Memories of Romford

Warren Drive, Elm Park c1950
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I was born in 1940 at Recreation Avenue, London Road and have many happy memories of my birthplace. I attended London Road Junior School from 1946 to 1951 and remember three teachers as they were all vegatables, ie the headmaster was Mr Beans, the maths teacher was Mr Greens and the English teacher was Mr Onions. I came home through Spring Gardens in which there was Colverns factory. I spent many happy hours over Cottons recreation ground and used to get told off by the park keeper for walking across the putting green. I remember the tall slide in the playground and the zig zag which would probably be a health and safety issue today. We had our first television from Mr Maxted in London Road, a 9inch HMV, and sat around the 11 degree circle as we had a bullseye magnifiying glass fitted, watching Silvia Peters, Mary Malcom and Macdonald Hobley. I remember playing cricket and getting one on the head. I attended St Andrews Church Sunday School. I was always interested in railways and was often up the bank opposite the gasworks collecting steam engine numbers. In 1951 I went to St Edwards C of E School in the market place and remember playing a game which you could not today, we called it Fogee, due to the pea soupers we sometimes had before the Clean Air Act, one of us would get lost in the playground and we had a predetermined time to find them. Being a church school we had St Edward days off and other saints days, halfdays after attending church in the market. My father was a well known postman and I remember helping him on Sundays in areas such as Elm Park, rural Upminster, collecting mail three times on Sunday (then we had no email etc). I remember the 'flea pit' (cinema) in the market place where you were at risk of tripping up on the loose carpet if you attended the call of nature in the dark. We also had the Gaumont, Odeon and ABC cinemas in South Street. I was an ABC Minor and remember the 'Hopalong Cassidy' films etc. I used to go swimming before school at Mawney Road and remember the odd cockroach in the dressing rooms. We had a thriving market place and watched the cattle be sold on certain days. I remember the Batters footpath and was always frightened by the humming of the transformers near the station and had to watch out for the shunting loco going into the brewery. I remember the push and pull steam train to Upminster which I rode on many times. I was also interested in model railways and had on Christmas 1952 a clockwork Hornby 0 gauge set and had it running down the garden on Christmas Day (BRRRRR) . Later I graduated to 00 gauge with Hornby Dublo. I left school in 19955 and joined the Post Office as a messenger boy, then in 1960 I transferred to the telephone engineers. I got married in 1962, lived in south London then the Medway towns and in 1970 moved to West Midlands where we are today. Happy days, if anyone remembers me plese get in touch: bstrutt@blueyonder.co.uk