GROWING UP in Walthamstow in the 40s and 50s was an entirely different experience to what children know today. The market was heaving and the roads were quiet, according to first time author Mo Ann Shanks.

Reflecting on her early years as an E17er, Mo remembers with fondness the street sweepers, the cinema ushers and the characters that made Walthamstow a welcoming home.

This week Zoie O’Brien spoke with the woman whose memories have been preserved for generations to come.

THE FAMILY was ecstatic when they were handed the keys for a brand new flat in Priory Court.

They were crammed into three bedrooms in a house in Erskine Road, paying 62.5p per week.

It was 1949 and for the first time, Maureen, her parents and her two younger siblings had a fridge and running water in the bathroom.

Throughout the pages of ‘To Dear Daniel with Love’ Maureen Shanks, now 74, describes the old Walthamstow and what it was like to grow up in the area.

The book was written over four years, for Maureen’s grandson Daniel, now 13, who would ask her to tell him stories of her childhood.

After a friend suggesting writing it all down, Maureen picked up a pen and the memories came flooding back.

“When I was a child the market was packed with stalls and shops,” Maureen recalled.

“There were little shops and a Marks and Spencer at the bottom.

“I used to love walking along, from the bottom to the top.

“We used to go to the Carlton Cinema, and sneak in through the windows. We couldn’t get away with it at the Granada cinema in Hoe Street because of Ernie - he had eyes as sharp as an eagle and he would chuck you out.

“I can still see his blue uniform and hat with red braid around it.”

Maureen describes the bustling market in her book and remembers making a dress for her first dance with her mum.

But, her favourite time of year was Christmas, when her mum would wait until the end of Christmas Eve to buy a cheap Turkey – and the children were allowed in the Parlour at the grandparents’ house.

Maureen also remembers visitors coming out to the area, because it was considered to be far out of the city.

She said: “People used to come into Walthamstow because it was going out into the country and posh people used to come and stay.

Now 74 and retired, Maureen is writing more books about family life.

“I think those sort of things will be forgotten if people don’t write about them,” she said.

“I’m happy here – even with the changes. We get on with all our neighbours. I wouldn’t live anywhere else.”

Part two of the interview with Maureen will be in the Guardian in 2015.