My brother Chris was born in the October of that year, and, with Dad still in the Army, Mum decided to move herself and her two boys from Leicester to be near her husband’s family in Wimbledon. She then set about finding somewhere to live. 29a Stanton Road, Raynes Park, SW20, was the address of the rented accommodation she found. Posher now, West Wimbledon has, according to Estate Agents, replaced the location. The suburb had no Waitrose in 1944. It was to be our family home for the rest of my childhood.
In this 3-bedroomed first floor maisonette my parents brought up 5 children. I believe my earliest memory is of my mother carrying the two-year-old me into what was to be my small bedroom backing onto the railway lines between Wimbledon and Raynes Park. She removed something from the mantelpiece. Later, she said it had been a piece of shrapnel. Since our street was not actually bombed by the Luftwaffe, I’m not sure how it got there.
The sound of trains running alongside was a regular refrain, punctuated by periodic cries of nocturnal track maintenance workers and the clank of their equipment.
Here are front
and rear views of the building taken in 2012. We never kept a cat, so the flap on our back door was a later addition,
as is demonstrated by this image I produced with my paternal Grandfather’s old Box Brownie in 1957. The face in the window is that of our downstairs neighbour, Fred Downes.
Ours was the upstairs frontage to the large sitting room which would become my teenage bedroom after everyone else had gone to bed.
We often stayed at my paternal grandparents’ home at 18 South Park Road, Wimbledon, SW19. The large, well designed, Victorian house, in common with the rest of the dwellings in that long road parallel with Wimbledon Broadway, has made way for hideous blocks of flats built from the 60s onwards. The grand original properties had a life-span less than mine.
It was there that we would sleep on bunk beds in the cellar when there was fear of an air raid. This was the location of my next memory. The image is of a ceiling such as I would recognise many years later in Lindum House in Newark, when my mother told me that that was an exact copy of the South Park Road House. The Lindum House cellar still bore the huge supporting beams that were fitted in case of such an attack. I can therefore safely assume that the Wimbledon house bore the same.
That is really cool to see the pictures from then and now (2012).
Thank you very much Christine
Working class England was pretty grim wasn’t it? Our parents endured a hard life, but I wonder if they realised it at the time?
Probably not. That’s just how it was. Thanks very much, Sue
I imagine those nights in the cellar must have been frightening.
Fun, actually, for someone who didn’t really know what it was all about.
Fascinating
Thanks a lot, Sheree
Isn’t it sad that any child should have such memories as those of air raid bombing alerts.
And even in Southern California we had airplane spotters and “air raid drills.” We had to lower blackout shades and make sure no lights shone to the outside of the house. This because the coastal oil fields had been shelled from offshore by Japanese sailors.
Your memories are equally important, Janet.
Yes, Californians were lucky that the Japanese could not cause more damage.
It is – perhaps worse for those a little older, and with more understanding. And it has never stopped. Thanks very much, GP
World War II was a real experience for you.
Yes – of course I have more immediately post-war memories. Thanks very much, Pat.
Look forward to reading them. I was born after WWII, but the aftermath was still a factor well into the 1960s so it never seemed in the past to me.
Indeed.
I liked the last picture which showed the grandfather’s house and the one above shows the same house in 2012, What beautiful memories!
Thank you very much, Mina
Most welcome
So interesting and a joy to read, Derrick! God bless your parents and all that they had to deal with!
This past year, I’ve thought often of our parent’s generation and they give me courage, hope, and an attitude of gratitude!
It’s amazing the stories/memories houses hold in our life! We can even recall sights, sounds, smells, emotions, etc., when we think about the houses.
Wonderful to see the front and back of that house…and the comparison to another time. 🙂
(((HUGS))) 🙂
PS…My parents raised 8 kids in a small 3 bedroom one bathroom house. My Dad added on the 3rd bedroom.
Thanks very much, Carolyn. We only had one bathroom, too X
Now you are placing characters into a setting, Derrick. The photographs help, but your descriptions are superb on their own.
Thank you so much, Dolly
My pleasure, Derrick.
As a young mother with two kids, your mother was wise in moving closer to family.
Thanks very much, Rosaliene
Your mum must have worked very hard every day to keep the family well-clothed and fed.
She surely did. More will be explained. Thanks very much, Liz
You’re welcome,Derrick. I look forward to the next installment.
A cool looking house.
Thanks very much, Mrs W
Your welcome.
What is great is that you can still remember and you also have the pictures 😉 That’s a wonderful addition!
Thank you so much, Ribana
Finally, we are able to begin reading the much awaited chronicles of your life. The juxtaposition of present and past has accentuated the contrast between the two times.
Thank you so much, Uma. Sorry to have kept you waiting 🙂
I love the old photos and the memory of you as a teenager taking over the sitting room after others had gone to bed. I was like that with the one TV in our living room.
We had just the one TV, too, JoAnna. Thanks very much
Great memories. Love that face in the window!
Only spotted years later when I got it on screen 🙂 Thanks very much, Andrew
Thank you for sharing this with us. We all have a story to tell, don’t we?
We do – and thank you, Yvonne
You are definitely bringing this era alive for me, Derrick. So when there was an air raid in the night, you all scrambled out and walked to your grandparents’ house and the cellar there?
I think we must have been staying there, Merril. Thank you so much.
That makes more sense. 😀
Must have been a little tight for five children. But the same was often true for families in the U.S. during that time. I think people just lived smaller back then. Unless they lived in an old farmhouse in the country.
Quite so, Laurie. Thanks very much
Knowing how I worried about my boys growing up, it’s hard to contemplate the worry and fear of a mother under these circumstances. Extraordinary.
Quite so, Alys. Thank you very much
Oh, I was thinking the same thing! Motherhood under such circumstances must have been a constant worry. And yet, you see her today, and she always has a smile. What a woman!
Agreed!
I love the old photos and your memories of life back then. Your mother did an excellent job taking care of you all.
Thank you so much, Lavinia
My parent’s house stayed close to railroad, and in my childhood the sound of trains, radio and wall clock sound were as the best lullaby.
A pleasant coincidence, Alexander. Thank you very much
A shame the ‘grand originals’ were replaced by 60s blocks!
Indeed. Thanks a lot, Helen
I love hearing these stories and seeing the accompanying pictures. Thank you for these, Derrick.
And thank you, as always, Jodie
xo