Wembley In The 50s

A Memory of Wembley.

I was born in 1948, and we lived in Nettleden Avenue, Wembley, until I was about 11. My sister and I went to Oakington Manor primary school. The head was Miss Taber and we learnt to read from a series of books called Old Lob, about an old farmer and his animals. I would ride my bike around the stadium area where the Olympics and British Empire exhibition had taken place. Every year we used to go up to the Harrow Road to see the Queen waving from her car as she went to the Cup Final. There was a a Woolworths, M & S, British Home Stores, and a model shop called Wally Kilminster at the Triangle, where you could buy fascinating stuff like model trains, balsa wood aeroplanes and catapult elastic! We used to go to the library at Barham Park, or there was a travelling library every week (or fortnight?) parked in St Michaels Avenue. We would go to the Saturday Matinee film show at the cinema in the High Road for a few pence, and see cartoons and childrens' film series. We moved to Hendon, then Willesden Green. Now I live in Finchley, and occasionally drive round Wembley - how it's changed!