Memory Lane for a Wentland Road boy

I was brought up at 18 Wentland Road and lived there from 1946/47 until 1956. I remember my mother telling me that my father queued all night outside the LCC housing office in order to be sure of being allocated a prefab. My father died in 1952 and we then moved to Suffolk. When my sons were in their respective teens (in the 1980’s) I took them back to show them where I had been brought up.

A few weeks ago, being in the area, I thought I’d have a trip down memory lane. How sad I was to see most of the area boarded up and most of the prefabs no longer. The area was a vast expanse of weeds! Still i suppose they certainly had a much longer life than ever envisaged when originally built in the 1940’s.

I recall when the horse drawn bakers’ deliveries came along there was a rush from keen gardeners to get out first to collect the droppings for use on their gardens. Another memory is of climbing the green lamp posts to sit astride the 2 horizontal bars at the top.

Hey ho!