I was born between the two great wars, in 1929. It was a year of depression, more so in America than England. It was a very cold year and I was born in January. My mother had me in a nursing home on Blackheath, which is a very beautiful upper class village in the borough of Greenwich. The heath itself had huge hollows and in World War II they were filled with all the debris from the bombing and consequently changed over time into flat grassy fields. Surrounded with churches, ponds and beautiful Georgian houses, the whole area is a jewel. Down the hill from the heath and into the village were fancy tearooms, restaurants and antique shops. Nearby was Greenwich Park, a Royal Park full of beautiful flower gardens spread over hundreds of acres.
It had a typical covered bandstand where men in red and black and gold uniforms would play their instruments on Sunday afternoons throughout the summer. When you looked down the hill, you could see Queen Anne’s palace and the Royal Naval College. The college was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the famous architect who was also responsible for St. Paul’s Cathedral. The river Thames behind the college completed the scene.
I lived in Greenwich. It was a very historic town with the 24-hour clock at the Observatory, which gave the world Greenwich Mean Time! The 53A bus used to go from Charlton, where I lived as an adult, through Blackheath to Lewisham, and I’m sure it still does. I used to shop at Lewisham every Thursday afternoon.