Eve'nin All,
Just read the interesting contributions on the topic of the 'Downham Factor'. In the pre-war and immediate post war periods there was a definite stigma about coming from 'Danhum'. I was as guilty as the next in writing my address as 17 Merlin Gardens, Bromley, Kent on forms and applications. This was mainly because in those less enlightened times if you came from a big council estate you were automatically grouped with ne'er do wells. Yet, whilst I lived there as a youth I cannot recall any really nasty goings on, but the fact that the estate was classed as a 'slum clearance area, for Deptford, Greenwich and Bermondsey' automatically made it undesirable to those living around the outskirts. As boys we definitely got up to all sorts of mischief, but nothing which affected other people's property. I recall that Mr Dean, who lived at 22 Merlin Gardens, had a beautifully polished Morris 8 saloon car, the only car for miles around, which he parked on the left hand side of the cul-de-sac. We never touched it and always kept well away when playing 'Buzz' or 'Tin Can Copper Knob' or any of the other rowdy pastimes. He and Mrs Dean looked, and behaved, in what they considered to be a middle class manner - and we respected them for it. They had no children so Mr Dean was often to be seen standing in his porch casting worried looks at his car - especially when a game of cricket, with a hard ball, was in progress on the green! But he needn't have worried. When I first went to Secondary School in Lewisham there was a definite feeling against Downamites, but I learnt to ignore it.
In the RAF nobody really cared where you came from so the problem went away. In later years, after I had contacted an old childhood friend from Durham Hill and visited Downham, I became very proud of my roots. Mind you, I sometimes find myself thinking the old adage you can take the boy out of Downham, but you can't take Downham out of the boy is very true!
Incidentally Mike, my almost daily forays on Street View around the estate has made me keen to visit Downham again. I intend to make a two or three day visit in July.