East End Born

A Memory of Canning Town.

I was born at 162 malmesbury road in a house that backed on to the goods yard and shunting yards associated with Stratford railway works..this location provided a battle ground fought over by the Loco drivers maintaining a head of steam and my mother drying nappies ,no pampers in those days.
Relations by the name of Mc Williams lived in Percy Road 12 children,and we all frequented Rathbone street shops and stalls.acess was across the busy BarkingRoad but was always assisted by a policeman with outstretched arms with white cuffs who held up the traffic.
One stall sold glasses of Sassperella cold in summer and hot in winter and at the bottom of the street was a council depot with two magnificent steam rollers .
I went to Star lane school and remember Peggy leggy steps a foot bridge over the railway lines where again it was a case of seeing who could move the fastest before you got a blast of steam up your legs.
Polution became very bad with the glassworks , gasworks,and other industries that we moved to a new estate in Kent.my e mail address is g.olmit@btinternet.com.

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