Born In Hampstead 3rd October 1945

A Memory of Swiss Cottage.

Towards the end of the Second World War my parents met and married while on active service in Egypt. As soon as my mother knew she was expecting me, the Royal Air Force sent her back to England on a troopship and she was welcomed by her mother-in-law who she had never previously met! They had a flat together in Walm Lane Cricklewood so when it was time for me to enter the world they found a nearby nursing home - no National Health Service in those far off days!

And so it was that I was born in 85 Fordwych Road and my birth certificate records it as "Hampstead, Middlesex". These days it is no longer Hampstead but just part of the London Borough of Camden!! I am proud of my Hampstead roots although I suppose I should also consider the fact that I was conceived in Africa!!

I remember a lot about the area including the bomb damage from the war, the trolley buses and the infamous London smogs of the 1940's and 1950's. When my father returned from the war we moved away but I continued to visit the area as my grannie lived there until the 1960's and an uncle managed an optician's shop in nearby Finchley.