The Sweet Shop Near Ray Lodge School

A Memory of Woodford Bridge.

I can remember the sweet shop just outside the school, I would run there (during playtime) for sweets. There was a wooden step for small children to be able to see over the counter and a seat. I used to get 2oz of a mix of sweets and they would be put in a cone of paper that the lady made and turned over at the top. Then it was wait for the all clear from friends that no teachers were about and dash back again.There was a school for the deaf and hard of hearing next door, I must admit I was scared of them as they made such odd noises, we should have known better! The play ground was tarmac with old tyres with flowers in, but to one side an area we called the' mud patch' (it was probably grass at one time) and in the winter we were banned from the it. I was a bit of a rebel and a show off!
If you went there, do you remember the stilts in bright colours, I used to rush out at play-time to grab them! I was proud to be milk and ink monitor. The gas lights made you jump when they were turned off, it's odd the things that we remember! Even now I can still race my granchildren on stilts, not bad at 64 years! When I was 8 years old we moved house to Woodford Bridge (Purliegh Avenue), my name was Harvey then and I had a brother, Steven. I can recall Sheila Tucky who lived in the same road. I now live in Cornwall on a smallholding, so very different from a flat in Woodford .Bye for now Chris