Growing Up In Staines

A Memory of Staines.

I was born at 30,Cherry Tree Ave , in 1940 ,being a war baby we grew up hearing the sirens ,my mother would pull down the Blackouts ( like a roller blind but covered in a thick black material) then many children would come to our house and we would all scamper under the big table( which had steel over the top and down the sides) it was an indoor shelter,it never seemed to worries us,just thought that when the sirens went off it was what you did,went to Wyatt Road School,on my tricycle,went down Commercial Road when it was a muddy track, the river was not near Commercial Road,then on to Kingston Road school ,that was great fun as the playground faced the main road,when it was Ascot Races we would watch the big black cars taking all the people to the races, Mr Wenmoth and Mr Everitt were teachers there, on a warm sunny day we would use the bus fare home to go to Pats the sweet shop and buy a lolly ( that the lady had made) that was our 1 penny bus fare spent ,so we had to walk home,along KingstonRoad,over the bridge and past Stainash crescent with the shops, where were many shops and one was a toy shop,i used to look in the window and see if they had any china (not real china more a quick plaster) dolls,as I only had a rag doll with a cellaphane face) one day I was looking and they were all sat on the shelf,I could not run home quick enough to tell my mother that Mr Perry had got the dolls in,I remember my mother putting her coat on and we hurried back to Mr Perrys,now I had to chose which one I wanted,after a little while I chose one and called her Tina ,she was my pride and joy, then it was onto Matthew Arnold School, Mrs Oag was my teacher,a really wonderful time I had there,the domestic science ( miss Heath and miss Diamond were the teachers) needlework classes run by ( Mrs Rathborne) and ( miss Plevia) taught music, when I was about to leave school my mother saw an advert in the Staines &Egham News ,a new fashion shop was advertising for staff,it was an a Friday so I had to ask Miss Avery ( the headmistress ) if I could have time off to go,but she was not pleased," I want you to take the pitmans course " she said,but I could never see my self working in an office,so I said " i really want to go to see if I can be part of the staff" so off I went with my mother to the Angel Hotel ,it was opposite debenhams, about nine lady's were there and we all went in to be interviewed one by one,we all got the jobs we went for,mine was the window dresser, Jax was the stores name,it was opposite Woolworth ,when I removed the clothes from the window ( every two weeks) the window cleaner named Bill, came and cleaned inside the window,he was a nice man, used to tell me all the news,and how all the dress shops were worried about Jax taken all there customers, always went to the regal or majestic cinema on a Sat night, such happy times,Janet Mains ( ne Tucker)