1956 1960

A Memory of Radlett.

My dad bought a brand new house on Craigwell Avenue in 1956. Builder was William Old. I was 4. The house was blue and yellow, 4 houses up on the left from Newberries Avenue. The construction went on for at least two years after moving in. My best friend David Spain (who was born on Dec 25, poor boy!) and I, used to help the builders unload the Marston brick lorries, with layers of straw between the free stacked bricks. By the time I was 6, we were helping take roof tiles up ladders, hod's of bricks. I remember that I could lift 4 at a time, horizontally, unloading the lorries. I can still feel the soreness of those raspy things, and feel the straw getting into my eyes. These men were our baby sitters if our mothers had to go into Watford or London. Giant tea pots, hot tea, lots of Irish accents, and some strong language. But we all had a great time. Imagine anything like that now.... I feel blessed to have experienced life with these true characters. Went to the old Radlett Prep from 56-59 when Mr Bishop was the HM. Then onto Habs in Mill Hill, until my dad uprooted us to Nottingham in 1960. Booooo! Walked to RP and walked to the station from the house everyday. No fear of attacks or safety issues. What a great time it was. I remember the old manor house being demolished up on William's Way, shortly after we got there. It was empty for years, but we played in and around it for a few weeks until they bulldozed it. Must have been splendid in it's hey day. Still see the cornfields, on the other side of it. Made friends with some American's based in Ruislip, who had kids our age and a little older. Spent the summer of 1957/58/59 at Aldenham Lodge, in the swimming pool. Lots of chlorine. The changing rooms were downstairs behind the deep end and the diving board. The place was packed. The big house behind, with it's lawns and grand architecture, the restaurant and lounges opening up onto the pool area, with a grass area between. Walked home of course. No more than 10-15 minutes. Could see the chimney stack of Shenley off in the distance. We were told that it was a mental hospital, and of course, were terrified! The warren was still full of rabbits back then too. But happy memories. Watling Street, Sainsbury's, our bank became Nat West, the station and the steam trains. We'd stand on the bridge by Theobald Street and get right over the smoke stacks, as they puffed their way beneath us, next to the babbling brook, where we would see tadpoles and lizards. Saunders had an Austin dealership on the corner of Theobald and Watling St. I can still see the brand new Austin Somerset's sitting there, in their glorious two tone paint! The church opposite always had a great Christmas Carol service and nativity play. Went through whooping cough and pneumonia which almost killed me, having picked it up at RP. I remember the Stacy's next door, Clair and her sis 3 houses down on the corner, the Hurst's up the street a little. Mrs H wore bright red stiletto's all the time, scared the heck out of me, and then Spain's further up on the right, plus at least six or seven more, right there on Craigwell, whose names I have sadly misplaced in the annals of time. The Wood's across the street were a London stockbroker family. Then there was the sad case of the Barnes family who lived over on the top end of Newberries Ave, near Williams Way, across from those corn fields. Poor Mr Barnes was killed in a car crash sometime 1957-59. Cannot remember the date, but my parents told me, and I have never forgotten this. He left a wife and two children. The son was about my age. I was taken to the toy shop every Saturday morning to buy one matchbox toy. It was a fantastic place for a 6 year old. Right across the street from the timber and hardware merchant. The timber store and warehouse went up in a huge fire one summer Saturday afternoon. Heard all the commotion and saw the smoke. My other best friend, David Whitton, lived in Cannon's Close and was at RP with me. We met up again 5 years after I left Radlett, down in Devon, at Allhallows School, the gulag on the cliffs, just outside of Lyme Regis. Poor David died at 44 in 1996, from a heart attack. But the Guardian posted an obit on him. He was into charity work and getting things done for the handicapped. Always was a go getter, even at Radlett. His dad worked for De Havilland. David was a lifelong diabetic, I remember him using an enormous glass and steel syringe set up to give himself insulin, poor chap. How ironic that I too developed this same dreadful disease in 1985. I was working in London in the mid to late 70's, and almost took a job with the Cat dealer, based near St Albans. Went up, looked around, and of course checked out Radlett and my old hunting ground. Our house was so small, I cannot believe we ever lived there, and other changes had happened in the 18 years that had passed, but RP was still in it's original location then, and I checked it out. To my joy, nothing much had changed. The playground was the same, as were most of the buildings. I can smell the classrooms even now. We were in afternoon session, when the teacher came in, and announced that Mike Hawthorne had been killed in a car crash. I was into racing even then, and was stunned by this. Even though I would eventually end up in that business, I never forgot that awful day. He was our hero. I later learned that after a lunch time session at a local pub, he and Rob Walker, of Johnnie Walker fame, and F1 entrant, were "playing" on the Guildford bypass on a wet road. Mike lost control of his MK 1 Jag, and hit a tree. No seat belt on of course. Also at RP with me, was a boy named Murphy, whose father was a senior test pilot at Handley Page, down the road. Flying those big white HP Victors in and out of Radlett Aerodrome. We would either drive by in the car, on the way to St Albans or pass it on the train. A wonderful site for small boys. Mr Murphy apparently put a Victor into a barn somewhere, we were told, during a forced landing. he was fine, but the barn did not fare too well, neither did the Victor. But this was why he was the test pilot I suppose ! So I apologize for the rant. It all started coming back to me, when I found this site. As I sit here, in Charlotte, NC, after 29 years of living in the Colonies, I am in reflective mood tonight. To close, my weather memory of Radlett, was a huge monster of a thunderstorm that blew in and stayed, for what seemed hours. Lightning of all colors, flashing across the sky. I think it was called the biggest storm of the decade, or something along those lines. We were so frightened that our parents brought us downstairs, and we looked at the lightning and listened to Beethoven, on dad's new radiogram! I love Radlett. Wish I could afford to live there again. I think our little house, that dad paid 4000 pounds for, is right around 400,000 now, or more ! This is a wonderful web site. Now I must explore it some more.