A Brockwell Boy

This delightful memoir recalling Brockwell Park, in particular as it was in the 1930s and 40s, has long been out of print but has now been revised and will be republished by the Society on Wed 17 May.

Author Jeffrey Rumble was born in 1931 and grew up in Herne Hill a “depression kid”, living for 45 years in the same house in Hawarden Grove off Rosendale Road until 1976, when his work took him out of Lambeth. Brockwell Park, a stone’s throw from his home, was his playground. The memoir vividly recalls the Park as it was, not least in the years of the Second World War: as the author says, “a very disturbed period of our national history”. Contemporary photographs and the author’s own drawings punctuate the book.

This is a picture drawn with wit and affection, undimmed by the passage of time. It is a world of childhood adventures, no-nonsense Park Keepers and the dangers of “doodlebugs”. This new and revised edition makes available a story that anyone who values the role Brockwell Park plays in the life of Herne Hill will have pleasure in reading.

A Brockwell Boy can be purchased from Herne Hill Books or direct from the Society, price £3.50. To buy online go to http://www.hernehillsociety.org.uk/HHS_store/product/a_brockwell_boy