Barnsbury Boy - Ray Wilkerson - 1955-1958
Ray Wilkerson
I was born in 1944 in a small village in Essex where my Mum and older brother were evacuated to because her brother's family lived there. She returned to London in 1945. My brother was 6 years old when I was born.
We used to live in Oldershaw Road, which ran between Westbourne Road and Roman Road. [renamed Roman Way in 1938 - ed] The house was quite crowded. My Aunt/Uncle and their 3 boys lived in 2 rooms on the top floor, my Mum/Dad, 3 boys (inc. me ) and sister lived in 2 rooms on the middle floor, there was a family living in 2 rooms on the ground floor, and another family living in the basement. There was no hot water only cold.
No bathroom and only one outside toilet. We had a tin bath hanging on the back of the kitchen door. When we had a bath my Mum used to boil a kettle a few times, and we took it in turns to be first in the bath. Unfortunately because my younger brother and sister were too young, me and my older brother had to carry the bath down 2 flights of stairs to empty it in the backyard.
We all slept in the one bedroom; there was two double beds, one for my Mum and Dad and the other for us kids.
Each floor had a cast iron range which the ladies used to blacklead every day. We used to buy coal by the sack-load when we needed it.
The stairs were scrubbed each day by the ladies in the house, each one being responsible for the stairs to their floor. You took your own toilet paper with you, be it either IZAL (greaseproof) or newspaper.
There was a big mangle in the backyard which was shared, and an Anderson Shelter.
Next door was a bombed ruin, completely destroyed apart from the cellar. The side of our house was held up with a great big steel cross. On the other side of the road was another bombed house, but it was reasonably intact, the outside of the house was still standing, the staircases were gone but the bannisters were still there. As you can imagine they were our playgrounds.
I used to go to a school at the top of the road in Westbourne Road, it was originally just Westbourne Road Infants School, then it was renamed Alfred Pritchard. I don't remember much about the infants school at Westbourne Road except the headmistress was called Mrs Philpott and she believed in Corporal Punishment whatever your age. Her idea of punishment was to smack your bare bum on stage at assembly !!
About 1950 my older brother contracted Scarlet Fever, which as you would all know was a very serious disease in those days, and was taken off to hospital. All our bedclothes were burned and the bedroom fumigated with sulphur candles. Everyone in the house was eventually moved out and relocated to new council properties around London. In retrospect I would guess that his illness may have been associated with playing in the bombed ruins which were infested with rats.
My Uncle and Aunt and their boys were moved to new flats in Hackney, my family were moved to new flats in Essex Road. We had hot running water there, and a bathroom, and our own toilet. The excitement was overwhelming.
That was when I started at Ecclesbourne Road.
Although we were all very poor and life was hard, I think we all enjoyed ourselves and appreciated what we had. Come Guy Fawkes night all the families used to build a big bonfire in the middle of the road - there was plenty of wood lying around in the ruins at the bottom of the road. It seems that in those days you didn't need permission to close the road. We all shared our fireworks, nothing like they have now, just bangers, jumping jacks, catherine wheels and roman candles.
Not everyone's life was like mine - my future wife lived not far from me and her family had hot water, a bathroom and an inside toilet!
Ray continues with just a few reminiscences which he thought might be interesting.
My wife lived in Melgund Road at Highbury when she was small. Her family moved to Edgeware when she was about 7 years old, so she doesn't remember much about it. However, we met and married in Edgeware in 1966, but when our families met it was quite a reunion.
My Mum and Father-in-law, as children, both used to live in Brand Street behind the Northern Polytechnic, neither had any shoes, and my Father-in-law used to help my Mum climb on the back of the coal lorry, it was her job to throw the coal down to the others while the coalmen were delivering. They were both born the same year, 1913, so we’re probably looking at at about 1920ish.
Also my Mum, Aunt and Father-in-law worked at Westerns Laundry at Drayton Park, Highbury. I used to go to the Westerns Laundry nursery during school holiday, spending most of our time over at Highbury Fields in the nice weather.
I don't know what your early days at school were like, but when my wife and I started at Infants School, we had to sleep in the afternoon, until we went to Junior School.
I was born in 1944 in a small village in Essex where my Mum and older brother were evacuated to because her brother's family lived there. She returned to London in 1945. My brother was 6 years old when I was born.
We used to live in Oldershaw Road, which ran between Westbourne Road and Roman Road. [renamed Roman Way in 1938 - ed] The house was quite crowded. My Aunt/Uncle and their 3 boys lived in 2 rooms on the top floor, my Mum/Dad, 3 boys (inc. me ) and sister lived in 2 rooms on the middle floor, there was a family living in 2 rooms on the ground floor, and another family living in the basement. There was no hot water only cold.
