Looking back

THE GARDEN CITY, Woodford

If one were to go down to the dark and gloomy basement of Gwynne House today, one might find it difficult to imagine it as a "home" for some 25 boys. Yet, towards the close of 1909, that is what it was, following the purchase of the estate at Woodford Bridge which William Baker, the Director who followed Dr. Barnardo himself, had conceived as a Boys' Garden City, modelled on the lines of the Girls Village at Barkingside opened more than 35 years before that. However, these first boys came from the Labour House in Commercial Road, Stepney, and it is not difficult to understand that the Woodford Bridge estate, with its spacious fields, ponds and trees, was a paradise by comparison. With the immense drive and energy of those times, it was not long before the "city" took shape, the boys themselves even taking a part in the digging of trenches and in making up the roads and paths! In 1910 a number of the foundation stones were laid, and by the end of 1912 no less than 13 of the new cottages were occupied. In May, 1912, there had been the formal opening of some of the cottages, including "Kings", which was the first to be completed, and which, of course, commemorated King Edward VII who had died just two years before. At the same time, that splendid asset, the swimming baths, given by the Johnson family of Woodford, which has given pleasure to many hundreds of boys, was also formally opened. Pellew House, which was completed the same year, was first used as a hospital and sanatorium, but later (and of course still long before the building of the J.C.H. Hospital) New Zealand House was in occupation for temporary cases of illness. The main medical work at this time was of course still carried on in Her Majesty's Hospital at Stepney, in what is now Barnardo House.

Free circulation outside the Garden City grounds was forbidden (the iron gates were never permanently open as they are today), but on Sundays everyone had to parade in the then fashionable "sailor" uniforms, to attend morning service at St. Paul's, the church on the green at Woodford Bridge. After the service it was common practice for each cottage group to take "crocodile" walks, two by two, to fill out the morning until dinner time, and it was then that one could regularly see the decorated brakes drawn by magnificent steaming heavy horses pulling up the hill outside the "White Hart", in order that their passengers, enjoying an outing from the East End to the country, could be suitably refreshed in the tavern. Too often we were commanded to hurry past, lest our young minds should be depraved by this shameful sight, but in secret I thought it was wonderful to see such a jolly singing crowd packed on the decorated brake, especially the "cheerleader" perched up in front beside the burly driver, resplendent in red and gold uniforms and cocked hat, who from time to time tootled with abandon on his shining brassy post-horn.

I well remember the beautiful afternoon of 4th August 1914, with the golden sunshine flooding on the floor of Christine House, and the enormous excitement of what both we and the adults so mistakenly thought of as the great crusade and great adventure then commencing. I had a banana tea as a most unusual treat as it was a fruit which was then still something of a novelty even with adults. In October of that year Canada Hall was opened, and meals were no longer taken in the cottages. Despite the sense of lightness and airiness of what was for those times a remarkable building, I remember that, to a child, that vast cavern was rather intimidating. When the "Stepney Giant" walked in, one felt even more insignificant, since he had to duck his head when entering those enormous doors of Canada Hall. Throughout the First World War there was the nightly secret hope that we might be visited by the Zeppelins. We all helped to cover the windows with a green wash (there were of course no curtains), and during the winter especially the yellow stone floors were cold and the rooms very gloomy, as the only lighting consisted of fish-tail gas jets enclosed in a protective wire mesh. The gas jets were high up, but were no problem to active boys, although interference with them was forbidden. During the conker season the protective hood over the wire cage was an excellent place for the periodic slow baking of conkers to such a hardness as to make them virtually invincible. Having learned from our spies of this crafty device practised by the champions in certain other cottages, I once acquired a four-hundred and fifty-sixer after considerable experimentation in the slow-baking process.

One sees now, of course, what devoted women acted as cottage mothers (two to each cottage, with no domestic help whatever, and with a wartime compression of as many as 45 boys per cottage), but at that time I thought more of trying to keep awake at nights, both in the fearful hope that bombs might fall, or that the feeble searchlights might pick up a Zeppelin, and also that I might perchance catch a glimpse of those mysterious females doing the rounds at dead of night, complete with a flickering candle and wearing enormous, substantial, yet frilly, nightclothes.

The local school overflowed, and Ray Lodge, in particular, witnessed each day the double trek of the enormous column of boys marching the road in fours (just like the soldiers, our heroes) to and from the Garden City. It was a matter of some pride to try and keep up with the "left right left" commands of the orderly master, and after the formal dismissal on the playground at school, to show that the Barnardo boys were every bit as good as the considerably small number who came from private homes. It is significant that throughout the years it was these latter who were referred to by all as the "outsiders". The more junior boys were taught at the "Temporary School"-a corrugated iron structure which had been built within the confines of the Garden City, and known to generations of boys as the "Tin School". The headmaster of those days, a Mr. Finnemore, and a dedicated man if ever there was one, was always fighting for better conditions. In particular, the playground was surfaced with loose cinders, which in no time at all became crushed to a fine choking dust. In an effort to prove his case he invited a few big-wigs along one day after having invited the assembled school to search for a few pennies he had laid in the dust. There was of course a wild scramble, and our distinguished visitors beat a hasty retreat beyond the immense cloud of dust. The Headmaster at last got his asphalt laid, but it was weeks before all the treasured pennies were accounted for.

In 1919, after the well remembered victory celebrations were over, the Rev. Howard and Mrs. Banister arrived from Watts as the new Governors in place of the Pagets, who had retired. This opened up a new era for the Garden City and most of the modern amenities, additions and improvements were due in large measure to their humanity, drive and initiative, in what can be seen in retrospect as something of a golden age for a settled Garden City life. Many hundreds of boys will remember with affection those days of the twenties, and of the coming of the Lewins in the thirties, but all that is another story.

by Mr. Frank Dixon

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