The Boys from the Bush

Shepherds Bush, in the immediate post-war years, was a thriving and busy community. In many ways it was an exciting place in which to grow up. Despite there being no TV, computer games or mobiles and even very few private telephones, there was never enough time in the day for The Boys from the Bush. We could always find or invent things to do. Boredom was a state of mind that simply didn't exist in the boys' world. Games and schemes were hatched in our H.Q. - a perilous bombed-out house with no floors and only its bare rafters remaining. A 60ft drop awaited any one of us if we were to slip.This was a period where regular visits to the cinema and the "wireless" provided the main sources of entertainment.There was a proliferation of cinemas in those days with long queues of people waiting to get in to see the latest films. Saturday morning pictures were not to be missed. at 6.45 every evening the streets were empty with everyone home and glued to the light programme, avidly awaiting the latest episode of Dick Barton - special agent.It was a time when authority was respected and the words of parents, teachers and 'grown-ups' generally were rarely questioned - not that this prevented the boys from having fun.Apart from the colourful street characters the main protagonists are: Reggie: the tallest of the boys and the best at all sports.Joey: the asthmatic one, generally hopeless but always the most immaculate from the top of his brylcreemed hair to the tips of his cherry blossomed shoes.David: the storyteller - with tales that usually involved dead bodies or, at the very least, lots of blood.Ken: the observer and narrator of those wonderful times of over 60 years ago.and not forgetting: Baby sister: just a pain in those days. she hasn't changed...