Dear Old Nunhead

Only just read this memory but all of that is so familiar! We were a family of 8 with parents - All my brothers and sisters still alive - the Porth family, Charles, Sid, Ada, Dave, Pam and me Brenda, we were all born in Buchan Road Nunhead Peckham. My parents lived in the same house for over 40 years then moved to Crystal Palace Road for their last few years. All still live in London, Surrey and Essex. We went to different schools, Collingwood, Nunhead, Friene and Wilsons Grammar. My best friend Pat Dickinson emigrated to Australia but we are still in touch!
Happy times because we were a strong community.

i went to school with sid porth,

get in touch please,pete mills.

i knew siddy porth,he was in my class at peckham rye,we often played together in buchan road,up the rye,and on the debry,s ,and in nunhead cemertry,.

PETER MILLS my email address is peter.fusilier@blueyonder.co.uk,get in touch if you lived in barset road in the 1950 period,or near by, cheers, peter.

We moved to Linden Grove when I was 7, from Peckham …….. late 30s mid terrace house just opposite the Water Board entrance near the Friary ……. went to Hollydale Primary ……. walked down past the cemetery and the rail station to get to school ……. left there in 1961 to go on the train via Peckham Rye station to London Bridge and along Tooley Street to St Olaves GS …… in those halcyon days 😂
As a youngster our play areas were the broken down houses, probably old bombed places down by the Belvedere pub on the corner …… Royale Prams factory, Rossi sweet shop, the Dairy shop and the Grocer’s ……. remember those ??

In my early teens I worked the school summer holidays at the cemetery, just grass cutting, helping to move gravestones for new burials whatever ……. On wet days had our tea and lunch breaks huddled in the chapel crypt sharing those ok friendly, gently resting ancient coffins …… it was fine, a happy group of hardworking guys with challenging jobs looking after those 50+ acres and fresh interns graves digging and stones shifting ……., was hard work for those guys for sure ……. think they paid me 2/6d an hour , 6 day working weeks …… it was great 👍

There’s lots more to remember for sure ……. my formative years
…….. anyone want to discuss those times in Nunhead from the mid 1950s to about 1967 when we moved to Petts Wood to be near my school that had moved to Orpington ?

email:
malcolmglb@gmail.com

WANA CHAT,peter.

WANA CHAT,peter.

IL TELL YOU ABOUT GROWING UP IN THE WAR YEARS IN NUNHEAD,war with germany started in september 1939,i was born in october 1939,had 6 years of living with air raids,,in a house with an outside toilet,coal fire,only one hot water tap from the ascot boiler,had baths in a bungalow steel bath, that hung on the fence in the garden,lived for six years in and out of an anderson shelter in the garden,hair full of nits,bed bugs in the mattresses,cracks in all the walls,had our windows blown out many times,could not put lights on at night,saw search lights,air ballons,heard the ack ack firing at the german plane,swho dropped dodel bug bombs on us,{vi, and v2 }saw search lights picking out the german fighter,s,then at 7 years old it ended,poor old nunhead,lots of bombed houses, the whole area in a real mess,then years of rationing,unemployment, my moto, NEVER FORGET,. so now enjoy NUNHEAD, and think how lucky you are today.