General Chat

Well, with the all this talk of prisons, I was born next door to one - Pentonville on Caledonian Road. Islington.

My Aunt also lived in the 'Buildings' now called flats and from her window on the 3rd floor we could see the prisoners walking round in the exercise yard.

I remember the story that a prisoner escaped from there at one time, a very young man, and was hidden by a women who lived in our block who had lost a son in the war. Whether true or not I really don't know.

Ah Joeva, you must have read my story, The Little Matchgirl.........standing in the snow, trying to sell matches. Lighting them to keep warm.

Used to make me cry as a kid when me Mum told us that story!

I liked the photos of Islington, and I can remember the old Holloway Prison. The facade was a replica of Warwick Castle. Very cold and imposing!

The new Holloway Prison looks like a block of flats. All red brick and windows.

The bus conductor used to call out The Ladies Rest Home when we stopped at that particular bus stop!

:-D :-D :-D :-D

Wonderful photos :-) I could study them for hours

Thanks to the both of you for listing them ..have bookmarked them :-D

Aww poor MotownGal at least you had some warmth and a job which kept you from being on 'the streets' even though the cobbles were hard on your unshod feet !

Just been on tinternet and saw the photies.

Ah, I remember it well.......................twas like that when I was a girl.

I remember the cobbles were right hard on my poor unshod feet. I pulled my shawl over my skinny dirty arms to keep them warm, and sold matches on the street corners!

;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-)







Seriously. I thought the photos were great.

Yes Lynda that's the one :-) Great early photos of London town !

Like you I really enjoy seeing the photos of how it was years ago.

Jo

Is this the site you got the pictures from Jo?...

http://www.referenced.co.uk/lost-london-75-early-photographs/

It's great to find a photo where your ancestors lived, you get a sense of knowing them more, knowing how they lived.

I have the book Lost London 1870 -1945 by Philip Davies I got it last year, loads of pictures that I have never seen before, I have lots of books of London never tire of looking at them :-D

Another good site to look at is Lost London 75 early photographs. When I was looking at this a couple of months ago I was amazed to find an original photograph of Grays Inn Lane, Holborn which was where my gg grandfather had written on early censuses as his place of birth. :-)
There are also other eras to look at on the site.

Jo

I love London more than I ever did, I love all the old things about it, but I also love the very new too. I have learned a lot more of it's history, so it's even more interesting.

By the way another good site for Londoners, and others

http://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk/collage/app?service=page/Search

Places, people and a lot more. I have a drawing of where my 2x Great Grandparents lived in 1862 from this site. :-D

Yes I know Club Row.

My family were all Londoners, they came here about 1840, and lived not a mile from where I am now.

My Gt. Uncle Joe, used to sell Day Old Chicks in Club Row.

Good job it was only open on Sunday, cos they were probably dead by Monday!!

:-0 :-0 :-0 :-0 :-0

Thank you LollyWithSprinlez, that's it, Club Row. I had forgotten that.

Would go to Petticoat Lane regularly as a boy with grandparents, they would leave me to wander about looking at the animals while they did Petticoat Lane, then meet up in a cafe.

I have loved reading this thread, brought back so many memories. Playing on the bomb sites, London smogs.
From age ten I often on my own went from Barking on the tube to the Tower of London. Hardly ever many people about there during the week. Knew most of the Beefeaters by name, and they knew me. Spent hours wandering around there.
Last time I drove past there was a queue a mile long - I couldn't believe it.

Going backwards and forwards for hours on the Woolwich Ferry, just for the fun of it.

The Thames will always be magical to me, although I went to live in Wales aged 16, with short trips back to Barking and Ilford after.
I would like one day just to walk along the Embankment after dark again.
Not fond of some of the modern buildings I see on the tele now, because I remember when St. Paul's dominated the London skyline.

I really enjoyed my childhood wandering about the East End, and if adventurous, going up West to see the posh people in their big cars, nose against the windows of Hamleys, Harrods etc.

Yes - I miss London, but don't know if I would like it now, for all sorts of reasons.

Tec.



:-D

Tec ....It was Club Row you are remembering

Mum refused to take me back to Petticoat Lane after buying stacks of lingerie at one end and having it filched before she reached the other end :-(

Didn't put me off though and bought many jackets for my boys there when they were young

some good leather shops in those days - but I had to settle for suede :-D

You hit the hammer on the head there Motown Gal "cos it is a London that has gone"

London still has loads to offer and I will always be a Londoner, but it's moved on from the place I loved.

Apart from when the Olympics was on and everyone was in high spirits - the friendliness has been zapped out of it

Even a shopping trip these days is a nightmare, arguments everywhere you go,
children regarding you with hostility if you dare to smile at them, transport overcrowded and jostling.

Yes there are still places to visit and we are blessed with the best museums theaters art galleries etc but at what price?

Sorry this has turned into a real downer :-( guess it's just been one of those days :-)

Does anyone remember Petticoat Lane on a Sunday morning?

and another street that ran parrallel I think, that sold animals,
puppies, kittens, chickens, ducks, parrots, tortoises, monkeys, all kinds of things that fascinated me as a boy :-)

Tec.

If this is lively chatter, then someone turn up my hearing aid!!!!!

I love watching Minder, The Professionals etc on TV, cos it is a London that has gone! Tearing around Docklands when it was all wharfs and markets.

Now highrise very posh apartments!

Sleeping!!!! :-D

It's great isn't it Lolly, I know what you'll be doing today :-D

OH Dear......Lynda

Wonderful site!! If I start now I'll be looking all night

What have you done :-D :-D :-D

This site maybe of interest to Londoners, and others as well, it has loads of pictures from different areas and era's. Just put in the place you want in the search box at the top, see what you get.

http://www.retronaut.co/

:-D

Wend, providing it is not on the other side of London, and it is not raining. I will be out with my trusty Box Brownie.

Yep, pm me when you have a few addresses.

:-)