“Our Saturday night”

“We lived in New Cross, Kender Street. While the war was on they converted the houses into 2 flats, so we shared the front door and the loo. That was our first house.”

“The war was nearly over, Bill was coming out the Army and on our Saturdays together, we used to walk to the Astoria, the cinema on the Old Kent Road. Then we would come out of there about 9 o’clock and walk along to New Cross road and there on the corner of Canterbury Road was the pub, The Canterbury Arms. Then we used to go in there, I would have my shandy and Bill would have his pint, just the one. Then just a couple of yards away was Manns Pie and Mash shop! We’d go in there about 10ish and I would order the pie & mash with parsley sauce and Bill would always have the stewed eels!”

“When we were coming back from the pie and mash shop, walking along Kender Street, a man ran past us as though he was trying to catch a bus, then seconds later another man ran past us in just his pants! The man in just his pants, asked us if we had seen this man go by, to which we replied yes! It transpired that this was a burgler who’d tried to break in to the houses on our street. There was nothing we could do, we were more interested in going home for our nookie!”

“That was our Saturday night!!!”

Ivy Jarmain

March 2008