4 THE END HOUSE

Beside the railway, it was my home for some 20 years

The End House (that was its name) in a cul-de-sac beside the Southern Region line from Waterloo to Reading was where I grew up. It was built for my grandmother and Aunt Alberta some time in the 1920s. It was sold out of my family in the 1980s and has since been extended to four bedrooms by filling in the ‘L’-shaped plan to make a rectangle.

I could easily model it from memory but for the fact that it was built from a strange material, which I’ve only ever seen on it and the house next door, both of which were built for my ancestors. The building material was concrete-faced blocks, intended to look like stone, which is not surprising as my great grandfather was a stonemason.