Leytonstone, High Road c.1955

Photo ref: L374304

I have been reading many articles printed here & it got me & my wife thinking back to our childhood days (my wife was born in Llanelli, South Wales , & her childhood memories of the 1950's & were very much akin to mine albeit mine was in London). We having been discussing, recently, about the state this country is in, moreover, the world, & we came to the conclusion that those days were the best. ...see more

Does anyone remember Joe's Cafe in Hainault Road Leyton. It was under the railway bridge, opposite the laundry. This was owned by my grandmother, and passed onto my dad. I used to work there Saturday mornings.Dad ran this with my Mum for all of their working lives, and did a great trade with all of the local workmen, especially breakfast. Dad would not allow any swearing with Mum being there, and I remember him tearing customers off a strip if they broke his rule!

I also remember the father Christmas grotto and the ride there. I was mystified for years as to how we seemed to travel through the store to reach it. The ride changed every year. Years later my mum explained how it was done, but at the time it was part of the magic of my 60s childhood.

In the 1930’s to 1950. My grandparents were mattress makers & had a small factory to the rear of the shop where they sold mattresses & bedding. It was a family business & my mother worked with my grandmother. On sewing machines, making mattress covers. My father was foreman in the filling & finishing workshop I was born in Epping in 1942 in my grandparents home. We moved ...see more