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My mum and dad were post-war immigrants and factory employees who worked hard for low wages but saved their money. In 1955 after living in a privately rented basement flat in Westwick Gardens, Shepherd’s Bush they paid £750 for the leasehold of our house in Broughton Road, Fulham and paid almost the same amount for the freehold a few years later. The house was cheaper than neighbouring properties because it came with protected tenants and because it lacked certain facilities. We occupied the upstairs flat and our tenants Tom and Edith Allen the bottom flat. The house was primitive by modern standards but to us it was home and we had a happy and secure childhood there.   
Pictured above left during the late 50s are my mother Esperanza Czucha with my brother Luis, my baby sister Isabel and me on the right. (Centre) Luis, Isabel and me in the garden of 58a. (Right) My late father Henry Czucha during the 1990s. There was no hot running water and the loo was a small draughty cubicle in the garden reached by a rear exterior wooden staircase and shared with our tenants so a queue often formed. Nor was there a bathroom.The bath itself was hidden under a work surface in the scullery or kitchen. It was filled with kettles of hot water and the occupant was frequently disturbed by family members passing through to the toilet and garden. It was therefore often easier to use the public baths in Wandsworth Bridge Road. How we would have enjoyed the luxury of being able to shower every day! We also had no refridgerator so food went off quickly during hot weather. It wasn't practical to buy food in bulk as we do these days so I was regularly dispatched to the grocer's shop on the corner of Langford Road for essentials like bread, milk and butter. We had three bedrooms. My parents occupied the one at the front of the house. For a number of years we three children slept in the second middle bedroom which overlooked the garden –two brothers sharing a bed. The room lacked privacy being the main source of access to the master bedroom. The third and smallest bedroom at the front of the house was rented by a spanish friend until my pubescent sister was moved in. Our living room was just 10ft by 9.5 inches or approximately 3 metres by 2.8 metres and also served as a dining area to four and sometimes five people. And with regular Spanish and Polish visitors it could get a little crowded. We were not able to buy a TV until the late fifties. It was a square black and white 17 inch Philips monochrome set with two stations-Channel 1 (BBC) and Channel 9 (ITV) It had a big knob which had to be turned eight times to change channels. The TV broke down on the first day as we settled down to watch "Highway Patrol" and I remember us crying with disappointment....It was such a long way off from today's multi channel colour plasma tv sets, computers and mobile telephones! My parents added an extension to our property during the late seventies providing bathrooms and kitchens on both floors. My father died in October 1999 and my mother decided to move to Spain to live nearer my sister. The property was placed on the market with Foxtons early in 2000 and sold in April of that year- for a little bit more than £750...   
Broughton Road- Late 1980s and early 90s. (Left to Right) My children Marie and Joe Czucha. My mother Esperanza with her Spanish grandson Daniel. My son Joe walking down the rear staircase of number 58a. (Below) House for sale in 2000. Exterior of property and view of Broughton Road from bedroom window.
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Where We Lived 
