Southwark Park Road
Re: Southwark Park Road
Residents of the Kirby Estate in Bermondsey have a street party with BBQ, drinks, and a bouncy castle as they take part in The Big Lunch to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 7, 2023.
Re: Southwark Park Road
- Southwark Park Road, c2015, Balaclava Road right.
Re: Southwark Park Road
- SOUTHWARK PARK ROAD.
- Southwark Park Road, c1910.
Re: Southwark Park Road
Beryl Arle, was born and grew up in Bermondsey in the 1930's and 40's, I believe she was in her 90s when she sadly pasted away. Hoping someone will be able to provide us with more information on Beryl. To me these stories and memories should be passed down.
Beryl Arle, sadly passed away in 2023, at the grand age of 92. I found these wonderful memories that Beryl wrote some years ago.
"I was born September 1930. My Mother, Father and a Sister of 2yrs. 5months
Lived in a big Victorian house in South East London, we shared the house with my mother’s parents and Mums older sister Elizabeth. In the old houses the toilet was at the end of the back yard, you had to take a candle to light the way as there was no electricity power outside, the power was on in the house I can't remember when it was introduced. The wash boiler was in an outhouse in the back yard it was made of stone with a fire underneath so when the water boiled you had a big copper stick to agitate the sheets etc. When we had a bath it was in a portable heavy tin bath in front of the living room fire, which had to be filled with water by hand.
When My Sister and I were allowed to play outside the house, I loved to go to a little Italian shop which did lemon ice cones, it was crushed ice with lemon flavour and slices of lemon in, I suppose it was similar to lemon sorbet. The shop had a tin with envelopes in it and if you gave the shopkeeper a half penny you could pick an envelope and lift the envelope flap to see what you had won, mainly half-ounce, one-ounce, four ounce or eight ounce of sweets. One girl who hurt her finger picked the eight ounce one and told her friends she had left a little blood on the envelope, when later the shop found out why this particular envelope kept getting picked the box was thrown out it was renewed with another box of envelopes. I remember buying some slab toffee at 4d(pence) a quarter. Some had a pink streak through the middle and other slabs had chocolate middle.
Every year in June before the war there was a Catholic procession when children had their confirmation. Some people in the street would set up an altar in front of the house and have a cushion on the floor so the Bishop leading the procession would stop and bless the house and say a prayer. My grandfather would take the whole window frame out from the 1st floor and set the altar there and put the cushion tied to the lower railing.
At 4 and a half yrs. I went to school with my sister Iris, we were always taken and met afterwards, as the school was 20 minutes walk . One day in 1936 Grandad Gardiner (my Mums Dad) came to meet us from school, it was a lovely surprise as he took my sister and I to look in the shop window at some roller skates, and then preceded to go into the shop and buy us some at 7/6 (seven and six pence) quite a lot in those days. We couldn't wait to get home. My Mother didn't let us play in the streets, so she took up the large carpet runner in the hallway for us to practice. Later we had other toys, which were a whip and top, and a three-wheeler bicycle.
WWII - Living at 41 Llewellyn Street, Bermondsey, London, SE16 and five minutes from the Wharves on the Thames front. There were no shelters from any air raid, which were to be expected by German planes, if they managed to cross the coast without being detected. Some of the houses with a large back yard had an Anderson shelter, which was built with 50% of depth underground and covered on the top with corrogated sheeting. Other people had indoor Morrison Shelters, which were made like a steel table and the size of a large double bed. If the enemy approached a siren sounded with an intermittent sound to warn everyone to take shelter, when all was clear, a siren with a continuous sound known as the all clear, and everyone would come out of their hiding holes to reappear. It took me several years to stop my tummy turning somersaults after the war when the same sirens were used as a Fire Siren, it reminded me of the air raids. Church Bells were not allowed to peel, as this was a signal that we had been invaded by the enemy. Invasion meant that the Germans would come at night and drop from the planes by parachute. My parents, my sister and myself were allowed to shelter in the ground floor of Chambers Wharf. My grandparents refused to sleep anywhere but their own bed. They had the top half of the house. One evening I had a bad nosebleed and the doctor was called to plug a burst blood vessel. That evening the warning siren was sounded and two men had to carry me on a stretcher to the shelter, and at the age of nine I got quite excited to see the sight of hundreds of planes in the sky. This was the night of the Battle of Britain.
