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Kitty White's Memories of late 1950s Brentford

"I believe it was written in the late fifties when our family home and shop was compulsory purchased by the council, the whole area was flattened at that tim, a huge upset for many Brentford families. My parents were allocated a flat on the sixth floor a big change from having a house and garden ,such a major trauma for them at the time."

I was born in Brentford, and it's sad to see
The piles of rubble where the shops used to be.
We used to refer to it as "Down the street",
To David Greig's to get out meat.
There was Mrs Woods selling pies and mash,
The rag and bone shop we called Old Nash,
If you took a jam jar you'd get a balloon,
This shop was facing Clinton's, the Barber's Saloon.
I also remember Jim Daubney, with his block of sticky dates.
Down on the "High Ground" opposite the Fire Station gates
We had Rattenbury's the local Pawnshop
And McIlroys where you could buy a nice frock
But there's one place I shall never forget,
It's the old Cinema called "Coronet",
Once every week to there we would go,
For a kiss and a cuddle in the back row.
We've lost our market and fountain too,
But there's still the Water Tower looking down on you.
The years have passed and nothing's the same,
We miss the old shops but we're proud of our name.

Kitty White, Brentford

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Published May 2012