Play Streets

In 1948 I was living in Kilburn, aged about 7 years. My dad hadn.t
long been demobbed from the Army after the Second World War. My mum had
returned from her evacuation, with me, from Newport Pagnell.

I was born in 1941. Mum was pregnant with me when she was evacuated to
Bucks to livfe with relatives.

On her return to london she rented a flat in an old large Victorial
house. We had a big sash window in the living room overlooking the
street, Opposite was a row of bombed houses, once similar in design to
ours.

Because of the limited space in the flat I spent most of my leisure
time in the summer outside in the streets, as did most other children
in that area.

Once home from school I wasencouraged to change into play clothes. I
was not allowed to wander too far and had to play within shouting
distance for when Mum called me in for tea.

The bomb site was our haven. Strictly out of bounds, of course,. We
would creep jround the back of the bombed houses to gain access. We
could not be seen from the front , which meant Mum could not see me if
she peeped out of her living room window, which faced the 'No
Trespassers' notice!

We spent hours and hours in those rickety houses exploring and
discovering. Every now and then a steam train would whoosh past in a
cloud of steam and soot just atthe bottom of those once lovingly tended
gardens. Sadly then overgrown with weeds and littered with bomb debris.
This was our den our retreat, our meeting place, our haven.

Imagine our distress when a huge truck arrived one day in the school
summer holidays. The words Demolition printedon the sides of the
trucks., We all stood outside the gate to my house within a safe
distance and watchedwith mixed feelings of excitement, fascination and
regret, when the big burly Isrishmen pulled what was left of the
rickety houses down with thick ropes .

At one point we could not see for the dust in the air. We were
devastated, where were we going to play?

Eventually the London County Council had an idea . They decided to
introduce designated play streets. Streets where no through traffic
would be allowed, except for access. As hardly anyone had cars in this
area there was very little need for access of the motor car. However
access was allowed for the milkman with his horse and cart. Also the
baker who delivered bread daily with his fancy horsedrawn covered bread
cart. The coal man's cart clip-clopped down the street and delivered
the coal through the manhole covers in the pavements outside each
house.

At the end of our play sttreet was a huge blank end wall. We would
spend ages doing handstands against the wall. Sometimes the lady whio
lived in that end house would come rushing out ranting and raving about
the noise of our ball against her sitting room wall. Mad Mary, we
called her. Itmusthave been very irritating for her but we never gave
it a thought at the time.

We would skip with a long piece of rope and sing 'all in together
girls, nevermind the weather girls'. One jpersosn would be each end of
the rope turning it and we'd see how many of us could fit into
themiddle skipping over the rope.

We had empty metal Oxo tins full of beads which we would spend hours
swapping. The boys would swap cigarette cards and marbles.

We knewit was time to go lhome when it got dark or when my Dad cameto
demand thatit was bedtime and that I was 'pushing my luck'. We all
dispersesd to our own houses, grubby, rosey cheeked and happy, but very
tired.

If it hadn't been for the play streets, I think the chilodren of London
would have been very bored indeed just after the War.