Guinness Buildings

[Vossy]

Hello Easty

I cant believe I have found someone who remembers George Horton...( it was 457)..he was my Grandad. My Mum is Doreen Horton who used to be friends with Chrissy Comber and Jean. She thinks that your nan was called Ella or something similar. Mum is 75 now and she lives near you in Welling. She also remembers Mrs Streetly and the Godsells. If you send me your e-mail address I will send those photos. one of them is taken from Pages walk by the wall of the railway sidings. It is a great photo and it clearly shows T block. The other is a pic of my nan with mum and her brother as kids outside T block.
I lok forward to hearing from you and swapping stories.

Regards

Vossy

[Mutley]

I still have friends in Guiness Trust in Kennington Park Road.

Don't know if Dobson and Badger ring any bells.

[muddy waters]

I have been trying to discover for some time; more about my grandfather's brother. He is known to have lived in Guinness Buildings, Hammersmith in the 1940s. I am not too sure whether these buildings are the same ones that you are discussing here? Just in case, his name was John William Courtney, and his wife was Helena. I believe they had three daughters, although there may well be other children. The known daughters were Mabel, Susan and Eileen. One of whom is believed to have married someone of french origin. They would have moved to London from Cardiff sometime after 1927. John died in 1948 and his wife in 1958. Can anyone help me please. Thank you

I lived in Guinness Buildings in Pages Walk, Bermondsey ( Just off the Old Kent Road. The flats were large Victorian blocks built by the Guinness Trust for poor people. There were Guinness Trust buildings all over London. The flats were not luxurious by todays standards. Thee were four large blocks of buildings and each block had about six entrances. These entrances let to concrete staircases and there were four flats on each landing. The size of the flats varied but most were just two rooms. A living room/kitchen (this had a range(coal or gas) but no running water) and one bedroom. The toilets and sinks( two of each) were outside the flats on each landing and were shared by 4 families. The baths were in two seperate blocks and it was possible to bath on only two days a week. My grandfather was one of the caretakers ( they were called porters) and one of his duties was to stoke the boilers to heat hot water for the baths. The baths were in cubicles and you had to pay( I think it was 2d) and he would run the bath for you ( there were no taps, he had a brass tap which fitted on the square spindle to operate the tap so you couldn't take extra hot water). There was no electricity in the flats, all the lights were gas mantles. I lived there as a small child until about 1960 and they eventually put in electricity in about 1962/3. The flats were demolished in about 1970 and a brand new flats were built. They are still there. We moved away to Guinness Buildings in Kennington Park Road ( where we had our own bath) and they are also still there.
Gunness Trust now have houses and flats all over the UK.
That description of the flats makes me sound ancient but I am only talking about 45 years ago in central London! I am only 52 myself.
I have an excellent photograph of the old Victorian block in Pages Walk if you would like a copy. If your relatives lived in this block, my parents may well remember them. What were their names?

[Vossy]

The Guinness block in Hammersmith is way over on the west side of London.

Vossy

[Vossy]

I will send you an e mail with copies of the photos of the Pages Walk blocks and also the block at Kennington Park Road. I lived in the Kennington Park Road block from about 1959 until 1972 or 73.

[muddy waters]

Many thanks Vossy, it was worth a try

Muddy

The Guinness block in Hammersmith is way over on the west side of London.

Vossy

[loaupp]

Hi everyone I'm a new member. I wonder if anyone can remember my Dads' family. They lived at 447 Guinness Buildings. My Dad was born there in 1914. Their names were Richard and Sarah Roberts. My Dads' name was Leonard. They had five or six children I believe and I think my Dad was the youngest. I remember be told that one child had been run over and killed while they lived there. Until I started to read the messages I had thought of the Buildings as being self contained flats with all the amenities (shows what a pampered life I've had doesn't it). My Dad only used to talk of the mischief he got up to with the other children and not of the actual flat.

[Eastie]

Hi Loaupp

My Mothers family, Comber also lived in T block at 447 during the late 40's 50's and my nan was the last of the family to live in the flat until she was moved into the newly built flats. My mum, dad, sister and me moved eventually into 455, 6th Floor. I do rememeber that the family who lived on the ground floor lost a young child I think named Sylvester who was run over by a milk float in Web street this would have been late 50's. We as kids also got up to mischief by climbing on the shed roofs and being chased by the porters.

We had to share a toilet with the family next door which was great fun at night as there was no lighting on our landing, we used a candle talk about the dark ages. We didn't have electricity until the very late 50's early 60's. My first memories of television was Yogi Bear.

My Mothers name was Helen or Nell my dad's name was Fred, surname East.

[loaupp]

Thanks Eastie for the info. I think my Grandparents had moved from the area by the time you lived there. In the 1950s we were all living in either Romford or Mitcham.

Regards
Tricia

[Simon in Bucks]

My Great Grandmother and her 3 young sons from her 1st marriage lived at 306 Guinness Buildings - Bermondsey with her 2nd husband.

She was Harriet Annie Holding (nee Mott) - born 1876
Her 2nd husband was Henry Lorton - born 1877 - he was a Blacksmith (and his nickname was Grubby ! It all matched when I got their Marriage cert - they married on 25th Dec 1911)