I have been racking my brain too. I think across the fields was our own choice, but as you say, I can't imagine mums pushing their silver cross over there as it was more like the outback than anything

One thing I do remember is begging my mum to let us eat a piece of toast on the way to school like the kids next door. She said eating in the street was common and we would have our breakfast at the kitchen table like it or not (the kitchens were a good size as I remember - not massive, but room for a table in the corner)

I also can't believe that our mums had to walk all the way to East Ham High Street with a big heavy pram with a baby in and a few kids in tow. My mum said it was often more than once a week. You couldn't buy much in the local grocers. I remember a lorry used to come round selling fruit & veg though - hard to forget really as I stood on a wheel once with my arms around the wheel as he pulled away - my scream as the wheel squashed my arm was enough to make him stop   - I have forgotten what happened. My mum told me recenly but I have got a head like a sieve. I think he offered to take me to hospital but my mum decided nothing was broken (kids rubber bones ) as the worst thing was the pattern from my jumper imprinted on my arm

Mark

PS - Not much to see here (My younger brother John in Playpen)

It must be Paget Gardens you can see in the background.

Robert Rogers posted this map on an earlier thread. I can't remember a name like Learoyd but I was only little. My mum & dad were quite happy to send me to the shops in Eisenhower for 'a bloomer' or ''alf ounce of golden, a packet of greens and a box of swans'

You can see where we lived which was a cul-de-sac off Beckton Road, although our address was Beckton Road (106 I think)

I also cropped these from maps - this one is 1950 http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn224/MarkB_014/beckton1950.png Funny that it shows a library as my mum said there was only a mobile library near Roman Road when we were there.

And this one 1966 http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn224/MarkB_014/beckton1966.png What they call 'drain' must have been the ditch I remember cutting across Eisenhower. I remember picking the berries there

Although it was basic housing, we didn't have a clue and it was an idyllic childhood -  fishing, making camps, going for treks to the other side of Beckton Road etc.. Moving a mile away to East Ham 'proper' was a real downer - we only had a conversion flat and we all hated it. My mum started  looking for something better from the day we moved in. The first thing that came up was a council house in Dagenham so we moved there 2 years later.

PS - re the concrete bridge things, I remember we sometimes used to come home from school around the side of the estate over the concrete things and across the fields. I can remember now My older cousin Sally (her dad Jim worked at the gasworks) picking us up from school (she was training to be a teacher at East Ham Poly.

Well we have heard the saying 'When I was a kid, it was all countryside round here' - it almost was around Beckton  

Thanks Lorraine

Although I don't remember it well, it looks so familiar. Was there just a walkway to the prefabs in some of the roads?

I remember some kind of walkway near a ditch where we used to pick blackberries. Happy memories

I also remember one of a singing group (The Mission Belles?) lived in the prefabs - maybe in Montgomery gardens.

Great photos

Mark

PS - This site is great. I had almost given up hope of seeing any prefab photos. Also, I posted about my great grandparents (not from Newham, from Walthamstow) and a distant relative made contact. We have been sending emails and she is going to send me a photo of our great,great grandparents

Hi Dee,

I'm coming up to 51 but we used to go to the community centre once a week. They just had a wind-up record player and a pile of 78s - even then, around 1967 - If I remember rightly, it was free to get in and we got 6d to spend. A bottle of lemonade and some smiths crisps were 3d each

I'm pretty sure we had our jabs there too.

Mark

PS - I often see Mr Ayres mentioned but I don't seem to remember him. My main memories of Roman Road are finding a wasp in my mash once and the dragonflies that flew around by the drinking fountain

I had never heard of it having a pool either. Maybe Beckton Lido was too much competition for it?

We spent a lot of time over there as kids - I used to love the town shows there. Also, like Linda, we spend quite a bit of time over Gooseley when it was on the doorstep when we lived in Bream Gardens.

Mark

I though prefabs only came about after WW2? - unless there were a different type about before then?

Mark

I mentioned on another thread that around 2000 when I was living in London, I was visiting family in Essex. We drove back via the A13 and saw the iron bridge dismantled on the side of the road - it brought back a lot of memories - that was the last link to what was there before. At least them keeping the name Eisenhower Drive give an idea of where it was 

Mark

Hi Lorraine,

That all sounds familiar to me except you have a much better memory than me. We must have moved there the same year you moved away - either '64 or '65 - I remember the bloomer loaves and definitely the sweet shop (something kids don't forget ), but I don't remember it being split in two. I can only remember Miss Mierus (not sure of spelling) and Miss Culoden (she married when I was there and became Mrs McCarthy) at Roman Road.  I totally agree that it was like living in the country. There was always something to do - Not sure if the banjo you mentioned was the one we lived in which was off Beckton road, next to Eisenhower drive. I posted this photo of our shed on another thread.

