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October 1956 news items

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From the front pages of the Mitcham Advertiser in 1956.

4th October
11th October
18th October
25th October

Thursday 4 October 1956

Shops may be built in front of church
A vacant stretch of land in front of Mitcham Baptist Church on London Road—between the borough hall and the borough library—may be developed with a shop frontage, with access to the church retained through an imposing archway. The Rev. Burden said the church hoped to sell some of the land (once intended for a new church facing London Road), extend the Sunday school hall at the rear into a more commodious building, and improve what had long been an eyesore.

HOUSING PLAN ATTACKED
Councillor speaks of ‘key money’
‘WE MAY BURN OUR FINGERS,’ HE SAYS
Coun. C. A. Norris, the only Independent on Mitcham Council, attacked the plan to house 250 local families in the Frimley and Camberley “expanded town” project, under which Mitcham would pay £8 a year for each house for ten years—£20,000 in all. He called that tantamount to paying key money, doubted the wisdom of continuing, and warned that the council might “burn our fingers rather badly,” after the borough treasurer reported an expected additional cost of £11,668 between then and 1961/2.

Lady Mountbatten opens mental health exhibition
‘MORE HOSPITALS NEEDED’
Opening a mental health exhibition at Tooting Methodist Central Hall on Tuesday, Lady Mountbatten outlined a four-point plan: far more money should be spent; more hospitals should be built (“long overdue”); overcrowding should be reduced; and the public should be taught a more enlightened attitude to mental disorders. The exhibition, showing aspects of life in mental hospitals from patients’ and staff viewpoints, was open until 13 October.

Recording of choir is taken during service at church
The vestry of St. Mark’s Church, Mitcham, became an engineers’ studio on Sunday evening when Ronald Hunt (17), of Tamworth Lane, and John Read (17), of Tonstall Road—both church members—recorded the choir singing “The Song of Thanksgiving.” Play-backs at rehearsals had helped organist and choirmaster Mr. D. W. Kent improve the performance; discs for the choir were expected to be cut from the master tape.

THIS WILL FOIL LEAD THIEVES
After staff at Mitcham baths found the buffet floor flooded one morning—an outside lead gutter having been torn away and stolen—the council replaced it at a cost of more than £27 with a rubber composition gutter intended to foil lead thieves.

FOG MARRED THEIR TRIP
Two coach-loads of old folk from the Old People’s Club in London Road “felt” their way to Box Hill on Monday afternoon in thick fog that hid the scenery. Ald. W. Jeffery, chairman of the Old People’s Welfare Committee, and the travellers still enjoyed the outing, with music from the Old Folk’s Band and the “Bright Sparks.”

If everyone backed Sir Anthony…
Lord Lloyd, Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, told the Wandsworth Central Conservative Association at a dinner at the Fountain Hotel, Tooting, that if all parties backed the Government’s Suez policy a speedier solution could be reached. He argued the Government had a right to expect patriotism and co-operation from the Opposition, which he said it had not had.

Clocks go back this week-end
Summer Time ends in the early hours of Sunday; clocks and watches should be put back one hour on Saturday night.

‘Alarming’ drop in membership
R. D. Dines, secretary of the Mitcham division Labour Party, told members at Beddington and Wallington that membership there—and in Mitcham—had been going down “rather alarmingly,” blaming administrative problems. He hoped renewed drives would restore the 1952–53 strength of between 3,000 and 3,500 members.

ALL-IN WRESTLING?
A split-second picture taken during basketball practice at the new Pollards Hill school, where Mitcham Youth Committee had started Friday evening training classes.

The last day of a perfect holiday
On the last day of a holiday in France and Spain, 25-year-old pharmacist Audrey Grime, of Upper Tooting Road, and her friend Jill Greenfield found their 1953 Singer car missing from the Boulogne quayside—then lying damaged on the harbour bottom. After it was raised and shipped to Dover they came home a day late; an Englishman charged on Monday said he had only meant to take it for a joy ride.

1,644 appeal against new assessments
Mitcham Council were told that 1,644 proposals appealing against new rate assessments had been received, of which 80 had since been withdrawn. Borough treasurer Mr. E. C. Clay reported collections 2.01 per cent lower than a year earlier—partly because appellants need pay only on the original assessment until heard—and that 279 summonses had been applied for, no more than last year.

‘BAN FLYING OF MODEL AIRCRAFT’
Residents near Three Kings Piece were being asked to sign a petition calling on Mitcham Council to ban model aircraft flying there. Mr. H. King, secretary of the Park Model Aircraft League—whose members flew powered models there two or three times a week with full council permission for 18 months—called the campaign “ill-natured prejudice” and said traffic on the main road bothered neighbours less than their “tiny engines.”

LOCAL M.P.’S WIFE DIES
Mrs. Elizabeth Hughes-Young, wife of the Conservative M.P. for Wandsworth Central, died on Tuesday at St. John and St. Elizabeth Hospital, Hampstead, after a long illness. She had helped her husband’s General Election campaign the previous year despite being unwell, then retired from public life; they had five children. A private funeral was fixed for the Friday.

30 years a fireman
Station Officer H. S. Shepherd, who joined Mitcham Fire Brigade 30 years ago, retired this week as officer in charge of Mitcham fire station (further report referred to the Mitcham and Tooting Review, page 10).

Arrested shortly after he became engaged
Donald Leslie Aldred (26), coalman, of Derinton Road, Tooting, pleaded guilty at South Western Magistrate’s Court to taking a motor cycle without the owner’s consent, using it uninsured, and driving while disqualified. He said he had got engaged that day and took the machine after drink; the magistrate sent him to prison for a total of six months and disqualified him from driving for five years.

