An occasional series on what I miss about the place where I grew up.
Now I don’t do nostalgia. It’s over rated and too often offers up a view of the past which at best is deceptive and at worse downright wrong.
But having been away from Eltham for over forty years I have bit by bit been drawn back.
It’s partly those bouts of reflection that come from someone in his seventies but also because it was one of the places I was happiest.
That said for most of that last forty years it is somewhere I only came back to on flying visits.
In the early 70s Well Hall was home between term time, and then a place to catch up with family and friends and later still where we brought the children for short holidays.
During those early visits I have to confess to a mix of feelings. It was always nice to be back amongst familiar places but when you are 19 it is easy to be over judgemental. After all I was living in the heart of Manchester which was vibrant and new, offering up a wealth of experiences and Eltham seemed small beer.
But I never entirely lost the pull of Eltham and in the last few years have begun digging deep into its history and remembering so much from my childhood.
So this is the first of those memories and it is nothing more than that walk I took from our house up to the High street.
We lived just beyond the roundabout and so on a warmish spring day it was no hardship to stroll down past the Odeon and the parade of shops taking a detour into the Pleasaunce before going under the railway bridge up past Spencer Gardens and that second parade of shops before reaching Willcox’s and the parish church.
More often than not there was no real purpose behind the trip which meant you could take your time, be delayed by looking in the window of the electrical shop near Wells the Chemist, gaze at one of the guitars in Norman’s before deciding on a book from Willcox’s.
And then with the whole High Street ahead of you an hour or two could pass just looking at the shops and visiting the library.
Like others I have very fond memories of the library which offered up plenty to do, from digging out those obscure old volumes from the reference section to choosing an LP and a couple of books.
Of course Well Hall Road offered up more than just a route to the library and on other days when the sun shone it was the way up to the woods and on to Woolwich.
Now I know others will have their own favourite road and I have to concede that Court Yard and Colepits Lane had their attractions but sitting here just 4 miles from the centre of Manchester I will go for Well Hall Road.
Location; Well Hall Road, Eltham
Pictures; Well Hall Road, & Eltham Library, 2014 from the collection of Chrissy Rose
But having been away from Eltham for over forty years I have bit by bit been drawn back.
It’s partly those bouts of reflection that come from someone in his seventies but also because it was one of the places I was happiest.
That said for most of that last forty years it is somewhere I only came back to on flying visits.
In the early 70s Well Hall was home between term time, and then a place to catch up with family and friends and later still where we brought the children for short holidays.
So this is the first of those memories and it is nothing more than that walk I took from our house up to the High street.
We lived just beyond the roundabout and so on a warmish spring day it was no hardship to stroll down past the Odeon and the parade of shops taking a detour into the Pleasaunce before going under the railway bridge up past Spencer Gardens and that second parade of shops before reaching Willcox’s and the parish church.
More often than not there was no real purpose behind the trip which meant you could take your time, be delayed by looking in the window of the electrical shop near Wells the Chemist, gaze at one of the guitars in Norman’s before deciding on a book from Willcox’s.
Like others I have very fond memories of the library which offered up plenty to do, from digging out those obscure old volumes from the reference section to choosing an LP and a couple of books.
Of course Well Hall Road offered up more than just a route to the library and on other days when the sun shone it was the way up to the woods and on to Woolwich.
Now I know others will have their own favourite road and I have to concede that Court Yard and Colepits Lane had their attractions but sitting here just 4 miles from the centre of Manchester I will go for Well Hall Road.
Location; Well Hall Road, Eltham
Pictures; Well Hall Road, & Eltham Library, 2014 from the collection of Chrissy Rose
I loved that Library - my favourite place! We lived up on the Horn Park Estate and the mobile library came there but the day I was old enough to go to the proper library was like heaven! Also Eltham Baths. My brother bought his guitars from Normans (the band was Lynx 4)and my aunt lived at The Castle Pub (her parents owned it). Many many happy memories of Eltham.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Eltham on the Middle Park estate. Like the author, I have been away for over forty years but still have very fond memories of the first twenty living there. Norman's was where I bought my first record (Hoots Mon!) and my first guitar - amazingly it's still there.
ReplyDeleteI used to spend a lot of time in the library and remember well when I got my ticket for the "adults" section. Happy days and to paraphrase an old expression, I think you can take the man out of Eltham, but you can't take Eltham out of the man.
Yep The Library, Norman's Ns Wilcox's
DeleteHow old are you? Impertinent I know but I also grew up on Middle Park
DeleteYou mention 'bouts of reflection' and never entirely losing the pull of Eltham. I can identify with that. I used to live in Arsenal Road and started at Crown Woods in 1965. I am now retired and living in Herefordshire, but when I visit relatives still living in Eltham, the place seems to fit like an old glove - if you know what I mean. Another thing about the place is the abundance of green spaces - I spent many childhood hours cycling around Oxleas Woods and Avery Hill park. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDelete