Forum Topic

Coalyards near Kew Steam Museum

Is anyone old enough (like me) to remember the magnificent Clydesdales that pulled the coal carts back in the 1940s?During the 1947 blizzard, we had to collect our own coal from the yard (Dad made a sleigh, and my sister and I went with him for the coal).  For the first time ever, we were able to go into the stables to see the Clydesdales up close - towering like Mnt. Everests over their half-doors! They were housebound because of the snow. Ordering coal by phone today is no comparison to those few perishing weeks in the winter of '47, when we would make our exciting weekly forays over to Kew.

Ann S. Allridge ● 7446d30 Comments

I post my letters in his Royal 'male' box most days.

Sarah Felstead ● 7443d

Has the all clear siren gone off yet?  Hooray!Sarh: my apologies.What I meant to type was....Sarah: I know you wouldn't have been around in the 1950's...trolleybuses and all that...so we're pleased to hear that you enjoy reading our reminiscences.PS: What did you think of King George VI  !!

Jim Lawes ● 7443d

Sally is a common nickname for Sarah and I was called Sally as a child.  I wasn't sure if Jim was referring to me or Sally H - so I hesitated in replying.I was going to ask - from which official document (card?) would you like me to source this information Jim?  I am sure there is a 50-something on one of them... actu-ally it is commonly known (on all my Christmas cards anyway) that I reached the milestone age of ... 21 this year (Oy! who suggested that as it was a leap year that means 21 x 4!).  I am pleased you asked the question about ghosts on a new thread.  I am led to believe they are all around us...

Sarah Felstead ● 7443d

Gerry,Yes, I worked in Cadby Hall, but only went to the 'Palais de Dance' once - didn't much like it...sorry!We went specifically to see Joe Loss and his orchestra - brilliant, but we wanted to sit and listen to him, not bother with dancing. ("Probably means she had two left feet," Gerry thinks!  Gerry could be right).

Ann S. Allridge ● 7443d

I don't know about picking up horse droppings but under Margaret Thatcher many families in mining communities were scavenging for coal as recent as 1984.

Gareth Evans ● 7443d

No Gerry, the ramblings are great, I ramble too. I was trying to defend Jim, hoping that he wasn't going to get pasted over the issue of asking a lady her age. I can see now that my diversionary tactics failed ;-)

Gareth Evans ● 7443d

GARETH, thanks for your definition of coal. It is an apt reminder for me to keep to the original subject of this topic and I thank you for it. I do tend to go "off subject" in my ramblings; its a weakness of the aged. So I do hope everyone forgives the wanderings of this old man.:-o

Gerry Tan ● 7443d

GerryCoal – A fossil fuel made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Age can in some cases be identified through carbon dating. I'm heading for cover now before Jim takes any further pasting on the delicate issue of determining a lady's age ;-) 

Gareth Evans ● 7443d

PAUL, I'm confused - yes, its my natural state!Sally? or Sarah?...ah well, whats in a name anyway?Sorry I spoke.  :-(

Gerry Tan ● 7443d

I think its my mind thats not functioning Gerry,i thought we only had one Sally on here but perhaps not.

Paul Fisher ● 7443d

PAUL, are you sure you've got the right "Sally" - I had it in mind that the other Sally had a Broncos boyfriend/partner/husband, though I may be mistaken 'cos at 70+ my mind doesn't function so well these days! ;-o

Gerry Tan ● 7443d

You are a very brave man Mr Lawes,remember that Sally`s boyfriend plays for the London Broncos ;-)

Paul Fisher ● 7443d

"Sally: Were you around in the 50's?"Listen LAWSEY, leave of the leading questions levelled at  lovely ladies like Sally, pul-ee-ss-ee!  You know its not nice to ask a woman's age!! :-o

