The Bootmaker’s Boy
A caudle is a thick, sickly medicinal drink, described in one journal as a ‘syrupy gruel with spices and wine or ale added and thickened with egg yoke’. It sounds like something the Owl and the...
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Stories
Exploring the lives and heritage of Summerstown, from the trenches of the Great War to the vibrant streets of today.
Ace of Spades
Ever so aptly-named, a study of the Port family movements is truly a voyage around some of the key locations in the Summerstown182 orbit. In fact its a veritable tour around the Fairlight area and...
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Summerstown of 69
Scouring the St Mary’s Church archives over Christmas, I came across an electoral roll from 1969-70. Its not for the faint-hearted, page after page listing the streets in the parish and resident’s...
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The Green Plaque Connection
Among the nine green heritage plaques that Wandsworth Borough Council have awarded since the scheme started in 2008, until the recent acknowledgment of the V2 bomb incident at Hazelhurst Road, there...
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HMS Strongbow
With all the excitement over the Green Plaque at Hazelhurst Road, the Summerstown182 have taken a little bit of a backseat in the last few weeks. Yet we are now entering a period of time one hundred...
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Westminster Rifles
The Garratt Lane end of Franche Court Road appears sometimes to be thick with Summerstown182 stories. Occasionally on our walks we have stood on the pavement for what seems like hours, criss-crossing...
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The Dardanelles
When I was in Australia in the early nineties I had a job in a sheet and bedding factory. The people I worked with a rough, tough but very likeable breed. They breakfasted on Tooheys Red, popped...
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The East Surrey Seven
Last October, across the Channel on the trail of the Sunday School Three, we were heading for Ypres via the Messines Ridge when we pulled into the small town of Nieuwkerke (Neuve-Eglise), not far...
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Len Jewell’s Century
Of all the incredible and wonderful things that have happened in the 18 month existence of the Summerstown182 project, coming across Len Jewell from Tooting takes a lot of beating. Next weekend...
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The Man Who Died Twice
Grimsby seems very much on my radar at the moment. A few weeks ago I took an old friend to see the Mariners play at Woking. John’s had a soft spot for Grimsby FC since 1939 when a Billy’s Boots style...
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One of Our Boys
The St Mary’s Church parish magazine of June 1917 contains an extremely moving tribute to a young man who Reverend John Robinson knew very well. It is a simple passage, but deeply heartfelt and I...
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Moss Bros
The family circumstances of many of the Summerstown182, living in damp, cramped conditions with money in short supply and uncertain prospects can not have been easy but the situation of Henry and...
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