Please post the 1980s editions

I lived in Jarrow Road and walked past the Green Grocers on the corner of Reynolds Avenue every day on my way to Chadwell Heath Primary School. I can remember buying sweets at Beestons.
During the war there was a traffic accident in the High Street. A car mounted the pavement and hit my mother and me in a pram. We were both pushed through the front window of Nicols the Tailer. (I think that was the name).
I can remember Paul Garka,, David Lawrence and Tony Cansel.
All seems a long time ago now, and I had forgotten all these details until I found this Web Page

I was born in Birchdale gardens behind the Cinema and bus terminal. Moved to Chadwell Heath Lane 1941 when bombed out and then to 49 Hall Road on corner with Chadwell Heath Lane. Attended Chadwell Primary School 1945/1951. back then the 'Lane housing really stopped at Brian Road and then there were only a few cottages all the way to the Hawbush. From Chadwell Primary I went to Royal Liberty and after school went to live and work in Latin America. These days I reside in Miami, Florida

I have lived in Chadwell Heath for many years now, and I seem to recall a Greengrocers in the High Road which was owned by Barry Kitchener the Millwall footballer, am I correct or did I imagine it. It has changed so much now but not always for the better unfortunately

I lived in the old mill house in Edward road chadwell heath went to pic on sat morning then ballroom dancing up staire with dot taylor and tommy alcote.

Yes I remember squeezing into my silver shoes and learning to cha cha with Aldcroft and Taylor above the Gaumont. Must have been seven or eight I suppose.I thought DotTaylor was the most glamorous woman I had ever seen!
Also I used to watch them whirling around from across the road while I was sitting in the window at the Bendix launderette where my mum went every week. A man called Mr Sharp was in charge and I was fascinated by the huge range of multi-coloured screwdrivers he kept in the breast pocket of his white coat

In the early twilight of my Seventies, I remember attending Stevens Road - Becontree Secondary Modern School Chadwell Heath from about 1955 to 1959. Mr Pask was Headmaster, I remember School Assembly with Hymns and Prayers. Flogging with Canes, bats and “T” Squares, though I rarely was the subject myself. There I gained my love for History, and Politics with a kind disposition to the Christian life. There I learned how to avoid bullies, running faster than anyone else. Gained respect for strict discipline and law and order while others chose another path. We lived on Litchfield Road and moved away when I was 14 to Timperley, Cheshire. I self educated and late in life received a Doctorate in Theology. In my retirement ?have helped to build Orphanages in S.E. Asia. I have been exceptionally blessed with a life “well lived.”

I stayed with my Nan and Grandad who lived in Eustace Road so school holidays I used to help Charlie the blacksmith. His forge was in Back Lane which is a Roman road.

My Nan did beautiful embroidered table cloths amongst other things so I remember Embersons, haberdashery where my nan bought her silks. I also remember Perks food shop, Lens the greengrocers in Station Road, Matthews animal feed shop where my nan worked, Carters the butcher and I remember Woolworths being built? I also remember going to Susies Grill in Station Road.
When I was about 11 my parents moved to Kenneth Road. I used to go to Saturday Morning pictures, wonderful memories.

Linda Millington nee Allen my grandparents were Foreman

Yes I lived in Osborne square but went to Fanshaw Crescent school and then Parsloes

Time spent when a child over somewhere we called the castle. Wasteland oppersit Dagenham east under grand.had some of the best time of my Life I'm now 47
Live at Raymond rd and all ways wanted 2no the history of that land. So if any one can help me find out more about the land I would love to no. I do no that in the 1970s British rail owned it. I want 2no wot the castle was, wot it done. My dad's bin round here since b4 ww2 he don't no wot it was for. So if any one can help me I would like to here from u Thank u. I no there's lots of over people who will have similar memorys.

