Gill's Early Years

I was born on 9th November1955 in Islington, London (long before it became a trendy area)  Linda said she and Jan got back from school one day to find they had a new sister - they hadn't even known Mum was pregnant!

We moved from there when I was two, to the Debden council estate in Loughton, Essex, this had the advantage that we now had a garden.  The photo below, is not of our actual house, but an identical 'pre-fab' in Harvey Gardens to the one we lived in.  Pre-Fabs were constructed en masse in the 1950's to house people displaced after the war.

Our house was facing the green.  Many of the children from Harvey Gardens would play together on the green until we were called in for tea time..  Red arrow points to my bedroom window

Click on the photo's to see larger version, and caption (where available)

When I was around 10 years old we moved to The Broadway, our flat was above a shoe shop - Freeman, Hardy & Willis. Mum got a part-time job working there - first time she had worked since having children. My friend Sally lived in a flat on the opposite side of the road, and our primary school - Thomas Willingale was just down the street. Jan used to work in Woolworths (seen below) on a Saturday on the sweet counter.