June Emson - Memories of Croxley Green
Recorded 2nd April 2022
Recorded 2nd April 2022
When did you come to live in Croxley?
JE: I was born in New Road
What was it like growing up in New Road?
JE: It was lovely. I lived in a terraced cottage, just down from Yorke Road. Everybody knew each other, everybody helped each other out. It was very nice. I felt very safe there.
Do you remember much about rationing?
JE: Oh yes. I remember my Mum’s ration books. They were little squares and they be would cut out and marked and when we went to the shops we had to take the ration book with us. When rationing came off, my Dad gave us 2s 6d to go down to Wade’s sweet shop which was down in New Road. My sister and I, we just bought a jelly dummy and gave him the change! I think that was ’53 the sweets came off.
And what were the shops like in Croxley?
JE: Well, really the place they all shopped was the Co-Op which was where it is now except it was a much bigger shop. It had the general shop where you shopped one side for bacon and cheese and the other side for ordinary groceries. Then there was a grocery, a butcher’s. And the other shop was where you could buy clothes and shoes, and material, furniture. That’s not there now, I don’t think, now. We would go into Wade’s but Dad when he was on the right shift, would go into what was called Bryant’s, which was a shop opposite the Co-Op and Mum would buy lovely ham and bacon and things like that. So that was another shop. She must have used Gadsden’s the butcher’s, which is opposite the doctor’s in New Road.
What other shops do you remember?
JE: There were three butchers, there was an ice cream shop, which was very lovely, which was probably where Grosvenor Estates is now. Nice ice cream. But if you went further up there was Garlands, who sold vegetables and there was Mr Toms who sold electrical things. That’s where you had accumulators for radios and people used to go and get their batteries done. I was too young for that. And then there was Mrs Davies, who sold wool and there was the shoe mender who used to keep pigeons at the bottom of his garden! Then we had the sweet shop and a jeweller’s, Mr Durrant, the jeweller.
Was there a bakery?
JE: No. I don’t remember a bread shop. There was a bakery up on the Green. I can’t remember what it was called in those days.
So there were also some shops at the top of Scot’s Hill?
JE: Yes. My best friend’s Dad had one. The petrol shop and the repair shop. I think one was called Hunts, a general store and the was another one… and then there was Luxton’s the sweet shop, but it wouldn’t have been called Luxton’s in the war, because he was in the war. But where the alarm people are now, that was Luxton’s. I don’t think the shops opposite the church were shops then.
JE: There were shops along Watford Road. There was a Crown post office, a fish and chip shop, Jewson Davies, a vegetable shop, and Hedges, a grocery store. The library was there, on Watford Road. And you used to go upstairs.
And where did you go to school?
JE: I went to Yorke Road School. And because my sister went I was very upset and I cried and they let me go at four and not five. And then I went to Harvey Road when I was 11, no 7, so that would be 1950. ’54 I went to Durrants.
What was Harvey Road like then?
JE: Lovely! We still had the air raid shelters then.
Where were the air raid shelters?
JE: As you go out the Bateman Road entrance, they were to the right there.
So the school used to be where the front playing field is now?
JE: Yes. It was an old wooden building. The shelters were by the fence at the end. We weren’t allowed to play on them - they said they were dangerous.
What was a school day like at Harvey Road?
JE: Well I was very happy there. It was lovely. Strict but nice.
Did you have a favourite teacher?
JE: I liked Mrs Fenton. She was third year. Mrs Hedges, second year. But she lived opposite us so she wasn’t one of my favourites. Mrs Fenton used to run the Co-Op children’s choir. We used to meet in the Co-Op car park there’s a building to the left with some stairs up it. That used to be Croxley Co-Op Hall and we used to meet in there.
What else used to happen in Croxley Co-op hall?
JE: I don’t know. I think I went there once for a Girl Guide meeting but generally I only went there to have my choir practice.
What did you like about Mrs Fenton?
JE: Oh she was lovely. She was so kind. She was Welsh and really really kind, but enthusiastic. We used to go to all kinds of competitions, all over the place. I think we sometimes won.
Do you remember any teachers you didn’t like?
JE: No. Well you see it was small. I only remember having four classes because by then they’d opened Little Green. You see when my mother came here in 1932 when she was married, you only had Yorke Road, New Road, Dickinson Square, Dickinson Avenue, some of Watford Road and one or two houses in Baldwin’s Lane and that’s all Croxley was. In ’39 the whole of Croxley virtually had been built.
So your Mum saw quite a rapid expansion in Croxley?
JE: Absolutely, yes! And she used to take my elder sister in her pram looking at all the houses!
And what did your Dad do here?
JE: He was a paper maker at Dickinson’s.
So Dickinson’s Mill used to be somewhere near the Moor, didn’t it?
JE: It’s where Byewaters is now. My Dad made the paper.
And you lived on New Road?
JE: Yes. We didn’t have a Dickinson’s house. Dickinson Square were Dickinson’s houses, some in New Road.. the one opposite Yorke Road. They were dotted around but mainly they were in Dickinson Square.
Coming back to Harvey Road, what sort of subjects did you do?
JE: We did a lot of English. We came out of school reading because we were made to read and we did obviously Maths. I don’t remember Geography and History but we clearly did it but it wasn’t called that. I think we came out with a good education.
What about after school activities?
JE: Netball! For me anyway, I don’t know about anything else.
And what did the boys mainly do? Lots of football?
JE: Yes. I don’t think they did any other sport. They were too young for rugby.
Was there a swimming pool?
JE: No, not in those days.
Did you do swimming lessons?
JE: We used to go down to Rickmansworth. There was an open-air one. It was very very cold. It was in Ebury Road and fed by the River Chess. I definitely went there with Durrants and I think I went there with Harvey Road.
So then it was Durrants. Did you have to do any exams?
JE: Well I did pass my exams to go to Rickmansworth School but I didn’t pass my interview. So I went to Durrants.
