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Tom Toomey's Memories of mid-late 1940s Brentford

I was born in Greenford on the Cuckoo estate.

Just update you and your web visitors about myself in case somebody remembers the Toomey family who lived in Hanwell W7 until my family moved to Thurrock in Essex in the mid 1950’s, I was about 11 years of age. (I wish I had asked my grand parents so many questions regarding older family members, and why did my family move to Thurrock!!)

My first school was Oakland’s road (just of the Boston manor road, and then onto St Johns RC School Brentford.

I am now into my 70th year and have decided to put together a snippets book of my life for my three girls and my extended family. In doing this it brought back many memories that I have been putting to paper with pictures where possible to give today’s children an idea of life back just after the war when nobody had anything, but I do think it was much happier times.

A couple of memories:

Pushing the pram having fun on the way to Brentford gas works to get the coke for the fire, we had to walk a long way up Brentford high street to the office to pay for the coke, and then walk all the way back to the gas works to collect the coke.

Our first council dwelling was a prefab, its location was Wyke Grds Hanwell, no pictures of the old Prefabs are available says Hanwell history site.

Me and my brother attended the ABC minors club every Saturday morning at the Odeon at Ealing, we used to cut through the alleyway by Boston manor tube station that took us to Ealing.

Roger Tyrrell wrote in September 2013

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Published March 2012; updated June 2014