ST. JOHN’S WOOD MEMORIES
The Bayleys
42 Grande Parade, 1961
Brian and Dorothy Bayley began to build their home on the hill at 42 Grand Parade in 1936. They had paid 25 pounds for the block of land - 24 perches. They started with three rooms and gradually added another room when they could afford it and with the aid of a war services loan. They considered themselves fortunate that Mum's brother Harold Hodges was a builder. He had built his home two doors along at 52 Grand Pde and he helped Mum and Dad get started. Dad terraced the rather steep block and loved working in the garden. The photo shows the terracing, the steps he constructed and the two hibiscus plants that he shaped into an arch. We haven't changed the place much apart from a small deck on the front.
Mum used to say that the Bayleys were one of only a handful of families in the Woods in those early days. My older siblings often reminisced about the freedom and safety of their childhoods here. Graham was born in 1927, Vilma in 1932, Diane in 1937, Michelle in 1945 - sadly she died at birth. I, Sandra was born in 1949. Mum said the fact that we were all so widely spaced at an average of 5 years between us, meant that we each had her undivided attention for the first 5 years or so as the others were at school. It also meant that I never played with my siblings because they were so much older.
Neighbours
My older siblings tell me it was rather special having cousins two doors along at 52, but in my early childhood they moved and were replaced by the Daly's and then by Max and Thelma Griffiths in the end house. Bert and Dorris King built the big square white house next door at number 48. They were close kind neighbours. The Glynns built the other side at number 40. All these three properties on the high side of the road were large blocks of 48 perches so there was a lot of space to play in. There were little gates between all four of our yards. When we wanted to visit the Griffiths, we would walk through the Kings, calling out to alert them of our passing. If the Kings wanted to visit the Glynns, they would pass through our yard. And so it was for decades.
Across the road for many decades were Bill and Joyce Byrnes, Brian and Mavis Hannigan, Bill and Leila Bennett and. originally my Uncle Edgar and Aunt Beth Hodges followed by Mrs Leyland and daughter Jan Temperley.
Transport
The Bayleys didn't own a car. Mum caught the bus in Laird Street to go to town and pay bills and buy a few items that could be carried on the bus. She always allowed an extra ten minutes to reach the bus stop to allow time to have a chat with neighbours who might be out in their gardens in Buckingham Street. Returning home, she'd get out of the bus at the Piddington Street stop. It was an easier climb to Grand Parade from there and it offered an opportunity to speak to a different set of neighbours. Dad used the tram to commute. Mum could see him walking down the hill from the terminus so knew he'd soon be home.
Noises
I recall three main sounds from my childhood in St Johns Wood.
* We've always lived with possums scampering across our roof. If ever there were noises in the night that alarmed me Mum would say "it's just the possums". When she said that, it was a comfort and all was well. Nothing has changed. Their descendants still scamper across the roof and share our living space.
* The Glynns lived next door at number 40. Ged began playing the piano at a young age. Mozart and Chopin seemed to be his favourites and my ears became attuned to their masterpieces for which I am for ever grateful to Ged.
* And the nearby quarry was blasted every afternoon around 4
Friendship
Carrol Burke and I were born two days apart in the Ashgrove Private Hospital. The Burkes lived just around the corner at 80 St Johns Avenue and Carrol and I became life long friends. We spent endless hours playing, often under her house in the dirt. Mrs Burke had a grey Austin and she would load her three children on board then collect Mum and me and take us all grocery shopping up "the top" as we called the shops at the top of the steep hill. It was also known as "the terminus". Carrol and I walked to Ashgrove State School together and caught the bus together to The Gap High School. Sadly, Carrol died of cancer when she was thirty. I still miss her.
Still here
Mum lived on at 42 until she was 100. She was still able to climb the 45 steps up to the house until she was 98. She died on the same date, 6th April, as did my father 52 years previous. When Mum died I was faced with the decision - to sell the family home or to buy my siblings out and live on in St Johns Wood. I chose the latter.
