Teenager of 1960 to Parent in 1970
1960-1963
growing up
By
leaving St Columbus, I had to go to a non catholic school called Sale Moor
Secondary, and you were taken to
and
from school by coach. I had to make new
friends which was easy because we were all new on the estate, but we
were
treated like second class people at the school
( looking back I never settled, also it happened in my adolescent
years).
My
times in classes here are a blur. I
kept missing the bus so I did not after go in.
My mother used to chase me
around
the house in a fit of temper but it was worth it. I think the only good lesson I liked was the gardening
class.
Although
going off my first year exam on the subject I was pathetic. One question was, what is a annual and I
answered
that
it was like a book that comes out once a year.
A Annual is a plant grown for one year.
Funnily enough what got
me
into gardening was simply that we now had a garden, and my dad went back to
Brooklands to get his Dahlias and
Chrysanthemums. I went with him on the train, which then ran
from Partington.
I
had started putting soap and water on my hair to keep my quive in place, it
worked but one funny incident which
occurred
on the school bus one morning. It
rained on the way to the bus, when I sat on bus bubbles came off my hair.
I
started using my dads Brylcream after this.
On
a other occasion a girl told me I had egg on my chin, at first I did not
understand, then I realised she meant my
birth
mark on my left cheek, which then was big and brown. This girl later became my first
love. Her name was Margaret Morton. We lasted about a year. I think we met at my 13th
birthday party at my house.
On
this night my youngest brother Peter woke up and the girls loved him, he was
about 1yr old.
PS
now Jan 2000
and some bad news about a plane crash with British oil workers going
back after the X/mas and new year
break. One of the dead is a Ray Parfitt who Married
Margaret Morton. I was just wondering
how her life has turned
out
I
had a paper round, which I did after school, and on Sunday morning. I remember Friday nights were the worst,
because
the papers were so thick, the bags were very heavy. There was two night papers then, The Evening News and
The
Evening Chronicle I worked for Murdeys paper shop and they were good
people.
Incidentally
I met my future girlfriend and later wife Glen, doing her paper round. I did not know her at
all
then.
This was a time of being young and learning. I was now into pop music. My first idol that got me interested was
a new star, Del Shannon, his first big hit was:
Runaway.
I
somehow bought a portable record deck.
The pop music could only be heard on radio Luxembourg.
There
were two pop papers going then Musical Express, which I bought, and Melody
Maker. These gave you the
charts
and all pop information.
I started courting girls but it was
no big deal at this time. I would have
more fun with the such has Colin Heald,
Ricky
Walsh, and Keith
Dunker who turned out to be my best
friend.
These
years tend to get mixed up in my mind so they may not be in order, so I will
just write things as they come
in
my mind:
An
act of violence occurred about this time.
Me and a friend were riding pass some flats just being built, when we
got
some abuse from the local gang, my mate gave them the v sign. I told him I was worried about it. A Couple of days
later
after getting off the school bus went into a shop, when I came the gang
surrounded me, and gave me a good kicking.
I
was with a mate who’s name I can’t remember, and he left me on my own, fortunately
only my pride was hurt.
Note.
This
mate died very young, he had a weak heart from birth. My mother took me round the streets until we found the
gang
and she gave them a talking to
NOTE:
Two
of the gang I later had to work with.
Dave Lord who turn into a right rogue but is now a decent bloke
Living
on Hattersley. Who also tragically had
a cot death? And Dave Tuber who was a
big coloured lad, and was Dave
Lords
right hand man. He turned out to be a
very nice lad with an infectious laugh.
He went to London in the hippy
days
and overdosed on drugs.
One
day on the banks of the ship canal. We
were in a group of boys and girls, on a sunny day, when this older lad
and
a young boy arrived and stripped down to trunks and then swam in the ship canal. The ship canal is black with oil
and
definitely a no swimming zone. Of
course we all laughed at them. A bit
later this lad came over the bank and
jumped
on asking me what I was laughing, he became a friend after that , he was a bit
wild, his dream was to go to
prison
and escape. I can’t remember this lads name but he was older
than me, one incident I remember him doing was:
We
were going to the gas works xmas do and it was ticket only and I did not have a
ticket, he went upto someone and manage
to
tear off half a ticket and it got me in.
One
bit of fun we did then was swinging on rope tied to a tree. One swing was across the local brook, which
was
quite
wide. The worst part was if you were
the first on the rope when all the others dived on the rope, because you were
on
bottom you eventually had to drop into the water. On one occasion, on a swing that was from a tree that did not go
over
the brook but swung outwards and back again, I was swinging out and at its
furthest point I some how let go of the
rope
and flew threw the air and right between two tree trunks, I was very lucky that
day.
Another
lucky escape involved a 6th sense.
There was an old farmhouse that we use to demolish:
One
day I was inside the house knocking down the chimney breast, when I just turned
and jumped threw the
open
window, as I got out the whole ceiling fell down. I never heard nothing, It was just instinct.
On several occasions I went over the brook via the swing to
steal potatoes from the farmers field.
