Unchanged Northwood !

A Memory of Northwood.

We moved to Northwood in 1978 and the shops in Green Lane were pretty much like this view. Maybe there were yellow lines on the road to stop parking! Just beyond the lorry on the right of the picture was a small department store which I recall had a toy department downstairs - our young son David bought a stuffed toy rabbit there in 1980. He will be 31 next month (February 2008) and I think we still have that rabbit tucked away in a cardboard box for our granddaughter Annalise to play with!  Further down the road on the right is Oaklands Gate - a short cul-de-sac leading to the library and the Methodist Church. In the late 1970s the minister here was the Reverend Ernest Goodridge - a kind and caring priest who worked extremely hard and well for the benefit of the 6th Northwood Scout Group in particular. There was a fine community spirit at this time in Northwood but sadly the madly escalating property prices of the area have rather spoiled this as the continuity of the next young generation living where they grow up is no longer possible.  In 1982 we moved home just a few miles to Oxhey Village but I still enjoy occasional return trips to look around old Northwood haunts.