Back to the 1950's
I was looking on Google Maps to see where I lived as a small child.
I was born December 23rd 1955 in St Thomas' Hospital in London. The hospital is directly opposite The Houses of Parliament. The River Thames between them.
From there we moved into a room at my Great Aunt Nan's house nearby Elephant and Castle.
Then we moved north. My mum was born and bred in Oldham. Hence the reason, if you read my output, I still support Oldham Athletic.
Not before I was christened at St Lawrence Church in Morden, Surrey in February 1956.
Our first home sounds pretty horrific by our modern standards in Throstle Walk in Chadderton. No electricity. Limited running water. Lit by gas. Outside toilet.
We were later moved into a council house in Laburnham Avenue, also in Chadderton.
My brother was born there in 1960 and we moved south again in November 1965.
But where was this Victorian hovel?
I had to try and find maps of the area from the 50's or even earlier.
In the end I emailed the Archive department at Oldham Council and they sent the link below.
Throstle Walk is a small cluster of houses very near the bottom of the map.
Trying to locate the exact area on a modern Google Maps is approximate.
Several of the roads in the 1947 map are still there. Working out where they still exists puts Throstle Walk under what is maybe Sandgate Road. No sign that there was a colliery or iron works nearby exists today.
The slum clearance in Oldham and Chadderton in the 60's was brutal. Not just for the knocking down of still habitable two-up two down houses as well as the slums, but also for the terrible grey concrete blocks they built.
Looking on streetview the area looks so much better. But we are in 2021 now and not 1961.
The house my Gran lived until she passed in the 80's is still there on Bargap Road. The houses opposite went many many years ago.
I doubt I will get back to Oldham very often now. But you need to know your roots.
Comments