What memories would you liked to of shared?? - Page 4

Margaret Pilkington · 05-02-2014, 13:55

Oh, Thank you Rowlf....I had been racking my brains to remember the name of Mrs Becker(though I can see her quite clearly in my head)...she was scary. Her glasses made her look like a stern owl.
There was Miss Kay too(she married and became Mrs Phillips) and a very round lady called Mrs Shaw....I liked her. She used to come to school in a fur coat and she let me try it on one day.

Mr Gleave was the teacher of the top class....Miss Butterworth(lovely lady) was in charge of class 2 and Mr Heaton(first name John) was in charge of class three. I was in his class and was told I would not pass my eleven plus - and I didn't.
Mr Heaton was a tall man who wore rimless glasses - he didn't shout at the children and didn't throw chalk or board dusters at us for inattention.
Mr Gleave was a dead eye with a bit of chalk - he never missed.
I also went to Peel Park on my own......I was given the bus fare, but preferred to 'run it' to school......crossing Manchester road and going up Avenue Parade. A long way from Riley's Hill for my little short legs.
I spent my bus money on Majestic wafers to eat at playtime.

Eric · 05-02-2014, 17:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rowlf

How many of you lot recall standing outside her study trembling ?

Not me dahlin'

But I do remember that I made Ben Johnson's hit

list more than once. The list began: "The following boys will see me in my study."

He's the guy who told me that I was definitely NOT university bound. I'd just love to send him a note, and sign it: Dr. E. Slater, B.Ed., B.A.(Hons.) (Sask.), M.A., Ph.D. (Queen's). Anyone out there know the postal code for Hell?

The more I think about this thread, the more I conclude that what is being lost today is a lot of which defines us as a species. Two things that make us so successful are creativity and the willingness to take risks ... a love of play and a sense of humour are right up there too. Now, the generations coming up are willing, even eager, to let others do the creativity thing for them ... video games are a prime example. Don't get me wrong here; I'm no Luddite. I kinda like my X Box and games. And I do admire the creativity that is part of their construction ... but it ain't my creativity. When I play, I'm nothing more than a button pusher. And risk? Now we have Health and Safety ... we've traded "playing out" for obesity.

And we sit in front of our flat screens and get our "thrills" from watching others take risks, (Check out the Winter Olympics ... I have a feeling you will be sick of hearing "O Canada" by the time the games are over), or watch action movies with lots of stunts. And is it just me, or is the divinding line between video games and movies becoming kinda blurred?

Enough ranting ... there is snow to shovel.

Turtle · 05-02-2014, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by westendlass

Hi Turtle, I couldn't help but chuckle about the way different countries have different meanings for the same word. :

Oops - what did I say - have I goofed? Wouldn't surprise me Hah hah.

DaveinGermany · 05-02-2014, 20:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turtle

I once got the ping pong bat on the fanny

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turtle

Oops - what did I say

Think you'll find the highlighted word the cause of raised eyebrows & wry smiles, in the Mother Country you'll find fanny = Ladygarden.

Turtle · 05-02-2014, 20:15

Mr. Gleave was a bit harsh on me when he heard I was going to emigrate to Canada. I'd just done poorly on a math test, and he singled me out by saying "And YOU want to go to Canada?" He repeated this several times, much to my discomfort. I can see now that he had a wry sense of humour (even when giving me the bat!) but back then I was too sensitive to see that.

On a brighter note: Kaylai (sp?) in a paper bag to dip my fingers in and lick.
Necklaces made of little candies on an elastic string. You could wear it around your neck and eat 'em. Aniseed balls. And that most forbidden of all: chewing gum! (My mum said it was filthy stuff, made of horses' hooves)

Margaret Pilkington · 05-02-2014, 20:20

Kali and black spanish...yum, Used to buy Rainbow crystals or american cream soda.....the cream soda was gentler on your tongue....but what did we care. We didn't often get sweet stuff.
Bubble gum was banned in our house because I was forever having to have it cut out of my hair.