No bathroom and only one outside toilet. We had a tin bath hanging on the back of the kitchen door. When we had a bath my Mum used to boil a kettle a few times, and we took it in turns to be first in the bath. Unfortunately because my younger brother and sister were too young, me and my older brother had to carry the bath down 2 flights of stairs to empty it in the backyard.
We all slept in the one bedroom; there was two double beds, one for my Mum and Dad and the other for us kids.
Each floor had a cast iron range which the ladies used to blacklead every day. We used to buy coal by the sack-load when we needed it.
The stairs were scrubbed each day by the ladies in the house, each one being responsible for the stairs to their floor. You took your own toilet paper with you, be it either IZAL (greaseproof) or newspaper.
There was a big mangle in the backyard which was shared, and an Anderson Shelter.
Next door was a bombed ruin, completely destroyed apart from the cellar. The side of our house was held up with a great big steel cross. On the other side of the road was another bombed house, but it was reasonably intact, the outside of the house was still standing, the staircases were gone but the bannisters were still there. As you can imagine they were our playgrounds.
I used to go to a school at the top of the road in Westbourne Road, it was originally just Westbourne Road Infants School, then it was renamed Alfred Pritchard. I don't remember much about the infants school at Westbourne Road except the headmistress was called Mrs Philpott and she believed in Corporal Punishment whatever your age. Her idea of punishment was to smack your bare bum on stage at assembly !!
About 1950 my older brother contracted Scarlet Fever, which as you would all know was a very serious disease in those days, and was taken off to hospital. All our bedclothes were burned and the bedroom fumigated with sulphur candles. Everyone in the house was eventually moved out and relocated to new council properties around London. In retrospect I would guess that his illness may have been associated with playing in the bombed ruins which were infested with rats.
My Uncle and Aunt and their boys were moved to new flats in Hackney, my family were moved to new flats in Essex Road. We had hot running water there, and a bathroom, and our own toilet. The excitement was overwhelming.
That was when I started at Ecclesbourne Road.
Although we were all very poor and life was hard, I think we all enjoyed ourselves and appreciated what we had. Come Guy Fawkes night all the families used to build a big bonfire in the middle of the road - there was plenty of wood lying around in the ruins at the bottom of the road. It seems that in those days you didn't need permission to close the road. We all shared our fireworks, nothing like they have now, just bangers, jumping jacks, catherine wheels and roman candles.
Not everyone's life was like mine - my future wife lived not far from me and her family had hot water, a bathroom and an inside toilet!
Ray continues with just a few reminiscences which he thought might be interesting.
My wife lived in Melgund Road at Highbury when she was small. Her family moved to Edgeware when she was about 7 years old, so she doesn't remember much about it. However, we met and married in Edgeware in 1966, but when our families met it was quite a reunion.
My Mum and Father-in-law, as children, both used to live in Brand Street behind the Northern Polytechnic, neither had any shoes, and my Father-in-law used to help my Mum climb on the back of the coal lorry, it was her job to throw the coal down to the others while the coalmen were delivering. They were both born the same year, 1913, so we’re probably looking at at about 1920ish.
Also my Mum, Aunt and Father-in-law worked at Westerns Laundry at Drayton Park, Highbury. I used to go to the Westerns Laundry nursery during school holiday, spending most of our time over at Highbury Fields in the nice weather.
I don't know what your early days at school were like, but when my wife and I started at Infants School, we had to sleep in the afternoon, until we went to Junior School.
I attended Ecclesbourne Road Junior school and used to live in Sickert Court in Marquess Road, off Canonbury Street. We used to go to a friend's house and watch Children's Hour as none of us had a television then.
One thing that does stick in my mind is that my class teacher at Ecclesbourne Road, Mr Wiltshire, paid for my school meals for the week when I lost my dinner money, 2/6d (6d per day). Unfortunately he expected the money to be repaid, but I didn't dare tell my Mum and Dad I'd lost my dinner money; my Dad would have given me a smack for being careless. I had to make excuses every week until I left.
I was always getting the cane for being late, not that late because they locked the gates about 9.00am or just after. I was late because I did my Mum's shopping every morning before school - obviously in those days we didn't have a refrigerator so shopping was done each day. I used to go to the Co-op in Essex Road.
Once my friend persuaded me to play truant, and after we had delayed until the gates were locked so we couldn't go in anyway. Unfortunately it rained heavily that day, and although I delayed going home for as long as possible I was still soaking when I got home. My Mum asked how I got so wet and I told her it rained during the afternoon break, she knew that was a lie because it hadn't rained then. So I got a clout from her, then my dad gave me a clout when she told him, and the next morning he marched me up to see the headmaster who gave me 3000 lines to write. I was kept in every night after school to do them and it took forever. Needless to say I never played truant again.
