Childhood Memories of Dagenham
| Published: 17th September 2008 11:49 |
It is very hard for me to admit to but I have just reached my fiftieth year, you would never think it as I have kept my boyish good looks. My family moved from a tiny flat in Hornsey Road Islington to what looked to me as a six year old, a palatial mansion deep in the heart of the country. I only had to share a bedroom with one other person we also had our own bathroom not having to share one with three other families.
I am still living in Dagenham today yes it has changed it is not the same as it used to be. It really upsets me when there is only negative images of Dagenham reported. Over the last few years their has been a huge change in the residents of Dagenham, many who have made their home here come from every corner of the world. I believe if those of us who grew up in Dagenham share our memories it will give a personal insight into the background and history of our borough.
As I look back I realised just how great Dagenham was for a kid, I hope there are some of you who will share some of my memories. It would be great if anyone would like to add some of their personal memories of their school days, summer holidays, local shops, anything that reminds them of happy days. I occasionally help out at the youth club that meets in the church my family and I go to. They are just returning to school after the six weeks holidays time and time again I hear there is nothing for them to do no where to go. We also hear many adult moaning about groups of youths hanging about on street corners causing trouble late at night. Well in this first trip down memory lane I thought I share some of my memories of how my mates and I spent the six weeks holiday.
As we know all to well this was such a dismal wet summer, when we were young their was never even a cloud in the sky it was always warm and sunny. It is very doubtful if that is true but looking back that's how I remember it. Here in Dagenham we were really blessed we had outdoor swimming pools or as we called them lidos, the posh one was in Barking park. It had fountains café diving boards and for us it wasn't too hard to bunk in I remember it to be a beautiful pool. We went with our mates who lived in the same road but we would always meet school friends this of course always led to a game who could do the biggest dive bomb with out being thrown out by the life guards. At the end when we all had enough we would go into the park and have a football match of 15 or 20 a side. Then when it started to get dark we would begin the long walk home to Dagenham. The other out door pool was at Leys; the most outstanding memory was the diving board's the top one was nearly always roped off it seemed to reach the sky. We would go their at least once a week every time we went their someone would tell us that just after we left last week someone did a belly flop off the top board and his stomach split open and his guts were all floating in the deep end, no one ever knew his name and no one actually saw it so did it happen who knows. It wasn't as clean and well looked after as Barking but it is where most of our school mates went to, I also had a friend who lived just over the road so we could always get a free drink and biscuit.
I can't remember a café at Leys but at Barking their was a café it was the only place I can remember getting Bovril crisps. We also had two great parks Mayesbrook and Parsloes. Mayesbrook we called matchstick island that was our favourite it had sailing boats canoes rowing boats, their was pitch and put, we could fish their was a very beautiful roman sunken garden that had a pond with water lilies that was good for sticklebacks. It was also the site for the fun fair when ever it came to town their were other reasons it was our favourite, my Dad would have a drink in the Roundhouse and if we were lucky he would buy us all bottles of lemonade and crisps.
One of our mates was a paper boy at Ronnie Lees so he could get sweets at Mr Lee would take it off his wages at the end of the week we would give him the money back when we got our pocket money. Ronnie Lees shop is one of the best shops ever it is third or fourth generation of the same family they are legends to many of us in Dagenham. I feel strongly that as many of us who can should use it as often as we can to keep shops such as Lees and others like it open.
Parsloes had a lake but that had ducks and swans, it had rose gardens. We only went their for the tennis courts during Wimbledon fortnight we had two rackets between 8 of us and only one ball. The rackets were heavy wooden ones a match could take days to finish as we would all have to scarper when the parkie came. The only other thing we went their for was the swings their was a playground that had a paddling pool as I look back I can not remember anyone apart from me who ended up soaking wet as I fell over. We would play run outs until late then on the way home in the dip at Beacontree their was a chip shop who would sell us a big bag of crackling and if it was near closing time we would make a lot of noise keep telling him we were being starved by our parents because they couldn't afford food so he would let us have all the left over chips. Then being naughty boys we would get one of us to get over the fence at Everetts the off licence get some bottles and take them in to Mr Everett and get the twopence deposit. If we could get together four shillings 20p from our illegal bottle deposit scam then it would pay for at least one of us to go out the next day.
Half way through the summer holiday we would arrange to have a day out in London this would involve going to Barking bus garage and buying a red rover if I remember right it cost about ten shillings 50p. With a red rover you could go anywhere on any London transport bus this would be a highlight of the holiday. One time we had gone to the boot repairers down the hill from Beacontree station we all bought sets of blakeys these were metal segs that you hammered in to the heel of your shoe it was supposed to prolong the life of your shoes. For us it meant we could hang off the back of the bus put our foot down to the ground as the bus went along leaving a trail of sparks off of our shoes. Our adventure began at the bus garage the first bus took us to Aldgate from their we would go to Trafalgar square we went in to anywhere that had free entrance we never got stopped going in to art galleries or museums.
Being a gang of lads from Dagenham we only went in to the art galleries because their was a chance of sniggering at paintings of semi naked women. Their was never any worry over our safety our parents would only warn us about our behaviour. It is so different today many of us say the youth of today are so lucky with everything they have, the one thing we had that they don't was freedom to roam the streets with out fear and the ability to travel all over London with out feeling threatened by other gangs of youths or adults looking to pray on young boys. That freedom was worth all the playstations or mobile phones in the world.
I would like to finish this first instalment by just giving you some things to reflect on they may give you something to talk about don't forget if you have a special memory that you would like to share with others just let us know and we can put it on the site for others to read.
Casey
WHO REMEMBERS THESE
Old English spangles - Saturday morning pictures - Platform shoes - merry fiddlers - Harrington jackets - Flared trousers - Wallis supermarket - double diamond - LPs - Country dancing - sports day - magpie - radio one road show - DLT - using phone boxes - the chequers - the wombles - mousetrap - Chopper bikes - string vests - 8-track cassettes - the goodies - David Cassidy - Bilbo drinks lorry - jubblies - jamboree bags - Slipper bags - the top 20 - world of sport.
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So many things I remember but my favourite one has to be my platform shoes -took some practicing not to fall over but I loved them.
Hope you write some more articles soon Casey.
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