Barking Road Hartley Infants School Granada Etc

A Memory of East Ham.

My parents owned the Horseshoe Cafe, 146 Barking Road, and we lived in the apartment above. Next door on the corner was a bakery and next door on the other side was a 'removal' company. I also remember a tobacconist and further down a place where I would spend my pocket money buying a small bag of assorted beads. You never knew what beads would be in the bag, and it was so exciting to find really good ones. I've recently found Barking Road on Google Maps and am fascinated by it. I've been able to 'navigate' to my friends' homes (one was on Montpelier Gardens) and schools I attended and reconnect with the nostalgia I've had for so long. I went to Hartley Infants School and remember a toy shop on Barking Road and Hartley where my 'boyfriend' (he was about 9 or 10) bought me a tiny rubber doll, maybe an inch in height and his mother was really mad that he spent his money on a gift for me. I also remember my mother buying me a Cinderella Tea Set from that shop - I think they also sold candy. Shadracks Coal was across the street from the Horseshoe Cafe. One of my teachers came to the restaurant once with her fiancee (FIANCEE!), I was shocked. I was also shocked that she ate food! The Granada Cinema - the Saturday morning pictures were so exciting and we took them so seriously. I went to the 'Baths' and still remember the odour of the chlorine, the metal badges with numbers on them that had to be pinned to our swimsuit, and the 'paste' sandwiches we were able to buy after swimming that were so delicious. To this day I have no idea what the 'paste' was. I now live in Philadelphia via Chicago and have such fond memories. I can see by the Google Maps how things have changed, but I am so surprised how I still recognize the street names and my friends' homes. The Horseshoe Cafe is now a Chinese Restaurant, and surprisingly has the same phone number as when I lived there. I remember going to a nearby park when I was about 6 years old (I can't remember the name of the park) and the fenced playground which had Mr George in charge. I remember the swings in particular, I think we were allowed only 5 minutes on each plaything. Mr George was very old and had a cane and was very strict. The Central Pub on the corner of Barking Road and Macauley Road was across the street from my home and seemed like such a huge and forbidden building to me. Looking at the Google Map today it looks like a regular 2-storey building. I attended East Ham Grammar School for girls for about year before my family moved to Chicago. I also remember the Odeon Cinema, and how it was showing a movie with Stewart Granger and the Granada was showing a different movie with Stewart Granger and I just couldn't understand how he could be in two places at the same time. Does anyone recognize any of these memories?