Rodwell Road 1950's

[Farnham]

Hi Eric, Been racking my brains to remember the old days. I remember Margaret coming to my 21st birthday party and going home with my boyfriend (didnt like him very much though) Do you remember Dolly James who lived down the airey at no.22? I kept wondering who the gas pots were do you mean Sheila and Marion Gessy who lived at 27. Will keep thinking Joyce

[Hawton]

Hi Mike,

Olive's husband was named Ron, he would always be standing on the corner of Rodwell, when we came home late at night after going dancing, he gave us the creeps. I was always scared of your Uncle Pat, if I was in their house when he was watching the news on the t.v, you had to be dead quiet otherwise he really shouted at you. I used to go cricket with them all on a sunday afternoon, not that Pat and I watched the cricket. Do you remember their boxer dog Mitzi, he would slobber all over you! I liked Jennifer, but if I remember rightly, some of the children in the street used to pick on her and I would feel really sorry for her. Her mum was nice but had such a strong Scottish accent I could never understand what she was saying. Jen's boys have done well for themselves, the last time I saw them they were little boys. My sister-in-laws dad lived next door to Jen in Pellatt Road, she was really good to him. It just shows you how things have changed, we can remember nearly all the people in Rodwell and yet nowadays you are lucky if you know your next door neighbours. My brother Terry went down the Uplands pub a few weeks back and said how strange it felt. We all used to go there every saturday night in the 60's and it had a lovely atmosphere. Do you remember Margaret Kemp she used to be sitting at the bar every week with her boyfriend, he was half her size. Terry walked down Rodwell and Heber and couldn't believe how it's changed. I don't think I would like to go back now, I like to rembember it as we knew it. We had a lovely childhood there, even though times were hard for our parents. Bye for now Josie

[Wardy]

Farnham (Joyce): Brenda the twin lives near to me and her children went to school with my two eldest, small world. I forgot about Shirley. I can remember her dad would get off the bus coming home from work one stop before Northcross Rd to save a penny. However when I told Brenda about this a couple of years ago, she said he done it to keep fit. I?m like you, I love to compare to old days with today and I find this thread very enjoyable and judging by the comments there are people out there who enjoy reading this thread who weren?t even born until the 70?s and 80?s. Keep it up Wardy.

[Wardy]

Hawton (Josie): I had forgotten about Olive Ribinson and her husband Ron. Olive always wore trousers. My mum told me that Olive was in the land army where women were allowed to wear trousers with fly holes. Before the war it was against the law for women to have fly holes. Thinking about her husband Ron. As kids we would refer to him as deafy Ron. Last year I was fitted with a hearing aid. As I walked down the street for the first time wearing the aid, all I could think about was deafy Ron; serves me right for calling him that name.

Hoped you liked the piece I sent you about the cobbler. I can?t remember Mr Marriott, I can remember Cyril and Lil, they lived in the Airey opposite me, they had a yellow and black scooter and would very often get p---- and have a fight on a Saturday night after a session in the Heber Arms. I remember Margaret Kemp and her husband Bob they did look a pair, but they didn?t care; good for them. Margaret would often give me sixpence for some sweets. Jennifer Scott was my brother in laws cousin and her mum did have a strong accent; I think her parents were more disciplined with her then ours were with us; that always makes the kid a little different. I have already mentioned that bloody dog Mitzi in another reply, what a scabby thing that was; slime all over its face and forever having pups; having said that we all remember her. What was the name of the lady who lived in the Airey below Hunch back Johnny and Flow. She died when she was very young, probably about 35 ? 40. I can remember her funeral. The Hurst arrived and the family came up from the Airey. However, her husband didn?t come out first. Apparently this meant, by tradition, that they weren?t married. People were more concerned at making remarks about this then the fact that her husband may have been too upset to care what tradition called for. When I talk about my childhood people often say you must have had a very happy childhood. I always say ?sometimes but mostly note, but I can only remember the god times and I choose to learn from the bad times?, works for me. Look forward from hearing from you again. Wardy.

[Farnham]

Hi Wardy, You talked about humped back John , he was Mr Marriot, he was the window cleaner. Do you remember George Orford, he didnt live in Rodwell but came every weekend to march up and down the road. He was in the army and thought he had to practice every weekend, getting all the kids to march with him. I remember the day I got married it was pouring with rain and Cyril Watts saying it will clear up later (and it did). We had our 50th this weekend and Josie, Maureen, \Jimmy and Les were there.You have been the topic of conversation between Josie and myself. Terry and Brian were not there but I will be seeing Brian next weekend as he has been quite poorly. Terry has 2 children a girl and a boy, and also 3 grandchildren. He is now divorced and living in Penge .Speak to you soon. Joyce x

[Wardy]

Farnham (Joyce) I had forgotten old Johnny?s surname and I had forgotten that he was a window cleaner. He was a good old chap and I feel rotten for calling him humpty back Johnny, but I?m sure where ever his is upstairs he will understand; everyone had a nick name and that was his. I must say if I had remembered he was a window cleaner it would have made some comical reading in my book; perhaps I will mention him again in the next one. I?m racking my brains to remember George Orford but with no luck. I do remember a guy named Arthur who lived a couple of streets up. He would stand in the road and do a commentary of a horse race; he had a pretend microphone. I must say there where some real characters living near us; it?s a wonder we grew up normal, or did we? Do hope Brian gets well soon. Keep in touch: Wardy

[Farnham]

Hi Wardy, I dont think any of us grew up normal especially my family. They all enjoy a good laugh and joke. While writing I remembered I bought a bike off Dolly Wheeler for ?2.10 on easy payments of course. It was my pride and joy,I would polish it regularly and I would go for rides with Shirley |Robinson and the twins.Jimmy was saying he bought a scooter for 39gns and paid for it over 2 years on hire purchase. Cant say I remember Arthur or his microphone We went to the Lotus Floating Chinese restaurant at Canary Wharf for our Anniversary it was a great night. (Many thick heads on Sunday) Speak to you soon. Joyce x

[Hawton]

Hello Wardy, sorry not been in touch, bit busy lately. thank you for your e-mail I did enjoy reading your shoe mender story, I can still picture him now. A few more names have come in to my head, there was Joey and Shirley Stringer (I think they were relatives of Joanie Staines. Do you remember David Cooch, he lived in the house above Joanie I think. I remember all going on a bus outing to Dymchurch and David fell in the sea, it spoilt the day! Maureen reminded me of the time we were invited to Linda Dodds birthday party (I think I must have been about 9 and Maureen 11) we took her a box of maltesers as a present, we sat down to eat and Maureen noticed that Violet Dodds cut a pear in half with a knife she had got the KiteKat out of the tin for the cat with, she grabbed me by the hand and said "come on we are not staying here" she picked the maltesers up and out we ran. It was never the cleanest of houses, I don't think we ever went in there again. When Linda got pregnant in her teens, we were forbidden by my mum to play with her as she was a bad lot, how times have changed. I remember Arthur, we used to call him "silly Arthur". Had a fantastic night with all the family at Joyce's Golden Wedding celebration, your ears must have been burning! If you publish your book, we all want a copy so that's 7 you have sold already. Bye for now. Josie x

[Wardy]

Hawton (Josie) good to hear from you again. As you know the Dodds lived next door to me and they were a funny couple. Old mother Dodds (Violet) would sweep the pavement that much it was a miracle she didn?t wear a hole in it. Do you know if there was ever a Mr Dodds?

When you look back it was people like them that in a funny way, made our lives special. If we took all the characters out of our childhood lives it would have been empty: The Dodds, Humpty Back Johnny, Deaf Ron, The Gas Pots, Charlie and Sis, Tom Cornwall, Mitzi the Dog, the first black man to live in the street, the Rag and Bone man, the Cobbler and Doll in the corner shop all of these and more made our lives colourful and probably help made us what we are today. The thing is we never new it at the time, it?s taken over 40 years to realise how lucky we were.

Can you remember how to play Hop Scotch? I think it was called that. We would draw squares on the pavement and at the top would be a large square with the words ?OXO?. I have tried to remember how it was played so I can show my grandchildren. I know we had to hop from square to square.

I was telling my wife the other day that your brother Terry, in the 1960?s was on the television programme ?Ready Steady Go?. He was dancing to a song being sung by Dusty Springfield. As she was singing she walked up to Terry and put her arms around him for a dance, Terry push her away and walked off. I can remember seeing this on TV, I was gutted, she was my dream girl at the time and I would have done anything for her to put her arms around me.

Before I go, what was the name of the people that lived in Heber Road next to Johnny Robinson, their house backed on to mine? I think there was two children, a boy called Graham and a girl. Another name I can?t remember is the name of the people who lived above the cobblers shop, any ideas? Speak to you soon - Eric

[diwhy]

Hi Wardy,

Hopscotch - I think I remember.............

10 squares in 2 columns with OXO at the top (Why on earth was that ?)- sometimes it was 1 square, 2 squares etc.

Take turns throwing a stone into each square in turn, then hopping to it.

When you've hit all 10 squares, you try to get in OXO/home, you then can stake a claim on each square you throw a stone onto, and everybody else has to hop over it.

It's all a bit vague from there, but it sounds like a forerunnr to Monopoly - Waddingtons must owe us Millions :)-D::o

We used to play outside Dolly Wheelers shop because the pavement was "just right"

Mick

[Hawton]

Mick you have a good memory, I had to look on the internet to see how it was played. I thought it was the girls that played hopscotch and the boys marbles and conkers. Do you remember how we used to put lolly sticks in the spokes of our bike wheels to make it sound like a motor bike? Eric, the boy Graham you speak about was their surname Pugh, I can't remember the girls name. The family above the cobblers were Bailey, there was Jean and Jimmy. Some more names I remember were the Farthings I think Roy had ginger hair and his brother was Albert, they lived near Mick. I remember when Terry was on Ready Steady Go, he had a new grey suit. I'll never forget, he went out in that suit one saturday night and got in a fight and came home with some blood on it, Maureen and myself tried frantically to get it out before my mum saw it, she would have been so disappointed in him because he was a good boy and never got in trouble! or so she thought. I can still picture Violet Dodds, her hair dead straight with a clip on one side. She was more particular with the outside of her house than the inside, she would sweep outside so that she could collar anyone walking by, for a chat. I have no idea whether she had a husband. Bye for now Josie

[diwhy]

If any ex Rodwell roaders (Yes it is a word) are interested - Google Street Maps has pictures :)

Start of with Google Maps and zoom in etc.

Google Maps

Hope that worked

[Wardy]

diwhy - Mick I should have known you would remember how to play Hop Scotch. I can now show the grandchildren. Another game I remember was Follow the Leader. Got in to some dodgy situations playing that game, jumping from the top steps of the houses opposite my house. It?s a long way from today?s kids playing computer games. However, I did play football at the weekend with my grandson; I was surprised how my legs kept up with me, life in the old dog yet. Eric

[Wardy]

diwhy just seen the Google street thing on the TV news, I will have a look. Eric

[Hawton]

Hello Eric, been thinking Violet Dodds must have had a husband, because otherwise her name would be the same as her brother Don Shepherd. Josie

[Wardy]

Josie I have sent you a private e-mail Eric

[Farnham]

Hi Wardy, Been trying to remember the name of the people who lived over the top of the cobblers. It was the Baileys and they had a daughter named Jean. Cant remember much about them but I think they had a son Jimmy. Hope this helps. I believe they went to Australia but couldnt settle so came back. I dont know what happened to the after that.Next door to them in Heber Road was the Palmers -Ronnie and Stanley who was in the navy. They were still there when I left.Speak to you again soon. Joyce x

[Hawton]

