Final chapter

There are a couple of stories that have come to mind which I didn't include in the earlier
                                      writings so will include them here

We had a neighbor at adanac  called Smallman and she had a dog called Gelly and a husband
called Hector,Hector didn't feature a lot as he worked away and would only appear for a short
                                           period throughout the year
There were many funny stories linked to Smallman and Gelly,she had to use the public phone
on one occasion,and it was the 1st time she had used it,she said the operator asked her for
her number,she said the only number she had was her co-operative store number so she gave
                                                         her that.
She would take Gelly for walk's every day and many times I would go with her,but there was
one occasion she was alone,on that particular day I was working at the local farm,this was on
one of her walking routes,she would pass through the farm and move to higher ground near
the golf course before returning home,on this day the National Hunt was out,now Gelly had
the same color coat as the fox so  when the hounds came nearer with the sound of the horn,
There was a silhouette of Smallman moving at speed across this high ground pulling Gelly
it was more usual to for Gelly to be pulling her but not on this occasion when she told the
story later she was convinced the hounds would catch her up and devour Gelly.

Another story I left out was the fact we enjoyed fighting,it came with the territory having two
elder brothers,I was tutored from an early age,I remember Ed's friend John Bibby getting
down on his knees and telling me to hit him on the nose,no harder he said but he didn't
repeat it lesson over.It was quite common that you were expected to stand your ground
        I don't recall any bullying in schools then.it was more out of a mutual respect.

We always had a rivalry between Stretton and Hatton in Primary school,and not only with
Football I remember there was a farm in the Hatton district which set up a ring of straw bales
and people would come to watch me and Trevor Rutter fight each other,8yrs old and mother
               never found out,I never remember anyone getting hurt it was pure fun.

I remember laughing a lot,every year we had a school photograph taken ,I remember irritating
the photographer with my continuous laughing,it was such a serious event and everyone
looked so serious I can only think this is what amused me,I was easily amused I remember
being put on a donkey on Blackpool beach and the animal taking off at great speed with
                  me laughing on it's back while holding on at the same time.

Most situations can have a humorous side no matter how serious they are,It is important
      to be able to see the funny side of things and maintain a sense of  humor.

       My story of  growing up during post-war years may not be typical of everyone's
experience  it gives a true reflection of that period for me and I think it was a very happy
                            period especially the later  !5-21 yrs

Children in that period just after the war were said to be seen but not heard so expression
was low on the agenda In life the only person I feared was my mother and that was out of
pure respect the thought of doing anything that would upset her was avoided at all cost.
Not having a father figure Mother was so important in my life and still have fond memories
of her,when recalling stories of yesteryear with my eldest brother mother always comes into
                                                 the conversation.

Another person who was a big influence on me was mother's mother nanny Parker her
       generosity, that she had not only for me but for others also I will never forget.

Manchester again

Looking back I can't understand why I would travel to Manchester to buy a car, there

             were plenty of dealerships in and around the Warrington area.

We are still only 14 years after the end of the war and Austin,Morris and Ford were still

the popular choice a bit  like the choice of Beef cattle the cars had not made it across the

channel either,I remember when they did start to arrive whether it was Europe or Japan,

the body work was terrible for rusting,no one had told them about the damp climate in

            the UK,they soon put it right and competition was back on the table.

When I decided to buy a car it was purely on the grounds of getting me from a-b in  all 

weathers and seasons,so I bought a Jowett Bradford shooting brake (a van with windows)

                                It certainly served the purpose well.

By now our contract with the contractors had finished and I was working on a dairy farm in 

Arley Cheshire.it was part of the Arley Hall Estate but was run as a separate enterprise.

There was one farm that housed the dairy and young stock and another farm that housed the 

beef cattle and arable,mainly potatoes.The potatoes were harvested by a team from Ireland

they were all dug by hand and were payed on a peace work rate basis,which meant they would 

work very hard and could earn a high wage provided the weather was good,a lot of the potatoes

                   grown in Cheshire were harvested in this way at that time.

On the beef farm they employed a full time Irishman called Big Mac,he was quite old and had

worked there for a number of years he lived in a small building,you could just about get a 

single bed in there,and not much more they were called shanty houses,he asked me inside

once for a cup of tea, the cup he gave it to me in was stained dark brown like the inside of a 

teapot,He was very religious and would ride his bike 6 miles to attend mass every Sunday

morning.,one Sunday he fell off his bike and had to go into hospital,I went to visit him and 

the nurses were having a difficult time with him,apparently they had to bath him 3 times to get

him clean,he also liked to smoke.I think the nursing staff were pleased to see him leaving after 

a couple of days,I went to collect him in the Jowett,when we arrived back at the farm he 

complained about not being able to see out through the window and thought I was driving far 

to fast in those conditions,afterwards I realised why he couldn't see very far the passenger side

 was all steamed up.In Ireland at that time the horse and cart was the most popular mode of 

                        transport  so Mac would not be familiar with windscreens.

He was always asking me for a photgraph I eventually found one and gave it to him as he put

it in his pocket,he said I will tell them at home this was a Policeman I knew in England.
I can only assume that Policemen in England commanded more respect than farm workers.

I enjoyed the banter we had I asked one once what do we call you he said  'I don't mind 

what you call me as long as it's not to early in the morning 'with his strong Irish accent.

There was only one English worker on the farm apart from me,he was from lancashire and we

got on well he liked his cars and had a Triumph TR3 sports car,he was a member of his local

car club and remember going out with him to set out a route for members of his driving club.

His parents ran a small business and I got to meet them along with other members of his family,

                                                         on many occasions 

The Jowett served me well but just seemed a bit under powered so I decided to replace parts in 

the engine to give it more compression I went to the Warehouse and got all the parts I needed 

then removed the Engine and it sat on the bench in the workshop at the farm,people would

               make comments about this project,some doubtful it would ever work again 

I finally put it all back together replacing all new piston rings and put the engine back in the car.

 and apart from having to spend a little extra time setting up the timing, we were mobile again.

Hereford Bull

We used to travel to local Shows we had a Hereford bull that was always winning the prize
money just 2 beef  breeds that  stole the show in those days the the Aberdeen Angus and
    the Hereford,were the main breeds this was a long time before the continental breeds
came on the scene the Hereford lost favour because of its fat to meat ratio and the continental
breeds took favour with the butchers and meat eaters who were told to restrict the fat in
                            there diet.meat from the continental  breed is a lot leaner.

It was on a Wednesday  that the maid that stayed at the farm would take an afternoon off
to visit her mother,uncle John always arranged to meet her later in the evening off the bus.
This particular day they were going out for the evening so he asked me to meet her,I had
done so before and it always worked out well,we had a routine, she would get off the bus
and walk past the police station and around the corner,so she was out of site of any
policeman standing outside,then I would travel on the road and pick her up.now this normally
worked really well because even if the policeman had worked out our plan there was no way
he could have caught us on a push bike,this time was different there was a police patrol
car passing in front of the police station and heading in our direction,the policeman waved him
down and they caught us up on the road,In those days they had a light on saying stop.it
was like Z Cars, now Bethan panicked as to what would happen to her,and got in a muddle
when asked to pronounce her name,I remember being quite amused by this at the time,
they took all the particulars down and left us there on the road ,when they had disappeared
out of sight I said to her to jump on but she was very reluctant too at first,eventually agreeing.to.

I went down to the police station the following day with my papers and we had a brief
conversation about things in general at the end of which he asked me, have you told anyone?
I looked at him knowing what he was thinking ,and then remembered in the talk we had
before mentioning the farmer my main concern as usual was that mother didn't find out.
and she didn't.I eventually went to court and was fined 1 pound and to this day that is my only
blemish on police records it is probably still there or maybe after so many years they wipe
                                         the slate clean, I doubt it.

      Soon after, I left the farm and went back home to Cheshire to prepare for attending
                                                         Reaseheath Agricultural College

Later on I heard Uncle John had died and Auntie Bess had moved into a bungalow on her
own and within !8 months she had died also.Parry who shared the bedroom with me had
       a road accident from which he died It all happened within the space of 3 years

Some years later we were passing the entrance to Rhewl Farm and out of curiosity drove
down the long drive and onto the farm there was know one about at the time it was a big
disappointment it wasn't being run as a farm anymore,they say you should never go back
                                                        In this case it was certainly true
                                                     

The Loan

The loan that Britain finally paid back was 6yrs late repayments were for 50 yearly
 installments but because of the fluctuating exchange rates there were certain years it
wasn't paid 1956/57/64/65/68 and1976  In 1946 Britains National Debt was 250%
                         of GDP today's comparison is 36.8%
The money was welcome as it was needed to rebuild Britains bombed out cities after
                                                 the war

There were certain times we were able to take time off school to help farmers who
were struggling to harvest their crops due to bad weather,I never needed asking twice
           it was a chance to earn some extra cash and miss school lessons.

There were two full-time workers on the local farm and they had worked there for
many years,during my time working with them they taught me a lot of skills and I was
pretty well versed in most duties,the farm was a mixed farm so I covered anything
               connected to the cereal/arable/dairy before I left school.at 15 yrs

When I first left school I didn't work in agriculture straight away,one of my paper round
clients offered me a job working in his Business in Warrington he had a wholesale
groceries/bakery  provision business that covered a wide area of Lancashire and North
Wales,one of my jobs was to assist the delivery driver,at other times would work in the
                                            warehouse prepairing orders.

This was to change after Ed got married he had met a Welsh Girl on one of his biking trips
to North Wales,I remember the excitement at the time of her 1st visit to us it was my job
to meet her off the bus and walk with her back to the house.Eryl was a student at Bangor
Normal  teaching college in Bangor at the time.the visit must have been a success as it
               wasn't to long after that plans were going ahead for the wedding
I remember going to Manchester with mother to buy a double breasted suit from Kendle
                   and Milne it was the top shop in Manchester then.
It was at the wedding that I met Eryl's uncle John he was looking to replace a student
on a farm he managed  near St Asaph,apparentely the student they had was unable to
carry on due to an accident he had.I was offered the chance to replce him and I accepted.
                      I remember Reg took me to the farm soon after
The farm was a new build in 1948 and was very modern set up it was a showpeice in the
area and was popular among the young farmers clubs that used to hold stock judging
                                                competitons  their

It was while I was working their I went to Manchester and bought a new motor bike
I was still only 15 and not able to insure it or ride it on the roads for another month so
arranged for it to be delivered by rail to the local railway station,I remember going to
                   collect it with the horse box and taking it back to the farm.
I remember we could ride up and down the long concrete road leading to the farm
off the main road,I remember uncle John and auntie Bess went out one night and the
temtation to take it out onto the road was to great I asked Parry if he wanted to come
and he jumped on the back off we go right to the top of Rhuallt Hill quite a steep hill
on the St Asaph to Hollywell Road, back down again and as we are approaching the
farm entrance spotted this bicycle on the opposite side of the road so took evasive
action and went off the road and down the embankment and forward untill we were
opposite the entrance to the farm drive and then came up again.Policemen were still
                riding push bikes then.hence the need for off road riding.
Parry's reaction to all this was to swear never to ride with me again,I thought he was
                                          pretty quite on the back

When I could ride into St Asaph I remember my status with the local youth had risen
somewhat there was only 1 other motor bike there and that was an old one.so to see
                         this new machine arrive sparked a lot of interest
I used to use it to travel back home to Stretton it would only take about an hour
I kept the bike for 2yrs and then let Ed have it to travel to the RAF camp close to
home,In the time I had the bike I never came off or had an accident and I know I
                                    used to push it to the limit all the time

U/John A/Bess

I refer to U/John And A/Bess in this article but only in respect as to
            how we felt about them,they never had a family of their own
They were not my true Aunty and Uncle but they treated us as though they
              were,they were so generous to us during our time there

When I first joined the farm Uncle John introduced me to the owner of the farm
I remember the comment he made 'well John he has got the frame' I was just
11 st 6 lbs then after being there for 12months and living off the fat of the land
my weight went up to 13st 2 lbs and there it stayed throughout my working
life, and is now back to that level again after gaining a stone on retiring from work.

With Auntie Bess cooking and the standard of food on offer we lived like royalty
home made everything the one thing I did drink but didn't like was buttermilk it
       was very sour tasting and was a by product of the butter making .

We were harvesting the cereal crop,and loads kept falling off trailers in the field
I told them I could load trailers at 1st they didn't take me seriously but later they
              agreed to let me try,I never came off the trailers after.
There was a field 6miles away and we had to load this big trailer and haul it back
to the farm,I put this huge load on and it was square ,I sat on top as we traveled
back to the farm that particular day Young farmers had some function on at the
          farm and could remember the interest they took in this load.

Every year after the harvest was completed a harvest supper was organized at
one of the top eating venues in the area anyone closely associated to the farm
                                     would always join us.