Tennis trophies presented
At a North Mitcham Improvement Association evening—military whist and a dance attended by about 180—cups and plaques for Woodland Tennis Club tournaments were presented by president Mr. Derek Bray. The mixed doubles trophy went to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Challis; the men’s doubles to Mr. L. Ashmore and Mr. J. Reid.

Thursday 11 October 1956

COUNCIL DENY ACCUSATION
‘Level of pond is not going down’
ALMOST SAME AS FIVE YEARS AGO
Mitcham Residents’ Conference alleged that drainage linked with tipping near Windmill Road was emptying Seven Islands Pond on Mitcham Common, despite a Surrey County Council condition that the pond and surroundings be preserved. Croydon Corporation, who control the tip, denied any effect on the level; deputy borough engineer Mr. R. L. Gee said readings that month were within a couple of inches of November 1953, soon after tipping began.

Coronation arches go to Suffolk
Four steel arches which spanned The Mall at the Coronation—erected by Scaffolding (Great Britain) Ltd. of Mitcham, stored at Willow Lane, and weighing 56 tons—were being taken by lorry and rail to Stowmarket to form part of a huge straw storage barn (about 130 ft span, 60 ft high and 180 ft long).

DEATH OF PARISH CLERK
Mrs. Dora Perkins, of Mellows Road, Wallington, clerk of Mitcham Parish Church, died aged 57. Daughter of Mr. A. Champion, who had been parish clerk for 55 years, she succeeded him in 1951 and travelled from Wallington for every service; the Rev. John Thorold, Vicar of Mitcham, called her “a most loyal and faithful servant.” The funeral was at the church; she left a husband, a daughter and a small son.

Rex III, police dog who made 125 arrests, is dead
Rex III, Britain’s most famous police dog, was put to sleep on Monday after specialists confirmed throat cancer. The Alsatian, who lived with handler P.-con. Arthur Holman in St. James’s Road, Mitcham, made 125 arrests in six and a half years, won a gold cup as most outstanding police dog of the year, and once cornered an Army absentee who fired three shots at him in Tynemouth Road.

C.D. drive — 12 have enrolled
Between nine and ten thousand cards urging volunteers for the Civil Defence Corps had been delivered in Mitcham during a three-week Surrey campaign ending 20 October. Civil defence officer Mr. G. H. Bateman said about a hundred replies had been received and a dozen enrolments completed; strength was about 320 against a peace-time establishment of 954.

HIS 39 YEAR OLD QUEST IS OVER
Man meets Italian who saved his life
Mr. Kenneth Littleton, of Commonside East, Mitcham, finally met Ferdinando Molteni, the Italian who pulled him half-conscious from the sea after his troopship was torpedoed off Finale Ligure on 4 May 1917. After decades of contact with the town—including a 1924 visit and a 1928 honeymoon civic welcome—they met this year amid Press and radio enthusiasm.

Plan for swimming club
Mitcham Youth Committee planned to run its Youth Committee Swimming Club from next season on proper club lines—training, life-saving and diving—rather than as a large recreational session, after baths authorities became dissatisfied with behaviour and numbers proved hard to control.

RESIDENTS COMPLAIN
Following repeated complaints about weeds round the edges of Mitcham Common, the Common Conservators told the Mitcham Residents’ Conference they might buy a machine to cut them down, staff shortages having made present work impossible.

G.P.O. REJECT REQUEST
The G.P.O. said there was no possibility of a post-box in Chilmark Road, Mitcham: a census of letters posted in the two nearest boxes showed numbers too small to justify another pillar-box.

HOUSEWIFE WHO STOLE SAYS— ‘I have lost the love of my eldest son’
Mrs. Elizabeth Yeo (45), of Topsham Road, Tooting, told London Sessions Appeals Committee she had lost the love of her eldest son after stealing a comb, brush and other articles from British Home Stores, Brixton Road. A six weeks’ sentence passed at Lambeth was quashed and she was conditionally discharged for 12 months; counsel said her young daughters had taken an active part in what was described as organised pillaging.

Greengrocer obstructed policeman
William Edward Hayes (48), greengrocer, of Longmead Road, Tooting, was charged at South Western Magistrate’s Court with obstructing P.-con. Macintosh and with being in charge of a van causing unnecessary obstruction. He was fined 10s. for the van obstruction and £2 for obstructing the officer after knocking the policeman’s notebook down.

£81 RAISED
Collections in Mitcham for Princess Elizabeth Flag Day on 29 September totalled more than £81, with depot holders’ amounts listed from about £5 to Mrs. B. Elliott’s £17 4s. 3d.

GIRL MISSING
Margaret Runciman (15), factory hand, had been reported missing from her home in Steers Mead, Mitcham, where she lived with her foster parents.

Thursday 18 October 1956

LONDON ROAD DANGER SPOT
‘Sometimes takes ten minutes to cross’
RESIDENTS PROTEST
South Mitcham Residents’ Association branded the London Road and Church Road junction the most dangerous spot in the borough, saying police had recently been posted there in the evening rush when it was often impossible to cross for ten minutes or more. The association again called for traffic lights; the Town Clerk said the borough engineer had been asked to discuss the problem with the county authorities. Members also backed a Whitford Gardens resident’s petition for Fair Green traffic lights to be readjusted, complaining the “cross now” signal lasted only nine seconds.

Attitude of these people is ‘absolute nonsense’
Lady Kilmuir, wife of the Lord Chancellor, told the women’s divisional branch of the Wandsworth Central Conservative Association that every time workers asked for another pay rise without being prepared to do more work it was another step in the country’s decline. She dismissed “class war” talk about making money for those who already had too much as “absolute nonsense,” and said she had little sympathy for people who smoked, did the pools and had television yet claimed they could not afford a 10d. loaf.

Great-Grandmother’s advice to young couples—‘emigrate’
Mrs. Frances Johnson, 74, who emigrated to Australia six years ago with her husband, returned for a five-month visit to relations in Mitcham and Tooting. Staying with her daughter Mrs. Elizabeth Burke in Turner Avenue, she advised young couples to emigrate, citing wages of £15 to £16 a week, neighbourly spirit, and better pensions—an old couple, she said, could live comfortably on £4 to £4 10s. a week.

CHURCH TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE
£2,500 plan is reply to council ultimatum
Tooting Congregational Church prepared to launch an appeal for more than £2,000 to rebuild their hall adjoining the church in Mitcham Road after the district surveyor said it must be repaired or pulled down. Wandsworth Council authorised the work; plans were with a quantity surveyor for an estimate thought to be about £2,500. Treasurer Mr. F. C. Cheney said the 30-year-old corrugated-iron hall, used by Boys’ Brigade, Girls’ Life Brigade and a youth club, would be bricked round, re-floored and extended.

Suzie is up to monkey tricks again
Suzie, a six-year-old Rhesus monkey in the pets’ corner at the Fountain Hospital for Children, Tooting, escaped for the second time in three years after a hole was found in the fence on Sunday; companion Sally was stopped just before she ran off too. The R.S.P.C.A. warned schools not to touch Suzie if seen; a hospital spokesman said they had not found her yet and were relying on the public to report sightings.

THE FIRST RATING APPEALS
The first appeals against rating reassessments were heard at Mitcham Town Hall: 79 properties were involved. The valuation court granted reductions in 24 cases (small amounts, 4s. to £4), refused after assessment in 37, while 12 appeals were withdrawn, one adjourned and five settled before court—almost all last week’s cases concerning houses or flats.

Councillor speaks of ‘dirty politics’
Coun. W. E. M. Townsend told Graveney Ward Conservatives that at the May local elections he had his first experience of “dirty politics” in the ward, alleging the Labour candidate tried to “befuddle the electorate” with a housing report forecasting rent rises that was issued to the Press but never placed before the council. Council rents, he said, had not gone up a penny.

ACTING TORY AGENT
Mitcham Division Conservatives had an acting agent, Mr. C. P. Poulsen of Tonbridge, temporarily replacing Mr. Reg Cook, who had been recalled to the Army because of the Suez crisis. Mr. Poulsen had previously been agent at South Nottingham and Newport (Mon.) and had worked at Conservative Central Office.

140 will go to Hengelo next year
The Mayor of Mitcham and the Chairman of Carshalton Council praised the local A.N.S.C.A. (Anglo-Netherlands Sports and Cultural Association), which links Mitcham and Carshalton with Hengelo in Holland through annual exchanges. After a thank-you party for Dutch visitors, about 140 people from Mitcham and Carshalton were expected to go to Hengelo at Whitsun the following year.

MAN AWARDED £4,000 DAMAGES
In the High Court, Mr. Dennis Patrick Flannery, of Eveline Road, Mitcham, was awarded £4,000 damages with costs for injuries to his left leg after he fell 15 ft while painting a railway bridge at Orpington in November 1955. Judgment was entered against his employers, T. H. Kenyon and Sons Ltd., of Croxley Road, West Kensington.

Few have used cemetery gate
Although the Broadwater Road gate of Streatham Cemetery (at Tooting) had been kept open for a three-month trial, Wandsworth Council were told only a few people had used it. The gate had been closed four years earlier to stop hooliganism and thefts from graves; old age pensioners had acted as gatekeepers, and the question of leaving it open was to be reconsidered in six months.

Another ‘black spot’ causes concern
At a Graveney Ward Conservatives “any questions” session, Mr. Derek Bray asked about road safety at the London Road “black spot” near Tooting Junction. Coun. L. Freestone said schemes put forward included moving the pedestrian crossing by the railway bridge and traffic lights; ideas so far had been turned down by the county road engineer, though lights at the Links Road junction were the main current idea.

More people out of work
The local employment committee at Tooting were told unemployment in the district stood at 712 (211 of them women)—nearly 100 more than the June figure. Seasonal return from seaside work, registration by some married women after school holidays, and to a limited extent arrivals of immigrants from Jamaica, were cited; demand remained firm in paint and varnish manufacture.

Mission appeal a success
The Vicar of St. Mark’s Church, Mitcham, said he was “very pleased” with a two-week mission appeal for hospital supplies to be sent abroad for church hospitals; articles received included medical dressings and bedding.

Swan crashes
A swan crash-landed among the blocks of flats on the Glebe Court Estate, Mitcham, on Monday morning with injuries to neck and feet; after treatment it was taken away to be released on the Thames.

CYCLIST HURT
Mitcham cyclist Mr. Alfred Spencer Best, of Fern Avenue, was detained at St. Helier Hospital on Saturday after an accident with a car in Bishopsford Road; he had a fractured collar bone and rib.

FARE GOES UP
For the planned Hengelo party the return fare by land and K.L.M. aircraft had risen to £12 10s.

TEACHERS WANTED
St. Mark’s Church, Mitcham, wanted at least ten more Sunday School teachers.

Will Ruler be as famous as Rex?
A week after losing Rex III, P.-con. Arthur Holman was training a new police dog at his St. James’s Road home: a 13-month-old Alsatian christened Ruler, chosen at the Metropolitan Police dog training school near West Wickham—the age Rex had been when Holman first had him. Holman expected Ruler ready for duty in about three weeks.

REX’S TRIBUTES
On the Holmans’ sideboard was a pile of letters from all parts of the country paying tribute to Rex III, including one from Lady Munnings (who had presented his gold Black Knight Cup when he became Police Dog of the Year). Unsigned and signed messages alike hoped the next dog would prove as good; a wreath from Worcester Park read “To Rex III. The Best Police Dog.”

Thursday 25 October 1956

FAIR GREEN ‘DANGEROUS’
Traders’ plan for a complete roundabout
THE TWO GARDENS WOULD BE JOINED
Mitcham Chamber of Commerce revived a scheme first put forward years earlier for a complete roundabout at Fair Green, calling present arrangements and traffic lights unsatisfactory, inadequate and dangerous. The plan would join the two island gardens, close the stretch of London Road between them, and round the corners of Upper Green West and Upper Green East so one-way traffic could circulate properly instead of being cut in two by London Road.

Plan for 20 homes for old people
Subject to Ministry of Housing and Local Government permission, an acre at the Pollards Hill Estate on the south side of South Avenue—previously shown in the Surrey Development Plan as part of a neighbourhood shopping area—was to be used for 20 flats for old people. Surrey’s town and country planning committee supported Mitcham Council’s wish to purchase the land, judging existing shops (with possible further eight) adequate for the fully developed area.

M.P.’S VIEWS ON AUTOMATION
‘The ally, not enemy, of full employment’
Mr. Robert Carr, M.P. for Mitcham and Wallington and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour, told an Ealing meeting that automation was the ally, not the enemy, of full employment. He blamed exaggerated publicity for false fears, said unemployment was more likely from factories not kept competitive, and argued increased production would have to come from more machines as the working population’s growth ended.

Good start for C.D. campaign
Mitcham’s autumn civil defence recruiting drive had got off to a good start: nearly 20,000 cards inviting people to join C.D. had been distributed, 139 returned to the Town Hall, and 50 had signed enrolment forms. Officer Mr. G. H. Bateman believed many who replied would become volunteers; about 150 attended a showing of the film “The H-Bomb” at Mitcham Baths.

‘BETTER TO READ THAN SEE TV’
Girls of Mitcham County School were told at speech day at the Baths Hall that it was better to read a book than to watch the television version or listen to a radio dramatisation. Miss Dyson, headmistress of Haberdashers’ Hatcham School, said reading let you stop to look back and think, whereas with television “you cannot stop to think even for one minute,” and urged parents not to pamper children into a passive attitude to life.

QUEEN MOTHER’S COMING VISIT
When the Queen Mother visits the Citizens’ Advice Bureau in London Road, Mitcham, on 14 November, she may listen to inquiries being dealt with in the general office. Due at 3 p.m., she was to be welcomed by the Mayor and Mayoress (Coun. and Mrs. T. H. Longshaw) and Town Clerk Mr. R. H. White, meet C.A.B. officers and founders, see a display at the Town Hall, and take tea with regional and local committee members.

Warning on bogus meter man
The London Electricity Board warned that a man falsely claiming to be a board employee had been involved in robberies or attempted robberies. His method was to say he had been sent to change the meter or switch off the supply, then break open a slot meter or get the householder to watch while he went into other rooms; genuine employees carried a signed photographic identity card.

Watchman died after accident
An inquest at Kingston heard that night watchman Mr. William Henry Davison, 78, of St. Barnabas Road, Mitcham, was fatally injured early on Saturday when knocked down in London Road, Mitcham, by a car driven by Mr. Edward Douglas Woolley. Davison was apparently taking a wheelbarrow of hurricane lamps across the road; none of the scattered lamps was alight, and lighting-up time had not yet ended. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

POLICE MAKE APPEAL FOR WITNESSES
Police appealed for witnesses after a woman pedal cyclist was knocked down and seriously injured in Christchurch Road, Colliers Wood, on Thursday evening. Mrs. Ivy Bradshaw (71), of Collingwood Road, Mitcham, was knocked from her machine at the junction of Bridge Road; no witnesses had been found and the other driver involved had not been traced.

Man attacked at Tooting
Mr. Geoffrey Harris, a clerk, of Tooting Bec Road, was attacked by three men in Mitcham Road, Tooting, on Friday afternoon and received head injuries. A police wireless car was called; C.I.D. officers searched for the attackers. He was detained at St. James’ Hospital, Balham; injuries were not serious.

Civic reception is planned for Dutch boxers
Dutch boxers from Enschede were to be given a civic reception by the Mayor of Mitcham (Coun. T. H. Longshaw) on Thursday next before opposing Mitcham Amateur Boxing Club at Mitcham Baths that evening. Mr. George, Vice-Consul of the Netherlands Embassy, and Mrs. del Valle were among those expected at the Town Hall.

PARENTS AND ROAD SAFETY: ‘Some take more care of dogs than children’
At the Balham and Tooting Residents’ and Ratepayers’ Association, chairman Mr. W. J. Barker said some people took more care of dogs on the road than of their children—always putting dogs on leads but taking no notice of small children. Other members blamed motorists’ speed or “low mentality”; Mr. W. W. Paice thought many accidents resulted from carelessness rather than speed alone.

Damage to his greenhouse
The North-eastern Divisional Education Executive agreed to recommend payment of £1 10s. 6d. to a Greenwood Road, Mitcham, resident for repairs to a greenhouse and replacement of plants damaged by balls coming into his garden from the playground of Pollards Hill County Primary Junior Mixed School.

Rear wheels of car stolen
A 1933 Jowett belonging to Mr. Walter Bateman, of Sunshine Way, Mitcham, was stolen from Bond Road on Friday night and found next morning abandoned in Mount Road minus both rear wheels and the spare, resting on its brake drums; it was towed to Mitcham Police Station before he collected it.

‘SUZIE’ RETURNS
Suzie, the six-year-old Rhesus monkey which escaped from the pets’ corner at the Fountain Hospital for Children, Tooting, on Sunday of the previous week, returned to her cage on Saturday.

KNOCKED DOWN
Mrs. Lily Ann Gunter, of Phipps Bridge Road, Mitcham, was taken to the Nelson Hospital, Wimbledon, for treatment after being knocked down by a motor cycle combination in Christchurch Road, Colliers Wood, on Monday.

REVENUE FROM THE FAIR
Mitcham Trades Council attacked Mitcham Council over Mitcham Fair lettings income, arguing the money should go to old people’s homes instead of the rates fund. A branch of the Electrical Trades Union, which raised the matter, had already written to the council.

Pigeon show judge
Mr. Alfred J. Pays, licensee of the Beehive public-house, Commonside East, Mitcham, was to be one of the judges at the International Show of Mitcham Racing Pigeons at the Royal Horticultural Hall, Westminster, opening Friday 30 November. His garden lofts could house 100 or more pigeons; that year he had won the National Flying Club’s Grand National Race first prize of £250.

Growing up in Mitcham in the 1950s And 1960s

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The following has been kindly provided by Jeff Brooks, which is his own account of growing up in Mitcham in the 1950s And 1960s.

I was born in The Woodlands Maternity Home in Devonshire Road, Colliers Wood, in July 1952. The Home was opened in 1924 and, in 1938, the staff comprised a Matron, two Sisters, two Staff Nurses and three Pupil Midwives. It closed in 1971 . The site is now occupied by The Woodlands House Care and Nursing Home. Apparently, I was born on a boarded-over bath as the “ birthing “ beds were all in use ! Seven years after the end of World War II, these were often grey and difficult times in Mitcham and the rest of the UK – food rationing did not end until 1954.

Just five months after I was born,” The Great Smog of London “ enveloped Mitcham and many other parts of the metropolis. The “ pea-souper ” lasted from Friday 9th. December until Tuesday 13th. December. Contemporaneous figures estimated the number of people killed as a result of the smog at c. 4,000 but more recent estimates give the number at c. 10,000 – c. 12,000. Many others suffered respiratory problems. I ( understandably ) do not remember this event but was probably coughing in my pram. The Clean Air Act of 1956 introduced measures to reduce air pollution and to increase the use of smokeless fuels but it took a number of years for these to have significant effect.

My family home during the 1950s and 1960s was at 94, London Road, Mitcham, opposite Figges Marsh, between Crusoe Road and Pitcairn Road. The three storeyed Edwardian house ( originally 14, Sibthorp Terrace / Villas before re-numbering in the 1930s ), had been rented by my mother’s family, the McKenzies, for many years. Indeed, my mother had been born in the house in 1920. The top floor and part of the middle floor were always sub-let to a variety of lodgers. I can clearly recall being entrusted to walk to the agents, Leonard, Davey and Hart, at The Fair Green, to pay the monthly rent, holding very tightly on to the old pound and, maybe, ten shilling, notes. A visit to Leonard, Davey and Hart was like stepping back into the Victorian era – dark wood panelling, an oppressive atmosphere and a single clerk in the outer office sitting behind a sturdy wooden desk laden with ledgers. This clerk only had one arm ( I always supposed that the other had been lost in WW II ) and he had difficulty in tearing the rent receipt off at the perforated edge. I wondered whether to offer to help him but was too scared to ask and I left the office as quickly as I could and returned to the twentieth century.

Originally, the terrace of houses covered the whole space between Crusoe and Pitcairn Roads but those at the northern end were destroyed by enemy bombs during World War II and replaced by new housing, as were the houses between Pitcairn Road and Swains Road. A resident of 9, Pitcairn Road, was killed as a result of enemy action on 25th. September 1940. Opposite the McKenzie house, on Figges Marsh, was an air raid shelter which was not demolished until the 1970s.

The house next door to 94, number 96, housed the local doctor’s surgery on the ground floor. The entrance was in Crusoe Road. In the 1910/11 Street Directory the surgery of the house ( then 15, Sibthorpe Terrace and named “ Oakdene “ ) was occupied by Williams Wm. Archelaus, Physician and Surgeon. Doctors that I recall in the 1960s are Dr. Canning and Dr. Stroud. There was no appointment system in those days – it was first come, first served. The long, narrow waiting room had two rows of chairs facing each other. On arrival, a patient took the first chair available. When a bell rang, signifying a doctor’s availability, the patient at the front of the seated queue entered the surgery and everyone else, coughing and spluttering, shuffled along one seat. A perfect environment for the spreading of germs !

My earliest memory is of falling off my tricycle on a path on Figges Marsh when I was, probably, about three years old. I have vague memories of milk and, maybe, bread being delivered by horse-drawn carts. Certainly, Youngs Brewery beer was delivered to The Gorringe Park Arms pub just a couple of hundred yards away at Tooting Junction by dray horses at the time. Most daily beer deliveries by horse stopped in 1997, although pubs in and around Wandsworth continued to be served by horse-drawn carts until the Brewery closed in 2006. As I was growing up, I often wondered why Tooting Junction was so-called as it was not a railway junction. Some years later, I learnt that it was once a junction with a separate line to Wimbledon via Merton Abbey Station in addition to the line via Haydons Road. The station was renamed as Tooting in 1934 but the term , “ the Junction “, remained in use by the local community.

Shopping was “ up the Junction “, some shops on the Mitcham side of the border ( which runs along the course of the River Graveney ) and some on the Tooting side. The first supermarket in the vicinity was Victor Value, in Mitcham Road, Tooting which opened in the late 1950s. Victor Value stores were predominantly based in C2 ( skilled working class) and D ( working class ) categories of the demographic classification used in the UK. The company sold its outlets to Tesco in 1968. Much of our family’s shopping was undertaken in Genery’s Store in Grenfell Road, Mitcham – my parents’ first home, after their marriage in 1940, was in the first floor flat above the shop. As a youngster I was allowed by Rose Genery to operate, under supervision, the ham slicing machine behind the counter. Little reference to Health and Safety ! Rose also allowed me to take a biscuit, usually a Bourbon, from the sack of mixed biscuits on the floor.

