Coney Hall Resident 1966 1988

A Memory of West Wickham.

I've great memories of jumping through those bushes in the central reservation, before the zebra crossing, and subsequent Pelican crossing, was installed connecting the Post Office to the Co-Op on the corner facing the garage.

When he retired, my Maternal Grandad became the petrol pump attendant at the Shell garage (a Chrysler Car dealership) before it closed and became Payless DIY (part of the WH Smith group at the time).

My Paternal Grandad was the groundkeeper at Wickham Court (Coloma Convent) prior to and during WW2 - his cottage was the creepy house that stands opposite the driveway leading to the church. Ask me nicely and I'll tell the origin story of the grass that used to grow from the top of the chimney. When the Dig for Victory campaign was in full swing, my mum was a landgirl and fell in love with the groundkeeper's son ... the rest, as they say, is history.

One of my childhood friends was the daughter of Joyce Walker, a local amateur historian; her book is well worth tracking down, she lived a couple of doors up from us in Queensway - did you know it was completely renumbered and greatly extended?