General Chat

Lynda....Re Bonfires

Yes we did but not in the road :-)

In Little Venice on the old Harrow rd before the Marylebone flyover was built, there were plenty of bombed out areas and patches of land waiting for redevelopment,
perfect for fireworks night. Every family would bring a box and the sky would light up.
This was in the days of the pea souper fogs......the next day the air would still be thick with the smell.

The same plot of land was used by the fairgrounds in summer...lots of fun was to be had there for a fraction of what it costs now :-(
Loud music, Candyfloss and being whirled round on the Caterpillar until you were sick and dizzy

Happy Memory's :-D

Blinking hell LollyWithSprinklez,

My son lives at Little venice on Blomfield road, he looks out onto regents canal.
You must know that area well.


George :-) :-)

Long time ago George, before our time methinks. Pea-souper fogs were in Victorian times weren't they? :-D

I loved the bombed ruins, you always found bits of things there, so played house with them, my gawd when you think we'd be put in care now, having parents who let you play on ruins :-D
I also remember the pea soupers, and being sent home from school, I only knew how to get home by feeling the houses along the way :-D

Bloomin' great times they were :-D

Gawd Wendy I aint that Old :-P

Lynda we were sent home too....Spent many an afternoon gazing out of the school window waiting for the fog to spare me from admitting I hadn't done my homework for the next lesson.

I do indeed know the area well.. George.. never moved far from it not for home or work :-)

Blomfield road has lovely views over the canal doesn't it !!
The boats look so pretty in the summer with all their flower pots, It has changed a lot since I was young. The cafe on the bridge is spilling out now, I wonder how they manage to get so many tables in such a small space.

Edgware rd and Church st used to be great for strolling up and down on a Saturday. shoe shops, Records, Hi Fi, Jordans. The ice cream parlor.....where 9 times out of 10 you were handed a free ice cream with a smile just for walking past. There was the black and white milk bar further up Edgware rd tho my memory of that is a little hazy it had a large screen showing music films way before videos and colour television, I think it closed late 50s early 60s.

Sadly all gone now and replaced by rubbish shops. with the exception of Jordans now a thriving Antiques market.

C'est la vie

Hi LWS, will call you that as name is a bit long :-D :-D :-D

Jordans which was up Church street market is now Alfie's Antique market.

The black and white milk bar was practically next door to The Blue Hall picture house, (The flea pit) :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D.

Yep most of the shops are either owned or run by Arabs, lebanese or one of the other middle eastern people.

The itallian resturant on the bridge on the Edgware road is really nice, try it out.

Wend, I well remember the smog we use to have and I wasent born in Victorian times..LOL :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

George :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Pea souper fogs?

Yep they were caused by the fires, and the soot coming out of the domestic chimneys.

Horrible stuff. Me Mum made me wear a scarf over my mouth, so I wouldn't breathe the stuff in.

In the afternoon coming home from school, the street lights used to come on early, and cast an eerie yellow glow into the fog.

Funnily enough............................I think Jack the Kipper might have been walking the streets at that time too!!


:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Well, you are in your nineties aren't you MtG!

We had a pea-souper fog on our Wedding Day February 1976 - not London though. It was a small village north of Brighton. H'actually, I think I look quite ethereal arriving at the church on my Dad's arm, quite virginal too. Amazing what a misty light can do to a photograph :-D

Anyone for the St. Pancras environs on here, where half my ancestors come from?

Which part of St Pancras, Wend?

It became Camden in the early 1970's I believe, and the borough was made bigger as it encompassed other areas.

Cheeky monkey telling everyone how old I am!!!!!!!!


;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-)

Had a day in London yesterday. We went to the new Pre Raphaelite exhibition at The Tate. I can highly recommend it - some wonderful paintings from private collections not often available for the public to see.

We did a bit more touristy stuff as well. I love a day in London but would hate to live there. I like a quiet life.

Gwynne

Hi Gwynne, I am going to that exhibition in a few weeks.

I am lucky enough to have a corporate ticket that gets me into the Tate, Tate Modern and the RA for nuffink!

I have seen lots of wonderful paintings over the last few years.

