Childhood Memories

Lived in Mitcham from 1939 to 1947 at Fleming Mead with mother Eleanor (Nellie),father Joseph and brother John Butler. I remember father was in army and went abroad. I attended Bond School and remember stopping off to buy an oxo cube to eat on the way.We had an air raid shelter in the garden and played on Mitcham common. Left Mitcham when parents divorced and went to live at Boxhill. Mother later married Harold Smith who also came from Mitcham. Trying to do family tree so would appreciate any information about Butlers

sorry forgot to add my name frank butler I use wife's e mail address

Mitcham Common, Seven Islands......

Living on Commonside East this was a wonderful playground for a child, I spent endless hours over there fishing (well sort of), den building, tree climbing and riding my pushbike. Remember of an evening sometimes in the summer would walk over there and up to the top of the hill and look through his binoculars to St Helier, across to Croydon and Croydon in the other direction and then to the Post Office tower and the London skyline to the north. In the hot summers we used to have I remember the Fire Brigade being called often to go and beat out bush fires. And for a kick about there was the football pitches, my dad and i always used to drive along to Watneys Road and play up along there. Remember being kept wake some nights by the foxes screaming, then you had the Circus, the Fair, very happy memories of Mitcham Common.

Reading all these comments has left me with a bit of a lump in me throat. I was born in a nissen hut in Ivy gardens, Wide way, Pollards Hill in 1947. We moved into a prefab in southhampton gardens on the pollards hill housing estate around 1949. In 1950 we moved to my grandparents house in Castleton road, commonside east. Once old enough Mitcham common was our playground. I remember fishing in the one island pond as well as the seven. The seven island pond is where I caught my first pike on a mackerel spinner. The one island had an enormous Carp which had the name of "Old Mose". Try as we might we never caught him, now gone into legend me thinks. I went back to the old places last year and hardly recognised it. I know that time must move on but !!!. My beloved common has had much earthwork applied to it in the form of land fill. The one island pond is still there but no one fishing. We were sometimes shoulder to shoulder. Ho Hum. I remember huge lavender hedges on many of the properties in Castleton road. I have never seen the like since. I would like to grow one of these for old time's sake but I expect they are long gone now. My name is Chris Everett. I attended Sherwood park junior school, and then on to Pollards Hill secondary modern as it was then called.

I have lived in New Zealand for nearly sixty years but was born in St Heliers Hospital in 1948. We lived in a nissen hut in Ivy Gardens in my early years and moved to a Council house in Tavistock Crescent. We lived there till my family emigrated to New Zealand in 1958.
I did all my English schooling at Alfred Mizen where I met a good friend David Butler who lived in Wide way. We have kept in touch over the years and have met up again in England and in NZ during holidays. David and his wife now live in North Devon.
My wife and I have been back to the UK several times and have visited Mitcham on several occasions and have noticed a lot of changes over the years, like the blocks of multi
story flats off South lodge Avenue disappearing.
I still love the place and think of it often.

Coming back to my memories of Mitcham. I also remember fishing shoulder to shoulder in the One Island pond, but then again that was back in 1957/58. I also remember playing with mates at an redundant anti-aircraft area, (well that's what we thought it was) surrounded by a eight foot high chain-link fence on the common, amongst a copse of trees. We played in tunnels and slit trenches after forcing our way in, through the rusty fence.
I remember Alfred Mizen School well, some of my mates were David Butler, Colin Comber and a very pretty girl called Sally Fraser, who my wife and I, met up with again in 2007. Sally now lives in Merton.
Ken Thackeray

Chris, I remember you from Pollards Hill. Did you play the trombone? I remember your friend, tall and thin but can't recall his name (Stent?) My name is David Butler, lived in Wide Way next door to the Baptist Church, left Pollards in 1964. Trying to find out anything about the Deputy Head Mrs Quorman (?)

Frank, my name is David Butler and lived in Wide Way around the same time you were there, but do not remember your family at the moment. We lived next door to the Baptist Church (108 and 126 Wide Way). There was another Butler family that lived at 26 Wide Way, Geoffrey and Christine Butler also at Pollards Hill at the same time as me, I left 1964. My friends were Alan Beckley, Colin Turner, John Jarrett.

I recall the same happy days on the common. What is your name? I am David Butler and lived in Wide Way, went to Alfred Mizen Primary, left Pollards Hill Secondary School in 1964, Church of the Ascension, cubs and scouts and youth Club.

Hello Ken, fancy meeting you here!!! Looking forward to our next meeting. How is Darlene? North Devon is beautiful at the moment with the autumn leaves and nip in the air thinking of you as you begin your summer. Kind regards David and Judy

Hi again David
We seem to run into each other in the strangest places ! ! ! Is your friend Alan Beckley from Carisbrooke Road ? The Beckley family lived over the back fence from our house in Tavistock Cres. My sister and I played with the Beckley's when we were kids. Darlene is fine and both of us are fully retired now ! I don't remember the Beckley's from school, but maybe they were a bit further up-market than us lot at Alfred Mizen. I have spoken to Peter Hemmings on the phone but have never met up with him.
We don't have any more trips to the UK in the pipeline, but we did visit our sons family in the Australian Northern Territory outback, where he is a police officer in 2017 and again earlier this year (2018) in conjunction with a trip to Singapore and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), a hot sticky time was had by all !
Kind regards Ken and Darlene.