Memories of Shepherds Bush and Hammersmith
Askew Road and Goldhawk Road - Shepherds Bush and Cooke Pie Shops
Leamore Street - we lived there in 1930's
Cathnor Road where Gran (d.1942) lived
Emlyn Gardens Shepherds Bush includes 1945 Victory Party
1944 Westville School we were very near when it was bombed
Goldhawk Road - looking towards Shepherds Bush Green also check Stamford Brook above
Genealogy information
Hammersmith & Fulham - Archives and local history
The Lilla Huset 191 Talgarth Road London W6 8BJ
Enquiries 020 8741 5159
[email protected] Fax 020 8741 4882
<http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/Directory/Leisure_and_Culture/Libraries/Archives/17430_Archives_and_Local_History.asp>
Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush and Registration Districts
WW2 memories received by email
Bomb sites were everywhere, many more than on the official records. I remember
mapping them all and worked out the direction the bombers were going and their
intended targets. Do you remember those two great anti-aircraft guns at the
bottom of Acton Park? (Junction of Uxbridge Rd and Warple way opposite the
King�s Head/Arms). We used to play on them, and when they got removed, the
concrete foundations left two marvellous roller skating rinks. Wendell Park was
a giant allotment with a water tank in the middle. Ravens Court Park had a huge
fenced off crater where the library sustained a direct hit.
Mum would take me shopping with her wicker baskets and a bag of ration books. It
was a long time before I saw a real banana. Dad was still stuck in Burma and I
wondered who this stranger was when he finally returned. Like all his comrades,
he never talked about it.
There were many demobbed soldiers around, a lot with missing limbs. The Orchard
Inn, Askew Rd., was a favourite meeting place, with some from the Great War - in
uniform, proudly worn with their medals. There was a horse trough at the front
of the pub, and as kids, we would go to pat the horses as their owners slipped
on the nose bags and disappeared into the bar.
Pig bins! My awful memories of those disgusting eyesores on every street corner.
The smell, and you lift the lid to a swarm of angry wasps. I was glad when they
finally went.
There were no vehicles in the side streets. We played cricket there after the
horse manure had been eagerly scooped up for people�s gardens. What a picture!
Gosh, I could reminisce forever; so I�d best close now.
Regards, Stuart Coyle