In line with the majority of the adult population at the time, both of my parents were smokers. I was regularly sent to Ward’s on the corner of London Road and Arnold Road ( later managed by the unforgettably named Harry Bender ) or Baker’s on London Road near to the turning for Finborough Road for 20 Kensitas cigarettes ( and a couple of packets of Trebor Mints ) for my mother and a half an ounce of Old Holborn and a packet of Rizla papers for my father. No age restrictions then on purchases. Maybe, if I had been good, I could also purchase a bar of Crunchie or Fry’s Five Boys chocolate for me.

My father, Ray, was a Vitreous Enameller, working in the Stewart and Gray factory in Swains Road (sometimes known as Lane) . He worked long shifts ( 6.00 am – 6.00pm ) and , sometimes, night shifts ( 6.00pm – 6.00 am ). An early memory of mine is of rushing down to the factory on my Mobil scooter to meet him from a day shift and being allowed to stamp his card, 6.01 pm, in the clocking in/out machine. At weekends he was able to take me around the site, showing me the furnaces, the wind tunnel, the Paint Shop and the Frit Shop ( frit is a mixture of fused materials, such as silica, used in enamel making ). I was also able to watch him lean over a huge vat of acid ( don’t know what acid it was ! ) and lower a string bag of dirty old pennies in and see them emerge shining bright and golden. Magic! I don’t recall a lot of Health and Safety in operation at the time! Stewart and Gray relocated to Wellingborough in Northamptonshire in the late 1960s.

As with most women at the time, my mother, Dorothy, did not work during the 1950s and early 1960s , apart from a few hours on a Saturday afternoon in the tea bar at the local amateur football club, Tooting and Mitcham United in Sandy Lane. I believe that for each shift at the ground (probably 1.15pm- 4.15pm ) she was paid 7/6d. ( 37 1/2p ), which she considered to be her “ pin money “. I fondly remember, especially on cold afternoons, going in to the tea bar, with my good friend, Richard, to get a crafty free hot blackcurrant juice and, if lucky, a couple of Rich Tea or Ginger Nut biscuits. Later in the 1960s, my mother worked part-time in Pascall’s Sweet Factory and the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society’s bakery, both factories in Streatham Road, and J F Renshaw and Co. Ltd., in Locks Lane. Fond memories of misshapen sweets from Pascall’s, hot bread from the RACS bakery and macaroons and, sometimes, petit fours from Renshaws. I also had a spell, as a “ Saturday boy “, cleaning the floors and ovens, in the RACS bakery in 1967/68. I recall that my first wage packet for an 8-hour day ( 8.00am – 4.00pm ) was 29/6d. ( £1-47 ½ p ) and being affronted to learn that I had to pay a few pence in National Insurance contributions. My wages were collected from the Pay Office where, just a few years earlier, in 1962, an RACS employee had been shot and killed in an armed robbery ( George Thatcher was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang but this was commuted to life imprisonment and he served 18 years in prison ). None of the factories where my mother and I worked survived to the present day.

My mother’s Saturday afternoons at Sandy Lane engendered in me a life-long passion for the football club and I spent many hours on the terraces during the 1960s. I was considered to be too young to attend the big FA Cup matches of the 1958/59 season ( Pathe News highlights of the win against Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic and the draw against First Division Nottingham Forest are available on YouTube), but my older brother, Graham, was there and my mother was in the tea bar serving the thousands ( 14,300 for the Forest game ) of spectators. The club was formed by the amalgamation in 1932 of Tooting Town FC (founded in 1887) and Mitcham Wanderers FC (founded in 1912). The ground had previously been part of a market garden and Tooting Town FC acquired some onions on purchase – these were dug up and sold for 7/6d, (37 1/2p ) – it has been recorded that this item was recorded on the 1922/23 Club balance sheet as the first contribution to the Ground Improvement Fund ! As the merged club’s ground had previously been occupied by Tooting Town the new united name had “ Tooting “ preceding “Mitcham” despite being located in Mitcham and M preceding T in the alphabet ! The, previously mentioned, Harry Bender displayed posters of the club’s forthcoming matches in his shop and, not being a follower of football, generously gave the season ticket he received for the advertisement to me ! The club relocated from Sandy Lane to Bishopsford Road in 2002 and four of the streets on the housing development built on the old site were named after famous Tooting and Mitcham United players – Hasty Close, Slade Way, Pearson Way and Stepney Close. The move saw the club formally leave Mitcham, as the new location is just over the border (along the course of the River Wandle) into Morden. I have written two books about the club – “Tooting On the Move – A Farewell to Sandy Lane, Home of Tooting and Mitcham United FC from 1922 – 2002” ( published in 2002 , currently out of print ), and “ We Woz Robbed In ‘59 – A Record of Tooting and Mitcham United FC’s Epic 1958/59 Season, set to a background of social events of the time “ ( published in 2018 , still available, cover price £10-00 – contact me on brooksjeff18@aol.com for details ).

My education began at Bond Road School in 1957 – no nursery or pre-school for me. The Primary School Head Teacher was the memorably named Miss Crang. Her counterpart in the Junior School was Mr. Shelton, who would “ slipper “ ( one step down from a caning ) children, including me on occasions, for misdemeanours. Other teachers I recall were Miss Clarke, Mrs. Singer and Mr. Ebenezer ( known as “ the bald-headed geezer “ ). Although The Clean Air Act was on the statute book , I can recall walking home along London Road in thick, unpleasant smogs, feeling my way along the fences of houses to ensure that I did not stray into the road ( the last London smog took place in December 1962 ) and being instructed by my mother to close the front door quickly to keep the smelly, yellow wisps of smog out of the house. Even so, some always seemed to penetrate into the hallway. Walks home were usually more pleasant, especially in the Summer months, with the floral displays at Tamworth Farm Recreation Ground ( more commonly known as just “The Rec. “ ). As I walked past Monarch Parade I tried, with little success, to envisage The Holborn Industrial Schools which had been built on the site in 1856 as part of the Mitcham Workhouse complex and which my mother remembered and had described to me. The buildings were demolished in the early 1930s. Opposite the Schools was St. George’s Pond – this must have been drained at about the same time as the Schools were demolished. On this site, Mitcham Public Library was built and opened in May 1933. I have special memories of the separate Children’s Library on the Armfield Crescent side of the Library, where my passionate and life-long love of books and literature began.

