My Life in Bermondsey

petefred2
Nice one my old cocker. I only wish I could spell. But I can't blame Alme School for that. lol

petefred2Nice one my old cocker. I only wish I could spell. But I can't blame Alme School for that. lol

-alantay

hi im michael magee
                                i was born in guys in 1982 and grew up in gillam house on silwood street.
i love it as a kid, i went to rotherhithe school and all my friends from the silwood went there. i used to go to video vision alot down the blue and used to look in the window of the phone, clock shop that was next to the fruit and veg shop, by the bus stop. i think there was an early icelands there 2 at some point i remember going in there when i was really small.
i remember the noise of the market the smell of the wimpy, and going in the quicky heel bar and looking up at that huge oriange sign. some weeks even walking up to the LEB shop opp woolworths, down to daves for a quick hair cut then back home. in the 80;s and early to mid 90's was my best time there. southwark park had the open air swimming pool and later they made the play park with the huge boot and head lol
my dad used to drink in the jolly gardeners and i remember him bringing me back chips from miltons chippy. anyone remember the yellow car parts shop on rotherhithe new road? ohhh and the cain hill cafe what great food brian was great was a said time seeing that go because of network rail wanting it back :( everything about growing up there was the best i could ask for. its a sad time for me to see gillam house being pulled down this week its like a peace of me is being pulled down with it. its changed so much over the last 6 years. i hardley know anyone these days.
thanks for such a great site really happy i found it.

Hi Everyone,
last Sunday we woke up to a 5in blanket of snow, looking down from the bedroom window it was a wonderful scene, fox prints across the lawn- otherwise not a blemish on the carpet of fresh snow, then i remembered we were due to meet my sister-in law and her husband for sunday lunch, the kid lurking
inside me got excited at the thought of going out in the snow, after breakfast i shouted to my dear wife,
"i'm going to clear the snow from the car, and put the heat on for your comfort, light of my life" (well she might read this), after i'd swept the snow off the car i jumped into it-started the engine cranked the heater up, then sat back watching the kids go past my driveway pulling plastic toboggons heading for the fields behind the house's, did this happen when i was growing up in Bermondsey?
t can't remember, anyway it woke the amature wordsmith in me-wordsmith- not Wordsworth!.
                                 I WANDERED LONELY THRU' THE SNOW(apologes to Wordsworth)
I STOOD AT THE WINDOW LOOKING OUT AT THE SNOW,
KIDS ON TOBOGGONS-I WANTED A GO
SO I PUT ON MY SCARF MY COAT AND BOOTS,
AND WAS GREETED WITH A CHORUS OF HOLLOWS AND HOOTS,
SNOWBALLS-SNOWMEN AND SLIPPERY SLIDES
I LAUGHED SO MUCH IT HURT MY SIDES,
I SAW SKATERS ON ICE WITH FLASHING BLADE
SILHOUETTES OF CHILDREN AS DAYLIGHT DID FADE,              
I LOOKED AT MY WATCH, THE KIDS HAD GONE HOME,
SO I RETURNED TO MY ROOM-AN OLD MAN ALONE
BUT I'D HAD SOME FUN ,AND I WON'T DENY
I'LL TREASURE THIS DAY UNTIL I DIE..... 

well it's better than washing up!                                                          

  hollows and hoots should read, hollers 'n' hoots, sorry,got carried away, some say i should be!  

Hi there I was put on to this site by Anita Wilson.
My name is Nick Mills my mum was called Maureen Mills but you would know her as Russell.
Just read your story and It brought  a tear to my eye and made me laugh how you described my Nan, you forgot one thing always a fag hanging out of her mouth.
Think Anita mentioned boh Terry and Mum have passéd away.
Terry was onl 59 but had a relapse of lukemia and mum passed away last April after a short illness of cancer.
My Dad is going strong, not sure  if you knew him, Doug Mills, his mum was May Rogers and step dad Buck

Hope you are still well!

A great site hat I will be using frequently

Nick

Hi there first day on site. I was born in 1967 at Guys  Hospital spent first 4 years living in Devon Mansions and went to Tower Bridge School - fond memories. We moved to new place square and I went to Scott lidgett School. My dad and sister now live in Downtown. M y bug emigrated to Essex. I now live in Singapore but all the talk of pie and mash I making me very hungry!

Hi Nick

Nice to hear from you, yes i remember all the names that you stated, although my Sister new your Mum better than me, i was a little younger as seen on page 1 of this thread.

Terry was my best mate and next door neighbour and a big part of my growing up.It was only when we left school and moved away from Harold Estate that we lost contact, Terry I believe became a Carpenter, he was always good at that sort of thing.
To hear of him passing away had come as a big shock to me, and as you say only 59.

I have just been speaking to my Sister, she was also very shocked to hear about your Mum, as they were good friends also.

My Sister sends her regards to your Dad (Doug) if you mention her name he may recognise her.
(Patsy Rogers)
She also asks, have you a younger Brother? and Sisters

Somewhere i have a Photo of May and Buck, i must try and find it.