So you had to do an exam and an interview?
JE: Yes I had to have an interview, yes. That was 1954.
What was Durrants like?
JE: I was very happy. I loved it.
What subjects did you do?
JE: English, Maths, History, Geography, French, Needlework, Cookery, Biology. I learnt the sex life of a tomato!
That sticks in your mind?
JE: We didn’t learn about anything else! We didn’t do Physics or Chemistry. The boys had to do physics. I can’t remember what else.
Home Economics?
JE: Yes. We called it cookery and needlework. I once made a skirt and it was supposed to be 4 gored [pleated] and she cut it out wrong and it was 6.
Looking back at that time, do you feel it was quite segregated between boys and girls and what you could learn?
JE: No, well only Physics and Cookery, and obviously Sport. I would say everything else we were in together.
And coming out of Durrants, first job?
JE: Ah well you see I did the Commercial [course] so I was a junior shorthand typist and I did the accounts part of it and went on all my life doing accounts.
Did you work somewhere locally?
JE: Yeah. Nearly all my jobs were local. I didn’t go any further than Watford. My parents were very averse to my going into London. My father said “You’re not doing that. You’d have done a day’s work by the time you get there and come home! And in those days you didn’t [argue]…
But growing up you say in those days you didn’t… was it much more that you listened to your parents?
JE: You did listen. Yeah. You did ‘cos you didn’t have a lot of choice, really. I think parents were a lot more structured and strict.
Do you feel that’s changed a lot?
JE: Oh yes. It has now. It’s much more lenient, isn’t it?
What did you dream of doing in the future?
JE: I don’t remember. Because in my day at school if you were going to stay on at school and do A levels, you were going to be a nurse or a teacher or something like that. You weren’t going to go to university just to go to university. You were generally going to work in a shoe shop, a jewellers of an office or a factory. You didn’t have the choice that kids have got these days. Thankfully they have, but from the time we were younger we thought well this is what our pathway will be.
So what year did you leave Durrants?
JE:’59. I could have left in ’58 but I stayed on to do the Commerce.
So that was an additional course?
JE: You did it for two years instead of one
And do you remember how much you earned in your first job?
JE: £4 a week. And that wasn’t bad.
And did you still live at home?
JE: Oh yes. I lived at home until I got married.
And did you contribute to the family?
JE: Yes but I think my Mum gave most of it back to me to buy lunch!
And did you meet your husband here in Croxley.
JE: Yes. My Dad used to go and watch Dickinson’s cricket and Roger played cricket there. And then we also met when I was 16 at New Year at Watford Town Hall.
And what sort of entertainment did you have in Croxley or did you have to go to Watford for that?
JE: No. We had youth clubs and obviously I was in the Guides and then I went on to the Air Rangers until I was 18.
And when did you join the Guides?
JE: When I was 11. We had a lovely lady. She had been in the Air Force. She was very strict. We had to march properly. But it was lovely. It was nice people. You meet lots of friends, don’t you?
And what were the Air Rangers?
JE: They are sort of senior Guides. We went to Elstree once and I went in a little Piper Comanche. I didn’t fly it! I sat in it! And you can open the windows, so I wasn’t claustrophobic.
What else was there to do in Croxley?
JE: I used to go dancing in some different places in Watford.
Did you used to go and play in the woods?
JE: As a youngster, you mean?
Yes
JE: Oh gosh yes. We used to ride up and down the Dell on our bicycles. We spent a lot of our time in the woods. Because my dad worked at Dickinson’s, we were allowed to play at the sports ground, which is where Croxley Guild of Sport is now. That was very well maintained, very posh, very looked after. We could do whatever we wanted. And of course every John Dickinson’s [mill] had a fire brigade and they used to come to an open day and they used to compete against each other. Round here there was Nash Mills, Holm Park, Apsley, Croxley. They used to come down from Liverpool. Wherever there was a paper mill they had a fire brigade.
I didn’t realise that Dickinson’s had so many mills.
JE: Oh yes.
What other events used to come to Croxley?
JE: I remember 1951 the Festival of Britain we had a fair up on the Green and again for the Coronation. I can’t remember if the Revels went that far back. We used to go and buy cherries in Stone’s orchard. There was a little shed in there. Lovely cherries!
What did your Mum like to cook and what did you like to eat?
JE: Mum was a very good, plain cook. She would obviously do meat and two veg. and we always had a cooked pudding.
Every night?
JE: Oh yes
What a treat!
JE: But you see we used more energy, didn’t we? We didn’t have a car. You walked everywhere and you were out playing so you were hungry. My Dad drove in the Army but he didn’t see any point in driving.
So your Dad had served in the War?
JE: Yes.
So when did you have your first car.?
JE: Not until I got married in 1965
So what was Croxley like in ’65? Had the swinging sixties reached Croxley?
JE: No. Not that I was aware of, anyway! It was just a nice place to live.
And had the shops changed much by then?
JE: Well of course when I left school in ’59, by then the shops had been built at the top of Baldwin’s Lane. There was one girl in our class. She was a naughty girl. We all gave her some money and she went and bought us all a cake and she got caught and got a detention. I think she got the cane. We never used those shops. My friend whose Dad was the groundsman at the OMT used to say “I’m going down to the village” and she meant New Road.
What’s the OMT?
JE: Old Merchant Taylors. It’s now a housing estate.
And when you were first married, where did you live?
JE: Here
This same house? You’ve had it since 1965?
JE: Yes.
And What were Frankland Road and Close like?
JE: Not as busy. You didn’t have a parking problem. Frankland Close has always been friendly, helping each other out. But we didn’t have all the extensions you have now. My husband already had a car. I learnt to drive in 1965.
And did you carry on working?
JE: I think I was in Watford in those days and before I had my daughter in 1971 I was in Croxley. It was called Murdoch Norton. It was a company that owned a lot of shops. We were the Head Office. They had food shops all over the south of England.
So you moved from secretarial work into accounts?
