Wembley

A Memory of Wembley.

I was born in Park Royal Hospital in Dec 1948. I remember Woolworths in Wembley town had an exit on a corner of the high street and there were trolley buses all round. We used to shop for toys and games in George Arthur's which seemed huge to me at the time. Cinemas always had a nylon sort of smell about them. My school was Oakington Manor - infants and juniors. Yes, we had small bottles of milk each day and the big brass bell would be rung to get us back into classes. We were taught using Dobbin the horse, Daisy the cow etc and Janet and John books. Also in the town there was a place which advertised Victor Sylvester dancing lessons. I was near the railway station as I recall. Ballroom dancing was all the rage at that time. I do not remember ever seeing a policeman in the town, they were just talked about as being helpful if you were lost or something. Of course if you heard the police it would be a ringing bell not a siren then.
The milkman used to call each day. He had a cart, it looked like he was pulling it along by an elephant's trunk. There must have been a starting switch at the end which he held with his hand. It looked so funny. The baker used to call and also the fizzy drink man with loads of crates of limeade, cherryade etc. My aunty used to follow the rag and bone man after the horse and cart had gone so she could pick up the manure for her roses. We lived in Wiggington Avenue with her at that time.
The washing was done in a big copper. If you haven't seen one, it looks like a big tube on three legs. The mangle was used to ring out the clothes. There was always washing hanging up on indoor lines during the winter. No central heating. Ice on the insides of the windows on frosty mornings, and Mum had to light the fire with coal coke or anthracite, the latter I think was like slate. My dad used to take me to Wembley stadium to see the dogs. They used to run on the outer perimeter and football took place inside that perimeter. No dog track there now. If I looked out of my bedroom window past the back fence and over the allotments I could see Stonebridge Park Station. It was all lit up at night. To reach the station we had to pass over a bridge. It wasn't very pretty. Wire fencing quite high on either side. Sometimes when we were waiting for our train to Harlesdon I would see a huge black steam train on the other platform. It made a large hissing noise and I was quite scared of it at the age of 7 or years. A chiropodist lived at the top of our road and the optician round the corner. I always thought it strange to be going to someone's house to have my eyes tested. The dentist in the high street in Wembley town was like we still have now. Our next door neighbour had a telephone which was very swanky. No one had a car or telephone as a norm. It was so special she covered it up with a porcelain doll so that its skirt covered the phone. It was big as it had the old fashioned dialling system. Telephones in the high street had button A and button B. I think button B gave you your money back but I did not use phones at that age. When my aunty died my mum who was 82 was left the house. We went back to clear it etc. My aunty's very high double bed had been changed for a single. The coal burner which supplied hot water was now electric and the garden looked like a jungle. There are many more nationalities living in Wigginton Avenue now. I had not seen Wembley for 47 years. Silly to expect it to look the same isn't it. I have many more memories but you might well be bored by now. Maybe you remember some of the things mentioned.

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