I was born in 1959 and in my early years we lived in the houses that were demolished in London Road opposite Delaney Gallies. Delaneys had a gate keeper who used to terrify me as a small child I remember being yelled at to get back in my garden before my mum found out I was in the alley on my trike - obviously trying to make a break for freedom! We moved around Barking for the next 14 years I attended Manor infants and juniors going onto Barking Abbey (which by then had joined up with Park Modern). My family left Barking finally in 1973 and moved to the Essex coast where I still am. I remember some of my friends commenting that "they (my parents) had taken me so far away" I really did not mind I loved the coast. Many years later I met a old school friend who had married and yes she had moved out to give her family a better life away from Barking although her parents had remaind. I have some very fond memories but also appreciate the fact my family moved to give me a better life. Barking changed I have been back many times over the last 40 years and each time I see more decay Barking in the 60's & 70's had some pride now I do not see this it seems defeated!
Reading this blog has brought back memories I did not know I had and I thank everyone's posts for that "Boyles the dentist was one that could have stayed buried" but you have all made me smile
My Barking will never be again but maybe that is not a bad thing

Stumbled across this site and have enjoyed the memories of old barking and the shops it had, thought that I should add my recollections and fill in a few blanks from the sixties and seventies, so starting from the Bull Pub and Heading towards the White Horse along North Street ( now the new Asda site )you had a selection of shops which I will try to place in order, first you had an Indian Restaurant then next door a Car spares shop run by a cheerful chap named Den, then I recall a large electrical shop on the corner later to become a record store, next we had in possibly not the right order, Samuel Sniedermans shoe shop,Litvins the Dentist, Lacey`s Travel & Coach Company, Hills Model & Toy Shop, A Dry Cleaners And the Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant. Now opposite in front of the school on the other side of the road you had a parade of around ten shops including a small supermarket and Tom`s sweet shop, and a old barbers come gents hairdressers where Stan originally worked,but we will come back to him in a moment ,behind these shops was what was known as `Back Lane`,this parade of shops and the original Barge Aground Pub which stood slightly to the left of the St. Margarets Churchyard & Tower along with the row of houses around the corner in London road were demolished in 1967 along with the old Church Of England School and the grounds were subject to an archaeological `dig` where many Roman coins and artifacts were found, I remember watching the wrecking Ball knocking them and the School down as if it was yesterday as I was a pupil there at the time and had to relocated to Eastbury School whilst the new ( present ) School was erected, all this area is now open grass/park land so you can calculate how old the tree are now... if your still with me I can continue back on the other side past the Hong Kong Chinese, Right you had a Fruit & Veg shop on the corner ran by an Irish fella who always had bags of coal stacked up outside and Xmas trees in December, I forget the shop next door but the next one was Rainer`s hair salon where the blue rinse brigade had their hair styled and dried in those large plastic bowl type driers, then a Jewellers, then Tollaini`s cafe who used to entertain the customers by constantly berating his wife all day, next a T.V. shop called TerryVision ( run by Terry of course ) then a Bicycle shop and finally Stanley Morris Unisex Hair Salon, you could tell when Stan was in as his E-Type Jag was outside blocking the side road,on the opposite side you had a newsagents called Blinkthorns ? then a dress shop a couple of others and a Pet stores and yet another Chinese on the end called the Slowboat Restaurant which sold tasty food..I will briefly talk about Abbey Road. entering from London Road you had a huge company called Delaney Galleys ( Later Delenair ) which made car heating systems then you had a small company named Gilbey Engineering then the caretakers house on the corner with the large garden to the front ( Later a Petrol station ) going across the road further ( where flats are now ) you had a breakers yard run by a great guy named Pete Howard then Abbey Cafe owned by Roy and assisted by Betty and Connie( who later sold up and bought an arcade on the Isle of Sheppey ) then a fairly large freight company named Howard Enterprises ( yes Petes family, by the way Pete later retired out to Noaks Hill ) who used to unload and load pallets all day long then you had the another few firms then came the Fishing Smack Pub run by Tom & Elsie ( heard last year that Toms still alive and living in Suffolk must well be in his late eighties ) past this all I recall was a firm involved with boats or shipping ? Finally... between Abbey Road and the Council offices on the now grassland next to the Catholic School you had a large chemical factory and possibly a Match company ? not forgetting the R-Wrights drinks plant behind the Captain Cooke Pub which almost ran up to the Stag Pub in Ripple Road, All we need now is Nicholson`s Coal Horse & Cart to come along to complete the picture, I am now 55 but can picture it all as I lived close by and attended the School mentioned above, I could go on all night but better stop here,

