Me age five!
The reason for writing this at the age of 69 is to put down as much as
I can still remember that might be of interest for my children and
grandchildren (and others) before I lose the ability to recall. When my mother got Alzheimer's I realised that there were lots of things I should have asked her before she entered the land of the bewildered! I will try to keep it in rough chronological
order although memories recalled spark other memories in all sorts of
order.
When I was born on 10th March 1946 in hospital in
Hammersmith my parents were living in Cambalt Rd, Putney, where they had lived
during the 2nd World War. There they were bombed and houses right
next to the one they rented a flat in were destroyed. I don’t have any
recollection of that because I wasn’t born yet.
However, I do remember a dressing table they had that had fragments of
glass buried in its back where a window had blown in.
Shortly after the War my father made £600 from gambling at the Epsom
races and was able to buy 59 Braemar Avenue, Wimbledon Park, a house that was
brand new as the previous house had been hit by a German bomb. The total cost of the house was £2000. My Dad
(Ted Carter) told me that the house had been bombed because it was near the
railway bridge in Wimbledon Park. He said that if you looked at the new houses
in the roads nearby you could see the path the stick of bombs had made in the
direction of the bridge. The Germans missed the bridge!
My first clear memory is of being upset because I was being told I
have to sleep in the little bedroom because my mummy was going to be in my
bedroom to have a baby! I can remember being out in the garden because
something was going on in the house and then being told I could come in and see
my mother with my new baby brother. I was relieved to see my mother, the jury
was still out on the new brother.
Something that had a strong influence on me was being invited next
door by Uncle Geoff (Geoff Kiralfy) to see his model railway. I remember it as
being at eye level (my eye level) such that I felt I could walk under it, with
lots of tracks at different levels and trains disappearing into and emerging
from tunnels. It left a profound impression on me that I wanted to create
something like that (and I have done that twice, once for my children and once
for my grandchildren).
Sadly Uncle Geoff and his wife broke up and Uncle Geoff moved away and
the house was sold.
My first day at Wimbledon Park Primary School at the age of 5 had me crying
because I wanted my Mum, but I soon settled in and enjoyed primary school. One
morning I was late for school and Mum decided to take me down on the crossbar
of her bike. The school crossing lady
had not turned up and there was a motorcycle policeman manning the crossing. He
told my mother off for carrying me on the bike which upset us both. I was
always a bit afraid of motor cycle policemen after that.
Things I remember about Primary school are: getting into trouble for
putting plasticine on a radiator to get it soft and sticky and then pressing it
on a girls head, it had to be cut out; slipping over on an ice slide we had
made in the playground and knocking the wind out of myself, I could not catch
my breath and thought I would die; having my eyebrow knocked off by standing
too near a young batsman swinging a cricket bat; getting told off by the deputy
head for chasing girls with my friends; taking the milk round the classrooms as
a milk monitor. Then with what milk was
left over trying to see how many one third of a pints we could drink, and one
boy passing out and banging his head on the wall!
Positive things I remember about my Dad were when I was ill and he
bought me a present home, I think it was a model. As far as I can remember that
was the only time he did something like that, but I am probably doing him an
injustice. However, usually it was my mother who provided presents and treats. On Christmas Eve Chris and I both hung up
pillow cases at the ends of our beds ready for Santa. We then tried to stay
awake to see him come but we always failed. However, we would wake up as early
as 4.00 am to start opening our presents. Mum always made sure our pillow cases
were full with a variety of things all wrapped up so we had the pleasure of
unwrapping them. By the time we had
opened them all, our bedrooms looked like a battlefield.
To be continued!
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