10 Grafton Road

A Memory of New Malden.

My dad, Cecil Edwards, had a newsagents and tobacconists shop in Grafton Road. We lived behind and over the shop.

One of my abiding memories is going to Woolworths in the High Street to spend my saved pocket money on Christmas presents for the family.  At that time Woolworths had gas lamps throughout the shop which had two chains hanging, one to turn up and one to put out. Also Tudor Williams had one of those change machines which whizzed round the shop.

As kids we would play Cops and Robbers and Cowboys and Indians in Grafton Road and in the winter would make an ice slide in the middle of the street!  Not much traffic so no-one complained! There was a wonderful lamp post which we used to swing from outside number 1 Grafton.

The Miss Possetti's lived next door to the Art Marble - they were very refined ladies indeed and wore gloves when they went out.

The Graham Spicer Hall had marvellous jumble sales where we bought all our dressing up clothes - I bought a German china-headed doll when I was a kid for just a few pence I remember.  Later when I had kids of my own and was a bit hard up I sold it for £25 which was a fortune in 1975.  Probably would have been worth thousands by now!!!

Hundreds more memories but must get the dinner cooked!  Oh to go back in time and visit 'the village' again!