LOUISE BRODIE

ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS have been conducted so far with Peter Todd; Ingeborg Unia, David Dunbar; Pauline Johnston; Jean Jaffa; Herbert Kennard; Winnie & Elizabeth Day; Rose Watt; Dennis & Inge Goodwin; Rose Watt; Martin Churchill; Monty Dare & Brenda Dixson; Roger Eden; Cliff Jordan; Yolanda Sonnabend, and Barbara Comerford.
These recordings document St John's Wood from before the Second World War through the personal memories of the interviewees. Discs have been made from the entire digital recordings, together with text summaries.

FURTHER INTERVIEWS from conversations with Phoebe May, Florence Windebank, Peggy Steel, Derek Oulton and Pamela Katz.

Taken together, these individual experiences will make a fascinating addition to our knowledge of the area.
For instance, changes to the shops in the St John's Wood High Street, replacing back to back houses with blocks of flats after the war; the loss of pubs in the neighbourhood; new communities coming in, and many more trends.


QUOTES:
Peter Todd 'As a postman, I always worked at Lodge Road which was one of the nicest offices, friendly people. You had to open the bags up, sort the mail out, stack it in the right sequence and then deliver before 9 am. At Christmas we worked 12 hours a day. We carried 35 lbs of letters and parcels. Dogs were a lot of trouble, and letter boxes near the ground. We had to rattle the letterboxes to say that we were there. Nowadays the postmen can't read!'
Barbara Comerford 'St John's Wood was always attractive, verdant and civilised, and still is. Many Americans have moved in to the area because of the American school. Nobody minded about them building this. The tennis club behind there disappeared. The St John's Wood Society took an interest in the traffic, parking and pedestrian crossings, and the trees, as well as all the planning issues. Many is the time that I walked up 17 floors (I don't like lifts) to a meeting with the council officers.'
David Dunbar 'When my father came to work at Lords, we were meant to live at 12 Grove End Road, which had been empty for some years, but the foundations were insecure. It was said to be haunted and the workmen refused to go into it when the time came for it to be demolished. As a boy, I would bet my friends that they couldn't, when blindfolded, start from the Tavern and walk across to the Grandstand. There is a disorienting slope which causes your sense of direction to go immediately.'
Cliff Jordan 'When I was small we used to play in the park in Violet Hill. Between the park and the last house in Abbey Gardens there was a mews where we made a camp for our gang. In derelict houses in Hamilton Terrace too. Once you could get in anywhere you made a camp. We used the garages of the flats in Hall Road as well. You could climb over the wall with ropes to the back of the flats. 20% were always empty.'
Herbert Kennard 'Sheep were driven down St John's Wood High Street. They could have come from the Caledonian Market or from up north. they went into the Park by the bridge at the bottom of Charlbert Street and they grazed near the lake. There was far, far more horse traffic then. When my mother was ill, my father requested straw to be put dwn in what was the called Lower William Street (now Greenbury Street) to lessen the noise of the horses and carts.'
Rose Watt 'In Townsend Cottages, our half of the street had gas, only four people paid for electricity. On the corner was an oil and gas chandler. Round the corner was Mrs Morgan, the dairy. when she was closed you could put your money in and a jug underneath for milk. We usually used condensed milk at home. They churned the butter in another dairy.'


Do you have anything to add? Please contact me if you, or anyone you know, would like to speak about your memories of our area, or if you would like further information about the work already completed. brodie.louise@gmail.com