Judy Hame - Grove End Gardens 1935 - 2015

Judy Hame

 

Judy’s Family – Judy’s maternal grandfather, Herman Finck, was originally Dutch. He was a composer of light music and Musical Director at the Palace Theatre and Drury Lane, thirty years and ten years respectively. He was the conductor when Anna Pavlova appeared at the Palace Theatre. He wrote masses of light music, the most well known being “In the Shadows” and  “Oh What a Lovely War”which was used in the film. His autobiography is My Melodious Memories. He and his wife and daughters, Judy’s mother and aunt, lived in the Finchley Road, opposite the Finchley Road station. Judy still has the piano on which her grandfather composed all his music.

Judy’s father was from Somerset, and worked at Lloyds. When they were first married, they lived in Gonder Gardens, West Hampstead, but after Judy was born they moved to a flat in Grove End Gardens. The block was newly built when they moved there in 1935.


Grove End Gardens –  The flats were built by Sir John Mactaggart, from Glasgow, chairman of the Western Heritable Investment Co. They were built as affordable units for working people, having very small kitchens with a club, restaurant and bar, on the ground floor. Judy remembers watching people play darts from the doorway, as she was not allowed in, due to the licensing laws. There was also a hairdresser in the block, and other shops in the arcade accessed from the Abbey Road entrance (which is on a different level from the Grove End Road entrance). The current Mactaggart is still involved, being chairman of the Housing Association Ltd which owns the block.

When the Hame family moved in, they had not yet connected the electricity! Soon however, the flats were provided with an electric fire, cooker, fridge and a radiogram. There are nice gardens at the back of the flats away from the traffic. At first each family on the garden floor could care for the strip by their front door. Judy also remembers a sandpit in which she used to play.



Wartime – During the war, Judy was evacuated with her mother to South Wales, and went to school in Sussex, and Gloucestershire. Her father stayed in London. The shell of the block was solid concrete and people used to sleep in the corridors to avoid the air raids. Judy’s aunt and grandmother had moved into Grove End Gardens in 1939. Her aunt became an air raid warden stationed on the roof of the block, and her father a member of the Home Guard. His base was next door where the synagogue is now. The block received a direct hit, but fortunately those flats were unoccupied at the time, apart from one resident who was in the bar downstairs!

The 1950’s – In 1952, Judy and her mother moved into a smaller flat in the same block. Daleham Tennis Club occupied the site where the American School is now, but Judy joined Hampstead Cricket Club and played tennis there. It was very social. Her father would take her to watch cricket at Lord’s. He played elsewhere as a wicket keeper.

Next door to the block, in number 31 Grove End Road, lived the artist Simon Elwes. Judy remembers seeing a large car drive up from which the Queen got out. She was coming to sit for her portrait.  Thomas Beecham occupied the house previously, as shown by a blue plaque.

Nugent Terrace – Judy’s family used the shops in Nugent Terrace. The premises there have remained much the same, though the shops have changed hands of course. Jordans shoe shop is well remembered, and Cliffords, the grocer, delivered the food. Several of the shop owners were related.

Working Life – Judy went to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and performed in repertory, but soon the need to earn a living meant that she got a job in her uncle’s outfitters business. She later joined British Airways, where she spent most of her working life. But she has always retained an interest in the theatre, where she goes regularly.

Grove End Gardens today – In the flats where she still lives, there are now many different nationalities, and lots of the units are sublet. This makes it difficult to get residents interested in the block as a whole. Recently, however, some unified concerns have been expressed, due to the imminent building of penthouses by the freeholders.

 

The arcade has been used for a new heating system, and the small general shop can only be accessed from the outside.

Changes in St John’s Wood – The area hasn’t changed all that much, apart from new buildings, like the St John’s Wood Synagogue next door, and Arnold House School, in Loudoun Road. There used to be two underground stations, Marlborough Road station on the corner of Finchley Road and Queen’s Grove, and St John’s Wood Station, which was originally opposite Lords. These were both closed in 1939 when the present station opened. Further along Acacia Road was the United Dairies headquarters, where their horses were stabled. Deliveries from them used to include a lot of dairy products, apart from just milk and cream. Many pubs in the area have closed, as they have all over the UK. St John and Elizabeth Hospital was originally run by nuns, whom Judy remembers, as her grandmother was treated there.

Another sad change will come when the barracks close at the end of this year, as the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery will be moving away. The beautifully turned out horses parading along the local streets have been a spectacular feature of St John’s Wood over many years.

This page was added on 02/12/2011.

Comments about this page

  • I lived and worked in “The Abbey Tavern” in Violet Hill in the early 80’s and used to shop in Nugent Terrace and walk our dog daily in Regents Park after picking my daughter up from school. I remember seeing Boy George hiding from his fans who congregated in the laundry trying to get a glimpse of him. I went back in the late 90’s to discover The Abbey Tavern is now flats. Workers from the Abbey Studios used to come in the pub for lunch and I was invited to a tour but never seemed to find the time, something I always regretted. Have some fond memories of St John’s Wood. Now living near the sea in Frinton, another lovely place.

    By Rita Smith (23/10/2022)
  • Lovely to read all this.

    Joseph R Wilson, my paternal grandfather, was the architect of Grove End Gardens, and I know he would be tickled to know that his design was still serving its purpose.