Tony Bernie contacted Ray as they attended Ecclesbourne Primary and Barnsbury Boys schools. This is their message exchange:
Hello Ray,
I was at Ecclesbourne 1950-55 and then at Barnsbury 1955-60. I recently responded to the subject of corporal punishment especially at primary school. I was often caned by Mr Bell. I’d like to hear from you when convenient.
Regards,
Tony Bernie
Tony thanks for writing, I haven't come across anyone who remembers or was even aware of Ecclesbourne Road Junior School.
I attended Ecclesbourne Road about the same time as you, but I'm sorry your name doesn't ring any bells. Mind you I have an terrible memory for names.
My daughter has borrowed my laptop but when I get it back there is a photo there of me and some friends I'll send it you a copy, you may recognise them.
I used to live in Sickert Court in Marquess Road, off Canonbury Street, I don't know who took the photo but it is me with some friends on the steps of a house in Marquess Road we used to go to to watch Childrens Hour, none of us had a television then.
One thing that does stick in my mind is that my class teacher at Ecclesbourne Road, Mr Wiltshire paid for my school meals for the week when I lost my dinner money, 2/6d (6d per day). Unfortunately he expected the money to be repaid, but I didn't dare tell my Mum and Dad I'd lost my dinner money, my Dad would have given me a smack for being careless.i had to make excuses every week until I left
I was always getting the cane for being late every day, not too late because they locked the gates about 9.00am or just after, I was late because I did my Mum's shopping every morning before school, obviously in those days we didn't have refrigerators so shopping was done each day. I used to go to the Co-op in Essex Road.
Once my friend persuaded me to play truant, and after we had delayed until the gates were locked we couldn't go in anyway. Unfortunately it rained heavily that day, and although I delayed going home for as long as possible I was still soaking when I got home. My Mum asked how I got so wet and I told her it rained during the afternoon break, she knew that was a lie because it hadn't rained then. So I got a clout from her then, my dad gave me a clout when she told him, then he marched me up to see the headmaster the next morning and he gave me 3000 lines to do after school, I was kept in every night after school to do them it took forever. Needless to say I never played truant again.
You may remember Brian Simmonds, he was a big lad, and tall. He was very popular because his Mum bought him a packet of cigarettes every day.
I think I'll leave it at that for now otherwise I'll just ramble on forever. I have more to add but I'll do that another time if you are interested.
Regards.
Ray Wilkerson
One thing that does stick in my mind is that my class teacher at Ecclesbourne Road, Mr Wiltshire, paid for my school meals for the week when I lost my dinner money, 2/6d (6d per day). Unfortunately he expected the money to be repaid, but I didn't dare tell my Mum and Dad I'd lost my dinner money; my Dad would have given me a smack for being careless. I had to make excuses every week until I left.
I was always getting the cane for being late, not that late because they locked the gates about 9.00am or just after. I was late because I did my Mum's shopping every morning before school - obviously in those days we didn't have a refrigerator so shopping was done each day. I used to go to the Co-op in Essex Road.
Once my friend persuaded me to play truant, and after we had delayed until the gates were locked so we couldn't go in anyway. Unfortunately it rained heavily that day, and although I delayed going home for as long as possible I was still soaking when I got home. My Mum asked how I got so wet and I told her it rained during the afternoon break, she knew that was a lie because it hadn't rained then. So I got a clout from her, then my dad gave me a clout when she told him, and the next morning he marched me up to see the headmaster who gave me 3000 lines to write. I was kept in every night after school to do them and it took forever. Needless to say I never played truant again.
Tony Bernie contacted Ray as they attended Ecclesbourne Primary and Barnsbury Boys schools. This is their message exchange:
Hello Ray,
I was at Ecclesbourne 1950-55 and then at Barnsbury 1955-60. I recently responded to the subject of corporal punishment especially at primary school. I was often caned by Mr Bell. I’d like to hear from you when convenient.
Regards,
Tony Bernie
Tony thanks for writing, I haven't come across anyone who remembers or was even aware of Ecclesbourne Road Junior School.
I attended Ecclesbourne Road about the same time as you, but I'm sorry your name doesn't ring any bells. Mind you I have an terrible memory for names.
My daughter has borrowed my laptop but when I get it back there is a photo there of me and some friends I'll send it you a copy, you may recognise them.
I used to live in Sickert Court in Marquess Road, off Canonbury Street, I don't know who took the photo but it is me with some friends on the steps of a house in Marquess Road we used to go to to watch Childrens Hour, none of us had a television then.
One thing that does stick in my mind is that my class teacher at Ecclesbourne Road, Mr Wiltshire paid for my school meals for the week when I lost my dinner money, 2/6d (6d per day). Unfortunately he expected the money to be repaid, but I didn't dare tell my Mum and Dad I'd lost my dinner money, my Dad would have given me a smack for being careless.i had to make excuses every week until I left
I was always getting the cane for being late every day, not too late because they locked the gates about 9.00am or just after, I was late because I did my Mum's shopping every morning before school, obviously in those days we didn't have refrigerators so shopping was done each day. I used to go to the Co-op in Essex Road.
