Tooting My Childhood Home

A Memory of Tooting.

I was born in 1938 in Toooting and we lived at 23 Blakenham Road. My mother sold the house in 1976 after my father died. My first school was the St Anselm's convent in Tooting Bec Road until the age of 7, where we were taught to read and write by nuns. We used to assemble in a room under the school when the air raid warning sounded. After the age of 7 I was at Undine Street primary at Tooting Broadway, where the playgrounds were segregated, although the classes were mixed. There was a huge pile of coke (a type of processed coal) in the playground, to the delight of the chiildren but the consternation of the teachers. The cane was the standard punishment, even for minor infringements. After the 11 plus I went to Clapham College, in Nightingale Lane, and used to cycle there twice per day (back home for lunch). I also went to the Mayfair saturday morning pictures, and sang the obligatory song 'minors of the ABC' along with the hundreds of other kids. I did a paper round from Hurley's shop in Balham High Road, which extended all the way to the Broadway, and got 12/6 per week for getting up at 5:30 every day, but the Christmas box from my recipients always paid for my Christmas presents.