Steve.

I lived in Grange Rd and my mums family were born in Bacon grove.I went to Boutcher school.

Hi i vagaly remember i used to go to school with a Jimmy Longbon from SPR

danny heard

Hi millylinseyst,

Hi Pete, my memories are the same as yours I was born in 1937 and remember everything you mentioned times were so hard but as you say families were so strong. One memory I have is in our bedrooms upstairs we had Gas lighting and I remember being sent to buy the mantles. One more thing I find it amazing that so many of our mums who had to bring up families during and after the war under conditions that nowadays could not be understood by todays generation, lived to be in their 90's, my mum died 5 years ago now when she was 97.
Regards Millie

-millylinseyst

My mum was born end 1921, and she remembered having gas lighting (326 Southwark Park Road) when she was very small.  Not long afterwards they had electricity, but my granny used a gas cooker.

Kathy

Hi Kathy
Your post reminded me that you had some time ago put a pic of 326 Southwark Park Road so I looked it up and I was wondering was your mum' s house through the arch towards Southwark Park end of the road?
Millie

Hi Bermondseyboy
I put an entry on this site as you suggested but  I don't seem to be able to find it as Page 22 only goes up to  Feb 19th Sorry if I seem impatient, new to this site and would love some feed back on my husband's old friends George Martin and George Briant

Willow

Hi Willow

Not to worry, the site is getting large now and we can easly forget where we put Post's, i do it all the time.
A few tips, if you click on your name or Avatar, you should see the posts you have made, then click on the title and it will take you to that post.

Also if you go to the bottom of the front page at the bottom and click on Newest Posts across all Categories.
This will show all the latest Post's.

Hope this helps, any problems, let me know.

Steve.

Hi
does anyone know the whereabouts of the MARTIN  family and BRIANT(BRYANT) family from HAVERSHAM HOUSE and MACAWBER HOUSE      LLEWELLYN ST
My husband GEORGE HAYNES used to hang around with both GEORGES from these famiilies in the 50s/60s   they would be in their late 60s now

Thanks for any help

Willow

Hello

According to my Mum, I spent the first 6 weeks of my life in 1956 living in Bermondsey, at 13 Giles House on the Dickens Estate, Jamaica Road (now Old Jamaica Road) the flats are gone now, the new 'Spa' project is currently under construction. But I will certainly never forget it, I was christened in St James’s Church, my Mum & Dad were married there in 1954, I felt a real sense of sadness when I found out the place (Giles House) had been demolished, even though all my family had long since moved out, I feel my family roots there, more than any other place I have lived. From then we moved to a new flat in Hemel Hempstead, then when I was 3 we moved into another new flat in South Ealing. We were always regular visitors to Bermondsey, I can remember the exact car journey, or else the tube/bus, more often it would be tube and bus during the school holidays with my Mum. We moved from London when I was 10, down to Sussex (where I still live - different house now!) but continued our regular visits to Bermondsey until 1970, when my Grand-parents finally left.

They were George & Cis Martin, both born and raised in Bermondsey, they were married on Christmas Day in 1929, along with 3 other couples (it was cheaper like that apparently!), my Nan was a Pennington, she had 2 brothers and a sister, my Granpop (as I always called him) was, originally one of eight, 2 brothers and 5 sisters, so aside from visiting my grandparents there were also lots of other family members to visit as well. My Nan’s sister, Aunt Milly, she married a Back, they had a grocers in Roseberry Street, number 16 I think it was.

My Nan worked at Peeks, so there was always a bag of broken biscuits to take home afterwards. We’d go out to the shops, along Jamaica Road, but more often than not, down the blue, but it would take ages to get there, it seemed like my Nan knew everyone, she would stop and chat all the time, but then I realised, everyone did, I’ve never known a place like it for everyone knowing everyone.

I can actually remember more names of her neighbours back then than I actually know of mine now!

They used to drink in a club, of an evening, it was a Catholic club, they called it, although they weren’t Catholics they were very welcome members, I wish I could remember exactly where it was, as far as I recall to get there you went out the back of Giles House, past Darnay and along Abbey Street and it was in another estate I think, I used to love going there, does anyone know?

Ah, memories, I could talk for hours!

All the best

Ian

ian.

The catholic club  was on the corner of george row. it was built on the site where
time and talents was. called the felton.
we helped out there behind the bar some nights.

Esther,

Thanks for that, would this be the building then?  It's definitely the right direction from the flats, or is this a replacement since those days? It always seemed to be dark when I went over with them so I don't really recognise it, but it always seemed like a good atmosphere inside, I was only young of course, but they were always allowed to take me in with them, I remember being in there at christmas time one year, there was a raffle and they got me to draw out the tickets!

Thanks for that Esther, I would never have found it without you!

What sort of era did you work in there then?

All the best

Ian

Hello Ian and Esther,

That was the John Felton Club. I went to a few 'do's' in there.
Sadly this was demolished a few months ago and new 'apartments' have been built there and up for sale as we speak.

Phil