Factory Road, Gidea Park

A Memory of Gidea Park.

My grandparents lived at number 24 Factory Road. They were the last people to leave the street and I remember visiting them for the last time there when the rest of the street was deserted; the postage stamp gardens overgrown and windows broken etc. I was born in 1953 so my memories of the place begin three or four years later of course. I remember that there was an old derilict school a little further down the street from 24. Our granddad worked in the factory at the end of the street, but I'm not sure what he did there exactly. I have a photographic memory of the house, two up and two down, with a scullery and outside loo. The little yard was shared with the house next door and the kitchen doors looked onto each other - the garden was also shared. My grandad loved flowers and although he probably had vegetables as well, it's his roses I remember. There was a gate at the end of the garden leading to a cinder track going along the backs of the houses. There was a large field behind this with a brook running along the edge. I have only happy warm memories of 24 Factory Road.