JE: Yes I liked the figure work.
And when you had your first child, did you carry on working?
JE: No. You didn’t in those days. It was very nice, very privileged.
And raising children in Croxley, how had it changed in the 1970s from when you were growing up?
JE: I like to think my children had somewhat more freedom. I never found out what my son used to do! But they played out. He would run out at 8.20 in the morning round to Harvey Road to play football. I didn’t take him - certainly by the time he was 7 or 8. He didn’t have a road to cross. I don’t know how old my daughter was.
And Harvey Road was still the old building?
JE: Yes it was. The old cowshed.
Did they have any favourite teachers?
JE: Mr Lovatt probably. He was lovely. He was so good with the boys and the girls. And Mrs Doughty who took the 5 year olds.
And who was the Headteacher?
JE: What, when the children went there? I think it was Mr Nicholson.
And he only retired in the late 90s, didn’t he?
JE: Probably yes, when Alison Thomsett [Gauntlett] took over, who lived opposite us.
Growing up, Christmasses. Do you remember any specific things that used to happen in Croxley at Christmas time?
JE: No. Possibly the Mummers. Mr Samuels who did the Mummers he moved to The Hawthorns, in New Road, near the Methodist church-you know the big house? He moved there and when he moved there, because Tussauds used to be in there and when he cleared it out there was still some of it in there.
Tussauds as in Madame Tussauds? Waxworks?
JE: Yes but they had left stuff in there and Mr Samuels was a screen painter for the cinema.
What other interesting characters do you remember living in Croxley? (laughs) Barbara Woodhouse?
JE: Ah god, yes! Her dog peed up my dad’s coat in 1951when we were on the Green. He was very upset! He was annoyed. She used to say “ You can do anything with horses - you just sniff up their nose and they’ll do anything” and my Mum was brought up on a farm and she said “You got to get near them first!” My parents thought she was stupid.
And by the time you had children, were the Revels happening on the Green?
JE: Yes, certainly when they were at Harvey Road School ‘cos they used to have a school float every year.
So it was more of a float or did they have walking..?
JE: Oh they had walking as well but they did have a float. Mrs Rawlings, Polly Rawlings, she used to do the float, beautiful float.
And what kind of stalls were there back in the 70s? Was it very different to how it is now?
JE: It was amazing. The procession was amazing. It was long, it went all the way around Croxley. Everyone had floats. When Roger did the football we had a football float. It was amazing in the 70s and probably the 80s.
And the procession got smaller and smaller?
JE: Well.. people can’t be bothered can they? It’s not that the people who are organising it can’t be bothered but, well, nobody’s got any time, have they? They all work so hard, they just can’t spare a few hours a week.
And did all the companies and the shops have floats?
JE: Some of them did, yes
And how have the shops changed? You’ve seen the shops right through from the 50s …?
JE: Well a lot of the shops have gone, haven’t they? We don’t have butchers, we don’t have greengrocers. They’ve all closed. The fish and chip shop is still there but we don’t have Mr Toms, we don’t have any knitting shops. The jeweller’s has gone. He used to do the church clock, too that Mr Durrant, the jeweller. Well I suppose we’ve all gone to supermarkets now, haven’t we, where it’s so much more convenient. You just get all your shopping together and bring it home. I used to, I must admit when I was at Ricky school I used to often go in the Co-op and do my week’s shop very quickly and come home and it was very good in those days.
So when did you start working again if you were at Ricky school?
JE: In 1979.
And what were you doing?
JE: I worked in the library for two years and then I went down and worked in the main office and then when we went Grant Maintained in 1990 I went to the Bursar’s office.
So you spent…
JE: 30 years there
So you’ve seen a lot of changes in the school?
JE: Gosh yes. I’d love to go and see it now.
And in those 30 years how do you think education has changed for the children?
JE: Not for the better
What makes you say that?
JE: Well, every year we would have to buy a whole set of new textbooks for every class because they had decided they were going to change something in the curriculum. So the poor teachers and everybody else had to change their work because somebody had ticked a box. Teachers are teachers. Let them get on with their job! Stop giving them boxes to tick!
And are you religious? Did you attend church?
JE: Well I was christened at All Saints’ church when I was a month old. And my sister and I - remember we used to live at the top of New Road - the Sunday school was in Yorke Road school and we decided we didn’t like it - I must have been four or five - so we walked past the church, up onto New Road and down into the Methodist Church and we decided we liked it there! And we thought our Mum and Dad didn’t know but it was at a different time so they obviously did! And we were very happy because Miss Hedges was there and we used to do a lot of singing and playing – it was lovely, I was very happy there.
And did you stay at the Methodist Church?
JE: Yes I did. I got married there and the children were christened there.
And do you still go to church?
JE: I don’t. I should do but I don’t, but I still think very fondly of it.
There are quite a few churches in Croxley for quite a small village
JE: All Saints was 1871 and my grandparents got married there . Granny was born in Croxley. She got married when she was 17.
So you come from a long line of Croxley people?
JE: Yes I do. We did go back to her mother.
And did your Granny tell you stories about what it was like?
JE: No she died before my Mum and Dad got married. She died in 1932 so I didn’t know her and my grandad died in 1946 so I didn’t really know him either.
And we’re coming up for the Platinum Jubilee?
JE: I know. We’re going to have a party!
Do you remember any other jubilee parties?
JE: 1977 we had the first one. We shut the road. We had the children in fancy dress and old people- of my age now- judged it. Um - we had games for them, we had a tug o’ war. We had a lovely time.
Was that a street party?
JE: Yes. Out here.
Just Frankland Close?
JE: Yes we were very territorial at that time! My Mum and Dad lived in New Road still. Someone on the corner they had a record player so we had all this music going and we were dancing till - we put the children to bed – till one in the morning. And my Dad said “ Don’t know who it was but there wasn’t half a lot of noise last night!” It was a wonderful time. And they did the royal wedding but we were on holiday. We did have a lot of street parties, nearly every year.
