recollections of a magical childhood
This section begins with something incredible!
Well, I wasn't ready for part 3 for a start!
The Lost Tapes!....... Cine Film Tapes
Linda told me about a DVD she had made from some reels of film made by your Dad.
Linda: We recently put an old video of dad’s on DVD, includes a couple of Christmases – one at Chingford (I recognized the wallpaper!) and one at Rose Walk. Also bits with Nana and Pop and Toni. Not HD quality picture but nice memories.
Could you send me a version?
Linda: Sure. I particularly enjoy the Christmas at Dale View Avenue bit as for once my Dad went round the table slowly so you could actually see everyone’s faces properly. Don’t have anything else as dad dropped the camera at Marion’s wedding and it never worked after that! Would love to see an enhanced edited version if you manage it and it’s not too much trouble.
Trevor, did you know about this video and if so when did you last see it?
Well, yes I knew about those videos because Linda had them transferred from film to videotape back in the 80s (I can't remember how I managed to see it then) but I believe it was transcribed into the US system (NASC is it? – close, it’s NTCS) so haven't seen it since the early 80s.
She sent it to me and I’ve edited it and tried to enhance the colour a bit but the quality of the original is not great due to its vintage.
Linda: Only just had a moment to sit down and check out the new versions. Great editing job - something that was far beyond my limited IT knowledge. Thanks for all the time you must have spent on it. It’s a shame we didn’t keep the original reels of film as might have been able to get a better DVD from them rather than a DVD of VHS. But it’s a nice memory anyway. Also, think I forgot to mention that I had never seen the photo of Marion and me that you used to introduce Part 2 of your document (See Page 4). I guess we were wearing what was considered trendy swimwear just after the war.
Trevor and I strutting around in wool outfits while you and Marion enjoyed the smocked look.
In the video of house painting at No.27, I was 14 years old. I remember so that was 1964. The clip of my 21st was in London Road Kingston where I worked then and was filmed by a workmate who was into film (cartoons) big time and used to make his own animated cartoons on cellulose (as per Disney)....can't remember his name though. I was pretty impressed with my hair in the clip of my 21st lunchtime booze-up at work getting into the old Black Morris Minor 1000 (I've still got the jacket but it's too tight now). The workmate had brought my car round to the pub where this was filmed. I remember I was pretty drunk when I came out of the pub and because of the one-way system in Kingston. I had to drive all the way round Kingston (with some poor unsuspecting girl from work who had been bundled in the car with me) in a conspicuous car covered in balloons to get it back to the car park....hardly able to focus on the end of the bonnet! That was in 1971 of course. So much for breathalysers eh! Could easily have been banned - but we were young!
I thought I'd let you know that I spotted one of our prototype karts in the back garden of Mimosa. It appears in the second of the two home movies (hate that word by the way) at approximately 2 minutes in. It's parked in front of the gate that led to the Mitchell's bungalow. Check it out!
Pretty amazing really that we have a record of it don't you agree? I am stunned that there's any record of one of our karts. From memory, I thought we had used some proprietary (learnt that word from the Railway Modeller circa 1963 I think!) red steel wheels with bolts which were too soft and soon bent. From this it looks like we must have found ourselves some decent pram wheels; this obviously being the Mark 2. Where would you get pram wheels now? I'd forgotten those. It just shows how the memory forgets the odd thing (Oh no, not dementia!). I notice we hadn't yet invested in the lights.....unless...is that a shadowy hint of a red tail light at the left rear I detect? Then a dark thought occurred to me, 'Did we park it there in the hope that Mr Mitchell might pop....ooooooops....'bast!' round!?'
Bournemouth Beach, Promenade & Lower Gardens
Found some old photos which I've cleaned up and optimised.
I don't know why but I do remember that green striped water ring. Who can the third bloke be in those two photos I wonder? Was it a son of Max with the red Jag?
I think you’re right as he appears in a photo on Page 4.
And was he the one who, when we decided to play a game on the beach said, "I'm atrocious at cricket!" A word with which I at least was not familiar at that age...not being of a Public School background of course. We would probably have used a word like lousy ("crap" wasn't used freely in those days was it?).
How many hours did we spend playing on the promenade? Not many other families did the same, did they? N.B. Boscombe Pier in the background. I wonder if that was when they were rebuilding it after the thing had been partially dismantled during the war.
Re Boscombe pier, I think you're right because it's still a steel structure in that photo and now, of course, it's concrete. I believe it's having another revamp currently because it got rather dilapidated again....never really much of a success. Neither is the surfing reef they constructed about 5 years ago near Boscombe pier. Bournemouth is quite famous for expensive projects which fail dismally!....including the Wave I-max building (which replaced the old swimming pool) near Bournemouth pier; they're about to knock that down because the screen wasn't the right size and thus it was never used as a cinema!!! They recently wanted to build a super-casino beside the Pavilion but luckily that idea faded away....can you imagine Bournemouth as an English Las Vegas!!!
