Second World War | Yesterday Remembered

No building in Brighton evokes more affectionate memories than the one time Regent Ballroom near the Clock Tower. Many an invitation to dance on the beautifully sprung floor resulted in wedding bells. Dancing really took off in the town during the 1920s and 1930s, and the Regent was created in 1923 to cater for the […]

The Regent Ballroom Brighton

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TOO MANY OVERHEADS

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Letters from a boy soldier

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FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE

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When I was 12, a cousin of mine returned home to Birkenhead from India, where he had served in the Army from 1924 until 1932. During his first stroll around the town since leaving, he told me that at times he thought he’d lost his way because so many familiar sights from his boyhood had […]

Changing times on the banks of the Mersey!

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My mother has always been known for her beautiful flower garden in South-West London, but during the Second World War she worried about finding enough material to maintain her compost heap, the source of her rich garden soil. Kitchen waste such as fruit peelings, vegetable leaves and skins that could not be used for stews […]

Pansy’s Wartime Gift

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When I think of the house where I was born, I think of the road that ran beside it — narrow and winding, tarred and gravelled, with grassy banks and hedges flanking its edges. The Co-operative grocery van arrived each Tuesday, a walk-in shop on wheels. I’d accompany my Mother as she climbed the steps, […]

The Road

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I WAS a child of three when the Second World War started, but I have vivid memories of that time. I remember my sister being born in Upney Hospital, Barking, and then being driven with them to Harlow to be evacuated while the bombing raids were heavy. After a short stay with a lovely lady, […]

The V2 Rocket that Took Away my Nan

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The ‘It’ Parade – or a Mystery Unsolved!

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A ‘Trip’ to Remember!

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An uncle of mine was considered too old for active service in the Second World War, and as a civil seivant involved in taxes he was sent to work in an office at Llandudno, North Wales, for the duration of hostilities. With his wife, son and daughter, he moved to a bungalow in a hilly […]

Beware the Men of Fury!

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Writing it Down in Style!

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Remember the wartime song We’re Gonna Get Lit-Up When the Lights Go On in London ? The little Yorkshire village of Townend, where I was born 18 months before the Second World War began, was about as different from the capital as it could be – but when the workmen arrived to put bulbs back […]

When ‘Normal’ Felt So Strange

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September 3 1939 is the date usually associated with a start of the Second World War. For me it actually began three days earlier. On that Thursday I was playing outside our florist’s shop in Leytonstone High Road while my mother cleaned the windows. Suddenly I noticed that she was crying, and when I asked […]

Eastenders’ War

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Granny’s Remedies

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Motoring in the 1950s

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I was brought up to understand the necessity of polishing, especially after the Second World War ended and polishes became plentiful again. My grandmother, always an astute shopper, managed to make those bought before the war last! Mansion Polish was regularly applied to all furniture, to preserve the wood, as was Lavender polish made by […]

Polishing in the Old Days

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