Lucien Road

A Memory of Tooting.

I lived in Lucien Road for sixty five years until two years ago. My memories start when I was about five with my dear old dad taking me out on his barrow to sell firewood - I thought it was great fun. Also, my mum taking me to haylocks at the bottom of Church Lane - I think it's a curry house now. I used to play out in the street all the time and my friends were Helen Little, Anne O'Connor, Brian Curtis, Terry Sheehan (not sure if that's the correct spelling). We often got in trouble playing knock down ginger and there was a certain house we called the 'haunted house' (it was no 81, I think) and as kids we were terrified of it. I went to Hillbrook School and then to Gatton Road, not a very good school as I left school not knowing a lot, still I haven't done bad. When I was sixteen I used to go to the Locarno in Streatham with my friend Sheila Winters, who also lived in Lucien Road. We thought we were the bees knees with our beehive hairdoos and mini skirts. Because money was short and I wanted bleached hair I mixed Daz with peroxide and it worked! My mum said all my hair would fall out when I was older - it never has, ha ha. I had another friend called Joan Hiller who lived in Lessingham Avenue and we remain friends now. Another friend was Rita Harris who lived in Coteford or Cowick (?) she was as mad as I was and we had great fun. I can remember her grabbing a chandelier and swinging from it in the Wheatsheaf pub..happy days. I then moved onto the Kings Head and found a boyfriend (Ray Hopgood was his name) and he lived in Franche Court Road, Tooting. Finally met my husband, Allan Clark, a mitcham boy. Still together 48 years later, think I need a gold medal for that. Jan Clark (nee Butt).