Maggie is again, stepping in for Lauren this week. Today we are going to amble around through the places of our youth.
This week’s prompt is: Spaces and Places
Did you grow up in an urban or a rural environment?
I grew up in an urban area, London born and bred.
How would you describe the geographic area where you lived?
One the boarders of W5 and Middlesex. Lots of houses ,shops and even then traffic. There was a large park across the road, it was part of the Rothchild estate.
West Ealing 1960s photo from
Was it mostly buildings or mostly trees?
Mostly buildings but it was a “leafy suburb”
Four seasons, or always warm or cold?
We had four seasons and often in one day!
What about the place in which you resided? Was it a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a boat, or something else?
We lived in a terrace council house with three bedrooms, one bathroom a tiny garden out the back there was a kitchen with a coal hole, a front room and a backroom and just inside the door was a pantry.. it was mostly full of family and friends. The photo above is of it as it looks now so slightly different to how it really was.
Did you like it and do you miss it now?
I did it was home and I do sometimes miss it but it’s more the people that made that home that I miss.
I don’t miss the winters they were so cold we had ice on the inside of the windows!
What about the bedroom you had in the home? Did you share it with someone or did you have it all to yourself?
Mainly I shared it with three sisters, multiple cousins and the occasional waif and stray who was staying over. We did actually have the largest room in the house because there were always more of us!
If you shared, with whom? How was the space decorated?
I answered this above…how was it decorated?
Mainly my sister’s chose how to have it doe but it was not decorated often.
I remember once my sister Frankie suggested we cut adverts and coloured pictures out of fashion magazines …we pasted them on to a long wall and made a huge collage it looked amazing…I was about eight at the time and I thought it was so cool. Very like the wall in the photo below.
Another time she got Dad to build window seats and she upholstered them with red and cream regency stripes and she bought deep blue flock wallpaper with her own money and she hung that up herself too. My two older sisters left home by the time I was 5 so I don’t remember their tastes. Not long before I left home to get married , my brother’s and all but one sister had left home so I got a small room to myself. I decorated it orange and purple.
I also painted a mural on my white wordrobe doors.
When you did family activities at home, in what room did you spend your time?
In the room we called the back room. It was the livingroom really. We only had fireplaces downstairs in the front and back rooms so we all huddle round the fire in winter.
What did you do together? TV? Cards? Board Games? Reading?
All of the above. Though we did not get a TV until I was thirteen.
Did your friends’ living situation seem similar to your own?
Yes , some were better and some were worse
Did you prefer to be at your friend’s home or did you prefer your own?
I liked both.
Did your friends like to hang out at your house?
Yes it was always busy.
What kind of school did you attend?
A convent school.
Large or small? Religious or secular? Public or private?
Medium and Religious.
Did you attend church, synagogue, temple, or some other religious facility? If so was it large and ornate, or small and homey? Did you feel comfortable there?
We attended Catholic church our parish church was small and comfy.
Some of the other ones we attended were much bigger and ornate. I did not like them as much .
Did you have a hang out spot? Skating rink? Mall? Burger joint? Bowling alley? Friend’s house?
We didn’t have shopping Malls then, but all the others yes except the ice-rink but usually spent more time in the park or garden.
Where did you typically go on dates (if you dated)? Movies? Out to a restaurant? At home watching tv? Library? Gym? Dances? Clubs? Mall?
The park, at friends houses, or our houses we didn’t do much that cost money because we didn’t have much to spare.
What kind of place did you live in when you first moved away from home.
When we got married we bought a two bedroom maisonette , basically a down stairs flat with a huge garden. We had our own front door into a front garden. It looked like a semi detached house but it was four maisonettes.
Was it a big adjustment or were you ready to strike out
Yes it was a huge adjustment, I was only 17 years and had gone from the family home.
At times I was scared and wondered what had I done…. But on the whole I was ready.
Describe your first place.
The pictures below is a photo of our first how it is now. Sadly we don’t have any photos of it when we lived there. We lived in the downstairs maisonette. We had a tree and crazy paving out the front.
Out the back we had a huge narrow garden of about 60 yards. With apple trees, pear tree, and plum trees. There was also a pond. Under the pond was a disused WW2 air raid shelter… Full of water from the pond.
If you open the door you found yourself in a small hallway under the stairs, the living room was to your left and was the shape of a thrupenny piece.,old money, with a fireplace, two doors and a bay window quite a challenge to arrange furniture.
Then going through the secon door there was another square hall to the left was bedroom , to the right a small hall off of which was the bathroom and our bedroom, the kitchen was across the hall from the lounge. We were very happy there. Over 51 years ago .
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