Happy Days 1947 To 1958

A Memory of Harold Hill.

I have happy memories of living in one of the prefabs which were very up to date for that time as they included a fridge! I moved from London when I was 6 weeks old with my parents and my sister, Gloria, who was 7. We moved into 28 Marigold Close which backed onto open land as Hilldene had not been built. The prefabs were built around a green on which we all spent happy hours playing games. I attended Straight Road School which I believe was built by the Canadians at the end of the war. I can remember Mr Dutton the headmaster. My form teacher was Mr Stratton. Another teacher was Miss Carstairs. I understand that this school unfortunately burned down some years later. I also recall the shops in Briar Road, which included Brownings the sweet shop where I spent a joyful time amongst the sweets! My mother was the manageress of Spooners, the"oil shop" as it was referred to in those days. I fondly remember Dr Fyfe who had his surgery in that parade of shops. If you made too much noise waiting to see him he would tip everyone out saying that you could not be ill to make that much noise! There are so many happy memories of that time especially my friends on the estate, Anne Clark, Gena Laws, the Crow boys who love to throw worms at me, the Cousins who lived next door, the Smith girls and Raymond Attgood and the Sadlers. My best friend at school was Janice Mann. I also remember playing on the "bomb site" in Straight Road where the 174 stopped.
A special treat, on rare occasions, on a Saturday night in the summer, going to The Bear in Noaks Hill with my parents and sister. An extra treat was a glass of lemonade and a packets of crisps, with the salt in a blue bag, and watching the deer gallop across the fields.

---

---