1942 I joined the Girl Guides and made several friends, once a month we would have a parade on Sunday morning with the scout troupe who had a band. The scouts and guides would have a concert in the church hall for parents and friends to attend it was one way of raising funds, they were very successful and popular.
I joined a Youth Club, it was for the 18yr olds and upwards but nearing my birthday the committee let me join. The club had many activities like cycling, hiking, a drama group, and Sunday night discussions on the roof of the club. They also had a Camp which we would spend a week at. The girls slept in a long hut previously used by the army personnel, and the boys slept in tents. We would meet at a swimming pool it was great fun although the boys would have a habit of diving under and pull your leg so you would get a ducking. The pool would only be open from Easter to September during the summer months. We had our drama group productions in a hall at The Bermondsey Settlement Hall it seated about 250. On one occasion we did a play called "George and Margaret" I was a maid who was having an affair with the son of the house and the parents had found out, on the opening scene as the curtain went up I had to come on stage crying, it was the hardest thing I had to do. The other Characters made up for my performance as I found it hard to be the first as the curtain opened and Cry it was a successful play anyway. One day a young man called Ian Hendry called in to see our performance, he was a bit of a celebrity, my friends dared me to get his attention. RIP Beryl.
Beryl Arle, sadly passed away in 2023, at the grand age of 92. I found these wonderful memories that Beryl wrote some years ago.
"I was born September 1930. My Mother, Father and a Sister of 2yrs. 5months
Lived in a big Victorian house in South East London, we shared the house with my mother’s parents and Mums older sister Elizabeth. In the old houses the toilet was at the end of the back yard, you had to take a candle to light the way as there was no electricity power outside, the power was on in the house I can't remember when it was introduced. The wash boiler was in an outhouse in the back yard it was made of stone with a fire underneath so when the water boiled you had a big copper stick to agitate the sheets etc. When we had a bath it was in a portable heavy tin bath in front of the living room fire, which had to be filled with water by hand.
When My Sister and I were allowed to play outside the house, I loved to go to a little Italian shop which did lemon ice cones, it was crushed ice with lemon flavour and slices of lemon in, I suppose it was similar to lemon sorbet. The shop had a tin with envelopes in it and if you gave the shopkeeper a half penny you could pick an envelope and lift the envelope flap to see what you had won, mainly half-ounce, one-ounce, four ounce or eight ounce of sweets. One girl who hurt her finger picked the eight ounce one and told her friends she had left a little blood on the envelope, when later the shop found out why this particular envelope kept getting picked the box was thrown out it was renewed with another box of envelopes. I remember buying some slab toffee at 4d(pence) a quarter. Some had a pink streak through the middle and other slabs had chocolate middle.
Every year in June before the war there was a Catholic procession when children had their confirmation. Some people in the street would set up an altar in front of the house and have a cushion on the floor so the Bishop leading the procession would stop and bless the house and say a prayer. My grandfather would take the whole window frame out from the 1st floor and set the altar there and put the cushion tied to the lower railing.
At 4 and a half yrs. I went to school with my sister Iris, we were always taken and met afterwards, as the school was 20 minutes walk . One day in 1936 Grandad Gardiner (my Mums Dad) came to meet us from school, it was a lovely surprise as he took my sister and I to look in the shop window at some roller skates, and then preceded to go into the shop and buy us some at 7/6 (seven and six pence) quite a lot in those days. We couldn't wait to get home. My Mother didn't let us play in the streets, so she took up the large carpet runner in the hallway for us to practice. Later we had other toys, which were a whip and top, and a three-wheeler bicycle.
