including
Woolwich & Districts
|
Welcome
to ‘Plumstead Stories.’
| Save
the Art Deco Co-Op in Powis Street, Woolwich
I
want to draw your attention to this important petition
that I recently signed:
Save
the Art Deco Co-Op in Powis Street, Woolwich
I
really think this is an important cause, and I'd like
to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free
and takes just a few seconds of your time.
Thanks!
|
STREET
PARTY CELEBRATION PHOTOS & STORIES WANTED.
I
am requesting folk to send me their recollections and
memories of attending any of the many street celebration
parties, such as VE Day, Jubilee & any of the Coronation
Street celebrations that were staged in so many local
streets. Any memories and/or photos etc would be very
much appreciated for my next book and for my web site.
Please
see our 'We Need Your Help'
section also.
Please
contact Colin
if you can help. |
Common
Folk is
the first book in the series.
Now
presenting the latest book:
More
Common Folk

More
Common Folk is another huge book packed full with early
stories and photographs that tell and depict what life was like
in those bygone far off days living in the Plumstead & Woolwich
and nearby districts.
Stories
of childhood memories, of long summer days, of old school days,
of friends and family, as told from ordinary folks early recollections.
Stories
also about those terrible WWII years and its affects on the
folk living in the Plumstead/Woolwich and nearby districts during
those fearful days.
Stories,
some funny, some sad, some about happy times and other times,
stories sprinkled with lots of nostalgia and told with much
fondness.
How
to purchase the book:
The
costs, which includes postage & packaging are:
New
Zealand $30.00 |
Country
|
Airmail |
| Europe
(Euros) |
37.00
(6-10 days) |
| U.K.
(Pounds Sterling) |
32.00
(6-10 days) |
| Canada
(Dollars) |
45.00
(6-10 days) |
| U.S.A.
(Dollars) |
43.00
(6-10 days) |
| Australia
(Dollars) |
32.00
(3-6 days) |
Prices
above current from 1 October 2011
Payment
can only be made by:
-
Personal or bank cheque (in YOUR currency) payable to P
Cowley
- PayPal to pcowley@paradise.net.nz
- Cash (but it is at your risk!)
Send Cheques or Cash to:
‘Stories’
PO Box 15-324
Wellington 6243
New Zealand
I CANNOT
ACCEPT POSTAL MONEY ORDERS!!
Also
available, my original book
‘Common Folk’ is one book consisting of two
large volumes, packed with lots of early stories and photos.
'Common
Folk’ is a nostalgic look back in time through
a large collection of stories and photographs, to a time when
life was a lot slower but also, all too often, a lot harder.
When it was harder to make ends meet, the depression, the war
years, rationing, and poverty but also stories of happier times,
when folk got by on much less and appreciated things a lot more.
These
three large books are documenting important pieces of social
history.
I
have printed these books myself to keep costs down to a minimum
these big books are still very reasonably priced, even though
I have to post them from New Zealand.
.
How
to purchase the book:
The
costs, which includes postage & packaging are:
New
Zealand $50 |
| Country
|
Airmail |
| Europe
(Euros) |
48.00
(6-10 days) |
| U.K.
(Pounds Sterling) |
43.50
(6-10 days) |
| Canada
(Dollars) |
70.00
(6-10 days) |
| U.S.A.
(Dollars) |
65.00
(6-10 days) |
| South
Africa (Rand) |
536.00
(6-10 days) |
| Australia
(Dollars) |
52.00
(3-6 days) |
Prices
above revised on 29 September 2009 due to exchange rate changes.
Payment
can only be made by:
-
Personal or bank cheque (in YOUR currency) payable to P
Cowley
- PayPal to pcowley@paradise.net.nz
- Cash (but it is at your risk!)
Send Cheques and Cash to:
‘Stories’
PO Box 15-324
Wellington 6243
New Zealand
I CANNOT
ACCEPT POSTAL MONEY ORDERS!!
Each two volumebook measures 20 cm wide x 26.5 cm high
x 4 cm thick.
The book weighs 1.70 Kg and are soft cover and all images are
in black and white.
These
are the estimated delivery times from New Zealand
WANTED,
YOUR EARLY PHOTOS!
I want your early family
photos for another book that will depict life in early Plumstead
& Woolwich and near districts.
Please send me any early photo(s), of your family, friends,
neighbours, of your local area, shop(s), street.
Early
photos of home, school, Scouts, Cubs, Girl Guides, Brownies,
of Sunday school, any early events, picnics, outings, trips.
Work,
factory, work outings, beanos, local events, street parties,
school plays, early street scenes, early vehicles, buses, trams.
Places,
weddings, parties, dances, ceremonies, celebrations, etc. etc.
Please send any photo(s) in an email.
- Photo(s)
need to be scanned at about 300 dots per inch (dpi) in Grey
or Colour
-
Please add to each photo, the subject, approx. date, if known,
any name(s) and the place/event.
-
I will choose from the photos that you send and include them
in this special book that depicts what life was like in those
early days in and around our local areas.
You can also send any photo(s) to me at:
‘Stories’
PO Box 15-324
Wellington, 6243
New Zealand.
WE
STILL NEED YOUR STORIES AND PHOTOS!
I
am now collecting stories and photos for a fourth volume
of remembrances of ordinary folk who lived, played, schooled
and worked in and around Plumstead, the Common, woods, streets
and shops in those distant days around the war years, before,
during and after.
Fond
memories growing up in Plumstead/Woolwich; of the
wonderful environments that we practically lived in as kids.
Amongst the hilly streets, the shops, schools and many other
places that made this community's unique identity.
    .jpeg)
I want ordinary folk’s stories, and any possible
photos, to compile a book telling some of the social history
of these areas; told from their ‘grassroots’
perspective.
 
