Burnt Oak 1930/1940

A Memory of Burnt Oak.

I can recall belonging to the Colchester Road Gang, we consisted of boys and girls keen on adventures. We used to travel miles with a bicycle wheel rim and a stick and roamed miles around the area, we also had adventures in Moat Mount and Scratch Woods. We camped and tracked each other. We also had Willow Wars with the Fortisque Road gang with willow sticks and mud balls, very enjoyable but a bit messy.

I can recall the concerts held in Watling Park with song and dancing and comic performances. I also recall the marches from Goldbeaters School to Watling Park Shelters Air Raid Practice. I can recall the long walk to Rex Judd's to get accumulators charged up for wireless use. I also remember my family knitting Balaclavas and socks for the troops, I must admit my socks were not very comfortable.

My sisters were keen on buying music sheets and dance set feet from Woolworths on the way home from work and we would practice the songs and dance steps.

I also became quite expert in painting a straight line down the back of my sisters' legs with eye liner and gravvy mix as artificial stockings.

Near the end of the war I used to go to Bunns Lane at the back of Hendon Aerodrome to do cycle speedway, very enjoyable. When the Vi & V2 rockets came our family were given a place at Belsize Underground Station at night. It was quite an adventure with singing and music, there was not much sleeping done but we had to go home early in the morning.