When St Ebbe's in Oxford was full of terrace houses

But former resident David Brown remembers it as a place full of terrace houses and narrow streets, with hundreds of families and bustling with community life.

He lived with his mum, dad and two older brothers at 19 Norfolk Street, with one outdoor toilet lit at night by a candle or torch.

The move to 19 Nicholson Road, New Marston, brought luxury, with a bathroom and two toilets. But as he recalls, life in St Ebbe’s still had many attractions.

One of his early memories is trainspotting and collecting numbers of steam locomotives at Oxford station, when he could afford the penny platform ticket, or on ‘Black Bridge’, linking Becket Street and Osney Lane, just south of the station.

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“The fun of collecting train numbers in the 1950s was that the smoke from the steam trains billowed up through the gaps in the wooden ‘sleepers’ of the bridge and the soot gradually blackened our hands and faces to our delight.”

David Brown took this picture of his friends, left to right, Graham Thompson, David Watson and Graham Caleb, on the Thames at Port Meadow

Youngsters also enjoyed swimming in the Mill Stream at Oxpens Bridge, linking St Ebbe’s with the neighbouring St Thomas’s.

“The bridge had two arches and, under the east arch, was a nice flat surface which made it safe to paddle and swim in a depth of water which was not dangerous. We spent many hours here in the school holidays.

“After a swim, we would often sunbathe on the hot tarmac of the road above and the few cars which passed by would drive round us.”

Another joy was Friars ‘rec’ with its three swings and a roundabout, which swayed vigorously up and down as it went round.

“Occasionally, the ‘big boys,’ the older lads, found it amusing to lift the whole roundabout upwards and unhitch it from the pole and make it temporarily unusable.”

Near the swings were the Second World War air raid shelters and their maze of underground corridors, with entrances full of dirt and rubble.

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“Unable to resist the temptation, the older lads dug enough of this rubble away to allow entry into the dark and dingy interior. I was never brave enough to venture into them as the awful smell and fear of the unknown was too great.”

There was great excitement when a funfair or circus arrived on the ‘rec’, with elephants parading from the railway station to the circus, and when Bonfire Night approached.

Youngsters collected rubbish in a home-made truck and sat with their guy on street corners with a notice saying ‘Penny for the Guy’. A huge bonfire was built with tyres, furniture and mattresses.

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Another favourite spot was Gloucester Green bus station, where children collected matchbox tops and cigarette cards discarded by American servicemen and other travellers.

The young David Brown worked at Oxpens cattle market during school holidays, first for a man selling china, who shouted “ham, jam, spam, kippers, custard and mustard” to attract buyers, and later for a greengrocer.

•More memories of St Ebbe’s soon.