It was a good atmosphere in the City of St Asaph then ,there were many of the
same age and with similar interests,I remember drinking hot Horlicks at the
                       roadside cafe with chocolate biscuits.

                                                                 St Asaph Cathedral

They played summer league football there we used to play at night it was quite well
                            organized with lots of teams involved .

From an early age,I had terrible problems with my teeth and toothache and had
had some unpleasant experiences with the approved school dentist  and this made
       me hate attending the dentist surgery even just for checkups.

This situation didn't get any better when I left school and the serious bouts of toothache
continued.I did my best to hide it from others but it was too obvious at times.
Uncle John  found out about this and one day he said to me that we were going to
the market in Denbigh the next town across from St Asaph as we passed through
the high street in Denbigh he stopped outside a dental practice,I knew what was
coming next and I had 4 teeth removed on that one visit,with other appointments
made and kept with more teeth disappearing I was eventually left with 4 front teeth
and another appointment made by this time I was traveling there  alone on the bus.I
had a complete set of dentures made top and bottom and my last visit was to take
out the last of my teeth and replace them with my new dentures,now I am just 16
and feeling really happy with this situation,when I got off the bus in St Asaph I
saw someone I knew,I could sense he was looking at me a bit strange and realized
he was puzzled at the blood in my mouth when I explained to him the reason for
this I could tell he was having difficulty understanding my excitement at the situation
anyone that had not experienced my pain and discomfort could not be expected to
                                     understand how I was feeling.

The big freeze.

I was driving to Crowley Lodge Farm one Sunday afternoon when I was stopped by the local
policeman, he had noticed my road license was out of date,I had bought the car in Manchester
and assumed everything was in order,after talking with the local policeman he realized I wasn't
aware of this and offered to help me,he said come and see me tonight and we will write a letter
to those concerned,this we did and I had to pay the back payment plus the extra to cover me
until the end of the year.When we had finished the paperwork I asked the policeman if it was
alright to use the vehicle on the road while waiting for the decision on our letter,his reply was
Its OK as long as I don't catch you,which to me in those days was a challenge,and he never
did catch me,but did have some scary moments,and remember being relieved to get my new
                 window update and to continue traveling on the normal route.

Policemen in those days were always treated with respect by the community,like Doctors
                 and the Clergy and school teachers to a slightly lesser degree.
Policemen were not recruited on how many A levels they had achieved in those days, there
physical stature was more important,there was a funny story about an incident in the
Warrington district where a horse had dropped dead in the street the police were called and
because they couldn't spell the name of the street proceeded to pull the horse into the next
street so they could make their report out.I believe this story of that particular family as
one of their siblings went on to play the Rugby Union  for England - Wade Dooley he played
55 times for his country he was 6ft 8in tall and  good to watch.when he retired it was Martin
                                 Johnson who replaced him in the England team

When I left Crowley Lodge I moved to the Sandiway area I was helping an elderly couple
to run a small farm,they had no children of their own I lived in a mobile home there on
the farm although not too far from home it wasn't practical to consider traveling every day.
It was during that time the pop music scene was popular I used to drive to Liverpool,I
was at this venue and someone approached me and asked me whether the Beatles were
on stage that night,this was the 1st I had heard of them,it soon became obvious to me why
I was asked this question,they were! and you could sense even, then they were a bit special,
Soon after they recorded 'Love me Do' so this was the famous Cavern Club I only saw
them a couple of times after that,there was another club called the Iron Door close by and
                                                 used to go there also

The winters were particularly cold then,it used to create a lot of extra work just thawing the
water pipes out ,during this period we found this man who apparently had been living in this
wood by the farm for over a fortnight in freezing conditions he was in a distressed state but
after getting him to the hospital were able to save him he lost toes and had damage to his hands
with frostbite,he had left his home and lost his memory,he was lucky we happened to find
       him on that particular day,he certainly would not have survived much longer

As the winter got colder we were having to fill milk churns with water just to feed the cattle
There was a lake on the farm and we used to drive onto this lake with the tractor and
the trailer we had to drop buckets through the ice just to fill the churns,you were not ill during that
                      period any germs were hiding until the warmer weather surfaced
The living conditions were pretty harsh then,I used to stand in front of the mirror in the mobile
home and when I exhaled my breath would freeze instantly on the mirror,it was very was cold !

