Grandparents Home

From a very young age I have cherished memories of visits and sleepovers at the big old Victorian-era home belonging to my grandparents in Ringwood Road, E17. The cosiness of it is hard to replace these days. We would sleep in my grandparents' big old bed in the main large bedroom. The home never had a bathroom installed so we would wash in the kitchen, in a portable tub, and we had to use the outside 'lav' which was a few feet from the back door. It always smelt of lavender pot pourri (Nan's favourite). My grandfather was a French polisher, and he had a big room where he kept all his vinyls and polishing 'stuff'. We were never allowed in that room, but I can smell the exact smell that would waft around the doorway, to this day. My grandmother had a very old rocking chair, that I always loved to sit in. In the hallway by front door was a big old conch shell, and I liked to hold it to my ear and hear the 'sounds of the ocean' in it... Our highlight of visits to Walthamstow were trips to Manzes, for the Eel and Pie....I hated eel so pie was my order...the green gravy (liquor) always fascinated me. In the High Street, when the market was on, we would take a long leisurely walk and look for bargains. We always made a beeline for the stall from the local candy store...selling coconut ice and fudge and nougat.