Urchins

A Memory of Chigwell Row.

Living on Hainault estate 1947 Chigwell was part of the area we roamed
Opposite the paper shop.
Was Retreat Way at the end by the forest Was the Retreat pub, but no music allowed ,next door was was a hall but could not sell alcohol so tenants from Hainault all ex Londoners Who liked singing would buy drink in the Retreat and sing and dance in the Hall I know because my sister and I would stand outside listening to my mum singing Kay Starr songs Yrs later I would frequent the Retreat,then it was the in pub,Why because Bobby Moore Geof Hurst etc would drink in there.Leaving The Retreat at a junction with Lambourne Rd ,on the Rht was a small wooded copse, there was a small cabin type cafe we would frequent.it catered for cycle clubs . Opposite on other side of Manor Rd a corner shop.it as been a hairdresser ,in the fifties it was turned into a coffe shop we would sit in there listening to juke box music.opposite again Retreat way side walking away from The Maypole Pub past the shops you came start of Hainault Forest ,.Travelling Fair would site up on the field opposite the infant school.which is now the car park.
Living in Stapleford Abbot’s now 3 miles past The Beehive, Camelot now a Miller & Carter,so I past this area every day and recall there was a petrol stn which is now a bungalow,travelling towards Chigwell row down a Hill up the other side was another petrol stn .Arriving in Chigwell Row another Petrol Stn,now not one petrol stn


Added 13 April 2018

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Comments & Feedback

My school friend in the very late 50s lived in Hainault Forest. His dad was a Warden, he wore a brown suit and brown trilby hat. My friends house was at the end of the entrance to the forest. I remember they had no electricity but relied on a petrol generator for electricity. A few years later they moved to a house at the entrance of the forest and they had mains electricity. I spent many hours fishing in the lake, with not much luck. I think the lake was overfished.

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