Another in the series by Eddy Newport taken from his book, The Newport’s 1951 at No. 58 Rochester Close Kidbrooke SE3...........
Mother was a woman that everybody wanted to have as a friend. She had an open house for anyone to visit and many did for cups of tea and chats. During that time, her work was cut out with her two boys. Shopping expeditions were to the local parade of shops about a mile away along the Rochester Way.
There was a public house there called “The Dover Patrol” So going shopping there was referred to as “Going up the Dover”.
No such things as supermarkets, these were for the future. The main grocery store was called Perks Ltd and you could get all you wanted, provided you queued up for it. Everything had to be weighed out and put into paper bags.
There was still rationing and our ration books had to have the coupons cut out so to prove that you had had your quota. There was a baker, butcher, hardware, newsagent, fish and chip shop, off-licence and a drapers shop all in a row. One thing I will never forget was the smell of the hardware shop; it was a mixture of paraffin, tar and detergents all mixed together and unforgettable."
I was settling into Ealdham Square School and David was soon to follow. It was soon realised that Rochester Close was not going to be big enough for a growing family. It was possible under the London County Council that tenants could exchange properties if all was agreeable. In the area, there were a lot of council houses being built. Dad and Mum put in for an exchange and managed to do a deal with an older couple living at 98 Birdbrook Rd. And so we moved once more the year was 1951.
The eleven plus examinations were looming the King had died we had a new Queen and her coronation was a near future event. Life was going to change.
Once we had moved into our new home at number 98 we soon settled down. The big news of the day was the coronation of Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on June 2nd, 1952. Dad being in the Saint John’s Ambulance Brigade had a duty to attended to.
He was to stand outside Westminster Abbey. He had a fantastic view of the all that went on. We had befriended our new next door neighbours Mr and Mrs Parsons who had a television set and on the day, we were invited in to see the unfolding events.
Mrs P had set up benches in two rows for the children to sit on. I found the whole thing very boring, the only time it became exciting was when in the distance a black uniformed man with a white bag over his shoulder came into view. He said later that the only causalities he had that day were trying to sober up drunken Lords sipping their hip flasks during the service.
Note:- this photo was taken in the garden of 58 RC. in the background is the main road Rochester Way, that house is still the. taken 1952
Geoffrey born 27th Oct 1951. Now we are five.
Life carried on in this way until 1951 when another addition was added to our family. On Oct 27th, our brother Geoffrey Alan was born. That night David and I were woken by a lot of activity and told to stay in our beds.
The midwife was sent for and later a baby was heard crying. We were summoned to our parent’s bedroom and introduced to Geoff. Weighing in at 6 lbs. Mum looked pleased and dad was so proud to have witnessed the birth.
The prefab we lived in was Geoff’s birthplace and is now an open space area (Kidbrooke Green).
I went back some time ago to try and judge the spot where we had our bungalow. I came to the conclusion that if Geoff ever became famous and the country wanted to put up a blue plaque where he was born, they would have to nail it to a park bench.
Mum used to ask Dave and me to do the shopping and take Geoff in the pram to carry it in. I hated this chore.
The embarrassment of pushing the pram was horrendous to me, so I would push it out in front of and let it freewheel for about 10 yards and when I caught up with it I pushed it out again. This was fine until the pram hit an obstruction and it tipped over and Geoff did a somersault on his rains and all the shopping went over the pavement. It worried me at the time as was relieved that Geoff was strapped into the pram and did not sustain any injury. However, I did not do that again.
I was settling into Ealdham Square School and David was soon to follow.
It was soon realised that Rochester Close was not going to be big enough for a growing family. It was possible under the London County Council that tenants could exchange properties if all was agreeable. In the area, there were a lot of council houses being built. Dad and Mum put in for an exchange and managed to do a deal with an older couple living at 98 Birdbrook Rd.
And so we moved once more. The year was 1951. The eleven plus examinations were looming the King had died we had a new Queen and her coronation was a near future event. Life was going to change.
© Eddy Newport 2017
Picture; from the collection of Eddy Newport
 |
| Mum |
There was a public house there called “The Dover Patrol” So going shopping there was referred to as “Going up the Dover”.
No such things as supermarkets, these were for the future. The main grocery store was called Perks Ltd and you could get all you wanted, provided you queued up for it. Everything had to be weighed out and put into paper bags.
There was still rationing and our ration books had to have the coupons cut out so to prove that you had had your quota. There was a baker, butcher, hardware, newsagent, fish and chip shop, off-licence and a drapers shop all in a row. One thing I will never forget was the smell of the hardware shop; it was a mixture of paraffin, tar and detergents all mixed together and unforgettable."
I was settling into Ealdham Square School and David was soon to follow. It was soon realised that Rochester Close was not going to be big enough for a growing family. It was possible under the London County Council that tenants could exchange properties if all was agreeable. In the area, there were a lot of council houses being built. Dad and Mum put in for an exchange and managed to do a deal with an older couple living at 98 Birdbrook Rd. And so we moved once more the year was 1951.
The eleven plus examinations were looming the King had died we had a new Queen and her coronation was a near future event. Life was going to change.
 |
| Dad |
He was to stand outside Westminster Abbey. He had a fantastic view of the all that went on. We had befriended our new next door neighbours Mr and Mrs Parsons who had a television set and on the day, we were invited in to see the unfolding events.
Mrs P had set up benches in two rows for the children to sit on. I found the whole thing very boring, the only time it became exciting was when in the distance a black uniformed man with a white bag over his shoulder came into view. He said later that the only causalities he had that day were trying to sober up drunken Lords sipping their hip flasks during the service.
Note:- this photo was taken in the garden of 58 RC. in the background is the main road Rochester Way, that house is still the. taken 1952
Geoffrey born 27th Oct 1951. Now we are five.
Life carried on in this way until 1951 when another addition was added to our family. On Oct 27th, our brother Geoffrey Alan was born. That night David and I were woken by a lot of activity and told to stay in our beds.
 |
| Geoffrey aged 8 months |
The prefab we lived in was Geoff’s birthplace and is now an open space area (Kidbrooke Green).
I went back some time ago to try and judge the spot where we had our bungalow. I came to the conclusion that if Geoff ever became famous and the country wanted to put up a blue plaque where he was born, they would have to nail it to a park bench.
Mum used to ask Dave and me to do the shopping and take Geoff in the pram to carry it in. I hated this chore.
The embarrassment of pushing the pram was horrendous to me, so I would push it out in front of and let it freewheel for about 10 yards and when I caught up with it I pushed it out again. This was fine until the pram hit an obstruction and it tipped over and Geoff did a somersault on his rains and all the shopping went over the pavement. It worried me at the time as was relieved that Geoff was strapped into the pram and did not sustain any injury. However, I did not do that again.
I was settling into Ealdham Square School and David was soon to follow.
It was soon realised that Rochester Close was not going to be big enough for a growing family. It was possible under the London County Council that tenants could exchange properties if all was agreeable. In the area, there were a lot of council houses being built. Dad and Mum put in for an exchange and managed to do a deal with an older couple living at 98 Birdbrook Rd.
And so we moved once more. The year was 1951. The eleven plus examinations were looming the King had died we had a new Queen and her coronation was a near future event. Life was going to change.
© Eddy Newport 2017
Picture; from the collection of Eddy Newport
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