Gerry Tan ● 7443d

My friend Allan lived in Oxford Road north...and in about 1954 -1956..we used to knock doors and say that we were collecting newspapers.We'd take the collection to various fish shops in Chiswick High Road...and to "rag and bone" yards off Devonshire Road ,Chiswick ...and we managed to get one old penny a lb 30lb was a big load and we'd get 2/6 (half a crown) to spend on Cadburys Whole Bars, Walls and Mylos Ice cream.Wagon Wheels and Penguin biscuits. We probably had holes in our socks, a tear in our trousers, and look right scruffians!! (Not really... I used brylcream..so the sight wouldn't have been too dreadful)!Most pennies in those days had George V, Edward VII or Victoria heads on them.  I still collect Victorian pennies..the Young Queen Vic, the bun head, and then the Jubillee heads coins from 1887.Trolleybuses galore in those days 655 to Hanwell,657 to Hounslow (Wellington Road U turn) and 667 to Hampton Court.Then there were those Green Line coaches..(london Transport) that went to Windsor and Ascot) (Must get some pictures posted on Pauls new site!)Sally: Were you around in the 50's?

Jim Lawes ● 7444d

Ann Gerry Jim  I love reading your reminiscences.  We went to a museum in York where they had exhibits from recent years as well as real old stuff and the room was full of chatter as you could hear people saying oh look! my parents had one of those or my Grandparents or I had one as a child - the whole room was alive!  I went around with the school children on several trips and most of the museums were places to look and read about the stuff in the cases.  So much passes the children by.  When we looked at the film of the Crown Jewels as we went into the Jewel house I said somebody made those and they were completely aghast because they hadn't thought about how they had got to being 'a crown' or a 'sceptre'.  The best part was asking the custodians what they could tell us about the room they were sitting in.  We had one chap tell them about his uniform and how his hat was made to fit his head - and then when he had a haircut it was too big - so he took it off to show them he had a hanky stuffed into the brim!  In the main they had 2 questions they wanted answered - were there any ghosts and were there any secret rooms or passage?  Are there any ghosts or secret passages in the area?  There are bound to be some going down to the river - surely?

Sarah Felstead ● 7444d

"My first wage (at J. Lyons & Co. Ltd.) as a junior shorthand typist was £2.10s.0d..."Just by the remotest of remote coincidences, did you work at the big J.Lyons HQ in Hammersmith????? Because I used to go to the Hammersmith Palais(c.1950) and used to meet lots of girls who worked at Joe Lyons Hammersmith!!! Who knows, we might have jived together to the Lou Praegar Orchestra or when the Joe Loss band used to guest there!!!  ;-O)

Gerry Tan ● 7444d

Gerry,My first wage (at J. Lyons & Co. Ltd.) as a junior shorthand typist was £2.10s.0d., and I received a raise after six months of 2/6d., bringing me up to your level.I can still remember hardly being able to get home in time to tell my parents the great news!  1949, I think.

Ann S. Allridge ● 7444d

"...but I know for a fact they have never or will never get the kick out of their 'pocket monies' that we did."ANN, I have grandchildren also and I agree with you in that they don't get the pleasure and imperative of "saving" their pocket money - they spend it ALL! The rule when I was their age was to spend only HALF of one's pocket money and put the other half back in the piggy bank! Incidentally, I remember the amount of my first ever weekly wage - it was exactly £2-12s-6d!!! £1-10s went to my mother for my food/board, I saved 5s in my PO Savings account and the rest I spent at the cinema, on beer and on girls!!! What a great time I had!  :-))))

Gerry Tan ● 7444d

Just reread some of my recent meanderings...there must be quite a few who groan and say, "Oh, not that old crone again..."!I don't live in the past - mainly because all the "descendants" plus my computer keep me on my toes, but it is the looking through the various forum threads, reading the familiar street names, etc. (and the reminiscing of Lawsey & co.) that jogs my memory, and starts me off.

Ann S. Allridge ● 7444d

Gerry,Loved that last posting...we were encouraged to save pennies for the summer holidays, and when the departure day arrived, Dad would double whatever we had saved.  I can still remember the endless counting of those big old pennies.I have grandchildren - grown up - and great grandchildren, whom I love dearly, and all are good kids, but I know for a fact they have never or will never get the kick out of their 'pocket monies' that we did.