What about any other big celebrations?
JE: Would it be 97? We did do another big one. And then they did one four years ago - a younger group of people –we said we’re too old now to do it. When we did the last one we had a neighbour who had a bouncy castle.
Were you very involved in organising all that?
JE: Earlier on, yes, but not now. That year they had it on our drive and they had red wine and white wine and they borrowed big jugs from the Scouts. And someone said “Have you got any rosé?” and my husband said “Yes of course “ and they went down underneath and tipped a bit of both… “Oh this is lovely” she said! It was great fun
And was it mainly Mums organising?
JE: No the Dads got involved. And when we had barbecues that was obviously the Dads…We would do the organising and the food buying and they would do the cooking.
Do you remember the Guildhouse?
JE: Yes. I had my wedding reception there. Yes it was September 25th 1965 and I’m not sure if it was the 2nd or the 9th October it burnt down. We had it in the Science room but in the main hall we used to have dances and our Guides in there. It was a beautiful hall. That’s where they used to have the Armistice Sunday service. The Boy Scouts used to have their singing – what do you call them- [jamboree?] That’s right. Every year they put on a show. It was really well used. But yes that was burnt down. Quite tragic. A girl up Frankland Road was meant to be having her wedding reception in there…
And what happened to all the activities that went on in the Guildhouse?
JE: I don’t know because by then you see I was married so I wasn’t involved. The front part - where the billiards were, you couldn’t have women in there. It had to just be men. Dad used to play bridge in the Science Room upstairs. That’s where you could go and pay your Rates - Three Rivers - no, Rickmansworth Urban District Council - you could go and pay your bills in there.
So they had parish services in there?
JE: You could do, yes. It was at the front. The Science Room was where the flats are now.
What do you mean by Science Room?
JE: I don’t know why it was called the Science Room. I’ve no idea but that’s where we had our wedding reception.
And the library burnt down too?
JE: Yes it did. More recently. I don’t know when the library opened. And I don’t know when the Crown Post Office - which was on Watford Road - shut but it was a big Crown post office.
Where was that?
JE: You know where the big estate agents is as you come on to the shops? It was just about there.
JE: Well it’s not - it’s a little painting shop now. Just after there.
But the library.?
JE: The library was further along- probably where the dentist is now- and there was a cycle shop next to it and I can’t remember what that was called, but that was the only library. Obviously I’m going back a long time into my life - I did go into that other one, when I was a teenager because I remember getting a book out my father wouldn’t allow me to read. It was called “No Mean City” and it was apparently not a nice book and he took it away from me and said “You’re not reading that!” and I think I was twelve. That would have been in the mid 50s then - it was still there. I wonder when it moved. I don’t know. Hang on…. The Red Cross Centre was built in 60 something- and I guess they all went together.
What’s kept you living in Croxley all these years?
JE: I love it here.
What do you love about it?
JE: I feel safe in my community- you can always wish for something else - I’d love to have lived by the seaside - but then, no, I like it here.
So do you remember what this cost when you bought it?
JE: About £5000. As my brother in law would say, It’s all relevant isn’t it? Because that was a lot of money. It’s astronomical now.
Have you got any special memories of Croxley you’d like to share? Something really favourite about life in Croxley?
JE: Yes! Only to me - Prince Philip. It must have been just after the coronation and my sister was at Cuffley camp (she was a fourth year and I was only a third) and we heard that the royal car was coming through with the Queen! My Mum and Dad took me down and we were outside the post office. They came along and Prince Philip had a big grey topper hat on and he looked gorgeous and I was so excited as a ten year old to see - I’d never seen a top hat before. They drove past in this open top car and it was lovely - childish, isn’t it?- but wonderful.
I was going to end on that lovely memory but you said something about Cuffley camp. What’s that?
JE: Oh, when we were at Harvey Road School, when you were in fourth year, you could go to Cuffley camp. It’s somewhere in Hertfordshire, sleeping in tents, digging your own latrines, yeah!
So I think I’d like to end on that beautiful memory of seeing Prince Philip coming down the road.
JE: Yes, well it brought it all back to me when I saw it
Were there any other things that you remember really well?
JE: I’ll probably think of a lot when you’ve gone.
Did you see any of the trees planted on the Green?
JE: I didn’t but obviously you walk and you do see them. When you come to the top of New Road the path used to cut across there and if you went opposite there are two houses. My sister used to work in there. Is it the London Liverpool Victoria? It was an insurance company and lots of Croxley people used to work in there – but that tree there had seats round it and you could go and sit on there- I don’t know what that one was planted for. I will find that list for you of all the shops that were in New Road. I listed them all.
That’s been a lovely interview- so many interesting things to remember about Croxley.
JE: People come to Croxley and they don’t move, do they? You just think, no I don’t want to go from here. I did when my dad died. I never want to follow another funeral up the Green, cos that’s where my dad played cricket, he played football and it was horrible. That’s what the kids did, they played football and cricket - so that’d be the early 20s. Dad was born in the same house I was born in - New Road - and Granny on Scot’s Hill. I cannot find where my granny was born, but in those days, 1871, Croxley was a hamlet, it wasn’t anything else but a hamlet so she’s only [listed as] born in Croxley Green - but I know when you used to go up Scot’s Hill, there was a shop there called Windows which was a wool shop but there was a little courtyard behind there with some tiny little houses and that is where Granny was born.
And do you know if your family goes back even further than your Granny?
JE: Oh yes, her mother was born in Croxley as well but I haven’t gone any further than that.
So you are at least a fourth generation Croxley Greener?
JE: But it probably goes further- because it was only a tiny little place and people didn’t move around a lot, did they? And I feel very privileged.
Why?
JE: Because I’ve always felt secure and safe and grounded. I’m not very ambitious, am I? I’ve never yearned to go anywhere else. My daughter lived in America for a few years - and I think she was mad – and she came back, didn’t she?
