19 Colyton Way

A Memory of Purley on Thames.

A friend of the family introduced us to Purley. My father John Dighton, took over management of the grocery shop at 19 Colyton Way in 1952. I remember the water was from an outside type pump in the kitchen, and electicity from a huge noisy generator in a large shed at the back, and the floods every winter. My two brothers and I learnt to swim in the river. The house on stilts was freezing in winter and there was a bathroom but it was too cold to use (in winter). An old sailor called Cally, organised a fete on the river..we, all dressed as pirates ..fireworks let off and boats sunk in mock sea battle. Trainspotting ..last of the steam trains. When it snowed, we sledged down from the railway embankment thru the farm field and under the barb wire fence at the bottom..Great times!..We gave up the shop in about 1956 and moved to Caversham but my sister Mary, still lives in Purley. Tony Dighton