Glad To Be Gone!
A Memory of Southall.
I don't have many good memories of Southall. My family lived in Norwood Green when I was born in 1947 and we moved to 31 North Avenue when I was five. We had a street party for the Coronation and my father told me that it was my birthday party because I was born on June 3! It was a long time before I worked out the truth of that.
My memories of North Road School were Mr Blanchard the headmaster who was a little weasel-like man with an over-fondness of the cane. It didn't take much to get him to use it. He was aided and abetted by Mrs Smith.
We moved to 113 Lady Margaret Road in 1958 and I started at Dormers Wells School. I didn't fare much better there. My mum had eight children by the time my dad died, aged 40, in 1966. We were very poor and mum struggled to keep us fed and clothed. Luckily, we had the best Nan in the world - she owned June's ladies dress shop on The Green, near the Dominion Cinema, and she helped by giving Mum money whenever it was needed, which was often!
I once worked in an office called Krema in one of the buildings near the station. We sent tins of cream to hotels, guest houses and shops all over the country. Sounds very weird nowadays.
My present home in Devon is a world away from Southall and when I visit London now I drive around to see my old homes and the shops and I am so glad that I escaped.
Gina
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Comments & Feedback
Like you I lived in Southall from 1947 until 1967 and I had a mate who delivered Krema products around the home counties. I remember he used to pillfer a few extra tins and sell them on to customers on his round.
I now live in Derbyshire and I would like to see Southall wiped off the map, because they have turned a lot of it into slums. Not my words but an article by the Daily Mail with that headline!!
Mike
Congratulations on escaping, like me. I wonder how many of us got to 20 and then had the opportunity to get out?
I didn't remember that Krema had delivery guys, I can only remember putting on labels for trains. I didn't ever get to taste the cream - shame I didn't know your mate!!
Saying Southall is full of slums is an understatement. I saw a news report some time ago which showed rows of terraced houses with their back gardens filled with wooden shed-like structures which were full of people living in them. It reminds me very much of the images we are shown on Red Nose Day when celbrities go out to India and similar countries and visit the 'shanty towns'. The film-makers could save their money and just go to Southall to film!
I know Derbyshire has beautiful places like Devon but don't know if it has an immigrant problem at all - but I doubt it. We are lucky that we are quite far from big towns - in between Plymouth and Exeter, about 25 miles from both - so don't any problems.
Gina
When I got married in 1967, a terraced house in southall was between £5-7000. I could not afford that ( not that I wanted to stay!!! ) and bought a new semi detached house in Witney, Oxfordshire for £3650. My mates thought I was mad moving so far away ( 60 miles ) so did my mother-in -law who thought we were moving to Australia!!. What a culture shock it was to find such a laid back place, and I had to adjust my driving to the local pace. I don't remember seeing many coloured people there,as there was not much work to attract them.
Like you I live in a small community between two cities and it is very peacful without problems as such.
Long may it last.
Mike