Figure 1.--My grandparents house in Hornsey (Tottenham) was destroyed by a bomb in 1941. You can see the Germans were a bit off target, if they were bombing the docks. I have attached a map to show where they lived at the beginning of the war (A). Put your cursor on the image to see the restored property. The picture show the restored property - the house on the corner. (Where the white vans are parked). Clearly from the different colour of the brickwork, the house next door is a restoration too.

A reader tells us about his family experience concerning bom damage during the Blitz. "My grandparents house in Hornsey (Tottenham) was destroyed by a bomb in 1941. You can see the Germans were a bit off target, if they were bombing the docks. I have attached a map to show where they lived at the beginning of the war (figure 1). The picture show the restored property - the house on the corner. (Where the white vans are parked). Clearly from the different colour of the brickwork, the house next door is a restoration too. Fortunately my grandparents had moved to Southgate. (Red arrow) My father bought the house in 1938 from his parents in exchange for cash and an annuity for the last survivour. This was not a good investment as my grandmother lived until she 104. I don't know what he paid them for the house, but the annuity was £50 a year. (I paid it after he died.) He was compensated, but only at the end of the war, receiving £120). It was not a very generous handout. [HBC note: Note: The amounts seem rediculously low, but to calculate the actual values, it must be recalled that the pound was worth a great deal more than the modern pound because of inflation. And real estate values as aesult were far less than is the case today. Even so the amounts are very low.] He was only able to rent it for £1.10.0 [ 1 pound 10 shillings] a week (in old money). This did not cover the maintenance. Rents were controlled to stop landlords charging high rents, because of the shortage of houses. We had a socialist government at the time and they were very anti property ownership." [HBC note: Of course the impact of these controlled rates was to ensure that no builders invested money in new homes, creating a permanent housing shortage.]

Sources

Ardouin, Alan. E-mail message, July 31, 2011. Readers may be interested in the World War II experiences of Alan's family.

Created: 11:36 PM 7/31/2011
Last updated: 11:37 PM 7/31/2011