Milk, Shops, Restaurants, Film, Fire, Flood, Earthquake

Milk, Shops, Restaurants

In the 1980s Hillview Road had milk deliveries. Milk arrived in glass bottles with foil tops.  Then during a hot summer, I found a hole in the lid, several days running. The first day I thought it was the milkman’s thumb and careless handling. But it happened again. Alice had cats. A catalogue company was advertising protective tops for milk bottles. 

I phoned Alice and asked, "Is the problem caused by the milkman or by cats, and will plastic bottle tops help? "

Alice answered, “It’s not the postman and not the cats. Probably birds.”

Film

Dates of notable events in the UK and Hillview Road

Film of You Don’t Have To Walk To Fly, TV film, starring Bob Hopkins, filmed next door at the bungalow, 6 Hillview Road. The Film  was released in 1984. The road was closed for the day during the filming. A van was parked at the end of the road with food and toilets for the actors and filming crew.

Fire

A fire happened in the garden of a house opposite. in 201? A fire engine turned up fast and the fire was put out by the crew including a firewoman. 

Flood

I  researched on the local Harrow council website and found that Hatch End has suffered from floods in 1977, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. Harrow Council with the EO (Environment Agency) then pul in plans to prevent flooding.

On one occasion I drove home from Barbara who lives around the corner and was faced with what looked like a river. I phoned Alice to ask how deep the water was outside her house and mine. She looked and said it was only up to the kerb stone. So I decided to drive back. First, I would have a landline phone. Second I needed to protect the property. I needed to be where people could find me. Id didn’t want to spend all night in the car. I phoned Barbara and asked her what to do when I got home.  “She said, take everything off the floor, fill a thermos with a hot drink, get a packet of biscuits and then go upstairs.” “I replied, “There isn’t an upstairs. I live in a bungalow.” At this point I had plan two. Plan two was Alice.

The other useful thing I can do in a power cut is phone Alice and Loudon and ask if they have lights and can see lights further along the road. Oddly enough, streets here in London are not designed with large sections with one electricity and grid, another district with a different one. We have a system whereby every third house is on your grid and you can have not two but three companies operating in the same street. The advantage is that if your neighbour is on a different system, you can get warmth and light and a hot drink chez your neighbour.

Earthquake