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Hampstead, Heath from Parliament Hill 1898
Hampstead, Heath from Parliament Hill 1898 Ref: 41600
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 Swiss Cottage, Finchley and Frognal Station c1965 (ref: S650016) |
Year: 1945
Born in Hampstead 3rd October 1945 A memory of Swiss Cottage, London Towards the end of the Second World War my parents met and married while on active service in Egypt. As soon as my mother knew she was expecting me, the Royal Air Force sent her back to England on a troopship and she was welcomed by her mother-in-law who she had never previously met! They had a flat together in Walm Lane Cricklewood so when it was time for me to enter the world they found a nearby nursing home - no National Health Service in those far off days! And so it was that I was born in 85 Fordwych Road and my birth certificate records it as "Hampstead, Middlesex". These days it is no longer Hampstead but just part of the London Borough of Camden!! I am proud of my Hampstead roots although I suppose I should also consider the fact that I was conceived in Africa!! I remember a lot about the area including the bomb damage from the war, the trolley buses and the infamous London smogs of the 1940's and 1950's. When my father returned from the war we moved away but I continued to visit the area as my grannie lived there until the 1960's and an uncle managed an optician's shop in nearby Finchley. Posted: 21/08/2008 15:03 by John Howard Norfolk |
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Year: 1965
Life in Kilburn A memory of Kilburn, London I was born in 1956 in Albert Road, Kilburn and lived in the area until I was 15. I remember the community as one that was very close knit, you would walk out of your door and say hello to everyone you passed, young or old. My dad came from a large family (Holder) and we all lived within a very small radius. I was privileged to have attended St John's primary school with the fantastic and eccentric Mr Kinsman as the Head and the great Mrs Chiltern. He made school so enjoyable, I can remember making pancakes (with the help of Mr K and 'another ' kid) and jacket potatoes for the whole school in the tiny, dark staff room. He would take me out of class with another kid and get us to polish his office and have a tidy up. Mr Caldera would go mad and have a good old swear up under his breath when he done this. I'm sure many pupils would remember at the end of a hot summer's day when school had finished we would all change into our costumes and line up against the playground wall and he would drench us with the hose, all screaming louder than the next. My cousin Kim (another one) and I visited Mrs Chiltern at her flat in Maida Vale until her death in about 1997. She was a fantastic teacher, real old school. She would send a couple of us out for her lunch (a cheese roll and a tiffin bar) and she would treat us with sixpence for doing so! We would skip all the way to the market (the precinct) loving the fact that we were the 'chosen ones' to do her errands. This just wouldn't happen today, it's a pity our kids can't have that freedom. Another 'special place' in Kilburn at that time was the Oxford & Kilburn (OK) club. Kids from surrounding areas would visit, it was that special. The people who ran it were brilliant, very patient people. They provided sport, music, food and 'Syd' the ghost! The club had a great football team and were well known in the local areas. When we left Kilburn for Wembley in about 1971, the leaders of the club (which was run by young Christian members) would take me and my sister Julie all the way home to Wembley at about 10 pm in the evening just so that we could still come to the club. Living in London was good then and I'm glad I was brought up there with the market, the pie & mash, my family dotted all around. It's a shame those good things about a community have to change for the worse, I couldn't live in London today and prefer to see a bit of green. But I'll always have those happy, happy memories. If anyone reading this has some photos of the school or club, please contact me through this site, I would love to reminisce and have a look. Last edited: 10/11/2008 08:35 by Kim Brown |
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Year: 1920s
