I grew up in Chingford in the sixties and seventies. Although Chingford has for many years been part of the East London borough of Waltham Forest, it is in fact a leafy green suburb on the border of Epping Forest, Essex. It was once quite rural but started to become more urban during the Second World War, when inhabitants of the East End of London started moving there to avoid the bombings. In fact, one of my earliest memories is of going grocery shopping with my mother and bumping into previous neighbours from her own childhood in Hackney.
Just around the corner from our house was Pole Hill, an entry point to Epping Forest. My friends and I would often play hide and seek there, free from adult supervision. There was an obelisk landmark at the top of the hill which is still there, though it's often covered in graffiti nowadays. Cattle used to graze on the forest land nearby and I can recall sitting in our dining room and watching them munch their way through out front garden. Today, they wouldn't be able to squeeze between the tightly parked cars!
Some of my happiest childhood memories are of spending long, lazy afternoons at Larkswood open air swimming pool with my mum, younger brother and an assortment of friends. It's where I learnt to swim. Sadly, it closed many years ago and remained derelict for a while. It's now a leisure centre.
Chingford High Street (Station Road) was typical of many of that era, before giant supermarkets existed. There were family-run bakeries, butchers and green grocers, as well as a fishmonger. The shop I remember most vividly was a sweet shop called Hargreaves, run by two elderly sisters. Its shelves were crammed full of large jars of sweets which you could purchase by weight. Lemon sherbet lollies and gobstoppers were among my favourites. There was a newsagents called Brimbles, a haberdashery shop called Bassets, run by a lady named Winnie Basset, who seemed to stock anything and everything. There were also three small grocery stores, Chasneys, Stitchers and the Co-op (which is still there today).
At one end of Station Road is Chingford Green, which houses the library and St. Peter and St. Paul Parish Church. The BBC programme, Songs of Praise, was filmed there during my Brownie days, although the only thing I remember about it was the cameraman, who was positioned right in front of our Brownie pew. My friend and I took it in turns to pinch his bottom throughout the service. We thought it was a hoot, though we must only have been about seven or eight years old at the time!
I have visited Chingford often over the years as my parents still live in the house where I grew up. Thankfully, it has retained much of its character, although there have been inevitable changes. Some shops have been replaced by restaurants or bars and others have become supermarket chains but a few are still thriving after more than 50 years in business.
Having lived abroad and in other parts of London I recently moved back to Chingford. It still feels like home.
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January 3, 2010 |
AP
Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, seen at centre left, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2010. Burj Dubai is over 800 metres (2,625 ft) tall and has more than 160 stores, the most of any building in the world. Besides an observation deck on its 124th floor affording 360-degree views of the entire city, Burj Dubai is home to the world's first Armani Hotel, luxury offices and residences, and a variety of other sophisticated leisure and entertainment facilities. Burj Dubai will ultimately be the place of residence, work and leisure for a community of up to 12,000 people. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)