Growing Up In East Ham

A Memory of East Ham.

We moved to East Ham from Bow when I was about 3 years old. I lived in Clements Road  there was Mum and Dad, Nan and Grandad and my brother. I went to Lathom School, where I met my first love. I also remember Mr Cordwell and Miss Gardener, teachers at Lathom, popular rumours were they were cousins, I also seem to remember they also smoked in the classroom but could be mistaken as the memory does play tricks at times.

I spent lots of time over at the 'Reck', also on the train bridge watching the steam trains passing underneath. Also remember jumping on a bus to go to Wanstead Flats and going to Wanstead Park. My Uncle Ernie was a bus conductor so the bus rides were free. Also Plashet Park and the East Ham Boxing Club bring back fond memories.

Sometimes we went to the Town Hall to have a swim in the  baths, there was a small pool for little 'uns and the big pool for everyone else, complete with 3 diving boards, which you could do bombs from.

My dad had an allotment at Beckton right by the level crossing, I remember pushing the cart full of veggies from the allotment back home, what a walk!

I remember the High Street with the fruit & veg shop, the off licence, M&S, the Black Lion pub where I used to drink at 15, the Denmark pub, the big Co-op opposite the town hall and of course the ice cream shop, just on the corner of Burgess Road and the taxi yard by the side of East Ham station. A little further along was Caters, the shop where the ham was cut from the bone, and at the time there were so many exotic goodies, then we come to the market where I had on various occasions had 3 Saturday jobs, one with the Snow Brothers butchers at the top of the road leading to the market, the next at the toy shop at left past the Cafe in the market and the last at the butcher facing you as you entered the market, it was called Newhams.

Such happy times!