Thank you so much, June!
JE: Thank you very much!
What was it like growing up in New Road?
JE: It was lovely. I lived in a terraced cottage, just down from Yorke Road. Everybody knew each other, everybody helped each other out. It was very nice. I felt very safe there.
Do you remember much about rationing?
JE: Oh yes. I remember my Mum’s ration books. They were little squares and they be would cut out and marked and when we went to the shops we had to take the ration book with us. When rationing came off, my Dad gave us 2s 6d to go down to Wade’s sweet shop which was down in New Road. My sister and I, we just bought a jelly dummy and gave him the change! I think that was ’53 the sweets came off.
And what were the shops like in Croxley?
JE: Well, really the place they all shopped was the Co-Op which was where it is now except it was a much bigger shop. It had the general shop where you shopped one side for bacon and cheese and the other side for ordinary groceries. Then there was a grocery, a butcher’s. And the other shop was where you could buy clothes and shoes, and material, furniture. That’s not there now, I don’t think, now. We would go into Wade’s but Dad when he was on the right shift, would go into what was called Bryant’s, which was a shop opposite the Co-Op and Mum would buy lovely ham and bacon and things like that. So that was another shop. She must have used Gadsden’s the butcher’s, which is opposite the doctor’s in New Road.
What other shops do you remember?
JE: There were three butchers, there was an ice cream shop, which was very lovely, which was probably where Grosvenor Estates is now. Nice ice cream. But if you went further up there was Garlands, who sold vegetables and there was Mr Toms who sold electrical things. That’s where you had accumulators for radios and people used to go and get their batteries done. I was too young for that. And then there was Mrs Davies, who sold wool and there was the shoe mender who used to keep pigeons at the bottom of his garden! Then we had the sweet shop and a jeweller’s, Mr Durrant, the jeweller.
Was there a bakery?
JE: No. I don’t remember a bread shop. There was a bakery up on the Green. I can’t remember what it was called in those days.
So there were also some shops at the top of Scot’s Hill?
JE: Yes. My best friend’s Dad had one. The petrol shop and the repair shop. I think one was called Hunts, a general store and the was another one… and then there was Luxton’s the sweet shop, but it wouldn’t have been called Luxton’s in the war, because he was in the war. But where the alarm people are now, that was Luxton’s. I don’t think the shops opposite the church were shops then.
JE: There were shops along Watford Road. There was a Crown post office, a fish and chip shop, Jewson Davies, a vegetable shop, and Hedges, a grocery store. The library was there, on Watford Road. And you used to go upstairs.
And where did you go to school?
JE: I went to Yorke Road School. And because my sister went I was very upset and I cried and they let me go at four and not five. And then I went to Harvey Road when I was 11, no 7, so that would be 1950. ’54 I went to Durrants.
What was Harvey Road like then?
JE: Lovely! We still had the air raid shelters then.
Where were the air raid shelters?
JE: As you go out the Bateman Road entrance, they were to the right there.
So the school used to be where the front playing field is now?
JE: Yes. It was an old wooden building. The shelters were by the fence at the end. We weren’t allowed to play on them - they said they were dangerous.
What was a school day like at Harvey Road?
JE: Well I was very happy there. It was lovely. Strict but nice.
Did you have a favourite teacher?
JE: I liked Mrs Fenton. She was third year. Mrs Hedges, second year. But she lived opposite us so she wasn’t one of my favourites. Mrs Fenton used to run the Co-Op children’s choir. We used to meet in the Co-Op car park there’s a building to the left with some stairs up it. That used to be Croxley Co-Op Hall and we used to meet in there.
What else used to happen in Croxley Co-op hall?
JE: I don’t know. I think I went there once for a Girl Guide meeting but generally I only went there to have my choir practice.
What did you like about Mrs Fenton?
JE: Oh she was lovely. She was so kind. She was Welsh and really really kind, but enthusiastic. We used to go to all kinds of competitions, all over the place. I think we sometimes won.
Do you remember any teachers you didn’t like?
JE: No. Well you see it was small. I only remember having four classes because by then they’d opened Little Green. You see when my mother came here in 1932 when she was married, you only had Yorke Road, New Road, Dickinson Square, Dickinson Avenue, some of Watford Road and one or two houses in Baldwin’s Lane and that’s all Croxley was. In ’39 the whole of Croxley virtually had been built.
So your Mum saw quite a rapid expansion in Croxley?
JE: Absolutely, yes! And she used to take my elder sister in her pram looking at all the houses!
And what did your Dad do here?
JE: He was a paper maker at Dickinson’s.
So Dickinson’s Mill used to be somewhere near the Moor, didn’t it?
JE: It’s where Byewaters is now. My Dad made the paper.
And you lived on New Road?
JE: Yes. We didn’t have a Dickinson’s house. Dickinson Square were Dickinson’s houses, some in New Road.. the one opposite Yorke Road. They were dotted around but mainly they were in Dickinson Square.
Coming back to Harvey Road, what sort of subjects did you do?
JE: We did a lot of English. We came out of school reading because we were made to read and we did obviously Maths. I don’t remember Geography and History but we clearly did it but it wasn’t called that. I think we came out with a good education.
What about after school activities?
JE: Netball! For me anyway, I don’t know about anything else.
And what did the boys mainly do? Lots of football?
JE: Yes. I don’t think they did any other sport. They were too young for rugby.
Was there a swimming pool?
JE: No, not in those days.
Did you do swimming lessons?
JE: We used to go down to Rickmansworth. There was an open-air one. It was very very cold. It was in Ebury Road and fed by the River Chess. I definitely went there with Durrants and I think I went there with Harvey Road.
So then it was Durrants. Did you have to do any exams?
JE: Well I did pass my exams to go to Rickmansworth School but I didn’t pass my interview. So I went to Durrants.
So you had to do an exam and an interview?
JE: Yes I had to have an interview, yes. That was 1954.