Ann S. Allridge ● 7444d

Bless you ANN, I didn't mean a few bob for ONE horse's droppings...it was from MANY horses! And that was for a large sack of the stuff! And we'd mix it with dirty sawdust from the butchers to bulk it out. Two bob would be great takings on a good day - 1/6p was more usual. Money was short in those days - we had none - we'd also collect beer bottles, jam jars, make firewood bundles and collect old clothes for selling on too. Also, scrap lead was a good little earner in the 40s, but that was very hard to "win". We were better than Steptoe & Son! Ah, happy days. ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7444d

Gerry,A bucket of horse manure for a "few bob" in the 40s??  I thought cash was short those days in Glasgow?  My Dad would give us  6d for a bucket of horse manure!  If you were not too particular, you could collect from several passing horse-drawn carts: coal, milk, rag-and-bone, etc. In all honesty, I admit I was too picky for the job by the time I reached the great age of 10 - imagine if one of my pals saw me???

Ann S. Allridge ● 7444d

Do we have any tender readers on here with sensibilities that could be hurt Gerry apart from young Phil of course?

Paul Fisher ● 7444d

You're right PAUL, its just that I didn't want to be indelicate. I could also have been more direct by calling myself a sh*t sweeper, but that might have hurt the sensibilities of some of our more tender readers!  ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7444d

I would have thought you would still remember the smell of the horse droppings you picked up as well Gerry.

Paul Fisher ● 7444d

Agreed ANN, I do hope JIM's excellent potted histories are compiled by someone; he's a mine of interesting observations, so graphically recalled.

Gerry Tan ● 7444d

"...in our small kitchen/living room....and the horse drawn cart..piled with sacks of coal...would stop outside the house. We had a coal shute accessed from the front pathway. It covered by a black round metal lid...which was removed so that the coalman could empty his black sack of shiny blocks of black dusty coal.  I can smell it now."I well remember that smell of coal in the kitchen JIM...as a 9 year old boy billeted in a Glasgow tenement(early 40s) we didn't have the luxury of a coal celler. The coalman had to climb 3 floors and dump his coal bag in a purpose made coal locker in the kitchen! He used a horse drawn coal cart too and we kids used to follow the horse picking up its droppings which we sold on for a few bob! The smell of that coal is something I'll always remember. Thank God for central heating now! :-)

Gerry Tan ● 7444d

Jim,My little 'memories' are only a trigger .... you are the one with all the details!That posting of yours was a great tour around Chiswick, etc.Yes, 20 Grosvenor also had one of those coal shutes, but it was used by the folks upstairs;  we had our coal heaved into a corner/shed outside the backdoor.  Someone - I hope - is collecting these potted histories of yours, Jim.

Ann S. Allridge ● 7444d

That was the COLLIERY OWNERS Co.

Jim Lawes ● 7445d

Ann: you are historic! I too can remember the heavy snowfall in 1947...helping my Dad shovel the pathways in Wolseley Gardens.Like everyone else, we needed coal to light the home fire...in our small kitchen/living room....and the horse drawn cart..piled with sacks of coal...would stop outside the house. We had a coal shute accessed from the front pathway. It covered by a black round metal lid...which was removed so that the coalman could empty his black sack of shiny blocks of black dusty coal.  I can smell it now.There seemed to be little coal merchant shops/offices all around..where one could place the order. There must have been two in the Gunnersbury Station forecourt...and even more at Kew Bridge Station. Lionel Road (South) was full of coal yards.The 1938 Kelly's Directory..lists the premises. Walking on the northside..westwards from the Brentford Market..there was a downhill driveway..just before Lionel Road..that went down to the Hardy &Co merchants...alongside the 2nd and later unused Kew Bridge Station platform.  Then turning right up Lionel Road there were the following coal merchants..Stratton Gantry & Co,  FB Cameron & Co..The Clooiery Owners Assoc (!).. Tyne Main Coal Cu Ltd..Brentnall & Cleland Ltd.....and the North Debyshire Coal Co.On the left side was London Midland and Scottish Railway Goods and Coke Co.Coal Mining and Distribution was a huge industry in those days..probably employing 750,000 or more.  Smoke everywhere..from the factories, houses, train engines...and if that wasn't enough..half the population smoked too!!! No wonder London's buildings looked so black..until the water jet spray firms arrived on the scene!!Oh..and the horses...I've forgotten those.

Jim Lawes ● 7445d