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Gidea Park
Gidea Park maps
Historic maps of Gidea Park and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Gidea Park maps
Gidea Park area books
Displaying 1 of 13 books about Gidea Park and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Gidea Park
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Gidea Park.
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Shops
Picture shows the junction of Main Road with Crossways. I moved to Crossways aged 7 in 1961. The shop on the corner by the phone box was a Co-op, and the one on the far side of Crossways was a Post Office. From 1961 to 1970 I caught the bus to Brentwood for school from stop opposite on left on photo.
My father still lives in Crossways in 2010.
Essex memories
When Buses Ran Past Lloyds Bank .....
I am told that once upon a time buses ran through Romford Market towards Gidea Park. Apparently I was happily standing in the queue with my mother and newly-born sister in a pram waiting for a 174. I held tight to Mum's coat so as not to lose her. Imagine my surprise to find that the coat in question belonged to a stranger, and my mother and sister had boarded the bus and were moving away! Luckily the kindly lady looked after me until my poor flustered mother and sister returned. Thank you, kindly lady. Louise Hands-Heathfield (now living in Bournemouth).
Oldchurch Hospital 1956-57
I have such memories as a 17 year old of working in the 'Admins Office' in Oldchurch Hospital. I think I just walked in one day, got an interview and started on the Monday - no job centres or CVs needed then. The boss was Mr Totts and Mr Izzard and Mr Jarvis were his under colleagues. I used to have to walk across every morning to the Matron's office to collect the personal belongings of anyone who had passed away the previous day, which were then collected by relations at our office some time later. I remember there were relatives coming in on a regular basis to collect the belongings of a small child that had died of leukaemia. It seemed to be rife in those days. I also recall a young man coming in to the office one day looking for a position. his name was Colin and he was very keen on cycling and I think he had served in Korea. He had a start there... Read more
My Early Days in Romford
I was born in 1929 in my parent's house at 40 Medora Road, adjacent to the old football ground. Any time I hear the Sousa march - 'Liberty Bell' - I am reminded of Saturday there. It was played at the close of every match to get the people to leave in an orderly manner. My father worked at the Labour Exchange on North Street. In the first days/nights of the air raids we slept in the employees' air raid shelter behind the office building. Later on we slept in Shelter No. 4 on North Street across from the Henry Haysom furniture store. That store was hit one night and burned to the ground. The Alms Houses across the street, of wooden constrution, also burned from the heat of the fire. Apart from his day job as manager, my dad also had a full time voluntary night job with the ARP. I became a messenger boy at age 13 and spent one night weekly at the Report Center under the... Read more
First Home
I was born in Hornchurch in 1934, but my mother, father and myself were the first residents of 121 Warren Drive, Elm Park. My brother was born in the house at 121, in 1945. This is the last view I had of the street, as we left in a taxi, to sail to Canada in 1946. Made a brief visit to Warren Drive in 1956. I remember queuing up outside Meyers Greengrocers with my Mother to try and get a few oranges in 1940. I also attended Romford County High School for Girls for a year and a half. Other friends and myself used to play in the fields behind the house, which had corn growing in it. Also, the railings had been removed from the back to make, I presume, guns, tanks etc. for the war. A doodle bug had dropped not far from Benhurst Avenue primary school. All the mothers rushed out thinking that the school had been bombed, as a pall of smoke appeared to be in... Read more
Memory Joggers
We moved to Romford in 1954. First we lived at Mawneys and attended the primary school there. In 1955 we moved to Oaks Avenue and I attended Pettits Lane Secondary Modern School. I left in 1959. The pillars just below the trees in the photo, was the gateway to the Whykam Hall which belonged to the church. I remember spending many happy times at the weekend dances. I could really Rock'n' Roll in those days! I used to go with my best friend Margaret Golding, who I sadly lost touch with. Another place I loved was the Nimbus dance hall. I believe it was above the Co-op at the top end of the market. HAPPY DAYS!
Doing The Shopping
I lived a mile or so east of Rush Green, in Barton Avenue but my mum would send me with a note to get the shopping for the family. She would sometimes give me eight half crowns or 1, a lot of money then. I would cycle down, first to Brown's the butchers, the first shop after the houses. Mr Brown who had huge butchers fingers would serve me liver, H-bone or chops and he would write how much I owed on a marble slab underneath the wrapping paper. At the end of the week he would expect the bill to be settled. Sometimes Mum had not given me enough, he wasn't happy then. Then I'd go into Ewins the grocers with a long list. I would wait in the queue then be served one item at a time. No supermarkets then. My friend at school was Barry Kitchener and his dad was the manager of the Co-op butchers round the corner in Dagenham Road. He lived over... Read more