    Next time I’m down from Glasgow, I must pay a visit.

    By Norman Wilson (27/02/2020)
  • Howard – if you get this message Facebook me, Sandra Farquhar, l’d love to hear from you ! X ❤️

    By Sandra Farquhar (21/12/2019)
  • Hi Sandra.

    Absolutely so pleased and delighted to tell you I have just read your note which took me completely by surprise! Such happy times.
    The restaurant you mention in 20 Abbey Road next door to Grove End Gardens was called Kays restaurant, the owner being Mr Kay.
    I was lunching in there a couple of times when John Lennon and Paul McCartney came in. I didn’t even ask them for their autographs.
    As soon as I see the Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover of them walking across the zebra crossing, the memories come flooding back.
    Also it is the 50th.year anniversary of the album and so your note as well has made it even more special! So of course I do hope you read this.

    Howard. 👍x

    By Howard Rush (02/10/2019)
  • Hi Howard I worked with you and Ann in the late 60s – my name is SANDRA I washed hair and did bits but I wasn’t there long enough to learn hairdressing. You took me next door for a meal and we were the only ones in there, I thought it was so grand inside; I remember the two ladies that ran the little supermarket and the old boy on the door, you gave me a lift home in your lovely white car, you were mad for Judith Durham haaaaaa I did pull your leg about that, I hope you get this little note, great memories ! X ❤️

    By Sandra (27/08/2019)
  • Hi – I am interested in people who lived in Grove End Gardens in the 1960’s.
    I am following my family tree and have family who lived there in 65. I am
    wondering if anyone can remember the Nicholas family and Lewis family .
    Claire

    By Claire Lewis (02/07/2019)
  • My Grandfather Leonard Emery was the Head Porter at Grove End Gardens up to 1983 although not sure when he started working there, I lived next door in the synagogue as my father was the caretaker there from 1973 to 1984. I have very fond memories of growing up and playing in the grounds of the flats much to the residents annoyance I think:-) . Would be nice to visit the place again.

    By Robert Shiels (18/09/2018)
  • Robert, thanks for your comments. It would be great if you were to add a piece about you time in St John’s Wood. If you feel like doing that, include where you lived, , friends, school etc, then you could send it to me: janeleaver@cgardens.co.uk, and I will put it up on the web.

    By Jane Leaver (23/09/2018)
  •  

    I came across Memories Of St.John’s Wood site.I read it all with great interest because from 1961-1967 I worked in the hairdressing salon in Grove End Gardens.

    I was the junior!

    Greta Tomlinson had taken over from her mother in running the salon when i started, in fact it was known as Grove End Salon while i was there.

    Anne Seymour (Miss Anne as I called her) was the manager stylist and Pat the junior stylist. Anne travelled in from Putney every day by underground. Pat lived in Starling House, Allitsen Road i think it is in.

    I travelled from Kenton, where i still live!! I am now coming up to 71 years of age. I was 15 when i started working in the salon. I remember Martha would apply egg yolk to her hair and when she came down to the salon her hair was all hard! I had to rinse it out with hot water which was quite a task! But her hair did benefit from it.

    Every Xmas we were invited to the flat for Xmas lunch.

    I would go quite often into Kays Restaurant next door at number 20 Abbey Road for a three course lunch costing one and sixpence!! I remember Rootes car dealership opposite the flats.

    I used to go to  Nugent Terrace and buy bottles of beer which we applied to clients hair after shampooing. I shampoo’d Shirley Anne Fields hair. She came in quite often when she could and was very nice indeed.

    I remember the grocer’s shop in the block run by Peggy and sister Vi.The head porters who lived in were a Mr.and Mrs. Grahame.

    I have very happy memories of it all

    Howard Rush

    By Howard Rush (23/02/2017)
  • The McTaggart Family are still involved in Grove End Gardens but Sir Ian, who inherited from Sir John, died of a heart attack some years ago. He once invited me to dine with friends of his living in Grove End Gardens. I grew up frequenting Grove End Gardens a lot because it is the address of my birth certificate and my mother still had a lot of friends there. I even lived there briefly many years ago with my ex-husband when we visited the UK. It is a huge block of flats, in fact two blocks, built around decorative courtyards. As a little girl I often used to get lost because I could not distinguish between the two courtyards. There was a hairdresser on the ground floor, Madame Martha, whose owner, Martha Tomlinson was a close friend of my mother. Martha also lived in the block. She was originally from northern Sweden and had married the brother of the actor David Tomlinson. She had two daughters, Karin and Greta. My mother became friends with a lot of Martha’s other patrons, including the actress Shirley Ann Field, who starred in “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” with Albert Finney. There are two entrances to Grove End Gardens, one in Grove End Road and the other in Abbey Road, just down the road from the famous recording studios. It is just visible on the right hand side in the famous Beatles album photo. 

    I agree about the changes to St. John’s Wood, my brother will be interested in the change to Arnold House School, it was his prep school. I used to feed my favourite horse, Ada, with sugar at the United Dairies stable. I was also treated at the St. John and Elizabeth Hospital when it was run by nuns. Sad about barracks, I used to rush out of bed at six in the morning when we lived in Avenue Road to watch the horses from the barracks ride by.

    By Josephine Bacon (20/02/2017)

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