BermondseyBoy

My name is Ray Hamilton I was born in Guys Hospital in 1942 & we lived in Guinness’s Buildings, Pages Walk, flat 366, from 1942 till about 1962 in Q Block near Swan Mead. In our Block, there was four flats to a landing, two flats to one toilet & washroom. Our bath was in front of the fire in a tin bath, which you shared with the family using the same water just topped up with pots of hot water when needed. We still had Gas lighting until about 1960? & no heating in the bedrooms. My Mums name was Annie Hamilton (Oliver). After my brother, Bob got married he lived in T Block next to Pages Walk with is family. living in Q Block with their families was Peter Emmerson (I think that’s how you spell it), the Bonds (no not 007), I can only remember two names John & Barbara. The Lawsons Jean & Maureen lived on the top floor as did Johnny Porridge. The Kent family lived next door to us at one time & mum Peggy Kent was a lovely lady who help my mum out when times were hard, wish I could meet her again to say thank you. The Grimwoods lived in S Block the same square & Brian now lives in Blackfen/Sidcup, we are still in touch. Rosie Comber & her brother lived in T Block & I think they were related to Johnny Porridge. Two other names I remember from the Square are Ronnie Oliver & Geraldine Jolly.
Guinness’s Building Showing Arrow to Right where Kiwi lived, Arrow left where Bobby lived.

I also went to Webb Street School in 1947 my mates were Freddie Lane, Roger Wardle who lived in Guinness’s & Kenny Everdon who lived in Pages Walk, last house before the railway entrance in Old Kent Road. The first day I went to Webb Street the first bell went, which I think would have been after about an hour & went home thinking this is not too bad. Needless to say, my mum soon had me back at school with all the other kids laughing, well I was only little.
First of all, as a kid living in Guinness’s, Pages Walk for me was great, like most families we never had much money but it was HOME I can still hear my Mum saying we may not have any money but it cost nothing to say please and thank you. The flat we lived in was second from the top, two bedrooms and a big living room ( I nearly said lounge then I’m forgetting where I came from) .Me and my brother Bob slept in one room ( same bed ) mum, and my two sisters Sheila and Jan in the other all in one bed.( now for those saying where did Dad sleep I'm afraid when I was about 6-7 he went out for a packet of fags & forgot to come home) It must have been so hard for my mum at that time. I can remember carrying bags of coal or my iron framed push bike up the stairs to our flat, it was bloody hard work. I remember climbing on the sheds, you could climb on one side and slide down the other to Swan Mead or if George Horton came along drop down the big wall into Harold Estate I can remember digging the putty out of the cement in the square to put on the end of my bow and arrow we must have drove Mr Horton (Guinness’s caretaker) mad. like most of the kids we used to collect jam jars, lemonade bottles, beer bottles, waste paper and we chopped up firewood for money. Does anybody remember the fogs we use to have? this was the time we use to cross the road in Pages Walk to the houses and tie the knockers together then knock on the door and watch as the first door opened & shut the one next door would knock this went on until both doors opened at once and the penny dropped. This was also a good time to hang on the back of the horse and carts going along Pages Walk. I remember the toffee apple man, but can anyone remember the merry go round, also can anybody remember, I think his name was Bill who used to walk along and all he ever said was "oh six hundred." My bedroom looked out over the park in Leroy Street and after the Pubs turned out (The Pagoda, George, Victory) I would lay in bed and hear the people ,obviously half cut making their way home singing at the top of their voices “,Maybe It’s Becos I’m A Londoner,” “My Old Man Said Follow The Band” & laughing their heads off then gradually fading off into the distance as they got nearer to the Old Kent Road, happy in hard times, for me a wonderful memory.
Tower Bridge Road was great all the stalls, Joyces Pie & Mash, Rossies Ice Cream, Edwards Donuts which was near where my Nan Katie Oliver & my Uncle Stan had their salad stall, they were also outside the Magnet Pub on Sunday mornings. (Picture).
We hear people today saying we need a playroom. The streets were our playroom, the bomb sites, the bomb buildings the parks & all the games that went with it, we were poor kids but we were happy kids & looking back dare I say lucky kids??

The three girls were living with their parents up until at least 1891 in Neckinger Place, there was also a Mrs Hall who was the girls Grandmother.?

This is my aunt Mary (Oliver) to me a lovely person, who sadly passed away in 2001. xx

Mary 1957.

The picture of 92 Swan Mead is where my Nan Katie Oliver, my aunt Mary & uncle Stan use to live.
My nan, Kate McDonald, (Oliver) was born in Bermondsey in April 1884 in Stanworth Street. She had 3 sisters: Mary, Charlotte (known as Georgina) and Annie. She moved to Hargreave Square when she married in 1901 as did her sister Mary, who was also married and had the surname Lynch.
Nan married Ernest Edward Oliver, who was known as Albert for some unknown reason. They had 8 children: Kate (married Jimmy Kelly), Sarah Anne (known as Annie, who married Robert Hamilton), Albert John Oliver (known as John, who married Katie Everittt), William James Oliver (known and Billy, who married Elsie Dawdry), Edward J Oliver (known as Teddy, who married Doris Mitchell - known as Dolly), Henry Oliver (known as Harry, who married Carry Mason) and Stanley and Mary Oliver both of whom remained single. The family moved to Swan Mead as the children got older and my grandparents eventually split up.
Every time you went into Nan’s house in Swan Mead you could smell the Beetroots cooking in the boiler, as I have said she and Uncle Stanley had a salad stall all week down the Tower Bridge Road. My Nan was a large lady, who had a chair with arms on either side, unfortunately she also had sugar diabetes and I can remember her injecting herself with insulin. Nan's sister Mary lived in Creasy Estate, Aberdour Street married name being Lynch. If my memory serves me right some of the Lynch family immigrated to Australia maybe in the late 50s early 60s.I can remember most of my mum’s (Sarah Anne Hamilton) brothers and sisters especially Kate who married Jimmy Kelly and lived in Eltham Street. I went to secondary school with both Michael and Terry Kelly at John Harvard in Union Street, Borough, that’s after I got expelled from Riley Road School TBR but that’s another story. We also went to Patricia Kelly’s wedding but I can’t remember the year.

HI EVERYONE
Having been born in Guy's Hospital in1942, I can remember walking from Pages Walk to Guy's and getting a free cup of OXO or BOVRIL, can't remember which, I must have been about six or seven can anyone else recall that. I remember going over London Bridge to the Monument and then walking along the Fish Market to Tower Bridge. Also walking to Southwark Park, stopping at the mat slide in St James on the way. What surprises me reading other members stories, are the distances and places we all walked to as kid's. We had no worries no fear, how the world has changed, there’s some truth in the saying “the good old days”. I don’t know if anyone has mentioned the Hot Roasted Chestnut’s we used to buy outside the Globe Picture House in Old Kent Road, they were really great after coming out of the pictures especially if you hadn’t paid to get in. Can anyone remember if the man that sold them rode a bike or pushed a barrow, also how much a bag did they cost. While I’m around the Bricklayers Arms, could anyone tell me the name of the ice cream shop in Great Dover Street just down from the Library. We used to go in there quite a lot to get a glass full of Tizer topped up with ice cream.