Memories From My Childhood !.

[old tup 30]

I was drifting back in my memory today to when I was a kid in the late fourties and I recollect  the hot summer days,it always seemed  hot thinking back!.Where our cottage was situated at the bottom of Livesey Street was isolated from any other houses ,halfway between Wardsend Cemetery and our nearest neighbors on Owlerton Green!.In those days the cemetery was still in use and quite neat and tidy not like the jungle it is today, people mostly older as I remember some ladies dressed in the Victorian mourning black old fashioned style would come to our door asking for a drink of water!.My mother used to brew home made ginger beer which we served up if it was ready,nowadays you would treat with suspicion anyone knocking at your door,then we never gave it a thought,times have changed a bit I think!.One old lady came regular every week and always stopped for a chat,one time she gave me a large album full of picture postcards dating back to the turn of the century,some from America ,Canada and different parts of the world all stamped and with written messages on them!.I think the lady must have come from a wealthy family because they all seemed to be posted to the same address and area,I forget what I did with them as I was only around seven years old probably swopped them knowing me!.Other regular yearly callers for water were genuine Romany gypsies who camped every year on Livesey Street just about where Napoleons is now,they had horse drawn caravans proper gypsies!,one year one of them died,they put all his belongings in his caravan and set fire to it!.My mother was supposititious and believed every bit of bunkum they told her,they would ask her to cross their palm with silver to tell her fortune,she would have many children,win the pools live to be a hundred that sort of thing!.One day ma had spent up at the shops they stopped her insisted on reading her palm even though she told the old hag she had no money,sure enough it was "Cross my palm with silver lady",when the gypsy got the message there was no cash she cursed my old ma "Your house will burn down,you will have years of bad luck ,all your rabbits will die,on and on!.My mother believed it and was horrified she told our old man who collapsed laughing,he was a caring old soul was my dad,just a few memories from my childhood!.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cuttsie 1,089]

smashing that Tup , how is Whitey and Peter .

[carosio 186]

Did you go up over the tracks to Parkwood Springs, there were some rough'uns (kids) up there, I remember!

[cuttsie 1,089]

Whitey and Peter and my old pal Phillip White bricklayer and gentleman .

[old tup 30]

All my pals as a kid came from Parkwood Springs as we all attended Hillfoot County

School ,Dave White was my best pal for a long time,we never stopped mucking about always in trouble with some escapade,anything for a laugh!.Every new term in walked the teacher to be faced with Dave and I sat side by side at the front of the class,it was always the same reaction,"Right one of you two sit at the back!".Our reputation went before us!,Phillip was Daves younger brotherPete I presume is an Adison!.It was tough alright at Hillfoot no mistake you had to be able to fight or run or a combination of both which catergory I adopted,I avoided the big hitters mostly but now and then fell foul of them when mostly I talked and joked my way out of trouble!.At Hillfoot you saw the full scope of haves and have nots,at one side some kids were well dressed looked after by their parents to a middle sphere like myself who were always decently turned out but with no luxuries or spare cash,to the bottom sphere who were

neglected under nourished turned out midwinter in thin clothing without socks,no shoelaces and minging !.I remember two brothers no names from Parkwood stood in the playground midwinter in this state with their teeth chattering and shivering as you were not allowed indoors at breaktime!.I hear the older one made a success of his life later in adulthood,I never forgot them and how nobody in authority helped them!.You had to be tough alright in Parkwood Springs!.

[retep 68]

51 minutes ago, old tup said:

All my pals as a kid came from Parkwood Springs as we all attended Hillfoot County

School ,Dave White was my best pal for a long time,we never stopped mucking about always in trouble with some escapade,anything for a laugh!.Every new term in walked the teacher to be faced with Dave and I sat side by side at the front of the class,it was always the same reaction,"Right one of you two sit at the back!".Our reputation went before us!,Phillip was Daves younger brotherPete I presume is an Adison!.It was tough alright at Hillfoot no mistake you had to be able to fight or run or a combination of both which catergory I adopted,I avoided the big hitters mostly but now and then fell foul of them when mostly I talked and joked my way out of trouble!.At Hillfoot you saw the full scope of haves and have nots,at one side some kids were well dressed looked after by their parents to a middle sphere like myself who were always decently turned out but with no luxuries or spare cash,to the bottom sphere who were

neglected under nourished turned out midwinter in thin clothing without socks,no shoelaces and minging !.I remember two brothers no names from Parkwood stood in the playground midwinter in this state with their teeth chattering and shivering as you were not allowed indoors at breaktime!.I hear the older one made a success of his life later in adulthood,I never forgot them and how nobody in authority helped them!.You had to be tough alright in Parkwood Springs!.

Whitey is back in hospital, apparently they gave him too much oxygen, a bit of acetylene and he'd have made a good torch.

[cuttsie 1,089]

54 minutes ago, retep said:

Whitey is back in hospital, apparently they gave him too much oxygen, a bit of acetylene and he'd have made a good torch.

is it serious Retep .

[old tup 30]

54 minutes ago, retep said:

Whitey is back in hospital, apparently they gave him too much oxygen, a bit of acetylene and he'd have made a good torch.

Sorry to hear that Retep I bet its caused by a lifetime of smoking,he liked a ciggy did Dave!.Tell him I hope he,s ok when you see him don,t forget!.

[retep 68]

18 minutes ago, cuttsie said:

is it serious Retep .

He's been rough for some time.

[retep 68]

My old pal Dave White passed away this morning, R.I.P  Whitey.

[cuttsie 1,089]

A gentle man .

[carosio 186]

The other night on Talking Pictures channel there was a film ( Wings of Mystery) which was set mainly in Parkwood Springs. I hadn't seen it before, although some of you might have, but I recognized the area straight away. There are some extensive shots inside English Steel on Brightside Lane.

Edited April 18, 2021 by carosio