Also any stories from anyone who worked in the Woolwich
Arsenal, the
Market, the
Ferry and the AJS
& Matchless Factory etc.
I
was born in Sladedale
Road, Plumstead, June 1944, two days before ‘D
Day’. Just as they began throwing over the V I and V II’s
at us!
I don't
remember the war, only growing up after it playing on bomb sites
that dotted our areas.
It is a
sad fact that as we pass on, these stories are lost. I want
to record stories, to preserve our ‘grassroots’
social history for future generations.
ALSO ... your parents or relatives or friends may have
a story to tell, even if it is just a short paragraph, or an
event, or something they heard from their folk; perhaps a photo?.
These ‘snippets’ from folk, especially if accompanied
by a photo, are good to relating how it was back in those days.
We need photos of early Plumstead/Woolwich showing people, streets,
shops, schools, Sunday Schools, Scouts, Cubs, Guides, club events,
outings, trips, picnics, firms, family snaps, transport, places
...
Even
if you haven’t a story to contribute, a photo(s) will
do as “every picture tells a story and is worth a thousand
words.”
We
also need any early school reports, any certificates, early
driver licenses, coupons etc. Please email it to:
ceedub@plumstead-stories.com
Or, mail to:
‘Stories’
PO Box 15-324
Wellington, 6243
New Zealand.
We can
piece together your recollections and form them into your story
for you. We welcome your recollections.
I made contact, after 50 years, with an old childhood playmate,
Bert Hooper, via the Friends Reunited site. Their address is,
www.friendsreunited.co.uk
I now live in New Zealand (for the past 31 years).
Bert and
I grew up in Sladedale
Rd. Bert, now retired, lives in Canada, since emigrating
there in 1968.
Since then
we have made contact with other childhood neighbours, schoolmates
and friends. They are contributing their stories.
We
are trying to locate other childhood friends and neighbours
and old schoolmates. If you know the whereabouts of any of the
following folk we would dearly love to hear from any of them.
Carol
& Lenny Dickens and any one that went to Conway
Primary School around the years 1949-1955 such as Peter
Beezer, Peter Nye, John Button, Alan Stannard, Brian Lynch and
also anyone who went to Wickham
Lane Sec. Mod. School. 1955 on. (Note: these are how
I think their names are spelt.)
There are a lot of other names that I can't recall just now.
Useful
links are:
Wikipedia
entry for PLUMSTEAD
We
are very much indebted to the Plumstead Common Environment Group
(www.pceg.co.uk)
for their very generous donation of stories from folk's reminiscences.
Another
excellent web site to visit with information on past & present
news about Plumstead is wyngrant.tripod.com
Royal
Arsenal Association
Hospital
Histories
Greenwich
Heritage Centre
Kent
Online Parish Clerks (mainly for family history information
in Plumstead area)
Woolwich
London Footprints
Woolwich
Dockyard History
Co-op
Movement History Go to the publishers
web site then click on “Search” then scroll
down and click on “LABOUR HISTORY: Series Two: Minute
Books & Papers” then select which years you want to
read about.
Click here
for information on the Princess
Alice Disaster from the Thames Police Museum. (many thanks
to Lorna Chudasama for the link)
http://www.southlondonguide.co.uk/woolwich/history.htm
This starts with Saxon Woolwich “Woolwich may have meant
Oport from which wool was shipped.” then goes on with
historic dates from 1380 (Ferry recorded at Woolwich) to 2001
(Museum of Artillery moved from Rotunda to Firepower in Royal
Arsenal). - Lorna Chudasama.
Greenwich
Mellennium Embroideries

See the millions of stitches depicting 2000 years of people
and events in this historic borough of ours.
Friends
of Rockliffe Gardens - a group of dedicated folk restoring
the once beautiful Rockliffe Gardens.
Shooters
Hill - Learn more about this area of our historical and
very distinct hill.
Comedy
on the Common - Comedy on the Common is recommended by Time
Out and local blog sites - Plumsteadshire and Planet Plumstead
- and the Plumstead Common Environment Group. Top acts such
as Reginald D Hunter (Have I Got News for You) and Bob Mills
have performed at the club. The local area has been lacking
in entertainment for some time and Comedy on the Common hopes
to bridge the gap.
www.londonslostrivers.com
- This website has been created to promote the book of London's
Lost Rivers (contrary to my Derelict London book which was created
to follow on from the website of the same name)
www.derelictlondon.com
- "For fans of the capital's hidden underbelly, these abandoned
and derelict buildings carry a melancholy poignancy"
www.derelicteurope.com
- This really is a ramshackle selection of snaps that I have
taken over the last couple of years when out and about in the
UK and Europe which I thought that I would share with you. Enjoy!!
Thank you
for visiting ‘Plumstead Stories’.
I
am very much indebted to my friend Peter Cowley, whom, without
his continued help and assistance and his computer skills and
know how, this book web site could not have been developed,
constantly added to, maintained and upgraded.
I am also very indebted to Allan
Dewar for his invaluable assistance in proof reading and correcting
of all the stories.
Many thanks
also to Lorna Chudasama for her many invaluable contributions
and sourcing of photos and facts etc., for the web site.
Please
note;
If you spot any errors, typos, mistakes etc. anywhere amongst
the many items and stories featured on my web site, however
small, please contact me and let me know. It will be greatly
appreciated. Colin
You
are visitor number:
95187
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