Another
accident that happened was when me and Brian were fencing with mettle fire
pokers, Brian stabbed me
in
the right wrist, making a slight hole.
I still have a small black scar today.
One bit of mischief we did, was
around bonfire night we pinched the wooden gate off garden drives for the
bonfire.
I
remember about now we used to wear Jeans, one trick we did was put them on and
sit in a bath of cold
water
to shrink them
About
this time, I had a incident with the police:
One
night we were out in a gang of lads and a couple of girls, on the way home one
of the older lads started larking
about
with one of the girls, I was only a witness to what I thought was horse
play. The night after when I got home
from
school
their was a policeman sat with my mother, who was very upset. The policeman told me the girl
had made a
complaint
of assault. At first I would say
nothing thinking I would get my mate in trouble. The policeman pointed out
that
I was a witness, but if I said nothing it was possible that someone else could
Implicate me. So to protect myself I
had
to
tell what I saw which was not very much.
The lad was sent down. I still
think that it was just lads fun that went to far.
But
maybe I am naive. The girl was called
Margaret Price and I got to know her well after. She was glad I spoke up.
1962-1963
work
About
this time I was 15yrs old, so I had to go to work. I had no real education, so my career teacher suggested I
go into
Horticulture (gardening) and got me a interview with:
Manchester
parks dept at Carrington Moss Nurseries.
I put
on my best togs and cycled to my interview.
I was met, on the way in by a man in working clothes, who said
he was the
Forman and that the boss was out (so much for appointments) he said he only had
the power to employ me on
a
casual basis (they used students to work casual during their term breaks) so
like a dummy I accepted, my rate of pay
would
be: 2 pounds 10shillings. After a
couple of weeks I told the only apprentice John Davis that I had wanted to
start
as a
apprentice, he told the boss Mr Rennet who grudgingly took me on permanently,
with a increase of pay to 3 pounds
10shillings,
and apprenticeship endorsement, which made it official with the council and
meant I would have to:
Go to
college one day a week.
Keep a
Horticultural Diary.
And
every year move around the parks.
Although
it was very hard work and was treated terribly, I learnt more at Carrington
Moss than anywhere else.
I used
my pushbike to get to work. Until I
started college when I got a scooter.
I started college at Brooklands Tech
College, funnily right next to the ponds I used to fish.
A
friend at college Phil Greswell told me there was a scooter for sale in his
street in Urmston, so I went. I had
never
driven anything before, so when I was buying it the seller said he would ride
me around the block the bike was OK
the
seller said I must pay before I drove it.
I paid him, and he showed me the
controls, then I had a go, I pulled in the
clutch
put it in gear let the clutch out to fast and gave to much throttle, and
consequently crashed. The scooter would
not
start
again. I had to arrange with a friend
of my dads, Joe McKenna, who was a D.I.Y mechanic, to pick the scooter up
and fix
it. He took ages because he stripped it
all down just for the fun of it. When I
finally got it back I soon learnt how
to
drive it. I stuck two eyes on the
front. I wanted to put loads of chrome lights
on like all the MOD’s did but could not
afford
them.
The make of the scooter was N.S.U.
On another occasion I had my scooter
stolen from outside the house. When it
was recovered a lad was arrested.
I
had to go to court has a witness. The lad
pleaded guilty so I was not used, the lad was sent down.
after
the case I went to a pub with the lads Dad and another witness. The lads Dad was very upset, especially as
the lad
had
just started work, the other witness told him if he could afford it he should
buy his lads stamp so there would be no
gap
on his card while he was away .
Back to work;
Weekends
were good if you had to go in you were your boss and you extra pay. First job at weekends was to scrape
the
clinkers out of boilers and then fill them with coke. Then you had to water all the greenhouses and frames.
One of best memories was watering
one greenhouse that had the full length of one side filled with a
lily called:
Lillium Auratum
and when in flower the scent was superb.
PS. I have just been decorating the bathroom and
it reminded me how I have decorated all my life.
My
Mother taught me, and over the years I have become quite good at it. Perhaps with hindsight this should
have
been my career.
At work
we had a 10 minuet tea break in the morning, a half hour dinner break, and a 10
min tea break in the
afternoon. I would brew my tea in a brew can and I had
lovely cold toast for morning break and sandwiches for dinner.
The
only problem was my mother used to make my sandwiches and put my milk for my
brew in a medicine bottle. My
mother
would ask me what would I like on my sandwiches if I said Banana I would get
Banana every day. I would have
to tell
my Mam to change the banana and I would get the change every day. Although the medicine bottle was wash out
it
always tasted of medicine or taste slightly off milk which it wasn’t because in
them days we used sterilised milk.
I was
now settled in my career. It was very
hard gruelling work, and sometimes very frustrating.
I.e.
Carrington moss was the main delivery nursery for all Manchester’s stock,
mainly trees and shrubs.
On many occasion, because of bad paper work
and communication between Mr Rennett the boss and Mr
Pearson
the Forman, we might have healed in several thousand hawthorn bushes, that is,
we would have had to cut the
rope
around each bundle, spread them out in trenches, more often in bad
weather. When along came the boss with
a
big
order for one of the parks. We would
have to relift and rebundle again.
