Before CCTV, We Had Edna And Gran

Before CCTV, We Had Edna and gran

Before the cameras, codes and drones

We had old Edna, two doors down and Gran

She saw it all from lace-trimmed zones

Her throne? That window. Her crown? A frown.

Next door, Maud was backup crew

Bin day? She’d note who used whose bin

And heaven help a stranger who

Walked by and dared to flash a grin

“Suspicious,” Edna’d mutter low

As she’d adjust her knitted wrap

Then clock the time the milkman’d show

And chart his route upon her map

With tea in hand, and hair in curls

She’d squint through nets with hawk-like grace

She knew which teens were snogging girls

And which ones left without a trace

Maud had a notebook full of shame

Each dog that dared to foul her path

And if your hedge grew out of frame

She’d measure it, then do the math

No Bluetooth cams or motion lights

Just cardigans and gossip lines

Security through daily frights

And passive stares like warning signs

So next time someone steals your bin

Or dumps their junk beside your tree

Just know—back then, we’d always win

Because our grannies watched for free