Keir Hardie Way

A Memory of Southall.

I grew up in Keir Hardie Way, near Barnhill School & The Greenway from 1953 - 1966 (we then moved to Surrey). I went To Hayes Park School then Mellow Lane School. Keir Hardie Way, Atlee Road, Bondfield, Kingshil Avenue etc.. were our childhood haunts. Best of all was The Greenway which was all fields & the brook. It was like living in the countryside and in those days, safe. I went back to look a few years ago and was surprised at how nice everything looked and The Greenway is still thankfullly greenbelt land. It was a new council estate when we moved there and except for a couple of 'problem' families all the houses and public gardens were well kept, everyone had jobs and took a pride in their homes. We were fortunate enough to buy a house in Surrey and left the area (a whole different world in those days), but many of the children I grew up with in Hayes have done well in life, went to university and /or had good careers. It looks as if many of the houses there have been bought privately but I expect some are still council owned. It was certainly nothing like the huge 'sink estates' in many urban areas now, people had aspirations and wanted their children to 'improve' themselves. Happy memories.