Carrington
Moss was the main supplier of plants, from our own bedding plants, trees and
shrubs that were
ordered
from commercial nurseries every year, trees and shrubs that were grown in big
half beer barrel tubs that were
used
for the city centre. The moss was a
large area, on good peat land. It had a
very large stock of trees and shrubs
that
were planted in rows and were established.
There were also about 10 large greenhouses all fitted up with hot water
pipes,
water mist sprays etc. It also had a
old steam soil steriliser.
Our
mess hall was a run down shack, with a primitive coal stove in the middle.
The
work was very hard, and always busy. In
late spring we did all the pricking out of bedding plants.
There was that many we used casual
labour. In the autumn we took geranium
cuttings by the thousand, they
were
delivered in trucks, from the parks where they had been lifted.
Carrington
also had acres of fields for turnip and mangles which were for the farms around
the areas animals,
also
grown was hay which we used too have to lift when baled.
Two
serious incidents occurred:
One day
me and Johnny Holland were working on the steriliser, which was a tall rocket
shaped hot water boiler
which
was heated with coke, which we fed in to the fire door, when the temperature
was at a high reading, we had to
release
steam into two box containers filled with soil, the steam rose up through the
soil and sterilised it, the smell was
wonderful. After a certain length of time you put the
soil in a wheelbarrow and pushed it up planks into a large shed,
then
you put lime on it. This soil was later
used to make John Innes mix’s for potting or pricking out.
One job
on the steriliser was to keep you eye on the glass water level for air bubbles,
which you could release by a
valve. On this day Johnny did something to the air
valve that caused a problem (we were working through the dinner
break,
so there was no one to help us) the next thing we knew was the boiler blowing
up with flames gushing out of the
fire
door. No one was hurt, the boss was not
very pleased. He had a new electric
steriliser installed, which was not as
good.
On
another day I was using the soil mixer, which was a electric machine with
rotary blades inside. You put your
soil and fertiliser mix through a opening in the
side and the shredder through the mix out the front. I stopped shovelling
to
brush soil off the top of the shredder and got thrown across the room by a
electric shock. The boss came out and
just
laughed
it off.
The
highlight of the year was to do the Platt fields show. Only the best apprentices went with Mr
Rennett who
did the
lord Mayors tent every year. I was
chosen and it was fantastic. Mr Rennett
was a tyrant, but he certainly knew
how to
put on a display. One clever trick was
to bury a full tray of bedding plants in peat borders to give a full colour
effect.
I had
to keep a diary mainly the plants I worked with, by naming their common name
and their generic name
(Latin)
won a book for my diary in my second year.
I wish now I had kept them.
I
started day release at Brooklands Tech College. I met lads from other parks and was a good social course.
In my second year I met a lad from
the university of Manchester Botanical gardens we became good friends and
a
important part in my life then. His
name was Bill Whipday he had very long Rolling Stones hair was already married
with a
child on the way, I took to him straight away.
I remember we had to do a essay, and he did one on drugs and was
very
explicit, the teacher was absolutely shocked.
We used
to enjoy our dinnertime by then. We
went to a chippy then into a pub where I had a brown split ( brown
ale and
half of bitter ) the only problem was it was very heavy and made you tired in
the afternoon. By now we had to
stay on
at night for a extra lesson which was boring it was on a side of
Horticulture
we probable would never do.
Note.
A lot of what’s to come involves the next couple of years:
i.e.
my work and social life
1963 1966. This part of my diary is where my life changed completely:
My
leisure time was just as busy, I was never in.
Two
very important events occurred that affected our lives.
Radio
Caroline came on air. This was a
commercial radio station that transmitted off a ship in the British
Channel
just out of reach of the law. It was to
change British radio forever. B.B.C
radio was so outdated.
Me and
my mates used to go over to Caddishead, either by the toll ferry ( a rowing
boat sculled across by a
ferryman),
or by the illegal crossing of the railway bridge. We went to a cafe that had a juke box that played the latest
pop
records. We also went over to the
fair. The fair also came to
Partington. We did not go to the fair
for the rides, but
to listen
to the pop records. The favourite
fairground record then were:
Nut Cracker
Suite. By B.Bumble and The Stingers.
Rocking
Goose. By Johnny and The
Hurricanes
Although
I worked very hard, I still had a busy social life. Me and my mates were at this moment content to be
not
courting.
14 JULY 1963
A new
youth club opened up in Partington at a mission hall at the beginning of the
new estate on Wood lane. We
decided
to give it a go. They had a DJ playing
pop records; the place was packed, especially with girls. The Lad’s said
it was
time we found a girl, I was egged on to ask a particular girl who had caught my
eye, the girl was dancing with
another
girl I knew neither of them, so I cockily walked up to the two girls and asked
the one I fancied if I could walk
her
home, she said yes, and I went back to my mates. They never bothered to chat to any girl’s at all; I think they
set me
up. I walked this girl home to her gate, she
lived on the old estate, and her name was Glennis Lloyd. I arranged to see
her
again.