Mum used to say that the Bayleys were one of only a handful of families in the Woods in those early days. My older siblings often reminisced about the freedom and safety of their childhoods here. Graham was born in 1927, Vilma in 1932, Diane in 1937, Michelle in 1945 - sadly she died at birth. I, Sandra was born in 1949. Mum said the fact that we were all so widely spaced at an average of 5 years between us, meant that we each had her undivided attention for the first 5 years or so as the others were at school. It also meant that I never played with my siblings because they were so much older.
Neighbours
My older siblings tell me it was rather special having cousins two doors along at 52, but in my early childhood they moved and were replaced by the Daly's and then by Max and Thelma Griffiths in the end house. Bert and Dorris King built the big square white house next door at number 48. They were close kind neighbours. The Glynns built the other side at number 40. All these three properties on the high side of the road were large blocks of 48 perches so there was a lot of space to play in. There were little gates between all four of our yards. When we wanted to visit the Griffiths, we would walk through the Kings, calling out to alert them of our passing. If the Kings wanted to visit the Glynns, they would pass through our yard. And so it was for decades.
Across the road for many decades were Bill and Joyce Byrnes, Brian and Mavis Hannigan, Bill and Leila Bennett and. originally my Uncle Edgar and Aunt Beth Hodges followed by Mrs Leyland and daughter Jan Temperley.
Transport
The Bayleys didn't own a car. Mum caught the bus in Laird Street to go to town and pay bills and buy a few items that could be carried on the bus. She always allowed an extra ten minutes to reach the bus stop to allow time to have a chat with neighbours who might be out in their gardens in Buckingham Street. Returning home, she'd get out of the bus at the Piddington Street stop. It was an easier climb to Grand Parade from there and it offered an opportunity to speak to a different set of neighbours. Dad used the tram to commute. Mum could see him walking down the hill from the terminus so knew he'd soon be home.
Noises
I recall three main sounds from my childhood in St Johns Wood.
* We've always lived with possums scampering across our roof. If ever there were noises in the night that alarmed me Mum would say "it's just the possums". When she said that, it was a comfort and all was well. Nothing has changed. Their descendants still scamper across the roof and share our living space.
* The Glynns lived next door at number 40. Ged began playing the piano at a young age. Mozart and Chopin seemed to be his favourites and my ears became attuned to their masterpieces for which I am for ever grateful to Ged.
* And the nearby quarry was blasted every afternoon around 4
Friendship
Carrol Burke and I were born two days apart in the Ashgrove Private Hospital. The Burkes lived just around the corner at 80 St Johns Avenue and Carrol and I became life long friends. We spent endless hours playing, often under her house in the dirt. Mrs Burke had a grey Austin and she would load her three children on board then collect Mum and me and take us all grocery shopping up "the top" as we called the shops at the top of the steep hill. It was also known as "the terminus". Carrol and I walked to Ashgrove State School together and caught the bus together to The Gap High School. Sadly, Carrol died of cancer when she was thirty. I still miss her.
Still here
Mum lived on at 42 until she was 100. She was still able to climb the 45 steps up to the house until she was 98. She died on the same date, 6th April, as did my father 52 years previous. When Mum died I was faced with the decision - to sell the family home or to buy my siblings out and live on in St Johns Wood. I chose the latter.
37 Sympathy Cards
Sandra, recently came across at her home a bundle of sympathy cards tied
together with a wide purple ribbon.
"My mother had kept them since they were written to her in April 1954. My father had died prematurely, aged 52. I soon realised that I knew the names of nearly everyone who had taken the time to send these words of comfort to Mum and "the girls”.”
Of the thirty-seven cards and letters she had received, nine of them were from members of her church group, but interestingly twenty-one of them were from residents of St Johns Wood where we lived.
"My mother had kept them since they were written to her in April 1954. My father had died prematurely, aged 52. I soon realised that I knew the names of nearly everyone who had taken the time to send these words of comfort to Mum and "the girls”.”
Of the thirty-seven cards and letters she had received, nine of them were from members of her church group, but interestingly twenty-one of them were from residents of St Johns Wood where we lived.
