St. Patrick's Church, Plumstead

This was situated on the corner of Griffin Road and Conway Road. It was part of a two-storey building, with part of St. Patrick's primary school occupying the lower storey. Your blogger and his sister attend St. Parick's school until 1961, when we moved to the newly constructed St. Thomas a Becket school in Abbey Wood Estate, the part of Abbey Wood built by the LCC in the late 1950s.

In 1970, St. Patrick's church moved to the former St. Paul's C of E church in Hector Street. The church in the picture was then converted to a school hall.

Some old postcards of Chislehurst

From top to bottom:

The water tower in Summer Hill, demolished in 1963. The village sign in Royal Parade, which still stands.

Two of St. Mary's church. Ada and Bill Warden were married here. Albert Mackie, Ada Warden (Mackie) and William Warden are buried here.

Red Hill. Albert and Ada Mackie lived at No 10. This is on the left, near the bottom but before the church.

Ada "touching the thatch" in Hartley

Two illustrations of the same church - the Oratory of St Francis de Sales, Hartley, Kent.

You will notice the thatched roof. Many years ago, Ada Mackie went on a church outing here. As she was leaving the oratory, she crossed herself with holy water at the stoop by the door, then casually put her hand up to feel the material of the thatch which was overhanging the lintel. The rest of her party noticed her do this and presumed it was some devotional practice peculiar to those parts. One by one, everyone was crossing themselves then solemnly "touching the thatch".

Bill Bailey - cricketer

Here are a few of my grandfather William Kilby (Bill) Bailey in a cricketing context. In the group photo, that is him kneeling third from the right. Two of the pictures show a formal dinner. Only the word "Club" is visible in the poster, but I think this must be Nether Broughton Cricket Club - these two were taken by The Melton Studios, 4 Sherrard Street, Melton Mowbray. It was clearly a very posh "do" - note the elaborate floral display and the bottle of HP Sauce.

Getting a fix on Mrs Beutell

This is addressed to "Mrs Mackay" (we are used to having our surname misspelt, even by relatives from other parts of the family) at "Dorlins", Orpington Road, Chislehurst. The Mrs Mackie in question is Ada. It is not possible to decipher a date inthe postmark, but I would guess early 1952. (It must be some time during George VI's reign, or not too long after he died in February 1952. There is nothing to place Ada in Chislehurst before WWII. Her identity card - see earlier post - gives her movements up to November 1951 when she went to Scrips in Coggeshall, Essex.

"Dorlins" is still extant. It is quite large house, which I think would have been much more than Ada could afford. I know she had spent a period in domestic service at around this time, after husband Bert had died, but while she was still fairly active and not ready to retire. From various scraps of conversation I remember, I know that one of her employers was a Mrs Beutell. John Stiles, who has assisted me with research for this blog, checked the electoral rolls and this is what he found. "The electoral roll for Chislehurst that was compiled in November 1953 shows the occupants of "Dorlins" as, Ethel M Beutell and Ada M Mackie. Ada is not at "Dorlins" in 1954, and from 1955 to 1961 Mrs Beuttell appears to have moved in with the family next door(the McGloins who live at "The Squirrels"). So after all these years, I now know where Mrs Beutell lived. Now I still have to track down another of Ada's employers, a Dr Burma.

As for the card itself, this is what it says.

In haste. Many thanks for words of wisdom. We are trying to get straight but waiting for furniture to come from Bedford. We have the electricians in overhauling the whole system. Father likes the quaint cottage and is getting used to the low ceiling after having a few bumps. Much love. M. Pearce

I do not know who the writer is. Although the card shows a Bedford scene, the writer is apparently now in or near Chislehurst. In our age of instant communications via telephone, mobile and e-mail, how often down we see correspondence with the words "in haste". I can just imagine father nursing a sore head after some close encounters with his new ceiling.

Bermuda Onion Packers

A postcard to Bert from Bermuda. Another one from the archive that has been torn in two, but fortunately both halves survive. The postmark date looks like 21 AUG 07 (i.e. 1907) which seems about right. I had to whack up the brightness when scanning this one in, as the image was very dark. From the manuscript entries, it is apparent that the sender has been in Bermuda for some time.

Above the picture - "I don't believe I sent you this one before".

Below the picture - "This is quite a familiar sight with everyone here when the crops are fit to reap. I guess a great many crates of Bda onions find their way to England."

On the back - "Your two cards were grand thanks ever so much. I suppose I should not say so but you know I expected that you would send me a view of 'Henley Regatta'. I read an account of it in our local papers. I am awfully glad you sent it, I did not like to ask for one. You do certainly send some lovely ones. Sincerely, E. Inglau" (I think that is what the signature is but I stand to be corrected.)

Without seeing the names, you could tell this is a card from one bloke to another. It is basically just one postcard in response to another.

Bert's collection of actress postcards - part 2

Two from Ralph Dunn & Co, 63 Barbican E.C. - Delia Mason and Zena Dare

One from Aristophot Co Ltd, London W.C. of Pinkie and the Fairies - Miss Elise Craven as "Queen of the Fairies"

Finally, a torn one from The Philco Publishing Co, ! Holborn Place, London W.C. It is signed, but only part of the signature is visible. This is the only card that has been sent through the post. It is addressed to Mr A.C. Mackie at 15 Plumstead Common Road. The word "Local" has also been added to the address.

