Dagenham, Church Street c.1950

Photo ref: D178004

Have just read about the gentleman who worked for Ledgers. I lived in Exeter Rd, and used to play with Joanne Ledger. I also remember going in the van with bench seats. I vaguely remember it being something to do with the church, either sunday school or similar. I went to a little Infant School at the end of the parade of shops. There was a sweet shop on the corner where I was allowed to buy a three old ...see more

So many years ago but I can remember everything like it was yesterday. Mrs Truman's cafe near the church, just a shed really, the sweet shops, hairdressers, bike shop, cafe, pie and mash shop, my mum ran that pawn shop, I lived above that in 1967, just 2 rooms. Park school we went to. Sparshots think it was called sweet shop so many and now it just breaks your heart to see how bad it is now. The ...see more

There was a rag and bone man on Church Street whom we knew as Charlie. Every week local housewives would gather in his yard to buy secondhand clothing and toys which he would auction from the back of a cart laden with an assortment of items which he had collected earlier. The women would stand in a group around the cart yelling his name each time he held aloft an item of clothing or a toy they ...see more

At the far end of this parade of shops stood Ledgers the greengrocers, which was owned and run by the Ledger family for many years. I worked there on Saturdays and holidays with their eldest son Jamie; he and I did a lot of growing up together over those years! Jim, Jamie's father, had a Ford Thames van with windows and bench seats, the forerunner of today's modern 'people carrier'. We would set off at ...see more