What was Durrants like?
JE: I was very happy. I loved it.
What subjects did you do?
JE: English, Maths, History, Geography, French, Needlework, Cookery, Biology. I learnt the sex life of a tomato!
That sticks in your mind?
JE: We didn’t learn about anything else! We didn’t do Physics or Chemistry. The boys had to do physics. I can’t remember what else.
Home Economics?
JE: Yes. We called it cookery and needlework. I once made a skirt and it was supposed to be 4 gored [pleated] and she cut it out wrong and it was 6.
Looking back at that time, do you feel it was quite segregated between boys and girls and what you could learn?
JE: No, well only Physics and Cookery, and obviously Sport. I would say everything else we were in together.
And coming out of Durrants, first job?
JE: Ah well you see I did the Commercial [course] so I was a junior shorthand typist and I did the accounts part of it and went on all my life doing accounts.
Did you work somewhere locally?
JE: Yeah. Nearly all my jobs were local. I didn’t go any further than Watford. My parents were very averse to my going into London. My father said “You’re not doing that. You’d have done a day’s work by the time you get there and come home! And in those days you didn’t [argue]…
But growing up you say in those days you didn’t… was it much more that you listened to your parents?
JE: You did listen. Yeah. You did ‘cos you didn’t have a lot of choice, really. I think parents were a lot more structured and strict.
Do you feel that’s changed a lot?
JE: Oh yes. It has now. It’s much more lenient, isn’t it?
What did you dream of doing in the future?
JE: I don’t remember. Because in my day at school if you were going to stay on at school and do A levels, you were going to be a nurse or a teacher or something like that. You weren’t going to go to university just to go to university. You were generally going to work in a shoe shop, a jewellers of an office or a factory. You didn’t have the choice that kids have got these days. Thankfully they have, but from the time we were younger we thought well this is what our pathway will be.
So what year did you leave Durrants?
JE:’59. I could have left in ’58 but I stayed on to do the Commerce.
So that was an additional course?
JE: You did it for two years instead of one
And do you remember how much you earned in your first job?
JE: £4 a week. And that wasn’t bad.
And did you still live at home?
JE: Oh yes. I lived at home until I got married.
And did you contribute to the family?
JE: Yes but I think my Mum gave most of it back to me to buy lunch!
And did you meet your husband here in Croxley.
JE: Yes. My Dad used to go and watch Dickinson’s cricket and Roger played cricket there. And then we also met when I was 16 at New Year at Watford Town Hall.
And what sort of entertainment did you have in Croxley or did you have to go to Watford for that?
JE: No. We had youth clubs and obviously I was in the Guides and then I went on to the Air Rangers until I was 18.
And when did you join the Guides?
JE: When I was 11. We had a lovely lady. She had been in the Air Force. She was very strict. We had to march properly. But it was lovely. It was nice people. You meet lots of friends, don’t you?
And what were the Air Rangers?
JE: They are sort of senior Guides. We went to Elstree once and I went in a little Piper Comanche. I didn’t fly it! I sat in it! And you can open the windows, so I wasn’t claustrophobic.
What else was there to do in Croxley?
JE: I used to go dancing in some different places in Watford.
Did you used to go and play in the woods?
JE: As a youngster, you mean?
Yes
JE: Oh gosh yes. We used to ride up and down the Dell on our bicycles. We spent a lot of our time in the woods. Because my dad worked at Dickinson’s, we were allowed to play at the sports ground, which is where Croxley Guild of Sport is now. That was very well maintained, very posh, very looked after. We could do whatever we wanted. And of course every John Dickinson’s [mill] had a fire brigade and they used to come to an open day and they used to compete against each other. Round here there was Nash Mills, Holm Park, Apsley, Croxley. They used to come down from Liverpool. Wherever there was a paper mill they had a fire brigade.
I didn’t realise that Dickinson’s had so many mills.
JE: Oh yes.
What other events used to come to Croxley?
JE: I remember 1951 the Festival of Britain we had a fair up on the Green and again for the Coronation. I can’t remember if the Revels went that far back. We used to go and buy cherries in Stone’s orchard. There was a little shed in there. Lovely cherries!
What did your Mum like to cook and what did you like to eat?
JE: Mum was a very good, plain cook. She would obviously do meat and two veg. and we always had a cooked pudding.
Every night?
JE: Oh yes
What a treat!
JE: But you see we used more energy, didn’t we? We didn’t have a car. You walked everywhere and you were out playing so you were hungry. My Dad drove in the Army but he didn’t see any point in driving.
So your Dad had served in the War?
JE: Yes.
So when did you have your first car.?
JE: Not until I got married in 1965
So what was Croxley like in ’65? Had the swinging sixties reached Croxley?
JE: No. Not that I was aware of, anyway! It was just a nice place to live.
And had the shops changed much by then?
JE: Well of course when I left school in ’59, by then the shops had been built at the top of Baldwin’s Lane. There was one girl in our class. She was a naughty girl. We all gave her some money and she went and bought us all a cake and she got caught and got a detention. I think she got the cane. We never used those shops. My friend whose Dad was the groundsman at the OMT used to say “I’m going down to the village” and she meant New Road.
What’s the OMT?
JE: Old Merchant Taylors. It’s now a housing estate.
And when you were first married, where did you live?
JE: Here
This same house? You’ve had it since 1965?
JE: Yes.
And What were Frankland Road and Close like?
JE: Not as busy. You didn’t have a parking problem. Frankland Close has always been friendly, helping each other out. But we didn’t have all the extensions you have now. My husband already had a car. I learnt to drive in 1965.
And did you carry on working?
JE: I think I was in Watford in those days and before I had my daughter in 1971 I was in Croxley. It was called Murdoch Norton. It was a company that owned a lot of shops. We were the Head Office. They had food shops all over the south of England.
So you moved from secretarial work into accounts?
JE: Yes I liked the figure work.
And when you had your first child, did you carry on working?
