Village Sweetshop

A Memory of Turners Hill.

I was one of many children evacuated from Balham, London to Turners Hill on 3rd Sept 1939. My first billet was 106 Lion Lane, which at that time was the village sweetshop. How lucky was that. It was owned by Mr & Mrs Terry. They were very kind, but a bit surprised to have two 10 year olds to look after. Unfortunately, Mr Terry suffered bad health, so in June 1940 I moved to the Brackpools residence at 110 Lion Lane, just in time to witness the Battle of Britain. As a London lad, born & bred it was a wonderful time for me. Mr Baker, who lived next door in 109, was the village coalman. The coalyard was in the ground at the back of the houses. Sam the horse was stabled there, and I was very soon helping out to muck out the stable. The brackpools had 3 sons and 1 daughter.