This latest mode of transport eased the pain of the hard winter,although there wasn't much
                              opportunity to drive with the top down during that period.
It was during the summer of that year they were opening the part of the M6 that was passing
                                                      through the Cheshire countryside.

You were not supposed to use the road until it was officially open but I got a special favour
from one of the men responsible for overseeing this ruling ,It was a very special experience
traveling on this new road with the top down  listening to the tone from the MG engine while
                                     enjoying this new view of the Cheshire countryside

Hard to imagine this car was being driven some 54 years ago it still looks stylish now it was
In Italian Racing Red color and I used to polish it regularly,I had a sheepskin rug on the passenger
side,just to impress.I  remember fitting a new set of Pirelli's and was not too impressed with their
             performance in wet conditions,but overall it was a lot of fun to own and drive

                                             

September19th

September the 19th was the date Ed and I were to take our driving test,I was 17 yrs in
April of that year. There was a rumour going around that they had started to make it more
difficult in Warrington  to pass your driving test,so this put us under more pressure.
I was carrying my lucky four leaf clover and passed the test  so I gave this to Ed who
was  taking his test later, he also passed the test,so we put great faith in the contribution
the four leaf clover had made to the occasion,needless to say, we were both excited and
                      relieved to pass our driving test at the 1st attempt.
A few weeks later my friend Ron was taking his test, he too was carrying the lucky 4 leaf
                       clover,and he to passed,so maybe just maybe !!

I enjoyed Reaseheath from day one even now just thinking about it brings back happy
memories,I am not going to say too  much about it other than to tell you there were 4 of us
in the same dormitory all of the similar age but from different backgrounds and leave the rest
                                                to your imagination.
There is one story I must tell you about, there was a student that sat next to me at meal times
he was a banker in Hong Kong and was dispelled because he had a relationship with a local
girl this was a no go area in those days,his father was high up in the same bank which made
the situation more difficult for him to handle,and eventually affected him to the point where
he had to have an operation and was still under medication then,He used to spend time
writing  to the person in Hong Kong who supposedly had reported him to the bank.
Within 2 yrs of  him  leaving Reaseheath,word came back to us that he had taken his own
life ,very sad.he was very clever and was always on the panel representing Reaseheath
when debating some issues with  other training institutions,he was so well spoken and
                                                       very articulate
He used to come and watch us playing football he said to me once it is better than watching
Rugby watching you play football.I used to play center half  then and because of  Auntie
Bess cooking and Uncle Johns weight lifting I was very fit we used to get odd games
against the local post office and they were older than us I remember stopping one guy
and hearing him exhaling  his breath as he hit the ground,he also expressed his feelings
which I just took as part of the game he wasn't the 1st nor was he the last,but it did
             help me to understand Marks remarks about likening it to Rugby.

When we finished our course at Reaseheath four of us joined a Cheshire contractor
harvesting peas ,this was a well-paid job and hard work, we were divided into two
groups and worked 12 hours each so there was 24 hrs cover we would change over
at the weekend when extra hours had to be worked to facilitate the changeover.
Our role was to load the pea haulm onto lorries,the pea haulm was picked up by a green
crop loader,I held the record for the highest weight of peas delivered to the Birds Eye
factory from one lorry.our team was considered the best team and when the harvest
               finished the contractors offered us more work ,which we excepted

This work involved hedge cutting and on one occasion.were entered into a competition
which we won and were awarded a Cup with some prize money.this was presented by
               Babara Castle, she was a leading figure in the Labour Party

This helped the contractor to secure more work,it was a very satisfying job,there was
always an improvement to be seen in any area you had worked and one of the favourite
comments were 'that looks better'and sometimes depending on the area or the age of
the farmer you could put an 'eh ' on the front,actually there is no ending to all the various
terms you could use,we were just happy to receive all the compliments coming our way.
The only complaints we ever received were from cyclist complaining about punctures
                                    from the thorns left on the road.

We used to get involved in the cereal harvest as well and I had been combining not too
far from home on one occasion and finished too late to make a start at the next farm so
decided to take the combine home with me.I stopped outside the front door I never
forget mother's expression when she opened the door and her words 'where are you
  going to park that ? ' there was a piece of spare ground at the end of the avenue.
                                      so it stayed there overnight.

