Miss O Kemp
Hatfield
Herts
20th February 2003
Dear
Ray,
Thank
you for taking the time and trouble to write to us, Vi is now 94 years old. She has had a
skin graft on her hand, she has also had a stroke and had a pacemaker fitted. She is at
home and has a lady in once a week to bath her and wash her hair. She has made a
remarkable recovery from the stroke. She was in hospital for three weeks and could not
speak. She has overcome this problem but can’t always get out what she means to say
but all in all she is wonderful. I am Olive and am now 83 years old but I am arthritic and
only get out to the town twice a week in a taxi. It was nice to know that you had a
Jubilee Street party in Summerhill Road, we did not have a street party here as it’s
a big housing estate (Middle Oak) which is owned by the Circle Thirty Tree Housing
Association and its linked up by garages and walkways so they could not close one road and
I don’t think anyone wanted the responsibility of organising a street party, although
I did attend a Jubilee Party at our local church. It was held on a Sunday afternoon and
was for senior citizens only and we all had a good time.
I
do remember you and your brother and sister Christine, you lived two doors away from the
Misses Hall. One was a head teacher. I did hear the sad news from Mike Diprose on the loss
of his beloved mum Ellen. We were pleased to hear about Ivy Pearman but sorry that she had
to leave her home in Summerhill Road. We were surprised to learn that she was older than
Vi ! So we will contact John with our
regards to his mum, a really nice lady.
We
lived in Summerhill Road before Ellen and Fred Diprose. We came from Clapton, although my
relatives lived in Tottenham, as did our Mum and Dad, but lives took them to Clapton E5
where we lived prior to returning to Tottenham. We remember Mr and Mrs Sudaby and an Uncle
and Nellie who lived at number 45 (Prior to Ruby and Jeff Nicholls and their boys). The
Uncle and Dad died and Nellie and her Mum moved to Wiltshire, but they used to take in
washing and were well known for the quality of the work they done. They also had a pear
tree in the garden and we often got some, but the pears were very hard, in fact too hard
to eat. They also kept chickens.
Our
brothers Will and Alf lived with us at number
49. Both were married and were away during the war years, but both of them celebrated
their Golden Wedding and only last week Will’s widow Elsie came to visit us with her
daughter-in-law Margaret, who brought Elsie along from near Dover where Elsie is in a
residential home. She looks well for 91 years old. Alf’s widow Nellie is 81 years and
lives in her home in Eastbourne, although she had an operation early this year and her
daughter also brought her along to visit us after Christmas, which was nice.
Getting
on, opposite us at number 50, a Jewish couple lived upstairs and the husband was training
to be a Rabbi. We don’t know what happened to them but downstairs a mother and her
daughter lived.
June, The
daughter, owned a canine beauty parlour somewhere and used to catch a bus every morning
and often took poodles in for a trim. She also looked after the dogs while their owners
were on holiday. She always seemed to be taking dogs out for walks. A really pleasant
woman who really admired dogs ! Do you
remember Mrs Parrott ? a lovely lady who died
in St Josephs Hospice in Hackney Road. Did you know that the Small’s family lived at
number 51 before Ellen and Fred Diprose ? They had four children Charlie, Freddie, Peter
and Beryl. They moved to a cottage further up the road. Mr Small joined the
Downhill’s Bowls Club (I am not sure if it was same time as Mr & Mrs Robbins from
the Dorset Dairy at the top of the road) and I think I am right Mr & Mrs Small came
from Sunderland. I think the rear gardens of Elizabeth Terrace and Park Cottage must once
have been an orchard going on the amount of old fruit trees growing there! I also remember
the Trotter family at number 37 having some big apple trees in their garden, while we had
gooseberries and raspberries growing in ours (Really lovely).
Alf, Kathy and I did fire-watching in the street
during the war. The derelict house next door to Mrs Holgate was used for this and Mrs
Holgate cleaned it up and put tea etc in for us. Another nice lady! while Vi was on duty
at Hackney Town Hall. I can also remember the day when a Barrage Balloon broke loose and
it took the spire off the top of St Annes Church and it virtually landed in Summerhill
Road. It did cause a real stir in the road and we still think of it today.
Another
memory we have was all the refugee’s over from Belgium. Mrs Pearce took a couple of
them in. I know we tried to talk and laugh with them. I don’t know if you would
remember but they nearly all wore black clothes and would all meet at St Ignatius Church
in the mornings. I can also remember Mrs Pearce having to queue up for something in Philip
Lane and while in the queue she was talking to a lad who was desperate for Bed and
Breakfast for the night. So she took him in for the night and, when she came down in the
morning, the lad had gone and so had her purse! He happened to be a deserter from the
forces and he pinched her purse and ran off !
I
had a job at Haringey Council for 10 years and was a polling clerk in Seven Sisters School
and also at the West Green Baptist Church. It was an interesting job.
We
have ground floor flat here at Hatfield and we have a nice patio, but it is all altered
since we moved out here. We are on the Piper Alarm system, as Vi has fallen on the floor a
couple of times. It’s a 24 hour-a-day system and it’s comforting to know all we
have to do is press the button to get help when we need it.
Please
give our best wishes and regards to everyone who knows us from Summerhill Road where we
spent many happy years, and its nice to walk down memory lane. So our very sincere best
wishes in all you undertake and our hopes that your web-site on Summerhill history and
residents memories will be a big success.
Yours
sincerely
Vi
and Olive Kemp ( ex number 49 Summerhill Road)
(Note:
This letter has been reproduced for the internet site from the original written by Olive
Kemp)
