Greenford And Northolt

A Memory of Greenford.

I remember Greenford so well. I was born in Ealing in 1943, and moved to a prefab at Invicta Grove in Northolt in about 1950.

Greenford was just a bus journey away from home, and a walk on a sunny day. I remember the Expresso coffee shop just round the corner from Woolworth's. I used to go in there every month to get my 'top of the pops' album.

I also worked at Greenford Glassworks, as a windscreen fitter on the Greenford Road.

I remember the market where the buses turned round. I used to change buses there on my way to see my grandparents in Hanwell.

Every weekend we would go to either of the two cinemas there. One we called 'the flea pit', on the other side of the road was the bank. The other one was where the supermarket is now. I also used to go to the live show watching all the pop stars of that time, Gene Vincent, Marty Wild, The Tornados...you don't see shows like that any more.

There used to be a record shop next door to the cinema.

I remember the Red Lion pub. I went out with the girl called Pat who lived there. Then I meet Maureen at the bus stop outside the the pub one night, opposite the fish and chip shop. We started to go out together, that was in 1960... we got married in 1966 and are still together.

Oh happy days. I wish I had a time machine to go back there...