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Conner Street's War
Behind the grimy wharves of Londons dockland lies Conner Street, home to a close-knit community where women stand gossiping in doorways, small boys play marbles on the cobbles and the dockers pop down to the Eagle for a quick pint. Corner shops nestle beside the tiny terraced houses and two minutes away is the lively Tower Road market, where it is said, if you can't buy something then it's not made. Once World War Two breaks out, however, life in Conner Street changes dramatically - for ever...
Paperback
First published January 14, 1988
About the author
Harry Bowling
38 books21 followers‘I suppose most people would see the ability to tell a story as a talent to entertain, but where I was born and raised, being able to spin a yarn was considered an asset of survival and, at times, it became a necessity…’ he said.
Harry was born in 1931, in Leroy Street, a back street off the Tower Bridge Road, the second child of Annie and Henry Bowling. His older sister Gladys died of meningitis before her second birthday. Harry’s grandfather worked at a transport yard as a carman-horsekeeper. He used to take Harry there to watch him and to pat the horses. He spent his youth hanging around the Tower Bridge Road market or hunting through Borough Market, a wholesale fruit and veg market near London Bridge, exploring the docklands and wharves, and swimming in the Thames.
Harry’s first contact with books began at the local library encouraged by his father, who was permanently disabled after being wounded during the First World War. Henry Bowling was often unemployed and struggled to support the family. Harry was only ten when the Second World War broke out. He could remember the day when Surrey Docks was bombed. His father helped him with his early education and he and his younger brother passed scholarships to Bermondsey Central School. He left the school at the age of 14 to help the family income by working at a riverside provision merchant as an office boy.
Only when his own children began to ask questions about the war, did Harry realise how many stories he had to tell. He started gathering scribbles and notes and wrote his first book. It was a factual account of the war and Harry realised it would probably have only a limited readership. He became aware that historical fiction was very popular and that there was no one writing about the East End of London, and the war, at that time. In his fifties, he was given early retirement from his job as a brewery driver-drayman, and was at last able to devote his time to writing.
He became known as ‘the King of Cockney sagas’, and he wrote eighteen bestselling novels of London life.
Harry was born in 1931, in Leroy Street, a back street off the Tower Bridge Road, the second child of Annie and Henry Bowling. His older sister Gladys died of meningitis before her second birthday. Harry’s grandfather worked at a transport yard as a carman-horsekeeper. He used to take Harry there to watch him and to pat the horses. He spent his youth hanging around the Tower Bridge Road market or hunting through Borough Market, a wholesale fruit and veg market near London Bridge, exploring the docklands and wharves, and swimming in the Thames.
Harry’s first contact with books began at the local library encouraged by his father, who was permanently disabled after being wounded during the First World War. Henry Bowling was often unemployed and struggled to support the family. Harry was only ten when the Second World War broke out. He could remember the day when Surrey Docks was bombed. His father helped him with his early education and he and his younger brother passed scholarships to Bermondsey Central School. He left the school at the age of 14 to help the family income by working at a riverside provision merchant as an office boy.
Only when his own children began to ask questions about the war, did Harry realise how many stories he had to tell. He started gathering scribbles and notes and wrote his first book. It was a factual account of the war and Harry realised it would probably have only a limited readership. He became aware that historical fiction was very popular and that there was no one writing about the East End of London, and the war, at that time. In his fifties, he was given early retirement from his job as a brewery driver-drayman, and was at last able to devote his time to writing.
He became known as ‘the King of Cockney sagas’, and he wrote eighteen bestselling novels of London life.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 2, 2016
Rather than later stories or those by other authors, Harry Bowling follows a set of people, not an individual, showing how they lived and interacted on a street in the East End and what the Blitz did to the way of life.
The author was writing his first book and setting down his own memories to a great extent so later books were more developed as storylines, and more character development was shown. Some good historical details are added such as the first bombing raids catching timber stores in Surrey Dock, the resultant blaze lighting up the sky for the next night's bombers too. There is some humour of course, and some details of ordinary life and how hard it was to raise a family.
There are plenty of war years tales out there, romances, social history and women's fiction. The Boat Girls is good. Bowling also wrote stories such as The Ironmonger's Daughter.
Readers who like the historical bleakness of the war years may like to try the crime series about a London undertaker during the war, by Barbara Nadel; Ashes to Ashes, Last Rights, After The Mourning.
The author was writing his first book and setting down his own memories to a great extent so later books were more developed as storylines, and more character development was shown. Some good historical details are added such as the first bombing raids catching timber stores in Surrey Dock, the resultant blaze lighting up the sky for the next night's bombers too. There is some humour of course, and some details of ordinary life and how hard it was to raise a family.
There are plenty of war years tales out there, romances, social history and women's fiction. The Boat Girls is good. Bowling also wrote stories such as The Ironmonger's Daughter.
Readers who like the historical bleakness of the war years may like to try the crime series about a London undertaker during the war, by Barbara Nadel; Ashes to Ashes, Last Rights, After The Mourning.
October 10, 2012
Found this book very disappointing. Not up to Harry's usual standard.
January 25, 2020
Here we have some very rich stories of what it was like in World War II for the inhabitants of one street in London. I certainly leaned a lot. There were a few too many characters for me to care too much about any one and at times I found the harry Bwoling's efforts to replicate the accent and dialect irritating. Just a few words would ahve given me the soudn picture. Instead I had to keep translating.
February 13, 2020
Another heart warming tale from the king of cockney sagas , We follow the twists and turns of life for the folks of Connor Street as they face the terrors of the blitz in 2nd world war ,we watch silly Bobbie trying to understand the chaos around him , will Julie be hostage to her dark past ? and we see
how the folk of Conner street pull together in their time of need . A thoroughly good read
how the folk of Conner street pull together in their time of need . A thoroughly good read
April 16, 2021
An easy little read I enjoyed reading about about history
August 29, 2020
A good easy to read book - light reading - enjoyed
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews