Pat

I was born in Leytonstone in 1937, and lived with my mother and father in a small terraced house which was the only one in the road not to have electricity. The gas lighting required gas mantles, which were very fragile and had to be handled carefully. Our wireless ran on an acid battery and this had to be taken down to the local bus garage to be “topped up” regularly. There was no bathroom, only the outside toilet, so we had a tin bath which was used once a week (in front of the fire in the winter-time).This was also used to bathe the dog in the garden. My father’s mother and stepsister lived across the road from us and his sister lived with her husband and two children around the corner.

I started kindergarten at the age of 3½, my most vivid memory being of the afternoons, when we had an afternoon nap on small cot beds. I can remember the teacher telling the other children to watch me as I was so good at resting. Needless to say, I have maintained this throughout my life! However, during the war Kirkdale School received a direct hit, reducing it to rubble. We were all so fortunate that it happened on a Saturday morning; otherwise I wouldn’t be here today.

I was evacuated to Newnham, a small village in Hertfordshire. I was extremely lucky in that my mother came with me and the family that we lived with were absolutely wonderful. The house was on a crescent running round the side of the village green and there was a large pump there where the villagers got their water in buckets. Water was heated in a copper for baths and the chemical toilet was outside and had to be emptied regularly. Milk was brought round from the farm daily in churns carried on a pony and trap. The milk was measured out in metal jugs and were placed in the marble lined pantry. My father was making Mosquito aircraft in a factory in Chingford, so he was able to come to visit us some weekends, going home with his suitcase full of provisions from the countryside. He brought our dog Jack with him, who enjoyed joining the village dogs at harvesting time when the rabbits were flushed out of the crops and hunted by the dogs.

After a year or so my mother and I returned home to Leytonstone, and I started at Connaught Road School. However, within months our home was bombed. I was at school at the time and can remember being in the school hall which had big windows on both sides. Suddenly there was this loud “crumping”, banging noise and the windows shook. Our house was inhabitable, so my Dad moved in with his mother and stepsister and my mother and I returned to Newnham, where I attended the the village school. This was one room with the children arranged in rows, the youngest at the front, the oldest at the back. In the winter there was a large coal fire burning and the teacher heated up milk in a saucepan over the fire. We moved to Woodford Green when I was 8 and I started at Churchfields Junior School. My sister was born when I was 10½.

Following the 11 plus I went to Leyton County High School in Leytonstone. It was a long journey there as I had a 25 minute walk to Woodford Station, a 15 minute journey on the train and then another walk of 20 minutes to the school. In the summer I cycled to and from school, riding down the high road to Snaresbrook, turning right past the Eagle Pond and then left through the forest. I can remember one day, following cookery lesson, riding my bike with one hand clutching a jug of leek and potato soup!

I started work in London on my 16th Birthday, travelling to Baker Street every day. We were all young, so had a great time. Following that, I worked in the City for an Insurance Company. In 1957 I married and we moved to Wanstead Park Road in Ilford, where we lived above and behind a butchers shop. There was no bathroom, just an outside toilet which we had to share with the shop staff, so we would go to the public baths one week and to my Mum and Dad’s the following week for a bath.

Prior to the birth of our first daughter in May 1962 we moved to Ascot Close in Hainault. Our second daughter was born in 1964. Both attended John Bramston School in Hainault. Our elder daughter went to Ilford County High School and the younger to Woodford County High School.

Living in Ascot Close, we were close to the station and buses. We had a group of shops just over the road; there was a hardware shop, ladies’ hairdresser, Hookers the chemist, fish and chip shop, bakers, sweet shop, off licence, two butchers, two greengrocers, Sears the grocers, a small haberdashers and post office/newsagents. We didn’t need to go to Manford Way or Barkingside as we could get everything we wanted locally.

When our daughters were 8 and 10 I worked part time at Harmer and Simmons on the Hainault Trading Estate. Later I worked as a medical secretary at King George Hospital, Newbury Park and then transferred to the Cancer Unit at Hackney Hospital. Our Unit then moved to the newly built Homerton Hospital and then to St Bartholomew's Hospital in the City of London.

Our daughters are both married. Our elder daughter is married to an American serviceman and lives in Texas. She is a pharmacist in a Veterans Hospital. She has travelled extensively around the States with her husband as he is relocated every 3 years. Our younger daughter is married with two daughters and lives in Essex. She works for the DSS. My husband and I are now retired and wonder where we found the time to go to work! I am enjoying learning computing at the Hainault Community Centre, where we have small, friendly groups and helpful tutors, which makes learning an enjoyable experience. Other interests are reading, crosswords, Su Doko, gardening and bird watching.

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