ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE: Growing up in 1950s London - Cover

Big day… big hat: the author at the wheel of a Lee Green fire engine, at the July 1952 Fire Brigade Fete.

Once a bargain: the author’s parents decided against buying 48 Hedgley Street for £500! Next door is the late 1950s Northbrook School, now replaced by a new and larger school. The modern car is exactly where Ford Popular GUN 481 stood 50 years earlier.

Miss Williams’ class at Lee Manor in the mid-1950s. The author, looking rather lost, is on the far right, top row. Visible is that highly polished pine block floor.

Santa’s expression sets the tone at Chiesman’s store, Lewisham, in late November 1952. We had no idea that Father Christmas, in reality, was known to our father as Bert Smith, Southern Railway Foreman at Hither Green Station.

The Baring family home: the Manor House became Lee Green’s Library and its grounds became a public park, Manor House Gardens.

Brew-up: Mum enjoys a cup of tea in the front seat of Ford Popular GUN 481.

“Blackout” and “Blackness”: Maurice Stribley (left) and Dad relax on leave from the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry.