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".