53 Parkhurst Road

– A Trip Down Memory Lane

Julie Newman

Take a trip back in time to a slower pace of life, when neighbours were more like family, and we all had more time for each other.

This is a memoir of childhood in Bexley, Kent, in the post-War years, at 53 Parkhurst Road, a house that buzzed with activity, from morning till night.

The Watson family enjoyed art, music and dancing, surrounded by the comings and goings of a guesthouse, all adding to the colourful atmosphere.

Julie Newman – née Watson – grew up in Bexley and attended St Mary's C of E Primary School, Bexleyheath County Secondary School for girls and the Madge French and Doreen Bird schools of dancing. She gained a bronze medal for tap-dancing along with certificates in balley up to grade five. She left school in 1965 to become an apprentice hairdresser at the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (better knows as the RACS) in Bexleyheath, and over the years has had many jobs within the profession, including her own business.

After her marriage in 1970 she moved house many times within London and the South East, became inquisitive about her childhood home and was drawn back in 1999 and 2005 to revisit the area. This in turn compelled her to write this book. She now lives in the West Country with her second husband and daughter.