[West Ender]

There have been not so good things in every decade since I've been alive and the 50s were no worse than any other. Some of the bad things were, if you look at them another way, quite good.

Food rationing was difficult but we home-grew and ate loads of vegetables instead of meat, butter etc. People were leaner and, on the whole, fitter. Having to walk, due to very few private cars and petrol rationing, contributed to fitness too.

What television there was, in the early 50s, was only broadcast for a few hours a day. Children didn't sit staring at TV or computers, which were unknown, they played outside.

Hardly anyone had central heating and fitted carpets and, whether or not there's a connection I can only guess at, very many fewer children suffered from asthma.

There were bomb sites in some towns but there was plenty of employment because towns and cities had to be rebuilt. Many people whose homes had been destroyed or damaged moved into new Council estates where the housing was good and the estates well kept.

There was crime around, as ever, but there were policemen "on the beat" and, on the whole, people felt safe both in and out of their homes. Most children were instructed in good manners and those who were tempted to misbehave on the streets were summarily dealt with by the local bobby.

All in all, it was not too bad a decade.