Elm Park In The Winter Of 1947

A Memory of Bromley.

My father took a position with Costains, the big construction company. They had recently built several hundred semi-detached homes in a new development in Elm Park; Dad decided, as we needed a new place to live after leaving Buckhurst Hill, that we buy one of the new houses. It was No 90 Windermere Avenue, Elm Park.

Moving in day was just as the winter began, not long before Christmas 1947, and it was bitterly cold. Never owning a new house before, we had no idea that there was no insulation around the water tank in the attic and of course it froze, along with all the pipes. For days we had no water supply. Finally the plumber came and repaired the split pipes just as the temperature outside began to rise.

What a welcoming that was. Snow and cold continued but we survived and liked that house. It looked better back then with it's own wall out front and iron gates on the drive. Looking at it today on Google Earth
tells me Progress has taken over as needs must.

That was one of the coldest winters I remember. By 1949 we had moved to the Highlands of Scotland
to enjoy winter a little differently.
Denman Lalonde