Born on the 21st January 1960, Dee Steed has fond recollections of her childhood in the 60's and 70's.

We lived in a house at 161 Fountain Road in Tooting. The rent used to be £3 per week for our house!

Most people did not have telephones in their houses, we used to use the telephone box by the square for emergencies, or for calling friends and relations that had their 'own 'phone'.

Most people also had only black and white television. We could only get BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. (in our house we could only listen to BBC2 as we could not get it to tune in properly, and used to listen to Mr Magoo instead...)

For music we would listen to either the radio or vinyl records played on a portable record player or stereogram. Most teenagers were either Beatles' or Stones' fans.

Our next door neighbours were Jack and Eunice, they were Welsh.

Two doors along was the off-licence, which apart from beers and spirits, sold groceries and to my delight, sweets and coca cola! It was run by Gladys and George and they had a large Old English sheepdog called Jenny.

Other neighbours included Mrs Walker, Mrs O'Keefe and Mrs Young. Across the road was a large block of flats called Anderson House. (It is still there).

By the large 'square' of Anderson House is the entrance to the park, although on a recent visit, it is very different from the park I remember.

We used to have a games shed, and two games leaders (organised by the council!). They were Dave and Beryl Garratt and their three sons were friends of mine. In the shed, available to borrow, were stilts, cricket bats, footballs, netballs, tennis racquets hoops etc etc.

There was also a gym horse and Dave and Beryl used to hold gym sessions as well as leading a park football and netball team. We used to compete inter park with other Wandsworth parks, culminating in a grand final in King George's park in Wandsworth, where medals were presented by the Mayor.

We had several local sweet shops, one in Fountain Road run by Mr Gracier and one on the corner of Bertal Road and Blackshaw Road run by Mrs Bailey, a very sweet old lady whose husband ran it with her until he passed away in the early 60's.

I attended Broadwater School, which was the best school ever!

In Alston Road was a hardware shop where you could buy Esso Blue or Pink Paraffin for paraffin heaters. There was also a lady greengrocer in Alston Road where mum always bought King Edwards!

My granddad used to live on the corner of Alston Road and Fountain Road and he grew cooking apples in his back garden and roses in the front.

We used to have a regular stream of 'visitors' to our road: the coal lorry, the rag and bone man, the milkman, three different ice cream vans, and the Salvation Army would march down playing their tambourines.

Our favourite ice cream van was Rossi's with their Long Tom lollies and rocket lollies. They also had blocks of ice cream that they cut up to make cornets, and my favourite was chocolate chip!

Favourite sweets of the time were cola cubes, milk bottles, pineapple cubes, liquorice allsorts, coconut tobacco, wagon wheels, and of course drinking coca cola (the off licence had a big fridge with a bottle opener attached, which was a real novelty to us).

During those years we saw the introduction of decimalisation, colour television, Cindy dolls, Action man and Thunderbirds.

As children we did not have very much in the way of toys, and we looked after everything very carefully.

Older children would read Dandy, Beano, Sparky and Topper comics whilst their younger siblings would read 'Teddy Bear'.

We had lots of imagination and when the park was closed at night we would play British Bulldog, Ting Tang Tally and Knockdown Ginger in the 'square'.

We would also pretend to be The Beatles, and stand on the white posts by 'Burns Transit' singing our hearts out!

A very happy time.........

Dee Steed, Surrey, 2002