The Garden City

A Memory of Woodford Bridge.

I began my nursery training here, my house was initially Empire, then Canon Fleming.......with Miss Souter as my mentor and trainer. I was the youngest of a group of 7 girls, all hoping to gain the coveted NNEB qualification. I attended Walthamstow Tech one day a week for theory training, the rest was very much hands on!! OOOH the memories of washing all those nappies in HUGE gas-heated boilers (we students did all the washing at weekends!), no softener in those days, as laundresses we actually grated bars of soap to make soft water to boil the nappies! I did all my local shopping at the row of shops nearby, where I could find absolutely anything I needed, I certainly never needed to stray to nearby Ilford, which was just as well....I only earned £8.18s.6d a MONTH! As a first year student I was provided with three long red-check dresses, red aprons and snow white linen collars and cuffs which were starched to a rigid state by a Chinese laundry; we also had regulation navy gabardine macs and even long navy cloaks with warm red-lined hoods, issued for night duty. I remember so well the children I cared for, and the fleet of coach-built prams a group of us trundled around the streets nearby, trailing toddlers and older children in our care on their daily outings. Whether it rained, shone or blew a gale, we tramped the roads until we could go back at the designated time!!!! By todays standards, of course, the care was very outdated, but at the time, we were considered to be top of our profession. I'm REALLY proud to say that after two years training, in 1967 I qualified ......the youngest nursery nurse to have passed first time! I pray that the youngsters of the time have some happy memories of The Garden City at a time when their young lives were disrupted and confused by their not being at home. Bless you all.