Her
full name is Glennis Yvonne Lloyd. Her
parents were divorced and she lived with her mother Lillian (Lloyd)
Thompson
and stepfather Dennis Thompson, who was a alcoholic and a thug. I called her Glen.
Glen worked in Manchester, as a National Cash
Register operator for a catalogue company called Marshall Ward.
15 JULY 1963
Asked Glennis to go out with me. She said yes.
That
many things happened at this time that I can only relate them as they come in
my head:
I
eventually left Carrington to go to Fog Lane park, which was a other stepping
stone in my life. You had to do a
year
at each park but all the things I did
at Fog Lane it seems so much longer. In
the park you mainly cut grass edges
with
special edging tools. Every Friday you
had to mark out any football pitches, to be used on Saturday, with sawdust
and
lime.
The main
job at Fog Lane was the planting up of the new over spill estate of Hattersley
and Hadfield. (Two new
over
spill estates).
We
planted the trees that you see now and the hedges in the gardens.
At his
time was the terrible news on Hattersley of the moors murders which astounded
the nation. Mainly
because
it involved the abuse and murder of children.
Ian Brady and Myra Hindley caused the Atrocities. They were
sent
down for life. One of the close
accomplice and star witness was a David Smith.
I once saw Smith who shopped Brady,
he was
a tall scruffy young man. I don’t
believe he was as innocent has he said.
PS now 25th Jan
2000, Hindley as for many years tried to appeal to be released because
she reckons
she has done her time, fortunately the home secretary’s would not allow
her, even when she went to the
European right appeal to no avail thankfully. She has just had a major
operation for a brain tumour, which I think, is a disgrace because of ordinary
people are struggling for operations.
We were
taken to the estate for our work by landrover.
The trees and shrubs etc came in a large wagon. One
day the
wagon broke down and had to be towed back, I was designated to go under the
front of the wagon and tie on a
rope. We towed the wagon back to the park. Afterwards it was found that on top of the
breakdown, I had tied the rope
around
the steering arm and bent it, the boss was not pleased.
Whilst
at Fog Lane I was seconded to Heaton Parks engineering dept, to learn something
of the working parts of
mechanical
apparatus used in the parks. I suppose
somehow I learnt something about engines etc.
Other jobs we did were, old folks homes
gardens. The verges along
Kingsway. Bulb planting.
While I was at Fog Lane we were asked if we would like to
work weekends at a millionaires house.
I
Decided to try it. The millionaire was a Mr Raffles. When you came in the driveway to the house
you could
not miss all the bales of peat stacked up
against a wall. The peat was literally spread
every year over the gardens, so in fact the ground was several inches deep in
peat all over the gardens. The weeding
was really easy.
One incident I remember was losing my wallet
with my wages in. At first I thought
someone had stole them. I
went home and tried to think where I last
had my wallet. The only thing I could
think of was when we played football at dinner, so first thing on arrival at
work was to go and look where we played football, and I found my wages at the
goal post spot.
Whilst at Fog Lane the lads finally got me into smoking
Cigarettes. I Don’t know why, I started
on a
brand called:
Nelsons
A
colleague I worked with whose name I cannot remember, got me interested in
going to a folk and jazz club
behind the cathedral in Manchester,
called the MSG.
Whilst working at Fog Lane a friend called Arthur Gasselle
introduced me to a rising singer called
Bob Dylan. We went to a record shop and listened to him in a booth I
was aghast. My first impression was of
horror
at the voice.
I soon came round to understanding what he was about and his voice grew
on me, in fact I now think the
voice makes the song and meaning, i.e. Hard Rains
Gonna Fall, because of the time it was wrote, when the Russian
leader Kruschev
was moving his military sites to Cuba, and the American president John F
Kennedy told him to
retreat
or else, creating a serious threat to a nuclear war. That’s what hard rain is, missiles falling. Dylan thought like
us all
that this was the end so put together all his unfinished music into rhyme, to
create his last song on the L.P
Freewheeling. Fortunately the Russia backed off. And the feeling it was sung by Dylan in
comparison to the very good
version
by Roxy Music, means more to me.
On a
melancholy note: Click here for song: Bob Dylan's Dream
(Concerning the friends I have had,
Bob Dylan’s Dream, seems to make sense what ever generation.)
Some verses from his song.
BOB DYLAN’S DREAM
Whilst riding on a train going west,
I fell asleep, thought I would take my
rest.
I dreamed a dream that made me sad,
Concerning myself and the first few
friends I had.
Now it had there by, has I stared into
the room,
Where my friends and I had spent many a
afternoon.
Laughing and a talking about the world
outside.
Now many a year has passed and gone,
And many a war has been fought and won,
And many a road travelled my first
friends,
And each one I have never seen again.
A thousand dollars I’ve won at the toss
of a hat,
I’d give it all back gladly,
If our lives could be like that.
Now I wish, I wish in vain,
That I could sit in that room again.
Laughing and a talking about the world
outside.
I was still using my scooter.
My scooter lasted me for a long
time. I once got a puncture in the rear
tyre, and unfortunately my spare was flatthis was just passed Sale and because
the weight of the engine was on the back wheel I had to lift the rear up and
then push this was very difficult especially as I had
to
go many miles to a garage in Partington.