New Building

After leaving primary school and its old buildings and poor facilities we were to move to
a new comprehensive school and it was opening  for the first time,so it was a new experience
for children and teachers alike.We actually had our own full-size football pitch and with real
goalposts .It was a real culture shock after spending the past 6 yrs in our old primary school

One of my 1st ambitions was to play football for the school not to get high grades in maths
or science,we used to play schools in the Warrington area and remember reaching the cup
final one year against Bewsey we drew 2-2.I remember my uncle Herbert came to watch

I used to travel on the bus to watch Bolton Wanderers play in their home fixtures they were
a top team then in the 1st division of the football league,in those days you could virtually
pick the team that would be playing before you arrived at the ground,not like today with
its injury list.On my paper round, there was a house with a television and I can remember
watching Bolton Wanderers play Blackpool in the famous final of 1953 at Wembley,it was
              known as the Stanley Mathews final and Blackpool won 4-3.

As I grew older so did my curiosity about my father.and I finally caught up with him at his
workplace,I remember asking him when he was coming home,I was still oblivious then
why we were still in this situation.I visited him once more and that time he took me back
to introduce me to his family he had 4 children and the eldest was a similar age to me.
This was to be the last time I would see him, he died on the 6th of January 1955 the
     reason given was he had a thrombosis in the leg during the night,he was 52 yrs.

A funeral service was arranged at Padgate Church and remember  mother Ed and me
attending, Reg was snowed in on his farm in Cornwall so was unable to make it .Mother
insisted that we should walk behind the coffin,she never did divorce father so felt it was
            still her right.It was a very sombre affair with no one speaking.

Britain was starting to recover with people having money in their pockets but USA
was always a very rich country in our minds,a haircut was costing  us 9 pence in
America they were paying 8 shillings.it was a long time before the gap even started to
close,the country was virtually bankrupt after the war and had to ask America for help
with our finances,after a lot of time spent in meetings a deal was finally approved.

The Anglo-American Loan Agreement was a post world war2 loan made to Britain by
the USAon the 15th of July 1946 and was paid off in 2006,the loan was negotiated by
John Maynard Keynes It was for$3.75 billion (2015 = $57 billion) at a low 2% interest
                                      rate,Canada loaned $1.19billion
The final payment was made in 2006 by Ed Balls (strictly)  43million pounds to the US
                                       and 12 million pounds to Canada.

My earliest memories 5-10 yrs

One of my first memories was starting my 1st week in primary school at the age of 5 yrs

The 1st-year teacher was not there and the reason given was that she had lost her voice

we were asked to look for it on our way home  this remained with me for a long time as I

puzzled over what it was we were looking for. The other vivid memories were the poor

Standard of the school meals which were cooked elsewhere and delivered to the

school every day in metal containers

I used to run home at lunchtime, my Grandmothers cooking was much more appealing

on those cold wintery days, her rice pudding was a particular luxury cooked in the oven

next to the coal fire.

The school was a Church of England school with special links to the local Church the vicar

spent a lot of time with the children. My 2 elder brothers had been educated at the same

school with the same teachers ,there was a 7yr gap so we didn't overlap.

My eldest brother was the head chorister at the church I never made it to that grade but did

spend about 4yrs in the choir,we used to get 4 pence attendance money which helped as

well as a trip to Southport once a year.

St Mathew's Church, Stretton.

I remember we had to use a ration book to buy the weekly essentials,which were delivered

from the local village store,which was conveniently placed next to the school we could buy

broken biscuits from there for 1penny.

I always remember that period for it's cold winters, I remember going to bed with a hot

water bottle and waking up in the morning with the windows frozen solid on the inside 

with so much ice you couldn't see through them.

Coal was the main source of heating fuel and we had the same delivery man for as long as I

could remember we had 2 open fireplaces but only one was used,this had the oven next to

it where most of the baking was done. The other one was in what was referred to as the best

room,the door remained closed to this room and was opened only on special occasions.

I remember certain traditions that applied then Sunday was always a special day in the the

week then and was always referred to as the day of rest no shops were open then,and  the

local church was well attended,even the meals we ate were special on Sunday nearly always

a roast meal was served, which was referred to as the Sunday roast and for afternoon 

tea we would always have fruit on the table.