My Mum worked at Sainsbury's in East Street in the late 50's - to early 60's. She used to 'knock up' the butter from the huge slabs into the small half pound packs, all while the customer waited. She also used to bring home the first yogurts, usually they were frozen and my sis and I loved them. My Mum loved the job but she used to get chilblains in the winter as it was always a bit wet on the floor behind the counter

My Mum 'Ellen worked at Sainsbury’s In Barking or you may have known her as Helen worked there on the butter pats. It would have been in the late 50's

I was born in Upney Hospital in 1950, my first home was Blatchford Close, in the Prefabs, Ripple Road opposite the Cemetery, I have been searching for photos or information, but as yet have had no luck, hoping that someone might know of them. I moved to Thames View Estate in 1955, Barking was a great place to grow up in, we didn't have much money, but kids made their own fun for free, remember walking over the marshes thinking we were at the seaside when we got to the river

My earliest memories are during the war of hiding down the Andersen garden shelters in King Edwards Saturday Road and St Erkenwald Road with my parents and brothers listening to the shrapnel pinging around us as the incendiary bombs dropped around us and watching from the open doorway as the doodlebugs flew over at rooftop height. One landed in St Awdreys Road demolishing a row of houses and another on St Pauls Church at the corner of St Erkenwald Road and Ripple Road. On this Sunday Morning my elder brother was due to go to the morning service with his friend but as luck would have it decided on this occasion not to attend. Also when word spread that the greengrocer was having a delivery of oranges or bananas or other fruit my brother and I had to run to Sucklings in Ripple Road and join the queue until mum arrived with bag and money.
Since turning to adults the shop names so memorable to us as children and then teenagers have all but gone except for shops like Markss and Spencer and of course Sainsburys. Names like Home & Colomial, Pearks, and Liptons where butter was bought loose and patted into shape with paddles and biscuits were in big square tins laid at an angle where you could go along the line and choose which and how many you wanted then to be weighed at the counter. Barking had all these wonderful shops but by the time I was adult all had disappeared. Sneidermans the shoes shop as well as Goodings the barbers both in North Street. How I remember my mates and I going to Goodings on a
Saturday morning and having to wait for our favourite barber to have a Boston or a Tony Curtis or even a D A haircut which were all the rage then.
Then to Barking Park to chat the girls or spend an hour on the putting green or even a canoe or skiff ride on the lake. Later we would go to he rear of the park where Barking had its own cycle speedway track where we world shout on the home team who rode against teams from all areas around Barking.
My twin bother and I left Barking in our early 20#'s after we both got married at St Margarets Abbey by the then Bishop of Barking The Very Rev Chadwick., Sadly in my case it all went pear shaped and ended after 11 years.
Nevertheless I would not swap my Barking memories for anything.

Is there anyone who can share similar memories of Barking particularly of the Eastbury and Town areas. At 81 time passes so quickly that memories are the only thing w have left.

My earliest recollection of the beginning of the bombing of Barking was the destruction of a school in little MORLEY ROAD , I was about six at the time. However my younger brothers dispute this and say that to their knowledge there was never a school in either little or big MORLEY ROAD. Can anyone who would be now aged about 80-86 years confirm which is correct.

