Well I know who he was, at least I have just found out who he was. I was reading grannygrimble’s (my sisters) blog the other day and I discovered that this man was/is my Godfather. He was an American sailor, who was dating one of my aunts at the time I was to [...]

When I was growing up in the early 50’s, children were not very well informed, in fact quite the reverse. The realities and cruelties of life were carefully hidden from us. We grew up in a world where all things magical were accepted as fact. Where life was just one happy playground, [...]

The room was filled with steam, and the strong smell of soap. It was wash day. A large metal bowl was on the stove (cooker) and mum was standing over it with wooden tongs, stirring and lifting clothes out, then dunking them back down in the hot soapy water. To the right [...]

It was July 1951, the house was in a turmoil with people buzzing around. All four of us younger girls were washed clean and waiting in line. We had another little girl with us too, making five in all. Wendy wasn’t our sister, but was about to become related by marriage. [...]

“Bye mum!” we all called out, as we clambered out the door. “Cheerio” called mum. We made our way to the train station and boarded the train that would take us to school. We reached our destination, piled off the train and out of the station. It was a normal school [...]

I left the station and walked towards Pentonville Prison. I turned into the prison forecourt, with it’s large studded, metal doors, that had guards posted either side. This was the prison where some of our notorious criminals were hung. In fact, I remember the last person to be hung there. The [...]

“Come on, let’s go and explore” Sandie shouted. We all stopped what we were doing and followed Sandie, who knew just where we were to explore. It was another warm sunny day and we didn’t want to be indoors on days like this. We turned a corner and started up [...]

“Hey! look down there, I can see a sword!”  We all pushed forward peering down into a dark hole.  “What’s that over there?” someone said, pointing into an even darker corner.  “It looks like bones to me” said another.  We crammed up against the railing to see better.  “I bet there’s even dead bodies down [...]

We were all sitting round the table eating our tea and suddenly one of my sisters let out a terrible scream … we all screamed … she screamed some more … we all screamed some more.  There she was, looking terrified with a fork hanging out of her mouth.  The fork swinging to and fro [...]

The best day of the week! Sundays in our house gave us all such great memories. By now it was the mid to late 50’s when we were a little more affluent!
That wonderful aroma of roast lamb wafting through the house, our tummies rumbling with hunger, I went into the kitchen. Mum, who had [...]

Bitter cold wind stinging our rain soaked faces, we walked, shivering and miserable.  My sisters and I had walked a long way.  We still had a distance to go and it was already getting dark.  With every step we took, our sodden wellington boots would hit our already sore and chapped legs, making us wince [...]

I have been reminded of a lot more games children played in the fifties but here are a few of the toys children had back then too.

A typical fifties doll, of which we had many.  My great aunt & uncle had a ‘Doll’s Hospital’ shop.  People would bring all their broken dolls, and dolls that [...]

Ahh, the memories…..
Those lovely aroma’s, which were not chemical in any way, that wafted around daily. The smell of Tar as they resurfaced the roads. Lovely squishy tar that melted in the hot summer sun so you could make patterns in it that would stay when it set hard again.
That beautiful smell of the coal [...]

Balls bouncing everywhere!  Two balls, three balls, rounders and just plain old bat & ball.  Kids would be everywhere playing ball.  Often playing bat & ball in the road - and I’m talking about roads in London!  You would stand one side of the road with the bat and across the road would be someone [...]

“Where has all my sugar gone?  The packet is empty, I had almost a full packet yesterday”…. “Sugar duck?” ‘Duck’ was one of a few pet names my dad had for my mum.  “Yes it has all gone!” said mum, staring in disbelief at the empty packet that had been put back in the cupboard.
Sandie, [...]

Houses in the early fifties were certainly not safe havens - far from it!
The windows worked with a rope ’sash cord’ as it was called, like a pulley inside the window frame.  You pushed the bottom window up, or the top one down in order to open them.   As it was made from rope, [...]

It started out as a normal day in our house but It didn’t end that way.  There was a knock on our door and mum or dad answered it.  Us kids ignored it, as we always did, after all, that was adult stuff.  We had much better things to do to amuse ourselves, at least [...]

Having read the stories of Swubird and found them so interesting and heartwarming, It inspired me to write about some of my childhood experiences, growing up in the 50’s in London.  It will be a series of blogs that will last for as long my memory allows :O)  I will include photos wherever I can.
This [...]