Shanklin Road Prefabs In Belmont.
A Memory of Belmont.
I grew up in number 19 Shanklin Rd with my sister Margaret and my parents, my name was Jennifer Shave. We went to school in Cotswold Road until we were 11, the head mistress was Mrs Bickerstaff (nee Beal) and there were only 3 classrooms. Sports day was held on the downs and then later on the school field. I remember, all of the children used to play out in the street together, as there were very few cars and our road was a crescent . I can recall lots of names - Margaret and Lesley Beck, Kathleen Oram, Janis and Georgina Webb, Nina cox, Susan, Jackie and Angela Davis, Geoffrey winnings, Christopher Collingwood, Peter Florence, Philip Quick, Sandra Davies. It was a close knit community and people would look out for one another. We used to go round the block to collect conkers in the Autumn. We were members of the GLB which was held in the Methodist church hall and a lovely lady lieutenant Moffat, helped to run it. Happy days.
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Comments & Feedback
We moved into no 62 Shanklin Road, Belmont in 1947 when I was about 4 and a half years old. My step parents were named Norman and Gladys Ryan and they had a daughter born in 1949. Her name was Cheryl.
While attending Cotswold Road Primary school I started doing a morning paper round working for Rex's Newsagenvy on the corner of Brighton Road. I remember the delivery services of the day with milky in his electric cart, the coal man with his horse drawn cart. Like most of the prefabs we had the old shed towards the back of the house where the coal was dumped. Unfortunately I have no photos of the street but remember other kids named Christine Davis, Peter Land, Peter Flaunty and Jon Bilton. I left home in March 1959 when I went into the army as an army apprentice at AAS Chepstow. I remember quite clearly the layout of our prefab. Hope to hear some feedback
Mike Ryan
I moved on to Sutton West County Secondary School (boys only school) when I turned 11 and moved through the various levels until March 1959 when I signed on as an Army apprentice at the West Croydon Recruitment Office. I recall the milk issues to all children (One third of a pint bottle per child each day) and actually carried out the duties of a milk monitor on some occasions. We also got a cooked meal for a shilling a day in the assembly hall of the school. I occasionally got the task of setting up the tables and chairs in preparation, and of course, clearing up at the end of lunch time. During this period, I started working after school at the local Evening Standard office, located behind Sutton High Street. We’d collect the bundles of papers from the station and take them around to the office where they were run through a printing machine to add the latest race and sports results before we head out to all of the paper shops, kiosks and street sellers. I also started working at the local greengrocers on Saturday mornings, all of these jobs were as well as going to school Monday through to Friday
My parents moved from the prefab to a terrace house at Rosehill whilst I was in the army.