Silvertown Life: A Boy's Story

A nostalgic trip back in time biography, describing a boy's journey and rites of passage living through the immediate aftermath of World War 2 in the bomb damaged East London Royal Dockland hamlets of Silvertown and Canning Town. The camaraderie and character that existed in these close knit East London communities. A fascinating and humorous journey through family life from 1945 to the mid 1960's from the very first memories of being tortured in the park, through period of the 1951 Festival of Britain and Queen Elizabeth's 1953 Coronation. It's all there - surviving near death experiences, bombed houses, kids street games, the traumatic times in the early years adjusting to cruelty in children's homes, 1950's school life and corporal punishment, pursued by paedophiles, the first sexual adventures, running away from home, family punch-ups, local shops, factories and a vibrant East London market. The twist at the very end of the book showing that sometimes, when you feel that life has cruelly dealt you a very hard knock, you can end up feeling truly grateful