Clockwise from left: Cyril Saunders, Linda, Marion, Me (Clive), my Dad (Len), you (Trevor - about to catch the ball) and Jennifer Saunders
With a bit of work in Photoshop, here they are combined. On the way home after a lovely day at the beach
Remember walking to and (more usually) from the beach barefoot like this
which occasionally resulted in a grazed tip of your big toe when you caught it on the pavement!?
Nice peaceful shots of the Prom and the Square - in Spring I'd say and on a Sunday. (Sad to say it's almost as quiet nowadays with many shops closed...don't know where that's going!)
Incidentally, I have been trying to get more info' on the "long lost crocodile" from some people on Facebook. Others remember it being either just before or after the very first bridge beyond where the coloured picture was taken - see 1 in the image to the left. One mentioned that there used to be a hanging down grille across the water that was there to capture branches, escaping model boats, drowning children, etc.! I'd forgotten that but when it was mentioned I could "see" it straight away. A grille of vertical rods I recall. Do you?
Amazing what you have found about historic Bournemouth and yet, still unbelievably, no-one can come up with a photo of that concrete crocodile (which we all looked for every day) in the Bourne stream. I've searched for it many times and always failed. There are plenty of photos of the Lower Gardens when they were badly flooded (in 2011 and 2015 I believe - see HERE) and I wonder if the old croc' disappeared around then. Yes, I do remember the grid across the stream at the first bridge which was presumably to catch drifting children and boats. I'm not sure that it is still there as I've seen ducks swimming under the bridge on occasions but, there again, no children have appeared on the other side to my knowledge.
Maybe it is, maybe not! (click open the image left)
Possibly. But, I seem to recall looking down it from a vantage point - bridge or similar. Perhaps it's decided to swim downstream for some peace and quiet (a little shy?)
Home cine film of Christchurch, Boscombe, Poole and Bournemouth in 1966.
Insertion here by the agreement with and the kind permission of the owner, Rod Bean
1966 Wimborne, Boscombe, Poole & Bournemouth.mp4We sure had plenty of knitted fashion wear at that time, didn't we? From the Nanna Wood Woollen Co.
I remember quite a lot of bluish-steel grey cardigans!!
Always a little on the tight side I feel...perhaps wool was expensive or the washing water was little too warm!....and in early days, knitted swimming costumes with accumulations of sand (swinging) in the crotch...no wonder the local girls wanted to know us better! I remember in later days taking a girlfriend down to Bournemouth and whilst we were all watching some play on that old Bush black and white TV, there was a hot (and rather passionate) bed scene which made Nanna's knitting needles click very fast indeed.....perhaps that's why the stitches got tighter!
You and me catching shrimps near Weymouth
Goodness me! Is that Shakin' Stevens in the background?
Quite an early photograph with the old "cob" house next door still visible
Me and Chocker near the back door of Mimosa. Note the wooden branches used as props for the clothes’ line, the water butt (before the plastic version arrived) and the fact that the Mitchells’ bungalow is just being built!
The picture of you and Chocker is one I've never seen. Do you remember that if we rolled him on his back and tickled his tummy he used to open his mouth and (seemingly) laugh?
Yes. He must have died fairly soon after we got to “know” him?
I wonder what year that photo was taken, 1958 perhaps? Unfortunately, your head's in the way so we can't see which way the back door opened!! Keyhole on the left I thought but ermmm.....
I looked for that when I was “cleaning up” the photo.
Entente Cordiale
You and me and a couple of French scouts from Bordeaux in the back garden of 74 Dale View Avenue with me holding Sparky!
Oh yes, I also remember when you had the French scouts over. We were concerned because the chap who stayed with you kept his underpants on in bed! Strange French custom perhaps or maybe he was just shy! Zoot Alors! There was also some kind of (French) scout gathering in Epping Forest I believe at that time. I must have been about 12 years old in that photo because I'm proudly wearing my Secondary School uniform...even on a visit to Chingford!! (Must have travelled across London like that and had just arrived on a Friday night.)
This is a link to an account of someone’s recollections of Liverpool Street Station and his journeys from Waterloo to (almost) Chingford - the one you would have made. Really worth reading as he has a much better level of recall than we do! And it includes lots of facts that reminded me of stuff from back then.
Could that have been the year Kennedy was assassinated... I seem to recall I came to Dale View Avenue the weekend that that news broke (sorry just a random thought).
Could be as that was 23rd November 1963 - (see Page 11)
Don't our parents look young and beautiful (but Nanna looks very sad, as usual)?
Note your Dad's belt - the famous snake clasp - we had them didn't we!
Yes, we did.......mine was light blue centre stripe with brown outer stripes...elastic and adjustable too!
I've just noticed that you are wearing it in the photo of you holding a ball near the top of the page
Chingford
Talking about 74 Dale View Avenue, here are a few photos (copyright owned by English Heritage) of Chingford that were provided by and can be seen on this site www.britainfromabove.org.uk. Click on them to see them full-size for greater detail.
