Hounslow In The 60s

A Memory of Hounslow.

Although I was born in Isleworth I went to school in Hounslow, firstly to Hounslow Town School in Pears Road in 1960 and then onto Bulstrode Girls school in 1964. We were the first class in the new school but started our first term in one of the huts as the new school was not completed. I remember there being a coal burner but it was always freezing. I don't think the kids of today would put up with it (I sound like my mum!) When I was in the fourth year at Hounslow Town we had a new girl from India, the first in our school, we were all very excited as we just knew that India was a country far away. When I was at Bulstrode we used to go out for lunch either to the fish and chip shop on the Hanworth Road, which is still there, and eat out lunch in Inwood Park or go to the restaurant in Macfisheries. I also remember going to the boating lake and the paddling pool in the summer holidays. I bought my first record in Memorydiscs on the corner of Douglas Road and my best friend (who is still my best friend) got her first job in the hairdressers next door called Nan Chadwick. As a young teenager there wasn't much choice for clothes shopping either Maddox, Paiges or another shop that I can't recell the name and also Edmunds the department store but that was a bit expensive. There was great excitement when two boutiques opened, one was called the Black Hole and the other, I think, was Hulabaloo in Bell Road. My first Saturday job was working in a fabric shop called Davis near the bus station - it's still there with the same name but not the same family running it. I used to have great nights out at the Ricky Tick which was above a car show room opposite the bus station. I was only 13 but looked older and you had to be 16 to get it but there was not proof of age asked for in those days. I saw some great acts there; Geno Washington, PP Arnold, Chris Farlow and Georgie Fame to name but a few. I would be interested to know if anyone else remember the club? I have fond memories of Hounslow and now live in Whitton. When I go shopping in Hounslow I despair to how it is now. One of the worse things they ever did was to pull down the Town Hall. I still think they should have preserved it and built the Treaty Centre where Asda is now.