St.Augustine's Church and Patterson Park.
I have lots of memories of Bermondsey to share. Maybe some of you boys and girls remember the same?
I went to the 27th. Bermondsey cubs and scout troop in St. Augustine's Church in Lynton Road. We would meet in what we called the Crypt.Happy days learning new skills and trying not to get bashed up or sat on by the bigger boys when we had 'Games'.
Ourt Skip was Reg Nation. To be able to play in the football team on Saturdays we had to go to church at St.Augustines the previous Sunday. Talk about team selection! Lots more to say on this subject, are there any 27th Bermondsey boys out there? I'm Bobby Hubbard and I'm 60 now. Used to live in Catlin Street at the back of the Bricklayers shunting yard.
I spent most of my waking hours either up Southwark Park or Patterson Park. Our street gang in the 1950s would ride our carts and made up scooters down that hill that led into the park - must have been mental. We would go on the American swings, bit frightening when you were little, play in the sand pit and splash about in the little paddling pool there. We would also play footbal in the area on th eother side of the slope next to the railway line and of course on the notorious 'gravel' pitches at the back. I had the honour of representing Bermondsey under 12s on these pitches against other london teams, and I've still got the scars to prove it.That gravel surface was like sandpaper and the kids' boots in those days had horriblelooking studs on them.
This is my first message so ,ots more to talk about............Gallewall Primary School, Shuttleworth Park, Blue Anchor fish and chip shop and in my later years all the pubs!
Hi Freddie,
thanks for the info and yes I am in the photo. Did you get my earlier message about the names?
Is it possibble to download your phot of the 27th. Bermondsey Cub Pack?
Regards, Bobby
Hi Bobby,
You're welcome to download it and use it. If you want a copy without the names on it, PM me your E-mail address and I'll send you a jpg of the original scan!
freddie
H
Hello again Freddie,
managed to meet up with Trevor Ray, one of the larger lads at Cubs, he visited the site and saw the photo. He was well pleased.I would love a copy of the photo Fred. My email address is : lynnhubbard_@hotmail.com
Thanks again for your input and will be chatting again soon.
Best wishes,
Bobby
I remember Patterson Park. We often used to go there, it had a roundabout that you stood up on.
I also recall it had the American swings there as well. There was a paddling pool. I also used to go to Shuttleworths Park, and took my own daughter in there when she was small. I remember my mum went for a job near Patterson Park, in a big old grim place straight out a Charles Dickens novel in St James Road. I think it used to be a workhouse at one time. It is long gone now, but I can see myself standing waiting for her outside, I remember all that brickwork. There was an archway, some steps, and a big building. Does anyone remember what this place was?
I remember Patterson Park. We often used to go there, it had a roundabout that you stood up on.
I also recall it had the American swings there as well. There was a paddling pool. I also used to go to Shuttleworths Park, and took my own daughter in there when she was small. I remember my mum went for a job near Patterson Park, in a big old grim place straight out a Charles Dickens novel in St James Road. I think it used to be a workhouse at one time. It is long gone now, but I can see myself standing waiting for her outside, I remember all that brickwork. There was an archway, some steps, and a big building. Does anyone remember what this place was?
-bermondseylady
Hi Bermondseylady, I discovered this photograph of the paddling pool at Paterson Park amongst my father's things. He used to be the Park Keeper at Paterson Park during the 1950's.
Regards
Rene
Hi Bobby,
I think you used to live next door to my Gran, Mrs Thorn. I was always there as she used to look after me when my mum went early morning cleaning. I am sure we used to play together and it was you I was playing with when I fell off the back of my 3-wheeled bike and broke my arm.
Best wishes
Alan
WOW Rene what an amazing picture,what ws your dads name? do you have anymore pictures..
Hi Bermbird
I will check to see if I can find anymore photographs of the Park. My Dad's name was Bill Forrester.
Regards
Rene
Lovley memories, I can see it all as you write of it so well.
I used to go in Southwark Park, how I loved that place! The American swings, that huge slide,the maypole, the sandpit....I used to love the ordinary swings too. My cousins used to come from Slade Green in Kent and spent a lot of time with us in Southwark Park, they were three girls who were real tomboys, the eldest used to challenge the local boys to race her up the nets that were above the sandpit. She won sometimes, and one day a boy accused her of cheating by putting her foot in his face, to which she angrily replied 'you come round my house tonight and say that in front of my dad!' knowing full well that she would be back in Slade Green that evening! She had a real 'big gob' and loved to mix it with the Bermondsey boys! And girls!
