Romney Street

A Memory of Romney Street.

This photo shows in the foreground the rather substantial house lived in during the 1950s by the Barkus family, who owned the adjoining caravan site (to the right of the photo) and who served teas and refreshments for the benefit of the regular rambling and cycling passers-by;  for my brothers and me it was the nearest place to buy sweets, lemonade and ice cream.  The Fox and Hounds pub (just beyond the further cottage and set back from the road) also benefited from the passing trade as well as the local trade and (allegedly!) late-night customers from near-by Eynsford.  The Barkuses' house was later demolished after they sold it and it made way for the two rather disappointing self-built bungalows that now occupy the site.  

In the right-hand foreground of the picture the figure of my younger brother can just be made out.  He was born in 1949 and I believe he must have been around three or four when this picture was taken.  He was a close friend of the Barkuses' son of his own age.  What I find fascinating about it is that it reminds me that he would go to visit his friend on his own (and vice-versa), a walk of a  quarter of a mile or so, with no qualms or supervision.   Would that happen today?