Barnes How It Used To Be

our family moved to Barnes in 1954. I must agree with all the comments which say it was a great place to live as a kid. I went to the Sacred Heart school in Roehampton, so I am less familiar with the Sacred Heart in Barnes. Where was that ? We used to go down to the library most weeks, and I got through every book I could find on cricket. That's what we played on th common - never any trouble there, although we used to get into trouble ourselves. In the 1950s there were unoccupied houses in Ranelagh Avenue, which had been unoccupied since the war, and they were always fun to investigate, to find old newspapers, and sometimes the odd coin.
We also played in the overgrown area opposite Ranelagh Gardens(it is a different name now). Parents would be shocked to know how much time we spent in that place. I recall a pond with a dodgy bridge, a disused swimming pool, and lots of overgrown trees and shrubs.
And of course, we were never far from the Thames.
The sweet shop at the end of Ranelagh gardens was run by Mr Maynard, and I could not believe it when I once visited my gran and grandad, and found he had a shop where they lived in Ashtead.
Fun times. I did enjoy the school and Cubs at St Osmonds back then. No homework - but we still learned, and in classes of 50.
Happy days. Not well off, but still remembered with fondness.