JE: No. You didn’t in those days. It was very nice, very privileged.
And raising children in Croxley, how had it changed in the 1970s from when you were growing up?
JE: I like to think my children had somewhat more freedom. I never found out what my son used to do! But they played out. He would run out at 8.20 in the morning round to Harvey Road to play football. I didn’t take him - certainly by the time he was 7 or 8. He didn’t have a road to cross. I don’t know how old my daughter was.
And Harvey Road was still the old building?
JE: Yes it was. The old cowshed.
Did they have any favourite teachers?
JE: Mr Lovatt probably. He was lovely. He was so good with the boys and the girls. And Mrs Doughty who took the 5 year olds.
And who was the Headteacher?
JE: What, when the children went there? I think it was Mr Nicholson.
And he only retired in the late 90s, didn’t he?
JE: Probably yes, when Alison Thomsett [Gauntlett] took over, who lived opposite us.
Growing up, Christmasses. Do you remember any specific things that used to happen in Croxley at Christmas time?
JE: No. Possibly the Mummers. Mr Samuels who did the Mummers he moved to The Hawthorns, in New Road, near the Methodist church-you know the big house? He moved there and when he moved there, because Tussauds used to be in there and when he cleared it out there was still some of it in there.
Tussauds as in Madame Tussauds? Waxworks?
JE: Yes but they had left stuff in there and Mr Samuels was a screen painter for the cinema.
What other interesting characters do you remember living in Croxley? (laughs) Barbara Woodhouse?
JE: Ah god, yes! Her dog peed up my dad’s coat in 1951when we were on the Green. He was very upset! He was annoyed. She used to say “ You can do anything with horses - you just sniff up their nose and they’ll do anything” and my Mum was brought up on a farm and she said “You got to get near them first!” My parents thought she was stupid.
And by the time you had children, were the Revels happening on the Green?
JE: Yes, certainly when they were at Harvey Road School ‘cos they used to have a school float every year.
So it was more of a float or did they have walking..?
JE: Oh they had walking as well but they did have a float. Mrs Rawlings, Polly Rawlings, she used to do the float, beautiful float.
And what kind of stalls were there back in the 70s? Was it very different to how it is now?
JE: It was amazing. The procession was amazing. It was long, it went all the way around Croxley. Everyone had floats. When Roger did the football we had a football float. It was amazing in the 70s and probably the 80s.
And the procession got smaller and smaller?
JE: Well.. people can’t be bothered can they? It’s not that the people who are organising it can’t be bothered but, well, nobody’s got any time, have they? They all work so hard, they just can’t spare a few hours a week.
And did all the companies and the shops have floats?
JE: Some of them did, yes
And how have the shops changed? You’ve seen the shops right through from the 50s …?
JE: Well a lot of the shops have gone, haven’t they? We don’t have butchers, we don’t have greengrocers. They’ve all closed. The fish and chip shop is still there but we don’t have Mr Toms, we don’t have any knitting shops. The jeweller’s has gone. He used to do the church clock, too that Mr Durrant, the jeweller. Well I suppose we’ve all gone to supermarkets now, haven’t we, where it’s so much more convenient. You just get all your shopping together and bring it home. I used to, I must admit when I was at Ricky school I used to often go in the Co-op and do my week’s shop very quickly and come home and it was very good in those days.
So when did you start working again if you were at Ricky school?
JE: In 1979.
And what were you doing?
JE: I worked in the library for two years and then I went down and worked in the main office and then when we went Grant Maintained in 1990 I went to the Bursar’s office.
So you spent…
JE: 30 years there
So you’ve seen a lot of changes in the school?
JE: Gosh yes. I’d love to go and see it now.
And in those 30 years how do you think education has changed for the children?
JE: Not for the better
What makes you say that?
JE: Well, every year we would have to buy a whole set of new textbooks for every class because they had decided they were going to change something in the curriculum. So the poor teachers and everybody else had to change their work because somebody had ticked a box. Teachers are teachers. Let them get on with their job! Stop giving them boxes to tick!
And are you religious? Did you attend church?
JE: Well I was christened at All Saints’ church when I was a month old. And my sister and I - remember we used to live at the top of New Road - the Sunday school was in Yorke Road school and we decided we didn’t like it - I must have been four or five - so we walked past the church, up onto New Road and down into the Methodist Church and we decided we liked it there! And we thought our Mum and Dad didn’t know but it was at a different time so they obviously did! And we were very happy because Miss Hedges was there and we used to do a lot of singing and playing – it was lovely, I was very happy there.
And did you stay at the Methodist Church?
JE: Yes I did. I got married there and the children were christened there.
And do you still go to church?
JE: I don’t. I should do but I don’t, but I still think very fondly of it.
There are quite a few churches in Croxley for quite a small village
JE: All Saints was 1871 and my grandparents got married there . Granny was born in Croxley. She got married when she was 17.
So you come from a long line of Croxley people?
JE: Yes I do. We did go back to her mother.
And did your Granny tell you stories about what it was like?
JE: No she died before my Mum and Dad got married. She died in 1932 so I didn’t know her and my grandad died in 1946 so I didn’t really know him either.
And we’re coming up for the Platinum Jubilee?
JE: I know. We’re going to have a party!
Do you remember any other jubilee parties?
JE: 1977 we had the first one. We shut the road. We had the children in fancy dress and old people- of my age now- judged it. Um - we had games for them, we had a tug o’ war. We had a lovely time.
Was that a street party?
JE: Yes. Out here.
Just Frankland Close?
JE: Yes we were very territorial at that time! My Mum and Dad lived in New Road still. Someone on the corner they had a record player so we had all this music going and we were dancing till - we put the children to bed – till one in the morning. And my Dad said “ Don’t know who it was but there wasn’t half a lot of noise last night!” It was a wonderful time. And they did the royal wedding but we were on holiday. We did have a lot of street parties, nearly every year.
What about any other big celebrations?
