GLADYS’ FIRST SCHO OL
It was soon after the Second World War when I started at St Matthews School, a small Church of England school situated at the far end of Great Peter Street Westminster
I was told that I was quite excited at the prospect of going to school, as my brother was already there being three years older than me and my Mum also worked there for a number of years, in this respect it was like home from home and I felt very happy and secure. Being that it was so soon after the end of the war, food was still scarce and rationing still in place.
On more than one occasion the school would receive food parcels from overseas consisting of fruit and nuts, this always caused a great deal of excitement.
The classrooms were big with an old fashioned open fire in one corner, it was to the side of the fireguard that the milk monitors would place the small bottles of milk just to take the chill off after having stood in the playground for a couple of hours these would be ready for our mid morning break.
Dinners were served in the Trevelyan Hall which adjoined the school, it was a big building with the dining room downstairs, upstairs was a big hall used by the brownies, cubs,and scouts or for school plays, there was always a musty smell about the place whether it was damp or the school dinners I never knew.
The school had a class for every year age group and I don’t think there were more than about 120 children in all, and most of them lived in the nearby Peabody flats or the council estates in Page street everybody seemed to know each other both in and out of school.
We would begin every day with assembly and prayers, followed by the lessons for that day. Most days would either begin or end with the chanting of times tables and a weekly spelling test was always given. Once a week we would go to the St Annes swimming baths just across the road from the school, I can remember being very nervous when the instructor made me jump in the deep end when ii could barely swim its true I did have a length of rope attached to me and I soon became quite good, a bit different from all the safety aids that are used today but equally as effective.
Every so often the school nurse sister Fowler would come to check our hair for nits and our general well-being those children who were a little undernourished or frail would be given cod liver oil capsules daily and a spoonful of Malt, I only had the malt and didn’t like it at all.
It was in February of 1952 that we were all gathered in the practical work room and Mr Burgin the headmaster told us that King George had died everybody was very sad.
Because it is a church school great emphasis was placed on events in the religious calendar we would take part on special occasions such as 'stations of the cross' during Lent at which times the church appeared very sombre only to be transformed at Easter weekend by the appearance of many daffodils and primroses that had been collected by the older children who were taken on an outing to Oxshott by Miss Edwards a lifelong member of St Matthews she also ran the scout group and the Guild of St Albans. The flowers gave the whole place a new look, and we were rewarded after the service with a small Easter egg.
THE CORONATION OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 2nd AT
In June of 1953 a number of us were invited to go and see the coronation procession along the route to Westminster Abbey there were children from schools all over the place and we stood on the embankment opposite Big Ben the crowds all lined up and cheering as the royal coach passed it was very special and the new Queen looked lovely. I can remember rushing home afterwards to see the ceremony on the television, a very small black and white set purchased by my grandfather from the Army and Navy stores especially for the occasion, mind you we could hardly see anything as there were so many people who didn’t have a set themselves and had come to view ours.
After the Coronation the celebrations started and the parties were enjoyed by all.
In July of 1953 I left St Matthews to go on to Secondary school
And start a new chapter in my education.
Teacher’s and staff at the school still remain in my mind to this day including
Mr Burgin (headmaster) Mr Roberts (teacher) Miss Robinson (teacher) Miss Bean (secretary)
Sister Fowler (school nurse)
VAUXHALL PARK SCHOOL
SECONDARY SCHOOL AT VAUXHALL
The school building itself was very big and had about four floors with classrooms on the roof as well, these were the art room, English room and a self contained flat that was used for house craft where we were taught how to launder clothes, general home maintenance and to cook, before we started cookery lessons we had to make a white apron and cap in our needlework class to wear while cooking.
P.E took place in the school hall, and netball in one of the two large playgrounds, for games like hockey and cross country running we went to the playing fields in Morden,
In the third year the cookery lesson was given at a school in Stockwell where they had better facilities.
When I reached fifteen although still at school I was lucky enough to get a Saturday position at Woolworth in Oxford Street and worked on the haberdashery counter measuring out the ribbons and buttons, I enjoyed the feeling of independence it gave me even though it was probably only about two or three pounds a week.
The store itself showed no comparison with the Woolworth stores of today with the big counters and polished wooden floor and personal service rather than the self service we now have.
I stayed at Vauxhall school until I was sixteen but I can honestly say I was never really happy there and couldn’t wait to leave .
While still at school I always knew that I wanted to work with children, my Mother worked in a nursery at a primary school and it always appealed to me to follow in her footsteps, until the time came for me to get married and have children of my own. It was 1958, I was soon to be sixteen and looking forward to starting work. The year had started badly when on February 6th the Munich air disaster happened it involved the Manchester United football team who had been playing in Yugoslavia they were travelling home when the plane crashed as it took off on a snow covered runway, of the 44 people on board 23 died including players, Staff, journalists and others.
I was ready to leave school and my maths teacher kindly arranged for me to go for an interview at a well known company in Regents Street in their accounts department but to be honest I didn't really fancy working with figures all day so I decided to look for something myself.
