Wednesday 9 November 2016
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 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
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
Tuesday 8 November 2016
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
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
Monday 7 November 2016
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)