Crescent Way & Beyond

A Memory of Orpington.

My parents, sister Barbara and me, Brian, moved into 14 Oakleigh Gardens in 1938. Shortly afterwards Barbara and me enrolled at Warren Road School (the year it opened). Everything was perfect until 1939 when the Second World War broke out. We were too young to understand and headmaster Mr Stevens and his fantastic staff made sure things went on as usual. Air raid shelters were dug and many a lesson was held there. A bomb dropped in the school playing fields and blew all the windows out so we were unable to attend school. During this time lessons were held in people's houses. Barbara was evacuated to North Wales but I stayed at home with my mum as our dad was in the army. After the war in 1947 my father bought the Newsagents and Post Office on Crescent Way. My mother and father worked all hours running this 7-day-a-week business. In 1957 after I finished my National Service he asked if I would go into partnership with him to share the work. I jumped at the idea and we had the shop for 49 years until I was forced to sell up in 1996. I have lived in this area for 73 years and wouldn't live anywhere else.
Brian Lipscomb