Very cold houses
My family and I lived at 12 Nuthurst Road before moving to 22 Twineham Road. My father was the group scout leader in Whitehawk for many years. I can remember how cold the brick built houses with the metal window frames were in the winter time. You had just the one open coal fire in the living room to heat the whole house. My brother and I were lucky as we slept in the bedroom above the living room so at least in the winter the room was warm in the evening at bed time. But in the morning in the winter you had ice inside of the window.
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Why did they demolish it
I, like my brothers, went to all three of the Whitehawk schools, Mr Bert Whistle being my last teacher in 1963 before I joined the army. I cannot remember there being any trouble in Whitehawk other than the normal day to day events – ie someone breaking into someone else’s home. Not that any of us had anything to steal. I can still remember my first girlfriends from Whitehawk: Wendy Wilson, Shirley Crookshanks, Mary Mcdonald, Emily Smith. I cannot understand why they had to take the estate down the way they did. The gardens and green areas were that big they could have built the four hundred new homes on them with no problems.
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The foreground the photo is of East Brighton park where I played as a kid in the 40s and 50s. Wilson Avenue looks as if it is under construction at the bottom. The railings were gone when I played there, no doubt gone to the war effort as did all the railings in Bennett Road where I lived. I remember on the hill going up to the golf course that there were the stubs of railings almost buried in the grass as nature took over. Bob is right about the houses being cold in the winter, and I remember ice on the insides. But to me although a bit austere the times were sometimes cosy and comforting in some ways, no TV just radio which I am still a fan of. I was lucky as I had my uncles army greatcoat on my bed as it was no longer needed. I also had a stone hot water bottle which a lady across the road from us gave me. I put this inside an old football sock to try and warm the bed up. The winter of 1947 I remember well. Don’t remember any coal in the house, we were sitting around an old blue mottled gas stove to keep warm. The snow that year seemed to stay around until March. Happy uncomplicated days compared to now.
My maternal grandmother, Alice Pattenden, lived in Nuthurst Rd. Not sure of the number, it could have been 5 or 15. You might remember her. I would sometimes stay at her house and like Mick Peirson below, I remember the bed being warmed up with a stone hot water-bottle. We lived a short walk away in a prefab on Wiston Close. The prefabs had slightly better heating but still I remember dads old army coat on the bed to keep me warm. The ice would still form on the inside of the windows and I would draw patterns in it with my fingers. I loved winter, the view from Wiston Close over the valley of snow covered houses with yellow glowing windows and smoke rising from the chimneys looked beautiful, as I recall. We built snow forts in the drifts in our front yard and played there for hours. I looked forward to going to the Whitehawk primary school where often there was a sheet of ice that formed in the playground, providing a great slide. Then there were the toboggans made from whatever we could find to slide down the racecourse hill or the golf course over the back. Mick, I have read a number of your posts, you seem to have had many similar experiences as me, although you must be a couple of years older? I live in Australia now, but I was there in Brighton last year and visited a lot of the places that I treasured as a kid. I even caught up with a couple of ex Whitehawkers, Maria Brooker and Sue Bennett (Hi Sue and Maria), who are regular contributors to this site. It’s funny you mention the bases for those metal railings, because I found some down the bottom of Wilson Ave just off the road under the bushes in the park. A simple thing but it brought back a load of great memories. You’re right, childhood in Whitehawk was a happy and uncomplicated time There is a possibility that I might visit again next year, maybe we could catch up for a chat, I’m sure you would be a wealth of knowledge. Happy memories.
I’m late in coming to this site. My sister Chris has posted. We Chapmans: Barry; me Barbara; Bob and then Chris. Parents Winnie and Henry lived in Fletching Road and then moved to Hervey Road as we needed another bedroom.
I loved the snowy winters and making giant snowballs. It was my job to polish the door brass at Hervey Road and black the range in the sitting room. The lino floors made a great skating rink with cloths tied around our feet; Mum was pleased to get her floors polished!
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