Homes & cars
Grandad's lifetime coincided with motoring coming within the means of a large number of people. Home comforts also increased dramatically.
Hugh Samuel King and his wife Alice had their first family home at 31 Manor Way, Southall. In 1927 they bought 44 Northcote Avenue, from Messrs J. J. & V. Nichols for £600 using a loan of £450 from Southall Norwood Urban District Council. They lived in Northcote Avenue for the next 33 years, raising their children there.
In June 1932 Hugh bought an AJS motorcycle and sidecar from a Mr. Crouch of Blyth Road, Hayes. March 1935 saw the purchase of an Austin 7 Saloon for £60, plus the costs of insurance and a carrier. In 1937 came a change in buying pattern. He bought a Standard Little 9 which he must have really liked. He kept it for 23 years.
In 1959, two years after Grandad's retirement, my grandparents moved from Southall to Portsmouth. They bought a new bungalow for £2,125. 44 Northcote Avenue was sold to a Mr. S. Singh for £2,000. I was puzzled by how a house in West London could ever have been worth less than a small bungalow in Portsmouth. My mother tells me the house still had an outside toilet and a bath tub in the kitchen, covered by a wooden panel to form a table top when not in use. The move was a real jump to all mod cons.
Grandad finished his motoring odyssey in a British mass market classic, a Morris Minor. Hugh and Alice celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary in 1965. In '75 they were in the newspaper and had a telegram from the Queen. Even in retirement he took responsibility, becoming secretary of the local Old Age Pensioners Association. He retained his mental faculties to the end of his life, dying in 1986 having been a widower for 2 years. Sadly, I was too young and too remote to appreciate his talents while he was still alive.