Berkeley Avenue

A Memory of Cranford.

Hallo
My husband Ken lived in Berkeley Avenue from about 1936 to 1960, with a couple of years off doing National Service. He tells me he cannot remember there being anything but a petrol station at the end of the road, but with the old type pumps, and a thatched roof! Can you imagine that nowadays, with health and safety!
He lived at 68, and his aunt lived at 134. At the back of her house were fields stretching down to the river, and the children spent a lot of time playing there. It was like the countryside.
His worst memory is of a bomb that fell on Chaucer Avenue - a direct hit on the house where he used to go for breakfast every morning before school. That morning his mum had overslept and they were late getting up. His two friends had been killed outright, and their parents. Can you imagine the shock for a 7 year old? Perhaps others can remember this dreadful and tragic event?
A better memory is of having dinner in the Berkeley Arms Hotel, a rare treat.

---

---