Our community 1920-1940

Park Place

Backyard Brighton

An important theme for many QueenSpark writers is the memory of community.  The era when 'everyone was in the same boat' and had to 'make-do' is often remembered fondly.  Neighbours, friends and family formed the community and tales of a great generosity of spirit can be traced through the memories.

On this page and in the committee for community spirit, My neighbours, Granny Smith and The Shepherd and the Firemen you can explore local memories of community and local characters during the first half of the 20th century.

You can download Our community 1920-1940 and its accompanying pages by clicking here (PDF format).

Nobody moved into the area, because nobody moved out. Neighbours used to sit on the step and talk to passers by. This is why people didn't want to move; the community was there. They married people who lived almost next door. The com­munity feeling went when we were moved out to Whitehawk.

Excerpt taken from the tapes made of the conversation at the Carlton Hill Tea Party held at the Lewis Cohen Urban Studies Centre at Brighton Polytechnic May 25th 1984 for inclusion in Backyard Brighton

The police used to come round the streets two or three times a day on foot, and if he saw a child misbehaving he would clip them round the ear with his gloves. You daren't tell your Mum, as she would only say you must have been doing something to deserve it.The sort of thing you would get a clip for was climbing a lamp post to put the light on, or chalking on the wall.

I think children were better behaved in those days, we were taught to respect our parents and teachers. If you answered a teacher back you would get a ruler across your knuckles.

There were quite a few tramps about in those days, mostly men, and my mother would never refuse one. If she couldn't afford to give him money, she would give him or her some food, even if it was only a slice of bread and dripping. She had a saying: 'There but for the grace of God go I'.
L. Scarborough in Backyard Brighton

You could tell the time by the postman, he came three times a day, eight o'clock, twelve o'clock and four o'clock, and was never late. You could set your clock by him. Not that we got many letters, but you could see him go by the window. Some people didn't have a clock or they had pawned it, so they used to rely on neigh­bours to knock on the wall to get them up in time for work and school. Most peo­ple were up by six in the morning, they used to go to bed early as there was noth­ing much to do when the work was finished.
L. Scarborough in Backyard Brighton