Melting pot

I have mentioned before that live in a small cul-de-sac with another cul-de-sac off that, so our estate comprises 32 houses. Sixteen of those in the main cul-de-sac are three-storey houses and eight in the second cul-de-sac are two storey. Half have back patios leading out onto one large communal lawn the size of a football pitch on one side of the estate and the other half are have patios leading out onto a second lawn the size of a football pitch on the other side of the estate. Both cul-de-sacs are classed as 'private roads' -in other words, communally we have to upkeep the road surface, drains and lighting ourselves rather then the council providing these services.  Each month the residents pay into a collective fund to pay gardeners to tend to the communal areas, painters to paint the exteriors every five years or so and any other expenditure that is deemed necessary such as tree-surgeon checks, drain clearing, road resurfacing and such like. 

We are quite a closely-knit community and there was a time, when Kay was a little girl and played out on the communal lawns, that I got to know all the other parents and knew almost all of the 32 occupants. How many people can say they know so many of their neighbours anywhere, let alone in London. Recently we had a big communal party on one of the lawns as our houses were built 60 years and we wanted to celebrate the anniversary. It was an opportunity to meet any newcomers that had moved in, say in the last five to ten years. In many ways we are a big melting pot of people, so many coming from outside the UK - some from Nigeria, Ghana, Poland, Brazil, Norway, Malawi and other (unknown) places abroad. 

Recently those with small children had dwindled - like myself, where children have grown up. In recent months a couple of houses have been rented out to some with children and the lawn my house overlooks is full of children's laughter and toys again, especially now it is the school summer holidays. One little boy in particular certainly has a pair of good lungs on him!