The only other problem was I had it serviced just before my driving test. When I got I back everything was different and I found it hard to
control,
Consequently I failed my test, also I was immature in the ways of the
highway code.
By now my best mate Keith
Dunker had got himself a girlfriend.
Her name was Norma Wilcox.
Coincidentally
she lived two doors a way from Glen.
Here’s a story you will
not believe. Me and Keith Glen and
Norma went fishing on the canal at Lymn.
We never
caught a thing so I decided to pack up Keith was swing his fishing line
through the water out of boredom and he came
out with a fish
My dad was
a member of the Working Men’s Club. He
asked me if I would be interested in running a
youth club
at the Workers. I agreed but I
was completely green. Enthusiasm is a
great motivation and I
soon had a committee and a youth club running. We sold soft drinks which I had specially
delivered, the club did
not like that because we made all the profit. I Learnt how to book live groups by getting a letter of
confirmation
that they would appear. We had some fab groups and some poor ones.
I took on a
correspondence course for my R.H.S.
(Royal Horticultural Society) which was very difficult and
expensive. Some nights Glen had
to sit with me in the kitchen while I did the course. I finally got R.H.S. 2nd
class.
I also got my Certificated gardener.
(Practical and theory). At
college I was now studying for City and Guilds
which was very hard because it covered more technical areas. I.e.
Botany.
I did finally get City and Guilds grade 2.
On the night of my exam
for City and Guilds, I booked a group for the club who were getting to be well
known
they cost me a bit more than usual but it was a special night. I was upset I could not be there. The group was
called:
Herman’s Hermits.
Glen said they were brilliant. I
tried to book them again but they got a big hit in the charts and were too
expensive.
The club was doing well. But there was dissent from adult committee
The workers finally got rid of the youth
club.
The local Labour Club started a youth
club. So me Glen and Keith and Norma
used to go. They were brilliant
nights
out, they had live groups on. The best
group they had on and were a regular spot were the Factotums and they
always
finished there act with the lights down, with a song called Fever. This became me and Glens personnel
favourite.
About
this time my Dad bought a car. It was a
Ford Poplar. H e had lessons with his
friend Joe Mckenna, but
he
was not very good. Somehow I talked my
Dad into letting Keith borrow it , because he had just passed his test.
We used to go out on a Sunday, we went to Alton
Towers, Pickmere, and the Lake district.
5 August
1963.
The Beatles were just
becoming famous. The Beatles were
appearing at Urmston. We got ticket for
the show
and me, Glen, Keith and his latest girl went. The supporting group was Brian Poole and The Tremeloes.
Glen and me went to watch
Del Shannon at the Apollo Ardwick on my scooter. What a show.
I decided to make a
pond in the garden. So I dug out the
shape, and made the pond out of concrete, I ran out of
cement, so I went to a building site on the estate, and ask a worker if
there was a chance for a bag of cement I got some,
although I felt cheeky. When the pond
was complete I had to cover the concrete with a sealing solution. I had made two
shelves with lips to hold soil for the oxygenaters. The pond really was good and I was quite
pleased. I ordered my fish,
lily, and oxygenaters from Penningtons shop. When they came in me and Glen went and picked them up in a large
plastic bag and carried them home.
The fish contained some Orf and some large Fantails. I lost the fantails to cats, but
the Orf did well and even laid eggs in the oxygenaters.
Glen and me kept breaking
up because she had trouble at home, especially with her stepfather. Some times Glen
went up to Billingham, Middlesborough, to her sister Anne’s. I went up once for the weekend. I got to meet Harold,
Anne’s husband who was a steel erector and travelled all over the
country. We got on well.
4 September 1963.
Katherine
and Peter went in hospital to have their tonsils out.
7 September 1963.
Katherine
and Peter came home today.
28 September 1963.
Went
to pictures to see IT HAPPENED AT THE WORLDS FAIR starring ELVIS PRESLEY.
20 October 1963.
Glen and I decided
to get engaged on her birthday 21st December 1963. On the 16th November 1963 I
bought
a engagement ring so we are now engaged.
22 November 1963.
President John F Kennedy
was assassinated today.
The whole world is
in shock he was a young, great, president most famous for standing up against
Kruschev the
Russian dictator who was
trying to set up military installations in Cuba. Until Kennedy gave him an ultimatum. The
threat of a nuclear war was
pushed to the limit, fortunately Kruschev gave in.
Incidentally Bob
Dylan’s HARD RAINS GONNA F ALL was all Dylan’s bits of his unused material put
together
because he thought like us
all that this was the end, the chorus Hard Rain Is Gonna Fall refers to the
missiles falling.
The workers
finally got rid of the youth club.
The local Labour Club
started a youth club. So me Glen and
Keith and Norma used to go. They were
brilliant
nights out, they had live groups on.
The best group they had on and were a regular spot were the Factotums
and they
always finished there act with the lights down, with a song called
Fever. This became me and Glens
personnel favourite.
