starts arriving back in England.....562 views.... on the roof of dad's VW Transporter minibus.

Sint-Michielsschool 1999345 views

Josh in living room of Verlorenbrooadstraat 29297 views

Park Hotel bill from 1974382 viewsEric Hayles stayed at the Park Hotel, Wilsonplein, Gent, when he first arrived in Belgium to work for Volvo Europa in Destelbergen. Later his office moved to the company's massive site at Oostakker.

Sinterklaas comes to Merelbeke418 views

Visitors to Number 31373 views

Sinterklaas comes to Merelbeke434 views

British Week in Ghent 1974406 viewsScots pipers on parade.

Godfrey's Reliant Robin....362 viewsFound this among dad's pictures. He obviously took it when he came to pick us up from church and was waiting around. He took a few pix of the roads and would have had no idea that was Godfrey's car parked there... not until I told him today, nearly 40 years later!!

Eeeek! For anyone who hasn't found out yet, 40 years is nothing... it flashes by.

Visit to The Atomium Brussels 1975249 viewsAndrew, Michael, Jonathan Hayles

Sint-Michielsschool 1999282 views