The First Residents
You had your own privacy
Early residents, the Thomas family and neighbours
Keith Thomas
They were different then you know. People, they kept themselves very much to themselves. My mother always called the neighbours “Mrs. So-and-so” and I always knew the next-door neighbours and one next door as Mrs. this or Mrs. the other, you know. I never knew that name of my neighbours – even my friend's mother. (Jean Kitchener née Fitches)
Street life was the norm in London – the accommodation was too cramped for entertaining inside. Children played in the street from an early age, while the women of the street observed life from their front doors acting as unofficial censors of the morals and safety of their area. When they moved to St. Helier, the children carried on their way of playing but had the benefit of the new green spaces. Many women missed the bustle and friendship of London, but the pride in having a completely separate house (together with not wishing to put on show how poor the interior might be) meant they stayed formally friendly but rather distant from their neighbours.
New found privacy
As Mum said - when they lived in the flat in London, their front doors were always open and everybody was in each other's homes - flats, rooms, whatever they called them. Whereas here, it was being proud that they had their own houses. They could chat over the garden wall while they're hanging their washing out but you didn't pop in for a cup of tea as regularly as you used to. It didn't mean any different for them - it was just they could share their own lifestyle individually, because this was having the freedom of having their own home. Maybe, it was lovely to be alone, still with the comfort of everybody around you, but to be alone, knowing that you had your own privacy. (Sylvia Barnard née Cole)