Me and Glen decided to get engaged, we had a small party
at Norma’s house
The
Ring
2/6
from
Woollys
Not long
after Glen had a lot of trouble at home with Dennis, and could not take any
more of his violence. So I asked my
parents if she could stay at our house.
They agreed. Looking back it
must have been a hard decision.
Glen
slept
in the back room with Cath, and I slept in the front room with Brian and
Peter. I was now approaching 18 yrs so I asked my parents if we could get
married, my dad said we were to young, so we all agreed to wait till I was
19. So we started making plans. Our first piece of furniture was a stereo
gram, which I bought on HHH.P.
We were having fun being MOD’s, which was what people called the new
generation. We bought clothes from the
army and navy store. We also sown
buttons and tassel’s on our jeans, on some jeans we frayed the bottoms. I think
deep down I wanted to be a rocker, who were the greasy hair and leather gear
generation who also rode motorbikes. In
them days there was a lot of MOD’s and rocker fights in the seaside resorts,
but we never got involved.
Also in Manchester were the big clubs and the drug scene, again we never got into drugs,
although now I wish I
had tried pot.
The
club by now was finished because of the petty adults. There really was no where to go now. But we were
I
cannot recall were we stored our bits of furniture. But we bought a old mettle based double bed off a old lady,
we bought some chairs etc off
a colleague of Glens called Terry who was emigrating to New Zealand.
We did not get much
financial help with the wedding but we had help and support. I went to meet Glens true
Father who lived with his Mother in Brooklands. I found him to be a very friendly and upright army type, who I
got
on well with. He was a mind of information
and was proud of his war record. On the
other hand my Father, because
of his strict religious views made the condition that Glen changed her
faith to become a Catholic. Which she
agreed, and
did.
August of 1966
I
was transferred from Fog Lane to Wythenshaw Park. This was supposed to be the elite place to learn. I was
under a man in charge of the heather gardens. For some unknown reason he had something against me, I think it
was
because I came originally from Carrington Moss. He kept telling other lads not to work with me because I was
lazy.
(Any one who came from Carrington Moss would not know how to be lazy).
Incidentally
while I was at Wythenshaw Park, Carrington Moss was to be closed and Wythenshaw
Park was to
be the main supplier for the parks.
Sad.
Just before I got
married Bill Whipday told me there was vacancies at the University Botanical
Grounds. It was
slightly better pay, so I
applied and got the job. My great
pleasure was in telling this bloke in charge of me at Wythenshaw Park on the
last Friday that I would not be in on the Monday, his face was a picture.
We decided to live in a place of our own when we got
married. So we looked for accommodation
which we found in Crumpsall. I don’t
know why we chose to live so far from our families. The flat was on the top floor of a large old house:
Rectory Rd,
Crumpsall.
The wedding took place at
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church Partington on October 1st
1966. It was a white
wedding, Glens wedding dress, and the bridesmaids dresses, were all
handmade and were excellent. We were
married
on the alter, which was extraordinary, by the priest Father Pennington.
All the family’s and all
our friends were invited (except of course Dennis) and they all came. The day was a
typical cold wet October day. But
it did turn out sunny has we came out of Church, to add to a excellent
occasion.
We held the reception in the Workings Men’s Club. And later on all night in the Workers. Sometime in the night
we had to get on stage and sing with the
compare, the song was making Whoopee, but I did not know the lines, and made a
fool of myself. We could not afford a
honeymoon, so someone drove us home to Crumpsall. I invited Bill Whipday and his wife Angela around to the flat the
following day after the wedding. How
romantic! We became good friends with Bill and Angela. They lived in a rented terraced house in Bradford, Manchester.
One
morning Glen woke me up at 2am, to ask me who got up at that time to ring the
clock bells, which were just
ringing.
We
both had to use the train to Manchester to go to work. I then had to get a bus to Fallowfield. near the place I now worked was a new
building for the university called the toast rack because its roof as got
several hoops on. I worked just around
the corner, at the university experimental grounds. We called it the Firs.
The work was very different and easier mainly watering potting up and
looking after the Vice Chancellors gardens The boss was called Mr Flannagan and
in my opinion not a very clever gardener.
The main plants grown were seedlings grown under lights and were
experimental. We were never informed of
the reasons. The main attraction for me that I had never experienced before was the quite
large tropical house.
Another pal Bill brought to work with us was a lad called Dave
Thornhill. He became another close
friend at that time. He was a small lad, single and plenty of money. He loved to gamble on the horses. He got me into betting I
would bet small money each
way on names of horses that had familiar names, like Glensomthing, one in
particular, we had a cat called Toby, so I put a each way bet on Toby Jug and
it won. Dave was very lucky he came into work one day and said he had put 5
pounds each way on a horse called Farm Walk, that was a lot of money then, we
said he was mad anyway it won. It came
in at 10 to 1. On another occasion Dave
said he had put 10 pounds to win on a horse called
Boismoss, it again won at 12
to 1.
