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.