WWII - Living at 41 Llewellyn Street, Bermondsey, London, SE16 and five minutes from the Wharves on the Thames front. There were no shelters from any air raid, which were to be expected by German planes, if they managed to cross the coast without being detected. Some of the houses with a large back yard had an Anderson shelter, which was built with 50% of depth underground and covered on the top with corrogated sheeting. Other people had indoor Morrison Shelters, which were made like a steel table and the size of a large double bed. If the enemy approached a siren sounded with an intermittent sound to warn everyone to take shelter, when all was clear, a siren with a continuous sound known as the all clear, and everyone would come out of their hiding holes to reappear. It took me several years to stop my tummy turning somersaults after the war when the same sirens were used as a Fire Siren, it reminded me of the air raids. Church Bells were not allowed to peel, as this was a signal that we had been invaded by the enemy. Invasion meant that the Germans would come at night and drop from the planes by parachute. My parents, my sister and myself were allowed to shelter in the ground floor of Chambers Wharf. My grandparents refused to sleep anywhere but their own bed. They had the top half of the house. One evening I had a bad nosebleed and the doctor was called to plug a burst blood vessel. That evening the warning siren was sounded and two men had to carry me on a stretcher to the shelter, and at the age of nine I got quite excited to see the sight of hundreds of planes in the sky. This was the night of the Battle of Britain.
1942 I joined the Girl Guides and made several friends, once a month we would have a parade on Sunday morning with the scout troupe who had a band. The scouts and guides would have a concert in the church hall for parents and friends to attend it was one way of raising funds, they were very successful and popular.
I joined a Youth Club, it was for the 18yr olds and upwards but nearing my birthday the committee let me join. The club had many activities like cycling, hiking, a drama group, and Sunday night discussions on the roof of the club. They also had a Camp which we would spend a week at. The girls slept in a long hut previously used by the army personnel, and the boys slept in tents. We would meet at a swimming pool it was great fun although the boys would have a habit of diving under and pull your leg so you would get a ducking. The pool would only be open from Easter to September during the summer months. We had our drama group productions in a hall at The Bermondsey Settlement Hall it seated about 250. On one occasion we did a play called "George and Margaret" I was a maid who was having an affair with the son of the house and the parents had found out, on the opening scene as the curtain went up I had to come on stage crying, it was the hardest thing I had to do. The other Characters made up for my performance as I found it hard to be the first as the curtain opened and Cry it was a successful play anyway. One day a young man called Ian Hendry called in to see our performance, he was a bit of a celebrity, my friends dared me to get his attention. RIP Beryl.
Last edited by kiwi on Tue Sep 08, 2026 12:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Southwark Park Road
- SOUTHWARK PARK ROAD, KIRBY ESTATE, KIDDIES PARTY,1946.
Re: Southwark Park Road
- 1901.
- SIMMS, STILL RUNNING c2017
Re: Southwark Park Road
Simms experimented with military applications, mounting a Maxim machine gun on a De Dion quadricycle to produce the Simms Motor Scout.
In 1899 he invented what was probably the first armoured vehicle which he called The Motor War Car, but this was never manufactured in large numbers.
That bike would be great for shooting out the tyres of the car in front that just cut you up, just a thought.
In 1899 he invented what was probably the first armoured vehicle which he called The Motor War Car, but this was never manufactured in large numbers.
That bike would be great for shooting out the tyres of the car in front that just cut you up, just a thought.
- Simms’s Motor Scout, June 1899.
- 1903.
Re: Southwark Park Road
- Southwark Park Road, Bermondsey, Dave’s Barbers c1978.
Macks Road right.
- Southwark Park Road, same location 2024, now Bermondsey Barbers.
Re: Southwark Park Road
It’s a long time ago but I think one of them was called Chris. 
- Southwark Park Road, c1960.
Re: Southwark Park Road
- Southwark Park Infants then Primary School 1963-68. This is the Class photo from 1968.
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