Oh Happy Days A memory of Kilburn, London I was born in Kilburn in Plympton Road on 2nd May 1928 and went to school at Christ Church School and then Salisbury Road School. What a lovely place Kilburn was in those days with the iron railings and gates on every house and our mums scrubbing the steps and whiting them every week. Our front door keys were left in the locks of the front door with no problems of anybody taking advantage. All the boys and girls in Plympton Road were friends, Tommy Edwards, Richard Roberts, Desmond Mosedale, Marie Douglas from no. 7 and Doris Donaldson from no. 15 I think, the Jefferys from Plympton Avenue, Pat Penny (my first girlfriend), to name just a few. Loads of us until the war came along and we were all evacuated to different parts. Came back home and joined the Civil Defence as a messenger but did a lot of rescue work as I was small, and it is funny how all that remained in one's memory throughout all of your life. One had to get on with it in those days, no counselling, not like today, if you get a sore thumb through typing you get awarded thousands of pounds. I remember in the 1930s when I think Willesden became a borough and as school children we all got awarded a medal commemorating it and also a book, I still had the medal but gave it to my grandson with some old coin collection I had accumulated. I got married and moved to the Edgware Road to a block of flats (Gilbert Sheldon House) and subsequently moved to Bedford. I came through Kilburn with my brother and sister in later years and was shocked by the difference of what it used to be. Oh dear me, what a disaster. Absolutely nothing to what it used to be. I believe the three of us cried buckets that night. To think what we had done in the past to make it a desirable neighbourhood. I now live in Spain. Last edited: 14/04/2008 13:15 by William Bowling |
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 Kilburn, State and High Road c1965 (ref: K153020) |
Year: 1951
Born but not bred A memory of Kilburn, London Born to Kathleen Leniston, and Ned Leniston July 1951 in Torbay Road, to the glorious rolling green fields (joke) of Kilburn. There were still bloody big holes where buildings used to be, thanks to Mr Hitler's town planning arrangments for London. The family loved Kilburn so much, we promptly moved to Colindale, then to Dartmouth Road, West Hendon; see the connection, from Torbay, to Dartmouth. If you think that's a coincidence, I now live in the West Country. However, we were not completely finished with Kilburn quite yet. My mother, with me in tow, seemed to haunt the Kilburn high road in those far off days of the late 50s and early 60s, almost every Saturday. And on some Sundays, I was forced to visit mother's friends and relatives all scrubbed up, in a white starched shirt and tie with elastic round the collar (no knots to worry about), polished shoes, and grey flannel shorts. All mum's friends seemed to be Irish, but then so was my now deceased father who died when I was 18 months old. Mother (never one to hang about ) married again, the local postman, Len Coster, from Kilburn sorting office. I left London 40 years ago. Last edited: 29/02/2008 09:35 by First Name Last Name |
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Kilburn, State and High Road c1965 (ref: K153020) |
Year: 1940s
Cricklewood and Kilburn area A memory of Kilburn, London I was born in this area in 1939 and lived in Cricklewood until 1955 when we moved to Dollis hill (Hamilton Road). We were in Olive Road throughout the war and would shelter in the street shelter and sometimes in Smiths (near what was Rolls Razor on the Broadway near the Bus Garage).I remember the Queen's cinema on the Broadway and the Crown(which is still there. The 16 bus ran to Kilburn where I went to school from 11yrs-16 yrs. In those years the cinemas were the Ionic,the Grange the Essoldo and the State. My parents were both born in Kilburn and never moved far from their roots. When I married,I moved away to South London but I was never happy there and in 1976,I came back to North London and here I have stayed! I have returned to Mora road school and to St Michaels church,it hasn't changed much.I remember the bomb that dropped in Ivy road,killing several people.I remember the artillery battery in Gladstone Park,the collection of iron railings and gates,shrapnel,the bitter winter of 1947 when icicles formed on everything. I remember St Andrews Hospital in Dollis hill lane,the Hub in Gladstone Park and the skating rink on Cricklewood Broadway not to mention the snooker hall over Burton's! There were 'prefabs' by the Library and the squatters huts just inside the park-both remained there long after the war. What about the Sunday school outings to Southend where the tide was always out and the teatime buns were always stale! Good days,though remembered with much pleasure.Carters,the stationer is still on the Broadway to this day as is the Post Office (but not the Sorting office) and Barclays bank. Lyons teashops,liptons,Hillmans,the Co-op,Pearks,the United dairies,Jackmans,Debroys and the fish and chip shop have all gone as has a way of life. Posted: 03/02/2008 22:35 by Valerie Clemens |
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