Up The Hammers

A Memory of East Ham.

My grandfather, John Williams, lived in a victorian terraced house in Seymour Road with his parents and four brothers. The house was knocked down and replaced with the large block of flats you can see in the distance to the centre of the photograph. It stands right next to the Boleyn ground, West Ham United's stadium, which has been there for over a hundred years. My grandfather and his brothers were regular visitors to the ground, being avid fans, a tradition which he passed down to myself and more recently my son. As a boy one evening John and his brothers decided to honour the club by redecorating the football ground with colourful slogans such as 'Up the Hammers' only to be caught by the local bobby from Bow Street, who gave them a clip round the ear and made them repaint the ground as a punishment.