Chic wrote:Thanks Ray
I’ve had a look at the Rotherhithe New Road topic and found fosney’s map showing the Rotherhithe New Road School in Suffolk Grove. That was the old Victorian School I was talking about and I was a pupil there. I notice a large area on that corner has been replaced with flats and a new school. Was it demolished for redevelopment or was it a bomb site?
I checked out the History and War Years and was particularly absorbed by the Living in the Blitz topic. It absolutely captured the grit and spirit of the time. The observations written by the children were especially heart-warming.
Squatters Movement of 1946.
After the war, mum and dad and my two sisters found themselves without adequate accommodation. My dad arranged for them and 10 other families (and Fred Livett) to squat in the disused military huts in Southwark Park. Post-war homelessness and overcrowding sparked a nationwide movement of squatting. In August 1946, tens of thousands of people, mainly ex-servicemen and their families, moved into empty military camps around Britain. The Southwark Park squatters are mentioned in Pat Kingwell’s splendid history of the park.
N.B. pdf page 45: http://www.friendsofsouthwarkpark.co.uk ... rk_opt.pdf
Sadly, there are no images of the event. It turned out to be worthwhile because we were allocated a prefab. Catlin Street was adjacent to the Bricklayers Arms railway goods depot which was heavily bombed and it looks like part of Catlin Street caught some of the action. I found a 1950 map of Catlin Street showing 20 Prefabs. If your sister lived between 43 and 51 Rolls Road, she’d have been close to us at no. 4
Best regards - Bill
Hi Bill, my sister lived at number 302, which was opposite you but across the other side of Rolls Road, but they did say they could hear you making a noise.
Cheers Ray.