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Purley / Woodcote 1960's

A Memory of Purley.

We lived at 18 The Bridle Road (off Foxley Lane) for many years. Attended Collingwood Boys' School (Wallington) - great school for punishments; Woodcote Secondary (like a holiday camp after Collingwood) and Purley Grammar School (Old Coulsdon - now demolished?). Remember walking home in the evenings after school with Whitmore, whose father was producer of Blue Peter at that time. We both had wonderful paper-rounds from the village shop at Woodcote (Lord Roberts) - delivering to the beautiful houses in Silver Lane; South Border; Rose Walk etc in the years before it was rather spoilt by speed bumps and gates. Later delivered papers for WH Smiths (Russell Road, Purley) - sometimes did 3 rounds on a Sunday. Yes, Purley was very pleasant in those days - now it seems to be just Sainsburys; Banks and Building Societies. Anyway we eventually moved to Horsham (still a great place); where Mum and Dad died. Since then had 15 years in Stratford upon Avon; 10 years in Saudi Arabia (which I still miss) and 11 years in the Highlands of Scotland (no to independence please!) running a hotel/guest house - grandparents on father's side originated in Stonehaven near Aberdeen.

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Added 17 September 2013

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Comments & Feedback

Hi Douglas! I remember you as a classmate at Woodcote School, Meadow Rise. (I used to sit next to Peter Whitmore in maths, and also visited his home quite often). Liked your memories of those 'private' streets around Woodcote - very classy. For a while I was Saturday boy at Stoat's Nest Off Licence and we did deliveries to those posh houses. I live in Australia now, but during occasional visits to family in Coulsdon, I notice the changes and agree that both Purley and Coulsdon have declined from being busy and diverse shopping towns to mostly estate agents and fast food outlets. But the lovely countryside nearby can still be found. At school lunchtimes I used to borrow a bike (yours?) and cycle to places like Oaks Park which is still a lovely green oasis to enjoy. Since qualifying and moving to Sydney, I've had a range of jobs with postings to places including Antarctica, and Seattle. Regards to all ex-Coulsdonites. Dr Phil Crosby

By Phil Crosby on Fri Sep 30th 2016, at 4:29 am

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