Gordon Booth · 05-02-2014, 20:41

My father deciding I should have a proper sledge. I don't know how he got away with it but he was working at Howard and Bulloughs then and made one from welded one inch angle iron. It seated three, weighed about the same as a Ford Popular and was just as hard to pull to the top of Steiner Street.
BUT- with that weight and three of us on it was the Ferrari of sledges!
Two problems- at that speed it was hard to stop and at the bottom of the street was the River Hyndburn wall. Still, one inch angle iron and my hard head could handle that.
Second problem was the milkmans' horse. After a few days sledging it was taking one step forward and two slips back going up the street. Don't even remember seeing a car try to get up the street, not many about then so sledging was safe(except for the wall!).

Rowlf · 05-02-2014, 20:42

Definitely Mrs Maiden in charge of Class 2 when I was at Peel Park. Talk about Mr Gleave being a good shot with a piece of chalk she threw the board duster and never missed. It was not a fluffy piece of material either but the sort with a wooden handle. Glad I wasn't in her class!!! Mr Gleave used his pump on boys for punishment but the girls,me included,
were given the flat of his hand on our backsides. He would grab us round the neck, bend us over saying 'Face the East and bow to Allah'....then the hand or slipper would be brought down with force with the words 'The Almighty, the all forgiving.' Still I thought he was a wonderful teacher and he certainly gave me a good grounding in English grammar especially spelling.I once had to write 'Immediately' and 'Necessary' out 500 times and it worked as I have never forgotten how to spell them.

Margaret Pilkington · 05-02-2014, 21:20

I started at Peel Park somewhere around 1954.......and those were the three top class teachers when I left in 1958.
Now whether it changed after that I cannot say..although my brother was a year behind me we didn't talk much about school(or not that sticks in my memory anyway).
All three of the teachers menationed were brilliant......they had great influence on our young lives.

When my Daughter was at All Saints Mrs Butterworth came to teach there...I went to a parents evening and she remembered me.......later still(during my career) I nursed her during a serious illness. She gave me a book of Rudyard Kiplings 'Just so' stories.

Turtle · 05-02-2014, 23:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveinGermany

Think you'll find the highlighted word the cause of raised eyebrows & wry smiles, in the Mother Country you'll find fanny = Ladygarden.

Oh My Goodness!!!!!! (Blushing furiously) Tee Hee!!

Turtle · 05-02-2014, 23:25

(trying to change the subject after my silly gaff - thanks Dave for enlightening me!)
In winter we used to make 'slides' in the school playground. We probably didn't wear boots, but our shoes would compress the snow to make a long track of ice that we would speed down one foot in front of the other. Some of us would get quite daring and some of us would have nasty falls. One classmate (Jennifer I think her name was) fell down and cracked her head - a nasty greenish bump resulted.

Turtle · 05-02-2014, 23:28

(I'm on a roll now...) At Peel Park, there was a tree in the playground with a stout branch at just the right height from the ground for me to climb. I would sit there at playtime, watching all and sundry (I know, a bit of an introvert me!). That is when I wasn't playing marbles with the boys, or kiss-catch

Margaret Pilkington · 07-02-2014, 15:11

I'm going to have to appeal to the oldies on here now.
Do any of you remember seeing tomatoes put on the top frame of the window ledge to ripen?
You could walk past houses that had two or three unripe tomatoes in the window - hoping for the sunshine to ripen them up.

Eric · 07-02-2014, 15:15

And let's not forget rationing ... I remember eating my gran's whole week's cheese ration. She'd been saving the cheese in order to make a souffle for my grandad ... the guy who appears as my avatar ... he had been badly messed up at Paschendael ... not the only one I hear . And the beating I got

; the bruises only went away last week

It was worse than the mauling she gave me when I dropped my grandad's medals down the grate

Rowlf · 07-02-2014, 21:39

Yeh I remember my dad putting tomatoes on the windowsill to ripen. We had eggs in a big bucket too with water in and I think something called water glass. No fridges them days just a cupboard with a mesh on the door which stood in the back pantry .There were 2 stone slabs either side too which milk bottles stood on. What about top and whip with chalk patterns on the top. I loved that game. The flags were good for playing hop scotch with numbers chalked on them. No nasty tarmac pavements then. My Grans back street had gas tar bubbles which I loved popping in the summer. I have had many a smack for getting in on my white ankle socks or frock. If I remember right lard was used to get it off. None of our parents had much but most of us had a lovely childhood and todays kids really don't know what they are missing.