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I was born on 11 July 1931 at a house in Honeybrook Road, Balham, and was christened Brenda Mary Walters. Mary is a family name but where my parents got Brenda from, I do not know. I weighed 10 1⁄2lbs and a telegram was sent off to my aunts telling them that ‘a little apple lady’ had arrived as my cheeks were so rosy (cheeks being of the facial variety!).
One day we were near the boating lake in Alexandra Park and as I was walking along the low concrete edging that surrounded it, the boatman, who was watching us from his hut, yelled at me to ‘Get off!’ at which I promptly missed my footing and fell in. I was clutching a magic painting book, which I was still holding when I was pulled out of course, the book then resembled all the colours of a rainbow much to my dismay.
Conveyances had to be typed on parchment and, as this was to be a legal document, you were not allowed to make a mistake otherwise you would be deducted 10 shillings (50p) from your wages. I only started on 7/6d per week (75p) so that would have been a catastrophe.
‘I love you Mum’, those words are dear
And they’re printed on a souvenir
My daughter brought back home to me
The day she had been down by the sea
She came home, still dressed as a Guide
And turning from me tried to hide
The object clasped tight in her hand
She felt it wasn’t all that grand
But I insisted that it was
As surely any mother does
‘It’s something that I really wanted’
(I didn’t want her disappointed)
‘I’ll put it on a shelf up high’
Where I can see, as days go by
How much you really thought of me
The day you went down by the sea
I know it has not got much ‘class’
That little tankard made of glass
But it’s a gift that I’ll always treasure
To prove a love beyond all measure.