Introduction

 A candid memoir detailing nearly ninety years of local life in Portslade and Brighton. Follow Honorary Alderman Bob Carden’s journey from a wartime childhood and thirty years as an auto setter at the CVA factory to local politics, serving as a councillor and Mayor. Rich with personal stories of marriage, community campaigns, amateur football, and local history.

The Memoirs of Hon. Alderman Bob Carden Welcome to the memoirs of Honorary Alderman Bob Carden. Spanning nearly ninety years of life in Portslade, Bob shares a wonderfully candid collection of personal stories. From a mischievous childhood adventure across wartime Brighton to a thirty-year career at the famous CVA factory, and ultimately his journey into the heart of local politics, Bob tells it entirely in his own unique voice. Dive in and watch a local life unfold. After a pretty active life, I now find myself with a lot of time to fill, so I have decided to warm up the laptop and put a few stories out from my nearly 90 years of living in Portslade. I started with my tale of visiting Foster's grandma, which is completely true. I have lived in all areas of Portslade, starting at the bottom and finishing at the very top. I was born at the bottom of George Street in 1938, and I now live quietly near the top, where I came with my lovable wife, Merle, originally a Brighton girl. Around Christmas time, I found myself very much alone, and, to be honest, I didn't have the will to write my own name. My only qualifications are of a mechanical type: City and Guilds, and that's it. There is a tale to be told, and I will tell it in my own way, which may not be quite politically correct. — Bob Carden