Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Im glad to hear you had a better time then me at the school. When I attended Heber there was a hug bike shed, just to the righthand side as you walked through the main gate; is it still there. The school also had a jumble sale once a year; there would be a line of people streching the street waiting to get in and find a bargain. The school porter lived in a house in the playground, is that still there? I must have a look one day to see how things have changed.
Bike sheds are gone Wardy, and the porters house has not been used for at least 10 years. My children went to Heber from '96 'til '06 and I worked there for a while. The last Head got the job done after we went into special measures but by golly he was an unpleasant chap..Lets hope things improve with the new one.
In the 50's the porters house was occupied by the porter and his wife who was the school secratery. He was a mean man who would chase you if he could you on the school grounds after school hours. They had two sons who went to a very posh school somewhere; dont remember the name of the school but their uniform was like a vicars cassac. When the bike shed was there we would get onto the tin roof and throw balls at his door. Another think I remember about the school was the coal shuts that ran along the front of the building. Coal was put down there to feed the coal boiler; are they still there?
The E Dealer: Im talking about 1955,in those days things were different, read my first posting, a chapter from my book. Im sure things are much different today. In the 50's teachers at aHeber Road School used a slipper to thrash kids across the backside and rulers to hit them across the back of the hand. I had a fight with a boy in the playground when I was about 9 years old, we were both put in a boxing ring by a teacher and made to fight there. Today somthing like that would be reported on the national news. Regards Wardy.
Sorry The E Dealer, thought you were talking about my comments. Good to see the old place has changed. By the way; how would I go about having a look round the old place. I am writting a second book about the 50's in Dulwich and I would like to have a look at the classrooms in the school, just to prompt my memory.
The E Dealer; Thanks for that. The problem is I no longer live in Dulwich, I live in Norfolk. I suppose I could write to Mr Block requesting a visit. It would be realy strang going in to that building again. Funny, but the thing I remember the most is the smell, I wonder if it still has that smell, maybe I will find out one day.
Lorenika: The book is called 'Looking Back' It's my childhood memories which I have written for my children and grandchildren. However, I am being asked to publish the book; dont know if I should. Have you read the chapter I posted on another thred about Rodwell Road? Maybe I should start up a new thread and have weekly chapters; a bit like the Sunday papers. Its good to know that people enjoy my stories, I enjoyed writting them, thank you.
lorenika, thanks you for that comment. The book is based on me as a child from 5 - 10 years old. It tells of my family, the people in the street, the good times and the bad times, the drinking in the Heber Arms pub and my fatheres building business. However, its all based around Dulwich, Rodwell Road and how things realy were for the working class family. I think I will do somthing with it, theres lots in there to tell, I just need to know what to do with it and how. Thanks again Wardy

I read a book last year for university called East End Memories, by Jennie Hawthorne, which reminded me a little bit to your book. For us, who are studying child development, this was an amazing resource that made us understand better how a child sees the world at that age. I love this kind of books that make you 'travel' to another time and make you value what we have now (or what we don't anymore). I must admit that sometimes I get bored reading books, but when I was reading your chapters, I just couldn't stop. You explain everything with such detail that you allow us to live that moment too. Very interesting, as I said, I'm sure many people would like to read stories of someone who lived in the area. I'd love to know more about what Dulwich was like many years ago.

You should definitely think about publishing the book. Let me know if it happens, I'll be your first buyer!

I can't think of any names though, I think it needs to be something special for you. If you have grandchildren, maybe they could come up with a good title! After all, the book is about a child's mind, so children could find a great title.

Good luck and keep us informed!

Lorenica your words have brought tears to my eyes. It is so encouraging to hear that my memories are of interest to others. You will know from my chapter on Heber road that the education system to me was a challenge and most of my school days were spent battling against the system and teachers. I?m please to say that I never gave up and at the age of 51, which was a few years back, I finally obtained an MSc from Leicester University. I?m so pleased that you found the chapters easy to read, it was always my intention to do that. In the past I have read books and found some of the words so complicated that I have lost interest in what I was reading. I have so many stories of my childhood and your words have made me think that maybe I should continue to put words to paper and share those stories with others. It?s been a long journey since Heber Road School but perhaps finally I can say that I do have something to say which is worth listening to. Many thanks Wardy.
Wardy - I am sorry to hear about your treatment by Miss Hussey, especially over a minor issue. I think the fact that you remember this so clearly after so long shows the effect of physical treatment of this type on children and I think in not too many years from now we will look back on all physical discipline of children, by teachers, parents or anyone else as an outdated practice.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Pretty much, Sue, yeah. It's the perennial, knotty problem of imposing a tax and balancing that with the cost of collecting it.  The famous one was the dog licence - I think it was 37 1/2 pence when it was abolished, but the revenue didn't' come close to covering the administration costs. As much I'd love to have a Stasi patrolling the South Bank, looking for mullet haircuts, unshaven armpits, overly expressive hand movements and red Kicker shoes, I'm afraid your modern Continental is almost indistinguishable from your modern Londoner. That's Schengen for you. So you couldn't justify it from an ROI point of view, really. This scheme seems a pretty good idea, overall. It's not perfect, but it's cheap to implement and takes some tax burden off Southwark residents.   'The Man' has got wise to this. It's got bad juju now. If you're looking to rinse medium to large amounts of small denomination notes, there are far better ways. Please drop me a direct message if you'd like to discuss this matter further.   Kind Regards  Dave
    • "What's worse is that the perceived 20 billion black hole has increased to 30 billion in a year. Is there a risk that after 5 years it could be as high as 70 billion ???" Why is it perceived, Reeves is responsible for doubling the "black hole" to £20b through the public sector pay increases. You can't live beyond your means and when you try you go bankrupt pdq. In 4 yrs time if this Govt survives that long and the country doesn't go bust before then, in 2029 I dread to think the state the country will be in.  At least Sunak and co had inflation back to 2% with unemployment being stable and not rising.   
    • He seemed to me to be fully immersed in the Jeremy Corbyn ethos of the Labour Party. I dint think that (and self describing as a Marxist) would have helped much when Labour was changed under Starmer. There was a purge of people as far left as him that he was lucky to survive once in my opinion.   Stuff like this heavy endorsement of Momentum and Corbyn. It doesn't wash with a party that is in actual government.   https://labourlist.org/2020/04/forward-momentum-weve-launched-to-change-it-from-the-bottom-up/
    • I perceive the problem.simply as spending too much without first shoring up the economy.  If the government had reduced borrowing,  and as much as most hate the idea, reduced government deiartment spending (so called austerity) and not bowed to union pressures for pay rises, then encouraged businesses to grow, extra cash would have entered the coffers and at a later stage when the economy was in a stronger position rises in NI or taxes would have a lesser impact, but instead Reeves turned that on its head by increasing ni which has killed growth, increased prices and shimmied the economy.  What's worse is that the perceived 20 billion black hole has increased to 30 billion in a year. Is there a risk that after 5 years it could be as high as 70 billion ???     
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...