Forty Hill
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Forty Hill books (18 available)
Forty Hill memories
Read and share memories of Forty Hill and London inspired by Frith photos
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London memories
Whitewebbs Lake and Second Woods
Wonderful walks from Clay Hill, past the golf course and on over the bridge on the stream and up through the woods. Little children with their mothers clutching bags of bread to feed the ducks and swans on the lake. An adventure for any small child.
One winter the lake froze over completely and we were able to skate on the lake and also feed the hungry ducks and swans. Unfortunately in the late 1950s one of the swans died and although many attempts were made to introduce another swan, it would not be accepted as swans mate for life.
Across Flash Lane lay "second woods" and we as children used to pick blackberries and find our way ...read more here
A memory of Enfield contributed by Roger Davis
Rose and Crown
The area where the Rose and Crown public house is situated was initially known as the "Bridge Street" hamlet. It is one of the very old inns of Enfield situated at the hollow between Whitewebbs Park and Hilly Fields. The road running at the rear of the inn towards Whitewebbs House is or was called "Bullbeggars Hollow".
The Rose and Crown has an interesting history as it was once owned by a Mr. Nott, who was Dick Turpin's grandfather. Dick Turpin being one of England's most notorious Highwaymen. On the wall of the Rose and Crown, between the second window from the bridge and the original doorway there is an iron ring where it is possible that Dick Turpin tied ...read more here
A memory of Enfield contributed by Roger Davis
Hilly Fields
Situated at the top of our road, as young children Hilly Fields was something quite magical. During winter time we would trek our home made sledges over to toboggan hill and hurtle down to the brook at the bottom of the hill at breakneck speeds. Summer time, climbing trees, fishing for stickle backs in the brook. The game known to us as "jumping dags" which entailed jumping over the brook without getting your feet wet, but many a time falling in and getting soaked. The park keepers hut next to the putting green where you could play 18 holes for 3d, followed by an ice lolly for 1d from "Gaylers" the shop then attached to The Rose and Crown. The glorious ...read more here
A memory of Enfield contributed by Roger Davis
Lancaster Road.
Henry Waits the butchers, small shops that sold sweets from a jar and fireworks. Penny for the guy, small children waiting at bus stops with the 128, 231 and 144B to try and pry a penny towards fireworks. Girlfriend (Rose Gritty) down Drake Street. Rag and Bone merchant towards 'The Hop Poles' pub. Doing the weekly shopping on my bicycle and taking everything home in a couple of shopping bags hanging on the handlebars. Going down early in the morning to collect the papers from Wilmotts to do my morning paper round when I was only 10 years old. The oil shop at the bottom of Browning Road and next door the 'Seed Shop' for flower pots and garden plants. Gosetts, ...read more here
A memory of Enfield contributed by Roger Davis
Extracts From Forty Hill & London books
High Street North is a
relatively undistinguished
and typical London
suburban shopping street:
the exuberance of the Town
Hall complex is forgotten.
The Midland Bank on the
corner of Caulfield Road
(right) is one of their 1920s
Classical-style single-storey
buildings that add quality to
many High Streets. On the
left the taller Victorian brick
buildings were demolished
in the 1970s and replaced
by bland flat roofed ones.
An extract from from"London Living Memories".
We pass under the River Thames via the Blackwall Tunnel - the northbound side dates from the 1890s, an early
project of the LCC, which was established in 1888. East Ham was in Essex until 1965, but since the mid 19th
century very much a part of greater London. Here we approach East Ham’s town centre along the busy North
Circular Road, which seems in places merely a casual linkage of suburban roads. These terraces of neat
Edwardian bay-windowed houses survive, and lead towards the Town Hall with its tower.
An extract from from"London Living Memories".
Our tour now heads north-east to Greenwich to a much grander building. The Royal Naval Hospital, a
counterpart to the Chelsea Hospital for soldiers, began as a rebuild of Greenwich Palace by Charles II in the
1660s, but it changed direction in the 1690s. The second pediment from the right is Webb’s 1660s work. In
1873 it became the Royal Naval College; when that closed, in the 1990s it became part of Greenwich University.
In the distance are the chimneys of Greenwich Power Station of 1902-10.
An extract from from"London Living Memories".
St John’s Church, by Benjamin Ferrey, was completed in 1853 as the centrepiece of Angell Town. It has a fine
Perpendicular-style tower with chequer-work battlements and elegant corner pinnacles. The 1850s houses
between it and the photographer were demolished in the 1970s and replaced by a large council housing estate,
Peckford Place. The lime trees in front of the church survive, and have matured well.
An extract from from"London Living Memories".
Angell Town was an estate of 1850s Italianate villas, mostly semi-detached, built on curving roads centred on St
John’s church, whose 1853 tower is crowned by four pinnacles. This view is from an upper balcony of Eldon
House, one of the eleven-storey blocks of council flats built c1960 on the Loughborough Estate. Nearly all the
villas have since been demolished and replaced by four-storey council flats in yellow stock brick. In the distance
we can see the Houses of Parliament, the Victoria Tower and Big Ben.
An extract from from"London Living Memories".