i remember when.....

[WillowTheWhisp]

That's fascinating to read Terry. I wonder how much Willows Lane has changed since then. I have an old photograph from early last century and it is quite recognisable in the area between Richmond Road and Bullough Park. Unfortunately it's scruffier looking now, my main complaint being against the refuse collectors who seem to drop at least one binload a week.

My Dad used to do that trick with the empty egg shells too so I can sympathise with you there, and my Mum told me how she and her sister used to get the tops off their parent's eggs. It looks like you did twice as well as them because they only got one egg top each!

[Darby]

Sounds like your memories are flooding back Terry. It's sometimes amazing that you can remember such times, way, way back.

Sometimes during quiet moments, I can see Oswald Street, Church...we lived at number 20 (I've still got my mums childrens allowance book from 1946 with the Oswald street address on it, I was worth 5/- a week). We had a big tabel in the kitchen, and my mum use to prepare meat and minced meat pies on it, before putting them in the big black range oven (remember them?).

One day she ran out of minced meat, so I went out into the back garden (a postage stamp really) with my little spade and dug up about 20 / 30 worms. I rushed back into the kitchen and told my mum I'd got some fresh meat for her. She was not amused when I wanted to put them in her pastry before poping them in the oven!!!

I was just over 2 years old at the time!!!!!

The next year we had a terrible winter (1947) and I couldn't go out for weeks. We ran out of coal, and so we had to burn some old furniture to keep warm. The coalman (Henry Steer from Ernest Street) came down our street next day and so we were able to have a nice warm fire again. I had to run behind the wagon and pick up pieces of caol that had fallen from it. Got mi little bucket full a couple of times! Mum's little helper I woz!!

Does anybody remember how we wrote 5 shillings? (5/-) £ s d (£1/14/3d??) Or am I too old?

[Terry]

Aah! Darby. The memories. When I first started living in Derby st. It was round the corner from the main st. Two up and two down. This was after the war and from 46 onwards. The floor of the house was made up of flag stones and all uneven. Ours had lino on it (kitchen) and one day dad decided to pull it up and put new stuff down. Well, when it was pulled up we found there were layers and layers of old newspapers used as the under felt as it were, some of which were a million years old. Should have saved a few. The kitchen had an old 'slop stone' i.e. a stone sink. A clothes rack hanging from the ceiling. The old tin bath on the wall. A kitchen cabinet. A big wash tub complete with posser. An old huge mangle. Gas oven. It wasn't 'till a couple of years later we got a 'proper' sink and a water heater, and a washing machine complete with small mangle and the inevitable 'Flatley dryer' Wasn't much room left to do anything much except the chores. The fireplace was one of those old huge things with a compartment which supposedley was an oven and a something else on the other side. It was pain in bum having to 'black it' with this stuff black stuff that you could buy to make it look nice
The front room also had was was called a 'vestibule' Ha Ha
One of the funniest things to my mind was this peculiar ritual that was inevitably practiced by adults nearly every year, and that was the re-decorating of the front room. This used to happen with nearly everybody in the street. Dad would come home with the rolls of wallpaper and that damn strip that was put on as a fake picture rail. No new fangled paste for dad. it was the usual flour and water paste. Didn't take the old stuff off. Just straight on to the old. In fact there was a patch just near the stairs where you could see all the old wallpapers of years gone by. Layer upon layer, and by jeez there were some ugly wallpapers. Which reminds me. These old terraced houses had a resident poulation of a trillion cockroaches, and it didn't matter how much bait one put down, there were just as many deadies the day after. They had the run of the whole block of course so it was just a waste of time. In any case I reckon that they had a smorgus board with all the flour paste that was always available. The outside 'dunnies' were a laugh. Up our end 6 houses had a common backyard and so all the dunnies were all together in a line, and they all had the usual holes poked out between the stones(bricks) so you could spy on what was going on next door. Yes Darby 47 was a bad winter. There were snow drifts up to the roof in some parts. Whalley road was a mess. Traffic almost a complete stop. We even had a snow drift in our kitchen when we got up in the morning. Must have got through under the back door. Had to dig our way out the front door. Was good for the kids though We ended up up building big igloos in the street. Jolly good fun. I'll continue another time. For now Happy Christmas everybody and a happy new year if I don't get to you sooner. Wish I could be having an Xmas drink with you. Have one for me though.