There was also an element of maths involved in the work which would be done in between taking calls, I enjoyed the work and soon got to know the regular callers.
After about a year I was transferred from the junior position to the main office and you would be responsible for the accounting of the deliverymen’s books which had to be balanced each week.
COURTING AND MARRIAGE 1960's
Life for me was good and I enjoyed the my teenage years. In September 1960 I went on an outing with Suggs the factory based in Regency Street it was billed as “A Mystery Trip” which turned out to be Folkestone and it was on this trip that I met the man who was later to become my husband. He lived local to me, just down the road in Warwick way he was 20 at the time and working as an apprentice sheet metal worker we both still lived at home with our families he with his grandparents, Mum and sister and I lived with my mum (my brother had married the previous year), our courtship followed quite a normal course of the time.
We would go to the pictures a couple of times a week sitting in the five bob seats between Monday – Thursday but if we went on Friday we would sit in the seven and sixes as it was pay day, Saturday afternoon was spent shopping with my mum and Mick would go to see Chelsea play, the evening Was spent in the pub either celebrating the teams success or drowning sorrows. as it was weekend I wouldn’t have to be indoors until eleven thirty while weekdays had a curfew of ten thirty and my mum was always on hand to remind me by calling out “that it was time to come in now”
We got engaged in June 1961 after Mick had finished his apprenticeship and his wages were increased from six pounds a week to 20 pounds At this time I was earning six pounds we were therefore able to save for our wedding. we would be paying for everything ourselves as our families were not in a position to do so as my Mum had been widowed during the war, we had a lot of help from my brothers wife Sheila who was a dressmaker and made the wedding dress and four bridesmaids dresses,( she has since come to the rescue in recent years making wedding dresses for two of my daughters) We saved in total about five hundred pounds over the next year and this paid for everything including a sit down meal for 90 at a cost of 7/6d head and a running buffet at 2/6d in the evening for 100. The wedding took place at St Matthews church Westminster and the reception at the Ministry of Works hall at the back of the Tate Gallery. It was a lovely day and there was a band to supply the music, our honeymoon was a week at a guest house in Paignton Devon the total cost for the week was £11.10s this included breakfast and evening meal and two hot baths.
We started our married life living with my mum on the
It was in November 1963 when President John F Kennedy was assassinated, I remember hearing the news while waiting for our fish and chips at the shop in Regency Street the shock waves went all around the world as pictures of the dying president were shown in the arms of his wife Jackie.
The months soon past and I was expecting again, when my daughter was fifteen months old I gave birth to my Son who slept at night but kept me on my toes during the day.
After the birth we received a letter from the council offering us a flat in
Time passed and the children thrived and were happy
WORLD CUP VICTORY .
In July 1966 there were celebrations as
In October 1966 it was a different type of news story that broke, it was the Aberfan disaster, a coal tip had slid on to the village school and 144 people were killed 116 of them school children the scenes were heartbreaking, watching the despair on the faces of those who had survived and those looking for loved ones. I can remember watching the scenes on television and you couldn’t help being moved to tears, the heart had been ripped out of the village.
In August 1968 I gave birth to another daughter, life was good but hectic and it was March 1969 when we were advised of a flat to rent in Churchill Gardens we were very pleased but worried in because of the amount of rent, it would double our current rent and at £13 a week and wondered if we could afford it but we moved in and I managed to get a tea job at a firm of architects in greycoat place one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon it paid about £5 a week but on the second week I accidently broke one of the bone china cups and rather than say anything I went to the Army and Navy stores to replace it, the cup cost me £1.50 which made a big hole in my weeks wage, so much for me trying to boost the family income.
My mum looked after the youngest child as she had retired by this time and the elder two went to the local primary school.
MOON LANDINGS
July 1969 and we were on holiday on the Isle of Wight when we heard the news that Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong had landed on the moon it was such an achievement and they stayed on the moons surface for two and a half hours the media had great coverage of events.
When the youngest of my three children started school in 1971 I was able to return to work on a part time basis of three days a week and once again Mum came to the rescue I would take them to school and Mum would pick them up in the afternoon I went back to Unigate at Chelsea it was a great office and it was here I stayed until 1978 when I became pregnant with my fourth child as the law had changed on maternity rights I was able to take four months off work and return to the usual three day week afterward when mum would take over again. I could not have managed without her, in fact I stayed at Chelsea until 1982 when doorstep delivery had started to decline with the supermarkets undercutting prices and the convenience it provided for people who worked not having to leave the milk on the doorstep all day while they were out.These changes in lifestyle forced the dairies to close some depots and in turn this meant redundancies. After 13 years it was like breaking up a family but things had to move on. I received some redundancy money and as this was my fortieth year and they say 'life begins' I decided to spend the money on learning to drive and to buy a second hand car this proved to be one of the best decisions made as it enabled me to take my mother out and about as by this time she was less mobile although fiercely independent she had done so much for us and now it was payback time.