My Grandmother was a  very generous person not only to her Grandchildren she had a

kind way with everyone,I remember the postman would call in and have a hot drink and

no matter who it was she would alway's insist on using the best china and a white table

cloth,she had had a difficult life having lost her husband at the age of 29yrs he died from

anthrax and was one of the 1st people in Warrington to die of the disease, in those days

 there was no social welfare and she had to go out to work to support her two

children,she worked at the hospital and was the main assistant to the Matron  

the Matron was the driving force in the hospital then.

later in life she sold her house and moved in with Mother 

Football was the main sport we would play in school it was always Hatton v Stretton

the playground was on a slope and the surface was very rough but it didn't stop our

enthusiasm for the game.the girls playground was different and they would play 

 rounders,I think !

Birthday's and Christmas were always celebrated in a traditional way with presents

which could only be opened on the day,these were always for children'The salvation 

army used to come to the avenue every year with a melody of Christmas

carols,there were also small groups mainly school children who used to sing 2/3 carols

and would receive a contribution from the homeowner.they would go out every night

about a week before Christmas and at the end would divide their proceeds equally.

A fair used to visit the village once a year for the village fete we used to compete in 

various events and the winners would receive money prizes and then you could spend 

 it later on the rides on the fair the fair would stay for 2nights before moving on to the 

next village .

 There was an American camp within walking distance,we used to collect a bunch of

bluebells and take them to the camp,and we would always come away with Hershey bars

and juicy fruit chewing gum,it was not a happy day when they dissolved the camp soon

after the end of the war.

The Winter of 1946/47 was particularly cold with heavy snowfalls blocking roads and

railways the power stations found it difficult to get regular supplies of coal and power

failures ensued domestic power had to be restricted to 19hours each day

Army troops clearing railway sidings

My parents went to Canada during the depression of the 1930's on  there return to the UK

they bought a new build house in the countryside,it looked out onto open fields,I remember

walking these fields on many occasions,but once in particular, I came across a Badger now

these were always depicted as a friendly character in the Beano Billy the Badger so I tried to

 catch him to take him home ,fortunately I didn't.

Our house was called 'Adanac' which is Canada spelled backward.,

My Father served in the RAF during the war and never returned home after the war he had

a relationship with another woman who was also serving in the WRAF it created a lot of 

friction which I wasn't aware of at the time,my elder brother told me about this later he had

to witness many of the arguments.

I remember overhearing a conversation my mother was having with my brother Ed  he was

was going to meet his father as he wanted to buy him some tools,he was leaving school and 

was taking an apprenticeship as a joiner.

I remember wondering when I would meet my father I must have thought we all had a 

different father.these things were never discussed then.

Mother was quite strict with us growing up having two brothers and no father figure to
discipline us she felt she had to be firm with us,she always had a leather belt hanging on 
the back door and when she went to get that you ran ,she was the only person I feared 
I remember we had a drop down light switch over the bed and one time was playing
with  it was a two part switch and before I knew it I had divided it and got
 an almighty shock from the electric current I managed to assemble the switch and know
one ever knew about that

I am quite amused now when I see parents going to school  with little Jimmy who had
got into trouble with the teacher,In my case, if I got into trouble with the teacher mother
would be the last one to find out.

We were always taught to be very respectful to others especially our elders if a woman
walked into a room we would have to stand  and alway's touch our cap when passing
a woman on the street,and surrendering your seat on public transport to elders and
women .

Mother was a very proud person and would get great pleasure from hearing someone
else praise her boy's on their behavior our eldest brother Reg was better behaved
than Ed and me and was alway's mother's favorite.

As I grew older I used to spend more time going to our local farm and helping out later
it became paid work,every year after the Christmas celebrations were over the farm
would have a visit from the thrashing machine,I used to enjoy this as this was a chance
to earn some extra cash,my job was the chaff carrier

I later got a paper delivery round,in the area that I lived,I used to do this before
going to school,in all weathers winter and summer I was paid 12/6 twelve and
sixpence a week and with the money I earned from the farm I was earning
32/6 thirty-two shillings and 6 pence and during the 6-week summer school
holiday I could earn  £ 30 helping with the potato harvest and  cereal harvest.
The full-time adult wage then would not be more than £ 100 per year.

In the decade following the 2nd world war, more than 70% were employed in
manual labor and were only entitled to 1 weeks paid holiday.

http://www.onmysiteslist.blogspot.com

The farm where I spent all my spare time was also on my paper round so I used to
 get the chance to look at the Farmers Weekly and the Farmer and Stock Breeder
before delivering them even though the Farmer used to save them for me when he
had read them,the Farmer and Stock Breeder finished printing a long time ago
but the F/W is still going strong today.