Dave also reintroduced me to Manchester City,
Who I have always supported. We started
going to all the home
matches. We went in the seats at Platt Lane. The club had just got a new Manager with Joe
Mercer and a new coach
Malcolm Allison. The team was mainly new youngsters, like
Colin Bell from Bury. And the old man
Tony Book from Bath who in my opinion was the best player considering his age
of 32yrs. The style played was with two
wingers, which created a exciting game with plenty of goals. I went to Main Rd for 2yrs.
1967 season was the best when we won the league title.
SEASON
1967-1968
The team was
Harry Dowd + Joe Corrigan (goals)
Tony Book Glyn Pardoe
George Heslop
Alan Oakes Tony Coleman Mike Doyle
Mike Summerbee Colin Bell Neil Young Francis lee
The two most memorial matches that season were:
A game at Main Rd against Tottenham Hotspurs on a snow covered, frozen
pitch, which we thought would be cancelled.
The Blues were brilliant winning City 5.
Tottenham 1. In the papers in
the morning the headlines were Babes on ice.
The last game of the season was at Newcastle and we had to win, because
Manchester United were at home to Sunderland
and were favourites to win, which would have won them the league,
Our game was end to end stuff we got a goal they got a goal, nerves. We won.
United got beat.
This
was a time of being very selfish, probably because I did not know better and
being in a mans world. I
Started going out on a Friday night with Bill and
Dave and a few others. We went down
town had to many beers. ( in them days you buy many different keg beers, one we drank was
called Red Barrel, ) Afterwards we all went to a Indian
restaurant called the Taj Mahal, I always had chicken
curry.
On
Saturdays I would go to Main Rd with Dave to watch City. We would first put a bet on at the bookies.
They say you cannot remember things after you
get drunk, well I remember every embarrassing event the first
time I got drunk which was at my first Christmas at the
firs. They always had a collection for
drinks for the Xmas do, I got carried away and mixed my drinks I finished off
by taking a bottle of Martini on my way home by bus and train. On the train, I was sat in a compartment
with two well-dressed businessmen when I started feeling sick I try to put my
hand over my mouth but to no avail. I
got home spent some time in the loo, then went to bed, the next thing I
remember was Glen and Angela waking me up and being extremely annoyed because I
should have met her at Bills. I then
had to get sorted and go to Bills.
Some Sundays we had to work at the firs, so one
of the thing we would do was send John our brew boy to the
shops for eggs, bacon, and
sausages. We would start a fire and get
some roof slates and put the food on the slates to cook. Brilliant.
One
day at work the boss asked Dave and me if we would like to go to Leicester to
watch city play in a cup
match.We
said yes. He had a Zephyr Zodiac, which
was a big car. I cannot remember the
result but I remember coming home in very thick fog at one point we had to get
out and walk in front of the car.
While
we were living at the flat I got to know Glens Brother David. He was a tall very thin lad. We had a few
Drinks together, but I got fed up with him always
borrowing money especially has we were just as broke. We had a row with him over this and
never saw him again for a very long time.
The
flat was OK but not very up to date.
Also we found it hard to keep up with the rent. So when a House
vacancy
came up near Glens Nanna in Moss side we did a moonlight. The house was 3 doors down from Nanna
Glover, on Bickley St, Moss Side, Manchester.
It was a big two bedroomed, two living roomed house. But really was a slum
and
needed a lot doing on it. The toilet
was outside and did not have a light.
But at that moment it was a home
While
I was here Harold was working in Manchester and he stopped at Nana’s
house. On the Friday he took me
out I was broke so he put a
10 bob note in my top pocket. I still
owe him.
About this period
of wedded bliss we went on Holiday for the first time. We went with Ann and Harold, from
their house in Billingham to
a camp site up north in Asherton, this was the birthplace of the two famous
football
brother’s
Bobby and Jack Charlton. I think Ann
and Harold then had just the two girls, Gillian and Ann.
The site was
inland in a large wood. It had nesting
in the woods lots of Wood Pigeon’s, Harold said that their
eggs were good to eat, so I
climb a tree and took some eggs. When
it came to breakfast Harold decided not to have any
Wood
Pigeon eggs, so I ate them they were small but excellent. At night me and Harold went to the local pub
which
was a couple of miles away,
so we would go in the car. Halfway
through the week in the pub there was a raffle, which
we won, it was a large tray
of meat. The girls were pleased,
especially as we were running out of money.
I was still
working at the Firs and it was easier to get to I could walk there through
Platt Fields Park.
Glen had her first
miscarriage. She had to stay in St
Mary’s Hospital.
Glen got a new job
at an electric shop called Flynnes doing secretarial work.
My friend Bill now
had a baby boy and was called Warren and another on the way. Due to finances and the
increase in the family Bill
did two things he left the firs to work on the buses, and he also moved to
Hattersley.
We were still at Bickley
St. Bill suggested if we were thinking
of starting a family why not go to the town hall
and say Glen was pregnant and apply to be housed on
Hattersley. We did and looked at some
vacant property on Hattersley. We
applied for a flat top flat on Hattersley Road west and got it. We moved in around February 1969. The flat was the top flat of 3 on Hattersley
Road west. The flat was very nice, two
bedrooms and under floor heating.
