Picnics At Knowle Green

Hello,micheal smith and Anne Coffey ,I to remember the happy times in Staines ,so here's my story,I was born at no 30 ,Cherry tree ave,in 1940, a war baby with the sirens going off,and the blackout being pulled down( like a roller blind but in a thick black material ,then many children would come to our house as we had a big table which was covered in strong steel,and we would all scramble inside,we were never frightened,just thought about it as being part of what one did when the sirens went off,I went to Wyatt Road School,on my tricycle,went down Commecial Road ,when it was a muddy track,the river was a long way from Commecial Road,the alottments are still there and there was a farm opposite,in 1947 when the floods came,we had punts ( flat bottom boats which seemed to be very long) to get us about,they would come upto the front door of your house ( we lived upstairs) and then an army lorry would take us,then I went to Kingston Road junior school,it was great fun when ascot races were on, in play time,we would watch the big posh black cars,taking the people to the races,when it was a dry day we would go to Pats sweet shop and get a lolly that the lady had made herself, a penny they cost,so that was a bus fare home spent,I would often say Hello to Mr Warner,he had the butchers shop nr Pats sweet shop,I would go with my mother on a sat to get the joint of meat,and often he would stand in his doorway,he ran it with his sister, mr Wenmoth and mr Everett were teachers there,then when you needed to see the dentist,there was mr Perry the dentist ,he was in a wooden hut at the back of the school,nurse brown was his assistant,my mother would say ,If i was good,she would take me down the path ( it ran from the station to the high street) to Hewetts the green groucer ,and by me some fruit,Hewetts were by the fish stall.by the iron bridge ,then it was Matthew Arnold secondary school,I really loved this school,I loved the domestic science lesson,( miss Heath and miss diamond) and needlework classes ( mrs Rathborne) and the music lessons ( miss pelaia) when I was fourteen a new girl came to our class and she sat next to me,said she goes home via Cherry Tree Ave,so we went home together,she was much more enlighten to life the me,she wanted to go to a youth club,asked if I would go to,well, I must ask my mother,at first she said no,but I persevered and as long as I was home by 9.pm ,well as soon as I got in the door of Chesterfield Road youth club ,off the woodthorpe Road,mr Gosling ( the leader) said you must be on our committee,and before long I making the tea or orange juice,the job was I had to ask all the youngster if they wanted tea or orange juice ,( EVEN The boys in the weightlifting room) the instructor Cliff Hughes,came out and spoke with me,then he went back to the room they used,and while I was collecting the glasses and cups,I felt a young man watching me,he asked if he could dry the cups,and where do I live,how I got there and could he walk me round to the bus stop,by now the girl I went with ,was long gone,he wanted to see me the next night but I was going to adult education ( cooking at Matthew Arnold ) miss Diamond had ask miss Avery (the headmistress ) if I could attend because she felt cake making was my forte .so the young man came and saw me home,I said you had better come and say hello to my parents, well that was it,that how I met my future husband ( David Mains was his name and his sister June was engaged to the weightlifting instructor (Cliff Hughes).later that autumn there was an advert in the Staines and egham news,for staff ,for a new fashion shop opening in Staines ,I asked my headmistress If I could have the Friday off to go for the interview ,she was not pleased,I want you to do the pitmans course,oh no I thought I never could work in an office,after much walking up and down in her office,she said she would agree to let me go,so when the Friday came ,my mother and I went to the Angels Hotel ( by the traffic lights opposite Debenhams,about nine people were there,we all went in one by one,and we all got the jobs we went for,mine was to be the window dresser,the next thing I had to ask my headmistress was, can I leave school, because I have to go on a training course,well she say a lot,but as the years went by she always came to look around the windows and she would give me a half a smile,even mr Whenmoth would walk by a smile,as if to say ,she was one of my little ones,happy happy days,Janet mains ( ne Tucker)