I loved the flower gardens with the sundial at the end of one entrance, it fascinated me. Is it still there? I used to really love going to Patterson park too, they had a roundabout that you stood up on. My cousins went there as well and when the boy who lived next door to me sat on the ice creams we had bought- dont ask, I still dont know how he managed it - the big gob swore at him and got a clip round the ear from her mother! My mum used to take a lot of us to the park when she was not working and other mums were, and then I had to go back and work as a galley slave in the cafe she worked in! LOL!
Brilliant days, where did they all go?
Hi Rene,what years was your dad parkie at patterson and he wasn't a shortish tubbish kinda man was he?.thanks sheila
A couple of people have mentioned the stand-up roundabout in Patterson Park which I remember well, but there was a sit-down one too, and it seems to be the sit-down one that can be seen beyond the paddling pool in Rene's dad's brilliant photo. What was he standing on to take it? Do I recall that there was a brick building there - with a flat roof I'm guessing? I had completely forgotten the concrete blocks in the pool until I saw the photo. Did we used to get into trouble by going straight from the pool to the sand-pit and the other way around? Or was it if we went from the pool to the pit and then back covered in sand?
yeah the parkie used to tell us off for going back n forth haha....must of been standing on a ladder or something because the parkie hut wasn't as close i dont think also the angle seems wrong....
That's right fogbrain, there was a brick building with a flat roof. I can't recall how many rooms in the building but the office was one of them where staff could keep an eye on what was happening in the park. There was also a room where staff could have their lunch, I seem to recall a fence in the front of this end of the building. You are probably right about the photograph being taken from the roof.
Bermbird, my Dad was 5ft 10in and did have a bit of a middle age spread. I have attached a photo of him around about the time he worked in the park which is a bit fuzzy but hope it helps. He worked at the park when it opened until mid 1950's or maybe as late as 1958. After that he transferred to Wapping Gardens.
After I was barred from the paddling pool AND the sandpit, my Dad tried to reason with me explaining that the sand caused problems in the paddling pool water filter. I said what's a filter?........and at that moment he realised that out of the 5 children he had brought into this world he had chosen the least knowledgeable one to reason with. I remained barred.
Regards
Rene
Lovely picture but unfourtanely he is not the parkie i was thinking of.....in the park behind the pool was from left to right The Parkies Office which had a little kinda porch with a couple of benchs and some store cupboard-The Girls Toilets-The Boys Toilets then you had a Block which had the Office and The Parkie chill out/het away from kids place this part was fenced off there was also space where they used to drive their parkie vans in.....Just had a flash back but im sure there was a tall slide roughly from where the picture of the paddling was taken? might be wrong but sure there was....
Hi Bermbird
I will check to see if I can find anymore photographs of the Park. My Dad's name was Bill Forrester.
Regards
Rene-rene
I remember your dad, I used to help him pick up all the litter that people
dropped on the ground rather than use the bins! I was in the office one day when he was doing some paperwork and I accidently knocked over an ink bottle onto the book he was writing in! Kept out of his way for a couple of weeks!
There was also a 'parklady' called Mrs Smith if I recall rightly, always had her hair tied in a bun.Great pic by the way.
Hi Rene i was wondering if its ok to copy your picture so i can put it on facebook.....Let me know...thanks
Hi Bermbird
Of course you can copy the photo of the park.
Rene
Hi Pedropeter
Never mind. Accidents like that were quite common in our household. That's what kids do. He probably blamed himself for putting the open ink bottle near where you could knock it over.
I didn't really know other people working at Paterson Park. I didn't go to that park very often preferring to go to Southwark Park being much closer to where I lived. Occasionally on school holidays I would spend a day or two with Dad at Paterson Park thus making one less kid for Mum to worry about.
Sometimes Mum would meet Dad on Saturday nights just as he was locking up the Park and they would have a drink in the Sultan before going home. Dad worked long hours in the summer and a drink at the Sultan on Saturday night after work was the extent of their social life. Us kids thought it was great, we would sit outside the Sultan with our lemonade and bag of crisps and the best part was that we were staying up late - a real treat.
Rene