I was still at the firs and
had to travel to Belle Vue by bus and then get the famous 53 bus to
Fallowfield. I was not very happy at
the firs because I was overlooked for the temporary post of foreman, the boss
stuck to the principle of longest service over my qualifications. Dave Thornhill got it and put a strain on
our friendship.
One day whilst I
was in charge Glen phoned me up to say that the weather was getting bad with
heavy snow, it
was only about dinner time and
there was no snow at the firs, any way I phoned the boss up at Jodrell Bank,
and he
said to go home. I got the 53 bus to Belle Vue. Got on the Hattersley bus to be informed
that it was only going to Hyde
due to the weather
conditions, I got off at Hyde and walked it home the conditions were atrocious
the
snow was quite thick and was
drifting.
Glen had another
miscarriage, after which she gave up work.
Glen had another miscarriage so our GP Doctor
Tommy decided to put Glen on
a course of injections on her next pregnancy, which worked. Glen was again pregnant and doing well. Soon after this I decided to leave the
firs. I applied to Stockport Parks Dept
and S.H.M.D buses. (S.H.M.D stands for
Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley, and Duckinfield.) I got interviews for both
jobs. At the parks I was offered the
job to start right away, but the one thing that stopped me was the fact that I
had to transfer my
superannuation which (like a
idiot now I am looking back I should not have done) I could then redeem it and
I needed the money.
March 1969
So
I took the job on the buses. At the
Interview it was explained that it was expected to work my starred restday
which is your guaranteed
sixth day. Also to allow walking time
to work in case the bus did not turn up.
The rate of
pay was the same as the
university £13 10s but with overtime spreadover for split duties and weekend
rates you could earn far more. I
started. You started has a conductor
which did help to get used to the job.
The hardest part was learning the stages and fares. The public are a nightmare, there all right
when you get know people on a regular route but otherwise they are very awkward
and tend to treat you like dirt.
After a while you
get a regular driver which is far better because you can work the roads to each
ones separate
ways plus if you get on well
you can have some fun. My mate was Paul
Andrews he was married with 3 children and was a lot older than me. He did tend to lead me astray. Paul liked his pints, many a time during a split
duty he would come back on duty to drive the bus for the second half stinking
of beer. Paul introduced me to my
favourite piece of classical music, which is:
Tchaikovskys 1812 Overture
Paul went into a record shop and had several versions played
until he got one that had real cannons on.
I was a conductor
for about 10 MTh’s then I went on driving school because that was the future
with o.m.o
driving coming in, (one-man
operation). I passed my test first time
on 17th
December 1969. We went out to celebrate
but I
did not inform Glen, so when I got in Glen was lived. I was even more selfish then.
1970 .
This turned out to be a happy, bad, sad, and
busy year:
Since Glen’s last miscarriage
our Doctor Tommy has been giving Glen injections to help her carry a foetus in
the
womb. It is now April 1970 and Glen is 9 months
pregnant.
APRIL 4TH 1970
Today Glen’s waters broke. On 5th April still no labour.
April 6TH 1970.
Today I am a
father to a baby girl:
Born at 03.15 in
Tameside Hospital, weight 5 lb. 5oz,
she will be called Karen Jane. Both all
right. Phoned my
Mam and Dads neighbour up to
give the good news, our Brian answered, told him to tell everyone. (Last time I spoke to Brian).
April 7th 1970.
Saw
Karen Jane for first time. 6hrs
old. Very small.
April 8th 1970.
I
have going to pick Glen and Karen up at the hospital to bring them home in a
taxi. Arrived home 16.30 hrs.
Glen not very pleased I was the first to take
Karen out in the pram.
April 14 Th.
1970.
Disaster. The ferry on the canal at Partington,
involved in an explosion, our Brian was on it going to work. He
is missing. Mam and Dad under heavy sedation.
April 15th 1970.
Went
to Mam and Dads. Awful not knowing if
Brian is dead or hurt somewhere although you know deep down
that he could not still be alive. A few did get out of the canal alive. It appears that our Brian and several other workers wanted to
over to Caddishead to work, (Brian worked at the steel works and loved it)
there was a thick fog on the canal and the ferryman did not like the look of
it, so refused to take them over, but because the men wanted to go to work
allowed them to skull across. They got halfway across and started to collapse, the ferryman got
in the little motor boat and went to their rescue. (The fog was actually a chemical spillage from a ship
unloading chemicals at petrochemicals further
up. No one at that time
knew.)Unfortunately a spark from the outboard motor on the ferryman’s boat
ignited the chemical fumes causing very high flames, the poor young ferryman
was dressed in oilskins so had no chance of surviving. We can only assume that Brian was
unconscious and fell into the canal.
There will be a inquiry into the disaster.
April 19th 1970
Brian’s body found
in an inlet of the canal near the Warrington Bridge. My Dad had to identify the body.
Dad
said Brian did not seem
marked, so maybe he was unconscious when he fell in the water and the fire
missed him I hope.
May 1st 1970(Friday)
Brian
was buried today. He was well
remembered.
In memory of a
loving Brother who I was only just getting to know.
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Bringing up A family 1970 On.