Romford
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Map of Essex
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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Romford books (6 available)
Romford memories
Read and share memories of Romford and Essex inspired by Frith photos
Memory Joggers
We moved to Romford in 1954. First we lived at Mawneys and attended the primary school there. In 1955 we moved to Oaks Avenue and I attended Pettits Lane Secondary Modern School. I left in 1959. The pillars just below the trees in the photo, was the gateway to the Whykam Hall which belonged to the church. I remember spending many happy times at the weekend dances. I could really Rock'n' Roll in those days! I used to go with my best friend Margaret Golding, who I sadly lost touch with. Another place I loved was the Nimbus dance hall. I believe it was above the Co-op at the top end of the market. HAPPY DAYS!
Contributed by Brenda Gower
Doing the Shopping
I lived a mile or so east of Rush Green, in Barton Avenue but my Mum would send me with a note to get the shopping for the family. She would give me sometimes had eight half crowns or £1 a lot of money then. I would cycle down, first to Brown's the butchers, the first shop after the houses. Mr Brown who had huge butchers fingers would serve me liver, H-bone or chops and he would write how much I owed on a marble slab underneath the wrapping paper. At the end of the week he would expect the bill to be settled. Sometimes mum had not given me enough, he wasn't happy then. ...read more here
Contributed by Tony Davis
First Home
I was born in Hornchurch in 1934, but my mother, father and myself were the first residents of 121 Warren Drive, Elm Park. My brother was born in the house at 121, in 1945. This is the last view I had of the street, as we left in a taxi, to sail to Canada in 1946. Made a brief visit to Warren Drive in 1956. I remember queuing up outside Meyers Greengrocers with my Mother to try and get a few oranges in 1940. I also attended Romford County High School for Girls for a year and a half. Other friends and myself used to play in the fields behind the house, which had corn growing in it. Also, the railings ...read more here
Contributed by First Name Last Name
Essex memories
Doing the Shopping
I lived a mile or so east of Rush Green, in Barton Avenue but my Mum would send me with a note to get the shopping for the family. She would give me sometimes had eight half crowns or £1 a lot of money then. I would cycle down, first to Brown's the butchers, the first shop after the houses. Mr Brown who had huge butchers fingers would serve me liver, H-bone or chops and he would write how much I owed on a marble slab underneath the wrapping paper. At the end of the week he would expect the bill to be settled. Sometimes mum had not given me enough, he wasn't happy then. ...read more here
A memory of Romford contributed by Tony Davis
Extracts From Romford & Essex books
Nestled in the rear slopes of the North Downs, the village derives its ancient name from the Saxon word ‘wudmeresthorn’, meaning ‘thornbush by the boundary of the wood’, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. This 1930s mock-Tudor shopping parade still stands on Rectory Lane as it winds its way south to the junction with the Chipstead Valley Road, where the buildings of the Woodmansterne Treatment Works, belonging to the Sutton and East Surrey Water Company, are just visible.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
Much of Banstead High Street was rebuilt during the 1920s with a series of shopping parades. The leafless lime tree in the middle distance occupies the spot where the village pond once existed, while All Saints’ churchyard is concealed behind the trees on the extreme right.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
The station, on the branch line from Sutton to Epsom Downs, opened in 1865, and the white stuccoed house, now a builder’s offices, dates from around the same time. The small confectionery kiosk was one of a trio servicing the requirements of commuters, with other branches at Sutton and Epsom. The roof of the station no longer bears the white lettering, and the building is almost a mile from the town centre itself. The road almost immediately makes another sharp bend over the railway line below, before passing the Cuddington Golf Clubhouse and continuing on to East Ewell.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
Originally founded for ladies in the autumn of 1890, the club admitted gentlemen to membership within a year, and from a tin hut close to Banstead Railway Station it moved to this site in Burdon Lane nine years later. A putting green was added in 1923, and further major development took place in the years after this photograph was taken.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
Situated on the corner of Sandy Lane, these courts, flanked by suburban houses, now form part of Cheam Fields Club. The pavilion in the background, although substantially altered, has also survived to the present day.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".