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policeman, he had noticed my road license was out of date,I had bought the car in Manchester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 !
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
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