One day in 1961, Routemaster buses were being introduced on the 220 route through Mitcham to West Croydon ( they had been used on other routes in London since 1956). This was an exciting event and I waited to get one, letting plenty of “ ordinary “ buses pass. I arrived at school late and was, I am sure, suitably reprimanded. The 220 diesel bus had replaced the 630 trolleybus in July 1960. Other buses I could get along London Road were the 44, the 64, the 77, the 80 and the 88. If I chose to walk home, I could use my bus fare in Mayhew’s, near the London Road entrance/exit to Bond Road School, and choose a liquorice sweet from the “ penny tray “.

One of my proudest memories of Bond Road School is of being selected for the 1962/63 school football team. I recall being taken to Tring’s Sports Shop in Monarch Parade to be measured up for the kit – white shirts, black shorts. I am sure that a team photograph was taken but, alas, I do not have a copy. Matches against local schools were played on midweek afternoons and I was always pleased when my class’s lesson was interrupted for the names of the boys ( sadly, no girls’ teams in those days ) who were playing to be called out. The first halves of matches were played in front of few spectators ( maybe some Mums and Dads ) but, by the time the second half commenced, the school day had ended and the touchlines were packed with noisy children, lustily chanting “ 2-4-6-8, Who do we appreciate ? , B-O-N-D, Bond ! “. I still have my hand-written record of matches played that season – victories versus The Star School, St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s, Links Road, St. Mark’s and a draw and a loss to Fortescue Road. It is likely that the number of matches played was lower than most seasons due to “ The Great Freeze” of 1963 ( ice and snow in London from 26th December 1962 until 6th March 1963 ). In the Mitcham Schools Cup competition, Bond Road lost to Pollard’s Hill – this was a big disappointment to me as the Final was always played at the Sandy Lane ground of Tooting and Mitcham United FC with its large grandstand and banks of concrete terracing. My regret must have been somewhat assuaged as the Borough’s Annual Sports Day was also held at the ground and I do recall running in a race there. I must have done OK at Bond Road School as I passed the 11-Plus examination in 1963 and moved to Mitcham County Grammar School for Boys on Commonside East.

I enjoyed my time at the Grammar School, despite having to wear short trousers for the first term and a cap until the age of 16 ! In retrospect, it seemed to operate more like a public ( ie. private ! ) school than a state school. There was a big emphasis on academic achievement, discipline and hierarchy. Teachers were known as Masters, often wearing gowns, and fellow pupils addressed by surname only. In addition to Masters, discipline was enforced by Prefects and by Senior Prefects who, like Masters, were also entitled to wear gowns ( I made it to Prefect status, with gold braid around the edges of my blazer, but never attained the Senior level ). Hair length and adherence to the uniform policy were strictly monitored. Nicknames were prevalent – Masters such as “ Boggy “ Marsh, “ Hum “ Harper, “ Slag “ Dixon, “ Taffy “ Greenall, “ Spike “ Richards and “ Scruff “ Purbrick as well as the Headmaster, “Crippen” ( after the notorious murderer ) Bingham. Mr. Boagey needed no nickname. All the teachers were male and addressed as “ Sir “ – until Frau Schmidt arrived to teach German ! I clearly remember “ Crippen “ ordering me to get my hair cut when it was just touching my collar and, obediently, going to the barbers’ straight after school.

I represented the school at Athletics and Tennis but the real accolade was to be picked for the Rugby Team and I was proud to be selected and to wear the green and lavender hooped shirts. Sadly for me, football was not formally played at the school but every break-time saw a tennis ball being kicked around in the playground and every lunchtime saw a few informal, and fiercely contested, kick-abouts on Mitcham Common near The Three Kings’ Piece. However, there was one football match which took place near The Mill House on the Common in March 1969 – Staff v School ! I was selected for the School team. A report was included in the 1969 edition of the Yearbook, “ The Mitchamian “, written by teacher, “ Syd “ Perks ( “Syd “ was more like “ one of the boys “ than a Master ). The report details a 2-1 victory for the Staff under the headline “ Staff Pulverise School “. Apparently, “ at the final whistle three cheers were given by the dejected school team for the winners “ but I don’t remember this ! One sporting activity I didn’t enjoy was cross-country running on the Common. The agony was often slightly ameliorated by surreptitious calls at a friend’s house on Commonside East for a quick and refreshing lemonade or orange juice ! And, at least, the final stretch was downhill along the Beehive Bridge.

Our rugby matches were played on the Playing Fields in London Road, near (then) Mitcham Station and (now) Mitcham Tram Stop, behind Baron, Fenning and Gedge Courts. This was a fair walk from Commonside East, down Cold Blows, past the Cricket Green and along London Road. At the time, the school also used the facilities now occupied by The Toby Carvery at Park Place, Commonside West for athletics, cricket and tennis. This was still known as “The News of The World Sports Ground”, which had been built in 1924, but vacated by the newspaper group in the early 1960s. A common sight at school rugby matches was the Headmaster, C R Bingham, driving his blue Rover across the grass at the Playing Fields and parking right by the pitch where the First XV were playing. In 1968 Mr. Bingham was replaced as Headmaster by Mr. B F Atherton. This heralded a more liberal regime. Hair became longer and some boys even sported beards ( sadly, I was still at the “ bum fluff “ stage ).

