Barnsbury Boy - David Lamb - 1955-1960
David Lamb
Lived on Boleyn Road, Islington, N16, close to Dalston.
Primary School, St. Judes, King Henry Walk from 1949 to 1955. Two minute walk from the flats we lived in. I think I was the only pupil to join Barnsbury.
I great place to live, as most of the boys in the flats were of the same age. There was a large playground where we played football virtually all day during school holidays. I had a group of friends, around ten of us, who spent holidays, would have adventures on the bikes we made from spare parts,
- cycling to Epping forest with a bottle of water and a jam sandwich, climbing trees, hunting, fishing in the ponds.
- cycling to Southend for a day.
- walking to Liverpool Street Station train spotting, searching in bins for cigarette packets/cards, etc.
- walking to Clissold Park or Finsbury Park to play or fish the ponds, it was like a never ending adventure.
- fishing every Saturday at Cheshunt and Wormley, Sundays with the club.
But, I guess the biggest adventures of all was going hop picking with my aunts and cousins. Living in small metal huts, cooking outside and the Kent countryside to explore every day for at least four weeks. Magical for kids of our age, fishing, hunting, scrumping, freedom for almost a whole day, every day. Roughing it I suppose by today's standards, but great.
Barnsbury Boys Central School, Eden Grove from 1955 to 1960
I started in 1955 in, I believe, 1S. Main friends at school were Mickey Hovel, Tony Bernie, Mickey Donoghue, Steve Edwards.
Some memories include travel to school by two buses, discovering that many of 5th form were 'teddy boys', getting to school by 7:30 for football in playground, school milk in the winter, puddings of semolina, rice with jam, pink custard, etc. – sometimes without paying, receiving the cane from the 'Bonk' Davies, receiving the slipper from a sadist PE master Mr. Richards. Never made the school football team as a regular member, but did win the javelin event representing Barnsbury – setting a new record – in the area schools athletics in 1958; came third in 1959. I really enjoyed school, had a few silly blips in the 4th year, did not enjoy working with my form master Mr. Bone, and really wasted a year before coming to my senses. After school I lost touch with my friends apart from Mickey Donoghue. We both were keen anglers: he joined Blackstock Road AS, I joined Mildmay AS at Newington Green. We both won our club championships and often went fishing together. Sadly Mickey is no longer with us, but I have rekindled my friendship with Tony Bernie. Once restrictions are eased we plan to meet.
My working career included:
- Printing apprenticeship
- Accountancy
- IT
I worked for a US Pharmaceutical Company in US, UK, Europe. My role was to provide IT solutions to US, Europe, Middle East and Africa. I spent a lot of time in US and lived in Brussels for a number of years. Set up a central hub with multinational staff to provide systems development, implementation and support for Europe subs. Systems included business, medical, scientific and automation. I was lucky as I loved my job – including the travel. I made many friends across Europe in particular. I retired in 2001, as I needed hip replacements – sign of age and misspent youth, and wanted to spend more time with my family. I now try to spend as much time as possible playing golf and fishing.
Lived on Boleyn Road, Islington, N16, close to Dalston.
Primary School, St. Judes, King Henry Walk from 1949 to 1955. Two minute walk from the flats we lived in. I think I was the only pupil to join Barnsbury.
I great place to live, as most of the boys in the flats were of the same age. There was a large playground where we played football virtually all day during school holidays. I had a group of friends, around ten of us, who spent holidays, would have adventures on the bikes we made from spare parts,
- cycling to Epping forest with a bottle of water and a jam sandwich, climbing trees, hunting, fishing in the ponds.
- cycling to Southend for a day.
- walking to Liverpool Street Station train spotting, searching in bins for cigarette packets/cards, etc.
- walking to Clissold Park or Finsbury Park to play or fish the ponds, it was like a never ending adventure.
- fishing every Saturday at Cheshunt and Wormley, Sundays with the club.
But, I guess the biggest adventures of all was going hop picking with my aunts and cousins. Living in small metal huts, cooking outside and the Kent countryside to explore every day for at least four weeks. Magical for kids of our age, fishing, hunting, scrumping, freedom for almost a whole day, every day. Roughing it I suppose by today's standards, but great.
Barnsbury Boys Central School, Eden Grove from 1955 to 1960
I started in 1955 in, I believe, 1S. Main friends at school were Mickey Hovel, Tony Bernie, Mickey Donoghue, Steve Edwards.
Some memories include travel to school by two buses, discovering that many of 5th form were 'teddy boys', getting to school by 7:30 for football in playground, school milk in the winter, puddings of semolina, rice with jam, pink custard, etc. – sometimes without paying, receiving the cane from the 'Bonk' Davies, receiving the slipper from a sadist PE master Mr. Richards. Never made the school football team as a regular member, but did win the javelin event representing Barnsbury – setting a new record – in the area schools athletics in 1958; came third in 1959. I really enjoyed school, had a few silly blips in the 4th year, did not enjoy working with my form master Mr. Bone, and really wasted a year before coming to my senses. After school I lost touch with my friends apart from Mickey Donoghue. We both were keen anglers: he joined Blackstock Road AS, I joined Mildmay AS at Newington Green. We both won our club championships and often went fishing together. Sadly Mickey is no longer with us, but I have rekindled my friendship with Tony Bernie. Once restrictions are eased we plan to meet.
My working career included:
- Printing apprenticeship
- Accountancy
- IT
I worked for a US Pharmaceutical Company in US, UK, Europe. My role was to provide IT solutions to US, Europe, Middle East and Africa. I spent a lot of time in US and lived in Brussels for a number of years. Set up a central hub with multinational staff to provide systems development, implementation and support for Europe subs. Systems included business, medical, scientific and automation. I was lucky as I loved my job – including the travel. I made many friends across Europe in particular. I retired in 2001, as I needed hip replacements – sign of age and misspent youth, and wanted to spend more time with my family. I now try to spend as much time as possible playing golf and fishing.