You can see our fence that backed onto the fields. I can't remember if there was a gap or if it had fallen down though it was a very basic fence.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn224/MarkB_014/prefabgarden.jpg (baby Karen who was born in the prefab is 47 next month )

My mum said we had an old baby bath on the coal bunker where we used to keep newts & sticklebacks (probably didn't last long )

Looking forward to seeing your prefab photos

Mark

I wonder if it was around Marshgate Lane - Although as Robert says...

I wonder if all the new houses in Beckton will eventually sink as there were marshes behind our old prefabs when we were kids. We used to pretend it was quicksand after watching Tarzan films - I only saw from a map last year (posted by Robert) that what we called ditches were drainage channels.

I guess this book title sums it up 'West Ham: Markets and fairs, marshes and forest'

Mark

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dog-Days-Glenn-Miller-Nights/dp/1849163987/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1370772479&sr=1-1

My mum said she is reading this at the moment. It is set in & around Green Street. The impression she gave me was that it was quite depressing - "can you imagine what it would be like to live in a flat and scared to go out after dark" etc. - but I think it is meant to be dark humour really.

I will have to give it a go myself. Anyway, I only found out today during this conversation that my dad was born in Parr Road, and not Hameway, where he grew up.  

Mark

Thanks for starting the thread Georgian - it bought back a lot of happy memories. I had forgotten how exciting it was rooting through all the tables finding things. I remembered another thing I got there - it was a Pelham puppet - probably paid about 3d for it (we used to get a shilling pocket money in the late sixties). It was a big proper one with dozens of strings. I remember they were all knotted up and I spent hours trying to unknot them whithout any luck so I cut them off - I don't remember what happened to it in the end.

Mark

PS - The only 'find' I had in recent years was a few years ago I was raking through a bargain book box in a charity shop where I live. There was a cricket book - no idea why I opened it as I'm not interested in sport, but it had been autographed by the whole England team (probably around the year 2000) I paid about 30p for it and put it on eBay - even then it only fetched about £12 (someone I know found an autographed Stephen King novel in  charity shop round here and got over £200 for it on eBay  )

A great description Georgian - It has reminded me of some of the jumble sales at St Mary Magdalene Hall in East Ham. I can't remember if they were to raise money for the actual church or for the scout group. As well as all the great things you could buy for next to nothing, there was a raffle (guess how many sweets in the jar ) a tombola, one of those things that had a bendy piece of  wire - you held something with a loop on the end and had to guide it from one end of the bendy wire to the other without touching it - if it touched a buzzer went off (and maybe a light came on too) and you lost Some of the things I remember buying were a great big roll of comics tied together for about 1d! - Sparky, Dandy, Beano etc. - I am sure some of them would be collectors items now - I also remember buying a plastic Chad Valley record player for about 6d. I went to a few jumble sales/Bazaars in later years but the stuff isn't as good now - I remember getting really excited about them back then

Slightly off-topic, but I was talking to someone quite recently who runs a charity shop. She said it is rare to get a good bargain in charity shops (and jumble sales) these days as a lot of people sell things on eBay or at boots sales - they then try to palm the old rubbish off on charity shops - not always the case I know, but I know it is true for many - my sister does boot sales AND eBay


Mark

Thanks for the info Doug. Incredible that your mother worked until she was 90

I looked at the postcard and the general layout looked familar but I couldn't place exactly where it was. I just had a look on Google Maps to see what it looks like now. http://goo.gl/maps/F4IXH  



Mark

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Essex-EAST-HAM-High-St-Culls-Corner-1907-PPC-/161039134542?pt=UK_Collectables_Postcards_MJ&hash=item257eae2f4e

It looks familiar but I can't place it - any ideas?

Thanks

Mark

I would love to try Nathans again some time to see if it is as good as I remember. Not sure if I can justify 4 hours driving for pie & mash though

Mark

The owner says here that if West Ham move, so will he and it won't be anywhere in Newham. http://newham2012.wordpress.com/tag/pie-and-mash-shop/

Maybe I will have to make the effort to go there while there is time.