Mike have been down Rodwell via Google maps, can't remember all the trees, don't like the wheelie bins outside all the houses.They spoil our Road! Josie

[Wardy]

I have been on Google Streets to. I was surprised how small the houses are, I remember them to be much larger. I focused in on the wall at the top of the road to see if my name was still carved into the cement, couldn?t see much. I did notice that the Ables cat is still there, it must be about 60 years old now, couldn?t see Mitze, she was probably in doors having pups. Wardy

[diwhy]

Josie, we never used to have trees - they would have been chopped up for firewood :))

I agree about the wheelies - In our day, the dustmen were real men and could hump the metal bins up out of the airies, with no more thanks than 6d for the "dustman's Christmas box" - And you used to get your own bin back !!

And the houses look even smaller in real life.

Just in case somebody (new readers) thinks I am taking the P out of Rodwell Rd - I'm not, I'm just basing my memories of being 10 years old when all the houses looked like mansions ;-)

And Wardy, you have been imortalised, EW still takes pride of place on the corner wall, bit weathered now though :))

Does anyone remember the Coronation Street Party ? I've still got the "Certificate". All the dads hung out of the windows stringing flags across the road from the upstairs windows.

I have a memory of sitting on dads shoulders and seeing the queen on horseback near somewhere that looked like the Dulwich Village entrance to Dulwich Park - It's unlikely the queen rode a horse to the village to wave at the peasants, so I'm guessing my memories are buggered - I was only about 4 years old :'(

[Wardy]

Mike, there were trees in the street but my dad coped them down for fire wood just before we were born. As for the dustmen, couldn?t see dad giving them 6d: 3d would be a lot. As for the Queen she did ride on horse back at Dulwich Park. I can remember going to see her with mum and dad. Dad took a bucket, he said if the horse sh--t he would grab it, he thought it would be worth a fortune being royal and all that. Wardy

[macroban]

Wardy and neighbours,

What did your families do on Boat Race day?

What colour were your families: were they "light blue" or "dark blue", and what happened in mixed-colour households?

Did you ever do the day-trip to the river?

Regards,

MacRoban

[diwhy]

Morning Macroban,

My family used to listen to the race on the radio and generally support Cambridge as the underdogs (If I remember rightly, Oxford always won)

When we eventually got a TV we supported the "light greys" ;-)

I don't recall anyone being interested enough to actually go to the river though.

Don't know about other families though................

[Wardy]

Interesting. My family also supported the dark blues: I suppose we saw them as representatives of the working class and the labour party. As for going to the river: don?t know what end of the street you came from, but for us the nearest river was a tin bath on a Sunday evening. It?s funny though: I was always told to support Cambridge and Labour was the part for us. After all these years I still cant go against my mum and dads wishes, I think they would turn in their graves if I did. Suns shinning now, I?m off out to do some gardening. Wardy

[Hawton]

Hello All, Been thinking about the Queen riding in Dulwich Park on horse back, I can't remember it but I do know that Queen Mary used to come to Dulwich Park to see the Rhododendrons and remember Princess Margaret coming to Peckham to open Troy Town. Talking about Dulwich Park do you remember the concerts on Sunday evening and the ones on Peckham Rye, that was a good night out! Another name has come to mind it's Michael Barnet he lived across the road before the Hughes. I think he had a younger sister. I remember the Coronation, Mrs. Brown who lived upstairs on the corner of the posh side of Rodwell (with the wall) let me go and watch it on her tv but I remember getting really fed up with watching it but didn't like to tell her . If I remember rightly they had a fancy dress party for the kids in Heber Road School, Maureen made me a pixie outfit out of crepe paper including shoes, by the time we had paraded round the hall I had two lumps of paper round my ankles and cried my eyes out cos they were ruined! Do you remember when the men used to go on outings from the Heber and they would throw all their loose change out of the coach windows for us kids to catch, we would fight each other to see who could get the most. Do you remember Joyce Gunner who lived down the posh end of Rodwell, Maureen has been friends with her since school and still sees her every week. A few more memories for you.... Josie