Vauxhall Road

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 87031

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" <drednort at a...> 
wrote:

Geoff:
> > > > Which raises the additional point of how Tom got hold of a 
> > > diary from Vauxhall Road in 1942.

 
Pippin:
> > > He might have been working there. Although children were 
> > > moved out of London, many teens found their way back. There 
> > > was a deperate labor shortage in the factories  and orphans 
> > > were routinely put to work at Tom's age in any case. Though I 
> > > prefer to think of Tom skiving off his job and dealing in the > 
> > > black market.


 
Geoff:
> > I think it unlikely in '42. He was at Hogwarts. He couldn't have 
had 
> > a weekend job during term time and I can't wee the orphanage 
letting 
> > him out to that sort of set up during the holidays.


Shaun:
> A paid job, maybe not... although I wouldn't rule it out 
> completely. 

<Snipped>

Geoff:
Although, Carolyn has already told us that the orphanage at Stockwell 
had evacuated its children away from London, so that still raises the 
point that if TR was pottering around Vauxhall Road, where was he 
coming from? If the orphanage had remained evacuated, then the 
children would be well out of London. Agreed, a lot of family 
evacuees returned to London for a variety of reasons but the orphans 
presumably wouldn't although the bombing threat was well reduced by 
this time until the next problem, the V1 "Doodlebugs" but (without 
looking things up) I think they started about 1944.

An interesting side issue re the orphanage which I missed on 
Carolyn's notes. Spurgeon was not merely a religious philanthropist. 
Charles Haddon Spurgeon is one of the most famous and outstanding 
Baptist ministers in our denomination's history. "His" church, 
Spurgeon's Tabernacle still dominates the gyratory system at Elephant 
and Castle., just off the end of Kennington Lane/Vauxhall Road.

Geoff