ANOTHER FIRST DAY
In November 1982 I was lucky enough to get a job at
These changes in my working life caused me to reflect on the events of the past twenty five years.
1981 it was announced that Prince Charles was to marry Diana Spencer she was twenty years old and very beautiful they married at St Pauls Cathedral and were had a television audience of 750 million, they had two sons William (1982) and Harry (1984) but despite their luxurious lifestyle and priviliged position the marriage was doomed to failure in 1991 came the news that they were to seperate,and they later divorced in 1996.
DEATH OF PRINCESS DIANA
The following year 1997 the Princess was killed in a car crash in Paris and there was a great outpouring of grief by the public, I remember taking my grandchildren to the Mall where the crowds had gathered, there were flowers covering the pavement outside the palace and all along the Mall were candles burning and people were openly crying, a scene I will never forget is the sight of the Queen Victoria memorial in front of the palace, it was full of people and they were singing 'Kumbaya' it was sung in hushed tones and quite eerie but very emotional.
A GREAT LOSS
My personal life had seen many changes, my mum passed away in August 1998 she had been widowed at the age of 35 and left to raise two chidren, it can't have been easy for her but she was always there to support us and always looked on the bright side of life, she was proud of her family and her nine grandchildren and fourteen great grandchildren with her passing came a great sense of loss.
FAMILY CHANGES
With my growing family came romance and marriage and three of our children had flown the nest in the late eighties and early nineties and then ultimately our youngest daughter in 2005 , they did us proud and have presented us with eleven grandchildren (so far)they came along fast:
Christopher '91 Karis and Kerrie '92, Aron and Matthew '93 Ryan '94, Lee '95, Kira '96, Reece '97, Daniel 2001 and Summer '07 they are all great kids and a credit to their parents.
The lives of our granchildren are so different from our own childhood ,with computer games television and the latest designer clothes, supermarkets full of every commodity imaginable, they can't imagine what life was like before constant hot water, there was a hot water tap in the middle of the estate where you could get a bucket of hot water, looking back it was really dangerous but I never remember there being many accidents. Mum used to do her washing on a Monday in the big sink , it would take ages and then have to be put through the old iron mangle and hung in front of the open fire to dry we always had shepherds pie on mondays as it was quick being the leftovers from the sunday roast it was minced and the pie was able to cook while the washing was completed. the children today ask how we managed without a mobile phone but a landline was a rareity then if we made a date we just had to stick to it or communicate by post letter. there was the public telephone box but it was only useful if the other person had a telephone sometimes people
THE MILLENNIUM
The millennium came with much anticipation ,there were dire warnings that computers could crash because the early design of computers meant that only two digits of a year were used and nobody knew how they would cope going from 99 to 00 this in turn would affect banking and commerce but in the event everybody was well prepared and the day went smoothly. There were celebrations in nearly every town and country and we stood at the foot of Vauxhall bridge to see the fantastic firework display, it was quite spectacular. On a personal basis New Years Eve 1999 was my daughter's twenty first birthday and this made the day even more memorable.
TERROR ATTACKS SEPTEMBER 2001
September 11th 2001 an aeroplane crashed into one of the twin towers in New York, at first it was thought to be a tragic accident but the reality of the situation soon became clear when a second plane crashed into the other tower causing the collapse of the two buildings 2603 people that were in the building or on the ground were killed, and 24 are still listed as missing. At the same time the Pentagon was being targeted by another plane and 125 people lost their lives in this attack. The hijacked aeroplanes that were used to carry out these atrocities were carrying 246 innocent people all of whom died. The news footage could be seen live on television and the whole ghastly act was unbelievable and very traumatic even for the viewer. it is something that should never have happened and I would never want to witness those scenes again.
THE END OF AN ERA
In November 2003 my mother in law passed away aged 91, she was a great character and quite unique, with a heart of gold and a sharp tongue she could match anybody with her sense of humour, like her parents and grandparents she had lived in the area all her life in fact her Grandfather was a Farrier in Pimlico Road in the 1850's when the horse was the favoured mode of transport. Rose has been missed by us all.
ON THE 7TH JULY I was working at Westminster City Hall when the news came through that the London transport system had been targeted by suicide bombers 3 bombs exploded on three underground trains and another on a bus in Tavistock square the death toll from these bombings were 56 this included the four bombers, 700 people were injured and the whole of the transport system was badly affected
These attacks were carried out by British Muslims and said to be motivated by the war in
The previous day there had been such euphoria when it was announced that
Looking back on my life so far I am grateful to have been born into the family I was and to have married into my husbands family to have been blessed with my four children and many grandchildren. As far back as we know , at least to 1842 my family have lived in this area and like my Husbands family it seems that the connection will end with us, not always by choice but simply because the area has become too expensive to buy anywhere local or even be considered for social housing, this in turn means that the support that we recieved from our extended families is no longer feasable to be passed on to our children on the same scale. The last six decades have seen such advances in science, medicine, technology and living conditions and although I have highlighted some of the worst events there have been many more good ones. I am looking forward to the future.
My Family and My Husbands Family
