|
It was in 1938 that my parents bought a brand
new house in Greenshields Road (not far from the
Denmark Street home) for around £800s. The
building had three bedrooms, two downstairs
living rooms, a kitchen with walk in pantry, and
an upstairs toilet and bathroom. There were also
an outside coal and coke store and an outside
toilet. This was situated at the rear of the
house in the area now showing some recent
brickwork. Not surprisingly the plumbing froze
solid at various times during the winter months
making the toilet totally unusable.
The house was on a large new estate created in
the mid 1930s and included the new roads:
Phillpotts Avenue, Irwin Road, Rosamond Road and
Greenshields Road. Castle Road was extended
eastwards through the estate from just east of
George Street to Newnham Avenue.
A further estate was also being developed between
Newnham Avenue and Barker's Lane - two roads
(Wendover Drive and Risborough Road) passed
through the estate and houses built along them.
Building ceased with the onset of WWII and the
estate was not completed until well after
hostilities had ceased
|
|
On the south-west corner of the Denmark Street
and Castle Road intersection George Langford ran
his butcher's shop throughout the war years
(right). The Langfords lived in Greenshields
Road and were well respected by their neighbours
- even more so at times of meat shortage!
|
Mr and Mrs Ruff ran a well patronised bakery at
the corner of Pembroke Street and Castle Road.
The family (including son, Raymond, who later
attended Bedford School) lived above the shop.
|
Opposite to the bakery the local post office and
newsagency continues to ply its trade but
its function as a post office ceased in 2005.
A telephone kiosk had been in its pictured
site since well before the war. In the 1930s and
40s, when home phones were in the minority, this
telephone was in continuous use, and more
particularly in the war years when long queues to
make calls were a common occurrence. In more
recent years there has been a substantial
modification to the facade of the shop but the
frontage limits of the old building can be
readily seen in the picture (right).
|
In the 1930s and 40s this shop in Castle Road was
one of many local branches of the grocers,
Dudeney and Johnston. The main shop was in the
High Street and the first floor 'Dujon'
restaurant and function room was the venue for a
wide range of social events.
The first floor apartment was occupied for many
years by Miss Cutteridge (later Mrs Lillo) who
taught at the Goldington Road School where she
earned the somewhat impolite nick-name, 'Miss
Cutterbum', which, however, appropriately related
to her prowess with the cane! The rather large
and muscular Miss Cutteridge also taught
pianoforte privately in her flat above Dudeney
and Johnston.
|
The Bunyan Meeting Hall situated in Castle Lane
behind the Bunyan Chapel (which fronted on to
Mill Street) (right). In the early
stages of the war the Goldington Road School used
the hall for classes in order to accommodate the
large number of evacuees billetted in the area,
An ARP wardens' post was situated in the basement
and the entrance was one of the two doorways to
be seen below the main body of the hall.
|
This house adjacent to the old fire station in
Mill Street was used as a 'British Restaurant'
during WWII. The following information is from
'Wikipedia' :
"Restaurants were exempt from rationing, which
led to a certain amount of resentment as the rich
could supplement their food allowance by eating
out frequently and extravagantly. In order to
restrict this certain rules were put into force.
No meal could cost more than five shillings; no
meal could consist of more than three courses;
meat and fish could not be served at the same
sitting.
"Establishments known as 'British Restaurants'
supplied another almost universal experience of
eating away from home. British Restaurants were
run by local authorities, who set them up in a
variety of different premises such as schools and
church halls. They evolved from the London County
Council’s Londoners’ Meals Service
which originated in September 1940 as a temporary
emergency system for feeding those who had been
bombed out.
"By mid-1941 the LCC was operating two hundred of
these restaurants. Here a three course meal cost
only 9d (approximately twenty 'new' pence).
Standards varied, but the best were greatly
appreciated and had a large regular clientele. A
similar scheme was run in other towns and cities"
- including Bedford.
|
St Cuthbert's Hall opposite the church was a
venue for many meetings and social events
particularly during the wartime years. For the
author it was the meeting place on Sunday
afternoons for the local male branch of the
Crusaders Union. This very conservative religious
organisation was ostenibly for those who went to
Bedford School or Bedford Modern School.
Although its fundamentalist tenets were much
frowned upon by the headmaster of Bedford School
the weekly Crusader 'class' was generally well
supported. It is probable, however, that many of
those who attended, including the author, were
somewhat sceptical of the prevailing Crusader
dogma either at the time or later in life! I also
suspect that the organised social activities,
particularly during the holidays, were the main
drawcard, as were those occasions when there was
a combined meeting with the Girl Crusaders who
held their regular Sunday meetings elsewhere in
the town!
|
|
|
|
|