JE: Would it be 97? We did do another big one. And then they did one four years ago - a younger group of people –we said we’re too old now to do it. When we did the last one we had a neighbour who had a bouncy castle.
Were you very involved in organising all that?
JE: Earlier on, yes, but not now. That year they had it on our drive and they had red wine and white wine and they borrowed big jugs from the Scouts. And someone said “Have you got any rosé?” and my husband said “Yes of course “ and they went down underneath and tipped a bit of both… “Oh this is lovely” she said! It was great fun
And was it mainly Mums organising?
JE: No the Dads got involved. And when we had barbecues that was obviously the Dads…We would do the organising and the food buying and they would do the cooking.
Do you remember the Guildhouse?
JE: Yes. I had my wedding reception there. Yes it was September 25th 1965 and I’m not sure if it was the 2nd or the 9th October it burnt down. We had it in the Science room but in the main hall we used to have dances and our Guides in there. It was a beautiful hall. That’s where they used to have the Armistice Sunday service. The Boy Scouts used to have their singing – what do you call them- [jamboree?] That’s right. Every year they put on a show. It was really well used. But yes that was burnt down. Quite tragic. A girl up Frankland Road was meant to be having her wedding reception in there…
And what happened to all the activities that went on in the Guildhouse?
JE: I don’t know because by then you see I was married so I wasn’t involved. The front part - where the billiards were, you couldn’t have women in there. It had to just be men. Dad used to play bridge in the Science Room upstairs. That’s where you could go and pay your Rates - Three Rivers - no, Rickmansworth Urban District Council - you could go and pay your bills in there.
So they had parish services in there?
JE: You could do, yes. It was at the front. The Science Room was where the flats are now.
What do you mean by Science Room?
JE: I don’t know why it was called the Science Room. I’ve no idea but that’s where we had our wedding reception.
And the library burnt down too?
JE: Yes it did. More recently. I don’t know when the library opened. And I don’t know when the Crown Post Office - which was on Watford Road - shut but it was a big Crown post office.
Where was that?
JE: You know where the big estate agents is as you come on to the shops? It was just about there.
JE: Well it’s not - it’s a little painting shop now. Just after there.
But the library.?
JE: The library was further along- probably where the dentist is now- and there was a cycle shop next to it and I can’t remember what that was called, but that was the only library. Obviously I’m going back a long time into my life - I did go into that other one, when I was a teenager because I remember getting a book out my father wouldn’t allow me to read. It was called “No Mean City” and it was apparently not a nice book and he took it away from me and said “You’re not reading that!” and I think I was twelve. That would have been in the mid 50s then - it was still there. I wonder when it moved. I don’t know. Hang on…. The Red Cross Centre was built in 60 something- and I guess they all went together.
What’s kept you living in Croxley all these years?
JE: I love it here.
What do you love about it?
JE: I feel safe in my community- you can always wish for something else - I’d love to have lived by the seaside - but then, no, I like it here.
So do you remember what this cost when you bought it?
JE: About £5000. As my brother in law would say, It’s all relevant isn’t it? Because that was a lot of money. It’s astronomical now.
Have you got any special memories of Croxley you’d like to share? Something really favourite about life in Croxley?
JE: Yes! Only to me - Prince Philip. It must have been just after the coronation and my sister was at Cuffley camp (she was a fourth year and I was only a third) and we heard that the royal car was coming through with the Queen! My Mum and Dad took me down and we were outside the post office. They came along and Prince Philip had a big grey topper hat on and he looked gorgeous and I was so excited as a ten year old to see - I’d never seen a top hat before. They drove past in this open top car and it was lovely - childish, isn’t it?- but wonderful.
I was going to end on that lovely memory but you said something about Cuffley camp. What’s that?
JE: Oh, when we were at Harvey Road School, when you were in fourth year, you could go to Cuffley camp. It’s somewhere in Hertfordshire, sleeping in tents, digging your own latrines, yeah!
So I think I’d like to end on that beautiful memory of seeing Prince Philip coming down the road.
JE: Yes, well it brought it all back to me when I saw it
Were there any other things that you remember really well?
JE: I’ll probably think of a lot when you’ve gone.
Did you see any of the trees planted on the Green?
JE: I didn’t but obviously you walk and you do see them. When you come to the top of New Road the path used to cut across there and if you went opposite there are two houses. My sister used to work in there. Is it the London Liverpool Victoria? It was an insurance company and lots of Croxley people used to work in there – but that tree there had seats round it and you could go and sit on there- I don’t know what that one was planted for. I will find that list for you of all the shops that were in New Road. I listed them all.
That’s been a lovely interview- so many interesting things to remember about Croxley.
JE: People come to Croxley and they don’t move, do they? You just think, no I don’t want to go from here. I did when my dad died. I never want to follow another funeral up the Green, cos that’s where my dad played cricket, he played football and it was horrible. That’s what the kids did, they played football and cricket - so that’d be the early 20s. Dad was born in the same house I was born in - New Road - and Granny on Scot’s Hill. I cannot find where my granny was born, but in those days, 1871, Croxley was a hamlet, it wasn’t anything else but a hamlet so she’s only [listed as] born in Croxley Green - but I know when you used to go up Scot’s Hill, there was a shop there called Windows which was a wool shop but there was a little courtyard behind there with some tiny little houses and that is where Granny was born.
And do you know if your family goes back even further than your Granny?
JE: Oh yes, her mother was born in Croxley as well but I haven’t gone any further than that.
So you are at least a fourth generation Croxley Greener?
JE: But it probably goes further- because it was only a tiny little place and people didn’t move around a lot, did they? And I feel very privileged.
Why?
JE: Because I’ve always felt secure and safe and grounded. I’m not very ambitious, am I? I’ve never yearned to go anywhere else. My daughter lived in America for a few years - and I think she was mad – and she came back, didn’t she?
Thank you so much, June!
JE: Thank you very much!
