THE Â EAST LONDON NEIGHBOURHOOD
TEASING THE LOLLIPOP MAN
It was a few years after the end of World War II. Mick started school, in East London, after Easter and his grandad would often walk with him to school. Soon he started going to school on his own, perhaps meeting up with friends on the way, but the return journey was always a race home with those same friends - Denis, John, Dougie and David. Occasionally they would take the long way so that they could tease Mr. Meazer the Lollipop man. Unfortunately Mr. Meazer got wise to this after two or three times and reported them to the school. As a result one day three of them are forced to stand on chairs in front of the whole school at morning assembly while the headmistress gave them a telling off for inappropriate behaviour and made an example of them.
PLESSEY: THE MANUFACTURING EXPERTS
Meanwhile, Ariel lives in a working class area of East London and most of her friends including herself go to the Grammar school in their neighbourhood. She walks to the bus stop to take the bus for school while men and women walk in the opposite direction to hers in order to reach the factory-Plessey. When the factory shift changes, the area brimmed with energy with workers coming and going at the same time every single day. “I remember the bustle of the people on their way there while I was walking to school as I lived opposite. I used to see the same men every day!”
PLAYER'S NO.10
Raul is running late for school but he takes time to greet his neighbours and community members on the way to the bus stop. He has to change two buses to reach school but he enjoys it as he always meets a few of his friends at the bus stop itself. It is a fairly fixed scheduled in the morning, but on the way back at times he and his friends walk back to save money. They save money to buy a pack of No.10 at 1 shilling and tenpence for ten cigarettes as that was all they could afford.
TROLLEYBUS : ROUTE NO 691
That was not the case for Suzanne, who was given half a crown weekly pocket money and one shilling every day by her parents to pay for the return journey on two buses and a bag of crisps at the tuck shop at school. The journey by bus plus waiting time often took up to 40 minutes so when the weather was fine, she and her friends walked all the way or sometimes half way and bought Devonshire cream splits at Fancies Bakery. But when she was with her mum she used to take a trolleybus on routes 691 and 693.
THE MODS
Alice on the other hand was just busy being a Mod with parkas, Hush Puppy shoes and red socks. She lives in the area of East London where the majority of residents are war veterans. Though she went out with her friends and "were packed like sardines in various church halls to listen to local groups", but she is more of a Gerry The Pacemakers, Beatles and the Swinging Blue Jeans fan. She looks forward to Saturday Matinee at the Odeon (previously known as Savoy) watching Thunderball (James Bond movie), Gambit, The Trap and if not that then the Saturday afternoons were spent enjoying snacks at Wimpy or dancing at the Palais.
DANCING AT THE PALAIS
The Palais was where Ariel, Mick, Paul and Suzanne all enjoyed their Saturday afternoons when they were under 14 years. Later it was Friday or Saturday evening to have a good time with friends. It was a popular haunt for West Ham players to dance the night away. Palais was the place to be.
THE REGAL / ABC
Raul enjoyed his Saturday mornings at the Regal, later called the ABC. It was a regular haunt for Mick as well. Ariel was an ABC minor and enjoyed singing the “ABC minors” song at the beginning of the Saturday morning show. This was the show where the parents did not come along so it was a popular joint during courting days.
SUMMER SPLASH
During summers Raul, Alice, Ariel, Suzanne enjoyed swimming at either the “Swimming baths” or Valentine Lido.
THE FAIRHEADS SALE
If not swimming or dancing, then Alice enjoyed shopping at Bodgers, Harrison Gibson or Fairheads. Ariel too would go along with her Mum to the Fairheads sale to buy best quality tea towels, sheets, net curtains etc. Her mother like many other in the area looked forward to these sales. But Suzanne would rather play tennis at the tennis courts in Loxford Park or buy a “Red Rover” ticket for 3 shillings that would allow her unlimited trips for a day on all red buses, so she would ride all over London.
EVENINGS AT THE GREEN GATE
But Raul would prefer going to West Ham to watch a football match or enjoy evenings at the Green Gate where they had a disco. Even Ariel loved going to the Green Gate and was friends with members of the band that played there. Mick on the other hand was busy organising football and cricket tournaments. Playing local sport enabled him to explore more of the immediate area. The team would meet at The Prince of Wales pub and the after match gathering in the summer would be at The Cauliflower Hotel.
EXPERIENCE CONTINUES
Though Mick, Ariel, Raul, Suzanne and Alice all lived and socialised in the same geographical area –“Neighbourhood”, their paths never crossed one another. They visited the same places like Palais, ABC, The Green Gate, Valentine Lido, went shopping in the same area like the Pioneer Market, and lived in the same neighbourhood sometimes between 1950s to 1980s. Presently, they are dispersed around the world from Cape Town to Bradford, but they come together on the Fb page “Growing up in East London” to share any memories connected with the area, or general memories of their childhood and youth while living there. This is similar to what McKay (2010) posits that "Social networking sites and digital images enhance opportunities for users to cite and display familiar (and novel) subjects, genres and compositions to express various facets of the self". We will see how they have taken advantage of the digital age to revive memories of past social interactions and redefined neighbourhood and community in the “Conclusion” section.
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