Once my friend persuaded me to play truant, and after we had delayed until the gates were locked we couldn't go in anyway. Unfortunately it rained heavily that day, and although I delayed going home for as long as possible I was still soaking when I got home. My Mum asked how I got so wet and I told her it rained during the afternoon break, she knew that was a lie because it hadn't rained then. So I got a clout from her then, my dad gave me a clout when she told him, then he marched me up to see the headmaster the next morning and he gave me 3000 lines to do after school, I was kept in every night after school to do them it took forever. Needless to say I never played truant again.
You may remember Brian Simmonds, he was a big lad, and tall. He was very popular because his Mum bought him a packet of cigarettes every day.
I think I'll leave it at that for now otherwise I'll just ramble on forever. I have more to add but I'll do that another time if you are interested.
Regards.
Ray Wilkerson
A continuation to Ray Wilkerson’s memoirs:
My family was moved to Sickert Court from Oldershaw Road about 1950-ish. My Aunt and Uncle and cousins were moved to new high-rise flats in Hackney. I don't know where the ground floor and basement families went.
Anyway, Sickert Court was brand new; they were still finishing bits off in the flat after we moved in. I remember the excitement of finding out we had an indoor toilet just for us, a bath, and hot water out of the tap.
Across Essex Road was a new parade of shops, which was where I would later get my paper round.
One of the major things that does stick in my mind is when they dug up the tramlines along Essex Road about 1952/3. The road surface seemed to be made up of wooden blocks saturated in tar. As fast as the workmen dug up the tar blocks, the kids were loading up sacks and wheelbarrows and taking them home to burn on the fire instead of coal. It did smell, but it was cheap.
Round the back of the shops in the service road was a rag & bone man where we used to take all our worn out clothes for a few bob, but opposite him in a pen was a big old boar pig, and he was fierce. As you walked past his pen he would roar and butt the pen walls to try to get to you. It was quite frightening for a child.
They built Sickert Court behind the big houses fronting onto Essex Road from Canonbury Street along Marquess Road. I can't remember the name of the road on the opposite side of Sickert Court from Canonbury Street. There was some big houses down there as well. One of the houses had a huge back garden with apple trees in the garden where we used to go scrumping. Unfortunately they were crab apples!!
One of my school friends lived in one of the big houses in Marquess Road. and we all used to congregate at his house to watch Childrens’ Hour on television.
My youngest sister was born in Sickert Court in 1955 and was christened at a church in Canonbury Road behind Essex Road Station. The reason I mention it is that it stuck in my mind that it had no roof.
The other thing I remember was when they built The New River Walk. It was originally just an overgrown area alongside the river. We used to climb over the railings and have some adventures down there, catching frogs and tadpoles.
My family was moved to Sickert Court from Oldershaw Road about 1950-ish. My Aunt and Uncle and cousins were moved to new high-rise flats in Hackney. I don't know where the ground floor and basement families went.
Anyway, Sickert Court was brand new; they were still finishing bits off in the flat after we moved in. I remember the excitement of finding out we had an indoor toilet just for us, a bath, and hot water out of the tap.
Across Essex Road was a new parade of shops, which was where I would later get my paper round.
One of the major things that does stick in my mind is when they dug up the tramlines along Essex Road about 1952/3. The road surface seemed to be made up of wooden blocks saturated in tar. As fast as the workmen dug up the tar blocks, the kids were loading up sacks and wheelbarrows and taking them home to burn on the fire instead of coal. It did smell, but it was cheap.
Round the back of the shops in the service road was a rag & bone man where we used to take all our worn out clothes for a few bob, but opposite him in a pen was a big old boar pig, and he was fierce. As you walked past his pen he would roar and butt the pen walls to try to get to you. It was quite frightening for a child.
They built Sickert Court behind the big houses fronting onto Essex Road from Canonbury Street along Marquess Road. I can't remember the name of the road on the opposite side of Sickert Court from Canonbury Street. There was some big houses down there as well. One of the houses had a huge back garden with apple trees in the garden where we used to go scrumping. Unfortunately they were crab apples!!
One of my school friends lived in one of the big houses in Marquess Road. and we all used to congregate at his house to watch Childrens’ Hour on television.
My youngest sister was born in Sickert Court in 1955 and was christened at a church in Canonbury Road behind Essex Road Station. The reason I mention it is that it stuck in my mind that it had no roof.
The other thing I remember was when they built The New River Walk. It was originally just an overgrown area alongside the river. We used to climb over the railings and have some adventures down there, catching frogs and tadpoles.