Growing Up In Hatfield

A Memory of Hatfield.

I was born in Barnet, but we lived on Hatfield Garden Village estate from 1949. My mother still lived there until July last year where she died peacefully in her chair. Over the sixty years I have seen many changes, most of them disappointing. I remember Hatfield Common before they built the shopping precinct in the 1960s. The White Lion pub, Blue Seas fish and chip shop and Dollimore's the greengrocer's shop, Tingey's, Williams Brothers, Mandley and Sparrow. All these shops and pub now sadly gone. The town centre is a mere shadow of its former self. Shame. Brother Alan and I used to spend a lot of time in Hatfield Park, climbing over the old tank that used to be there or walking all the way down to Mill Green and back. We both went to Green Lanes School, which celebrated its 70th birthday last December. I was very glad that I attended. The old building still there but with many additions - a real success story. So many memories of Mr. Brown (headmaster)and Mrs. Flatman (she taught music and singing and I have never forgotten her). I was horse mad in the 1960s and went to Warrenwood Stables, near Essendon, to learn to ride. It was so lovely, I can even remember all the horses' names and my teachers, Ray Attwell, Pat Reynolds and Brenda. Every Saturday was taken up with horses and in the holidays I used to cycle there to help in the week. I grew out of my passion and soon left school (Burleigh), now under a housing estate and went to work at Hawker Siddeley Dynamics, Manor Road. I spent five years there and had a great time. Rising from Mailing Sssistant to Secretary. The social club was brilliant and spent nearly every evening there. I was in the Netball team, Darts Team, Stage Production Society or just propping up the bar. Now even all that's gone, but I still have very fond and vivid memories of growing up in Hatfield.

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