Camberwell, Bowling Green, Ruskin Park c1955

Katie Barnes and the Hermits Cave

The one thing that sticks in my memory about growing up in Camberwell was the newspaper stall outside the Hermits Cave pub and the young me being in awe of Katie Barnes (I think that was her name), the 'old' woman who used to sell the papers. She knew everyone's gossip and had a slightly hairy chin!

my ancestors

The Soulby family and the Audy family all lived around this area, the Miller family started my ancestral name from here too.

Church Street, Camberwell

1950s. This is the view down Church Street from the cross road which we all knew as and called "the green" which is to the left of this picture. The large double fronted shop on the right was at the time a Joe Lyons where you could get a cup of tea and a bun from a lady in a white apron (and I have no doubt more substantial meals too - but I cannot remember that). A little further down Church Street on the right, past Wren Road turning was the Police Station with its blue lamp. Note the tram lines - I rode on the last tram from the Oval to the green - but I have now lost the ticket :-( Church St lead to St Giles the church in the picture and on to Peckham Rd and to Peckham the north end of the high street with Jone and Higgins.)

Old blokes in white coats!

Sometimes on the way to the Green we would watch the men walking up and down the Bowling Green. They really took things seriously! The Green was mown to precision and I'm sure the bloke that cut it measured the length of the grass with a ruler! We were amazed!
When the bowler would prepare to bowl my brother and I would shriek and put him off his run or whatever you call it! Since we did this most weekends I bet they really hated us (we thought it was great fun). As is usual though we got older and found other things to amuse us!

Searching the tombs!

Oh I know it always seemed so huge and scary, with its giant red doors, but my brother and I had such fun in the churchyard climbing the trees and exploring the broken tombs and crypts. Pretty scary as I always expected a monster to grab me and take me down inside never to be seen again! I think the horror movie of the time was about zombies and living dead and stuff! We also used to pick the daffodils and sell them in bunches for a tanner a bunch till one day the vicar caught us and gave us a right telling off!
The canal ran alongside the churchyard and we used to 'boat' up and down it on a bit of old wood we'd found or anything that floated! We had no fear!! I used to catch the sticklebacks and take them home. I wondered why they died when I'd carefully filled my plimpsole with water for them to live in? Mum wasn't too pleased either!!
My brother Dennis fell in on one occasion and since we weren't suposed to be playing there anyway, he didn't tell mum or dad that he'd cut his wrist on a broken bottle! He nearly severed an artery but I told my mum and after the screaming abdabs dad took him to hospital. He still has a really nasty lumpy scar, surgery then wasn't as good as it is now!
I forget the name of the road but mum used to get us to drag bags of rags weighted down with stones to make them heavier to the scrapyard up the road from the church. I remember one time the bloke opened the bundle (I think we might have overdone the rocks a bit!) He was furious and bellowed at the pair of us and tried to clip us round the ear. We were really scared and told him that mum didn't have any money so he gave us some anyway but told us never to come back again. I don't think we ever did? Blimey how things have changed eh?