I stumbled across your site and it brought back happy childhood memories. Like you I also lived in Hertford Road Barking up until the summer of 1970 when we moved to Fairlop. Our homes were compulsory purchased by the Department of Transport for the development of the A406. My parents moved in to Hertford Road in 1953, but my memories are only from the mid 1960’s. We lived towards the end of the road, as Hertford Road merged into Watson Avenue. I remember one of my brother's friend’s parents owned May's Cafe at the bottom of the road. Our houses backed on to allotments where the back gate in our garden opened up on to my dad’s allotment where he grew champagne rhubarb. My dad was a keen gardener and I remember our garden really clearly, beautiful roses and dahlias. It’s strange how fashion has changed in the gardening world, everyone had low level fences then with very little privacy from one garden to the next. At the top of the road there were old fashion petrol pumps where my friends and I used to roam the block on our bikes. My older brother would often have to call me by whistling from half way up the road to come in for dinner. My Dad played tennis nearby at the gas board sports club and I would watch him play through the wire fence sitting on my bike in Watson Road, but I wasn't allowed to call out to him especially if a match was in progress ! What a great shame with the exception of the gasometer it’s now all over-grown, the tennis courts, and bowling green are long gone its looks very eerie. I remember as a short cut we used to drive under the arches along Stevenage Road to my grandparents who lived in Manor Park, but when I went there recently it had been blocked up with access to bikes only. My grandfather’s friend took the roof off his new van as he misjudged the height of the under pass he forgot his new van was slightly taller !! If we weren’t lucky enough to be in the car with dad, my mum and I used to catch the 147 bus and walk over the iron bridge near Gladstone Avenue or walk down Burgess Road from East Ham Station. I walked that route every day to school and it seemed to take forever thank goodness there was a sweet shop on the way home. For whatever reason no-one in our family seems to have taken a photo from the front of our house in Hertford Road and I’m having difficulty in sourcing a photograph of these houses before they were demolished. If anyone has a photo they could share I would love to see it. Happy childhood memories.

My name is Doyle and I was born in Barking in 1942. My old man was a grocer and his shop was Newman Stores in Ripple Road by the Harrow, or as we called it, the "arrer". There was a long row of shops either side of Ripple Road. I could name every one, but it will take too long. I will just mention Artheys the bakers, Bill Prutton the green grocers, and Gibbs the radio shop who were my Aunt and Uncle. In those days to be a grocer it was a proper trade. Bone the bacon, weigh the sugar, pat the butter, slice the cheese with a wire to mention a few. I can even remember the large blocks of ice being delivered for the old fridge. A great community as all the shopkeepers and families would go to Xmas circus trips to Bill Smarts circus at Harringay, or Wembley Ice shows. All in the comfort of DIX luxury coaches from the Thatched House, ha ha. As I lived where I did I of course went to Ripple School, infants and juniors. Very happy memories, accept that is for Mr Clark. A teacher who had favourites and I was not one of them. No child should have there bad school memories because of a teacher. In those days you couldn't tell your parents as you might get another punishment. Never the less I do have happy memories of my time at Ripple School.
I then went to Eastbury School having failed my 11 plus, much to the disgust of my parents. Nobody wanted their children to go to Eastbury. Well, I am glad I did as I loved my 4 years there.
Yes it was rough, and yes I got the cane a few times, but boy was it worth it as we were always laughing . Didn't learn a lot but what happy memories. The headmaster was Mr Perry, affectionately known as " Winkle ". There was one teacher Mr Smith, another of my dislikes, who never gave the cane. Instead he had this large brown slipper which he called "Oscar".
Well, when Oscar had given me a few cracks on my bum, you could have fried eggs on it
as it felt so hot. I should also like to mention that there was a 6ft railing dividing the boys playground from the girls. Plus, there was a line about 10ft from the railings either side that you could not cross. What spoil sports. Don't worry, we knew when the girls would be coming out the back door to go to the gym in there nickers. Also, does anyone remember the game, Hijimmynacker?. Next time I will talk about our town Barking. As Chris Bowers says, the best town in the word. It was for me, and the same goes for its people.