The Paper Round at Carpenders Park - 1957-1960

Dave Taylor-Jones

The Station Parade of Shops, St. Maryl Estate, circa 1950. Photo couresy of Arthur Hall

Here’s another story from my book “Life in the Suburbs”. In writing these memoirs I have tried to remember in detail my experiences of growing up just outside London at Carpenders Park. I have tried to bring my childhood and entry into the world of work alive, with the hope that it might chime with your own early experiences. Apart from finding these essays to be truthful and accurate I hope you will discover some warmth and generosity from these times in the 50s and 60s, when the feelings of freedom and security were a treasure that perhaps youngsters now will never have.
This was a different age to that which children experience today, with different expectations, different mores, and different social conditions. I am not sure that our grandchildren’s childhoods will be as rich as ours were.
I want to communicate the feeling of fun and genuine humanity that existed in these times. Families were supportive and early influences from Uncles and teachers turned out to be as important as first friends who helped me chose my first suit or lent me LP records. I hope these recollections touch a chord with you and perhaps your own Life in the Suburbs.
I have to thank Arthur Halls for his enthusiasm, support and generosity in loaning photos. He is a fount of knowledge on the history of Carpenders Park.
Dave Taylor-Jones, July 2016

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This page was added on 28/07/2016.

Comments about this page

  • Judy Harding is my cousin. My family lived further down the road in Carpenders Avenue. Both Judy and my grandparents also lived in CA. Judy’s mum (Auntie Muriel) is still alive and living in the family home. She turned 100 in December 2017

    By Andrew Groves (27/08/2018)
  • I lived at 121 Carpenders Avenue from my birth until I married a Harrow girl in 1970.
    My father died in 1957 and I was sent to boarding school in Hatch End and my mother died in 1980. I now live in Nottingham but I still think about my childhood at St Meryl primary school. I have recently visited Carpenders Park and things have changed!! Cars are now parked on both sides of the road. Most families have more than one vehicle. Different from my day when there were very few cars! I remember the testing of the air raid sirens and seeing steam trains!!

    By Don Wood (09/08/2017)
  • Judy Harding lived at No.53 Carpenders Avenue. Judy also had a newspaper round, and was noted for being thrifty, had a gift for extracting tips from her customers, especially at Christmas, probably a charm which the boys may have lacked ? .

    By Arthur Hall (18/05/2017)
  • Great descriptions. I briefly helped a friend with a paper round including St George’s Drive. I’ve also been in contact with Arthur Hall and it turns out I had the same bedroom in the 60’s that he had in the 50’s. He left the area and we moved in to the same house. Judy Harding rings a bell too. Did she also live in Carpenders Avenue? I think I remember seeing her leaving home to get married.
    Andy Wheeler

    By Andy Wheeler (29/03/2017)

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