Bert's collection of actress postcards - part 1

These are all by the Rotary Photographic Co and date from the early 1900s. They were obviously purchased as collectors' items as none have actually been through the mail, although one of them has Bert's name and address written on the back:
A.C. Mackie, 15 Plumstead Common Rd, Plumstead, Kent

From top to bottom and left to right we have Miss Winifred Hare, Miss Susie Vining, Miss Doris Lester, Ruth St. Denis "Hindu Radha" (not quite what it says on the card, but results ofGoogle searches suggest that the caption is incorrect), Miss Zena Dare and Miss Maud Allan "Medelssohn's Spring Song".

Your blogger at a very early age

This must be one of the earliest pictures of me, probably taken around August 1952 in the front room at Basildon Road. The sofa is a Lloyd Loom. What looks like wicker is actually made up of twisted strands of Kraft paper. We had a few other pieces of Lloyd Loom furniture, but none have survived. For more about this type of furniture - which is still in production - see the website http://www.lloyd-loom-furniture.co.uk/

Chapel Lane and the Beekens

A few of your blogger, his sister and mum at granny Bailey's. We are quite young here so I would put the year at around 1954. The older children are the Beekens, who were granny's neighbours in Chapel Lane. The younger boy with fair hair is Barry; his brother is Terence and sister Patricia. I know they had a henhouse - that might be it in the background. There is also evidence of allotments. Grandad Bailey used to grow runner beans and you can see the poles.

We are older here so this must be a later visit. Pauline is becoming more mobile and is wearing reins. So I guess it is around 1955. This must have been one of our last visits, as granny moved down to join us in Abbey Wood in 1956. You can just about make out a figure in the shadows in the background to the left of the picture. This might be Mr Parker, who was another neighbour.

Don & Eileen at the seaside

This must have been taken sometime between 1946 and 1952, after Don had been demobbed but before they had children of their own. I would guess they must be somewhere on the south coast and it is a shingle beach. It looks a bit breezy too; Eileen's hair is being blown about and they are all keeping their jackets on.

The other couple are my godparents, Dennis & Maisie Smith. I haven't seen they since they emigrated to Australia in the early 1960s. They used to run the off licence in Bostall Manorway, Abbey Wood. They had two sons - the younger one was about a year or so older than me. But that would still leave the schoolgirl on the left of the second picture (notice her straw boater matching her uniform) unaccounted for. But of course the group also included the unseen photographer.

The Mackies and their WAGs (1940s style)

The first picture shows Don's brother Jack, Jack's wife Celia, Eileen and Don. They are outside the house in Chapel Lane. I think this one was also taken prior to October 1944. The second is the only picture that has come to light of Don and Eileen's wedding. It looks like wartime austerity dictated that this was not a lavish affair. They married in June 1945. Although the war was over, there was still alot of soldiering to be done. After his marriage, Don had another tour of duty overseas, this time to Glinde near Hamburg to deal with returned ordnance. He was not finally demobbed until July 1946.

Don meets his prospective in-laws

These are all stamped with the same number on the back, Eileen is wearing the same clothes and the setting is the same (outside the front door of the house in Chapel Lane) so I think they must have been taken at the same time.

Don is not wearing medal ribbons, so I think these pictures must predate him being posted to Caen in October 1944. (For more about Don's military service, particularly the army dance band he played in, see my blog http://bandof14aod.blogspot.com/) Before going overseas, Don had been based at the Ordnance depot at Old Dalby. It was during his time there that he met Eileen, the future Mrs Mackie. Had it not been for the war, your blogger would not have been born!

The other gentleman seen here is Eileen's father Bill (William Kilby) Bailey. There will be more about him later. He worked at Stanton Ironworks and was a keen cricketer; I still have some of his trophies. He died when I was very young, but I dimly remember him.

Eileen goes to the seaside

In the first picture, Eileen is holding a brochure with the word "Skegness" on the front. This was the nearest seaside resort to Nether Broughton. There is a stamp on the back "Walking Pictures". This must have been a photography business that took pictures of people passing by then sold prints to them; a Google search for "Walking Pictures" and "Skegness" finds a number of similar pictures. Eileen is not even looking at the camera. I do not know who the other woman is. The second picture shows Eileen and her companion with Eileen's mother Lizzie. Both young women are wearing the same dresses as in the previous picture, so I guess this was taken on the same day.

The third picture was clearly taken on a different occasion and probably when Eileen was much younger, judging by the age of her companions. This might have been Skegness, but I know her family sometimes also visited Mablethorpe so this is another possibility.

Young Eileen in the garden at Chapel Lane

A selection of pictures of Eileen Bailey taken in the back garden at Chapel Lane, Nether Broughton. This was where Eileen grew up. We used to visit there to see "granny Bailey" in the early 1950s before she moved in with us at Basildon Road. I seem to remember there were no fences between all the back gardens.

You will notice that many of the pictures from Eileen's album have been trimmed down - often none to neatly - so it has been a bit of a challenge to line them up properly for scanning. Also, a number of pictures have white streaks. These appear in the same place where I have more than one print of the same picture. I presume the camera was not completely light-tight.

Eileen Bailey when she was very young

I have been going through mum's old photo album, so there will be a few posts from her side of the family. We start with three of the earliest ones I can find. Eileen was born in 1924 so these would have been within a year or so of then. The lady in the first picture is identified as "Aunt Doll". I remember often hearing her name mentioned, but I am not sure exactly how she was related.

UPDATE 26/08/2020. Aunt Doll would have been William Bailey's sister Dorothy. She married Henry Stokes in 1921. Henry died in 1921. Doll subsequently married James Ainley.

Albert & Donald on the beach

Note that even on holiday, Bert is wearing a collar and tie. Donald cannot be more than five in this picture, dating it no later than 1925. I do not know the location, but it is most likely somewhere on the Kent coast.