I usually walk from one Museum/Gallery to the next.

Shanks Pony is the best way to see London.

You're in for a treat!

We finished our day at the V&A - the fashion exhibition then the Mediaeval and Renaissance Gallery.

Magic!

Gwynne

Mtg, will come back to your query about the parts of St. Pancras my lot came from. I have to refer to my notes! But, do you remember I mentioned Brecknock Road to you when we first met?

Isnt that near Tufnell Park underground.?

It is indeed George. Tufnell Park has now been demoted to a football ground. It used to be a Manor House I do believe.

Drop me a PM when you get your info Wend. If I can manage to get around a take a few photos for you, I will.

Just call me David Bailey!!!!

Looking forward to all the new exhibits Gwynne. Believe that there is a photo one at the Tate, pictures of London. That looks good too.

:-D :-D :-D :-D

Glad you had a good day Gwynne, fabulous places you went to as well :-D

I'm from around the St Pancras area Wend, have you been t the station lately? I've always loved the building, but since it's been done up, it is fabulous, I could spend a day there, lots of shops and great coffee shops, I also love going into the station by train, you get a great view of the surrounding area. There is also a beautiful church at the back of St Pancras, called Old St Pancras Church, it's on Pancras Road, a lot of my lot were baptised and married there, once in the grounds you'd think you were in the Country.

Lots of history there, in the grounds there is a tree called the Thomas Hardy tree, Gravestones were moved when Thomas Hardy was working there. the roots of the tree has pulled gravestones around it, most odd, but spectacular. There's are some photo's of it on...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Pancras_Old_Church

Well worth a look, and a visit :-D


EDIT.... I can't believe that when I finished writing the above, I had a look at my emails, and I had one, asking me if I would like, if chosen, to do some visitor welcoming at ....St Pancras, in the same role as I did for the Olympics, I don't think I have ever written a reply so quickly, so it fingers crossed :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Hello Lynda, most of MY family were married and baptised at St Pancras Old Church!

I went into there in the Summer. It has changed since I was last there. There is a little reception/kitchen area in the front of the church now.

I spoke to the lady verger in there, she was just off to the St Pancras church on Euston Road, the new lady vicar was coming to visit.

We obviously live near to each other.........................but we will not announce it to the World and his Wife. :-)

I was born in Forestgate and was brought up along the Mile End Road. First we lived in Mile End Buildings which was very cold and the stairs and floors of the flats were made on stone. Can you imagine that today. My mum made small rugs to help us keep warm.
When my sister was born we moved to house and there were only six houses in a row and directly opposite the houses was a feather factory....no health and safety, some of the feathers blew out of the factory and we would pick them and put them in our hair!
I went to Gaurdian Angels School until I was 11 when I won a scholarship and went to school in OurLadys Convent in Stamford Hill.
Then I went to train as a nurse in the London Hospital and loved every minute of working there.
Married and bought a house in Elizabeth Road , just a stones throw from my beloved West Ham United.
Then moved to Buckhurst Hill, concidererd 'posh at the time , then back to Wanstead where I was a partner in a Nursing Home .

Moved and sold my half of the home and went near to Epping Forest.

Now I live in Spain but will never be anything else than a girl from East End of London, and I and my Irish Father were the only two the family who did not sound like a Londoner ......no idea why??!

Such wonderful memories going dancing in Ilford, parks, festivities in the streets, arguments, becoming friends soon after.....but sadly I lost touch with everyone outside our family.

Not sure if I should go back as the first place I lived in was demolished, as was Murdock Cottages, and the feather factory, I wonder if the cafe on the corner of Murdock cottages is still there.?

Bridget in Spain

:-) <3 :-D

Lynda and Mtg - that is so interesting. I've just googled St. Pancras Old Church and it makes fascinating reading. Haven't had a chance to check out the rellies yet Mtg, but did check my paternal grandparents' MC and they were married at St. Benet & All Saints Church. Will take up your kind offer and pm you when I can. Thanks.

Wend, providing it is not on the other side of London, and it is not raining. I will be out with my trusty Box Brownie.

Yep, pm me when you have a few addresses.

:-)