As my friends and I grew into our teenage years and we got a bit bolder, we began to socialise in the Mitcham area. Initially, some tentative forays inside Leo’s Milk Bar on London Road near The Cricket Green and, then, The Three Kings’ pub or, more regularly, The King’s Head ( more commonly known as The Burn Bullock ) pub by The Cricket Green where pints of Double Diamond were bravely supped. In the upstairs bar on a Friday evening, “Aunty Marjorie” ( a friend of my mother’s family and not a real aunt to any of us ) would belt out tunes on the “ old Joanna “ accompanied by the Grammar School boys ! There were also trips to “ the pictures “ ( first girlfriend time ), mostly to the Tooting Granada – there were four other cinemas in Tooting ( the Astoria, the Classic, the Mayfair and the Vogue ), or the Majestic at The Fair Green in Mitcham . Live music in the area at the time was rare , although The Granada had hosted many famous singers and bands in the 1950s and the early 1960s – Frank Sinatra ( his UK debut ), Johnny Ray, The Andrews Sisters, Pat Boone, Guy Mitchell, Cliff Richard and The Drifters (pre-Shadows days ), The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and The Crickets, Gene Vincent (his UK debut), Dusty Springfield, James Brown, Roy Orbison, The Kinks, The Who, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and many more. The last concert at the historic venue was given by The Bee Gees in April 1968. Jerry Lee Lewis also ventured into Mitcham headlining two shows at The Majestic on 14th. May 1962, supported by Johnny Kidd and The Pirates, The Viscounts, Vince Eager, The Echoes, Mark Eden, Danny Storm and Buddy Britten. My cousin, Barbara, was at The Beatles show at The Granada in 1963 but my first taste of live music was a trip to The Royal Albert Hall in 1969 to see Simon and Garfunkel.

We also made occasional forays to the Top Rank Suite in Croydon and The Bali Hai Discotheque in the Streatham Ice Rink in a ( largely vain ) attempt to meet girls. Slightly more successful were Monday Ballroom Dancing nights at the, more sedate but exotically named , Palais de Danse in London Road near Mitcham Station. Ballroom dancing even though this was, supposedly, “ The Swinging Sixties “ ! I regularly attended the St. Mark’s Youth Club in St. Mark’s Road for table tennis etc., followed by “ six of chips “ , ( 6d., 2 ½ p ), worth of chips, with a bit of “ crackling “, from Hutton’s Fish and Chip Shop at The Fair Green.
I left the Grammar School in July 1969 after completing my “ A “ Levels. This was also the end for the School ( established in 1922 ) as it then merged with Eastfields School on Grove Road, Mitcham on the old Mizen’s Nursery site, next to Pain’s Firework Factory ( which had relocated to Salisbury in 1966 ). The site in Commonside East was occupied by the St. Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Primary School. Famous Old Boys of the Grammar School include the athlete Brian Hewson, who won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the European Championship in Stockholm in 1958 and represented Great Britain in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games and Alan Simpson ( who, sadly, died in 2017 ) of scriptwriting fame with Ray Galton ( “ Hancock “ and “ Steptoe and Son “ ). In 2012, I proposed to the Comedy Society of Great Britain that a plaque be erected at the site where Alan and Ray met in 1948 – the Milford Sanatorium, near Godalming, in Surrey, where they were both recovering from tuberculosis. The blue plaque was unveiled by Paul Merton, with Alan and Ray in attendance, on 1st. July 2013.

So, the decade of the 1960s came to an end – a much different world and a much different Mitcham from the start of the 1950s decade. World events during this period included the on-going Cold War and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the wars in Korea and Vietnam, the assassination of J F Kennedy, the discovery of DNA, the launch into space of the Soviet satellite Sputnik and Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon. In Europe, the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1956 ( without UK participation ), forming The Common Market.

In the UK, 1951 saw The Festival of Britain on London’s South Bank as well as the defection of the Communist spies, Guy Burgess and Donald McLean, to the Soviet Union. In 1956 the repercussions of the Suez Crisis, and its links to the themes of imperialism and decolonisation, were a big topic of debate . Race riots took place in London’s Notting Hill and in Nottingham in 1958. The 1960s was a period of much liberalism – the relaxation of censorship laws (after the unsuccessful trial of D H Lawrence’s book, “Lady Chatterley’s Lover “, for obscenity ), the repeal of the death penalty and the decriminalisation of homosexual acts between consenting adults. There were many societal changes in the fields of youth culture ( eg Teddy Boys ), fashion, music, class, consumerism, employment, industrial relations, immigration, race relations etc. The Profumo Affair in 1963 encapsulated many of the changes and another Communist spy, Kim Philby, defected to the Soviet Union that year. And, of course, England won the World Cup in 1966 ! In politics, the 1950s started with a Labour Government, under the leadership of Clement Attlee, and the end of the 1960s also saw a Labour Government in power, under the leadership of Harold Wilson. In the intervening years, the country had seen 13 years of Conservative government, under the leadership of Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold MacMillan and Alec Douglas Home.

And Mitcham saw changes too. Its status changed from being a Municipal Borough of North East Surrey to being a constituent part of The London Borough of Merton in 1965, a result of the Local Government Act of 1963. Many old buildings were demolished, often being replaced by new housing developments, such as the Phipps Bridge Estate. The gas works in Western Road closed in 1960. The Majestic Cinema on the corner of St. Mark’s Road had shown its last films, “ Pit of Darkness “ starring William Franklyn and “ What A Whopper “ starring Adam Faith, in November 1961. The building then housed the Alpha Bingo Club. And the seemingly interminable debate about the traffic at the Fair Green continued !

Jeff Brooks
January 2022