Pre Note’s to My life Diary’s.
From
other source’s
[I]ATTACHMENT TO MY LIFE
FOR THE BENNEFIT OF THIS ACCOUNT I WILL
REFER:
TO JOHN IGO, GREAT
GRANDFATHER AS No1
JOHN IGO
GRANDFATHER AS No 2.
ANYTHING I ADD WILL BE IN RED AND
SIGNED TONY. ALSO SPELLING OF SURNAMES
THAT MAYBE SPELT DIFFERENTLY I WILL MARK WITH A? EXCEPT FOR IGO, WHICH IS
CORRECT IN THIS CONTEXT BUT ON, A TRACE TO IRELAND MAY BE SPELT IGOE?
TONY
THESE NOTES ARE FROM RECCOLLECTIONS OF THE PAST
BY BETTY IGO AND WROTE DOWN BY MAUREEN IGO; THEY ARE
ONLY ROUGH DATES TO BE CONFIRMED.
1999
DEAR TONY,
AS REQUESTED A FEW DETAILS
FROM LIZ REGARDING “THE FAMILY TREE”.
HOWEVER THE DATE’S ARE ALL GUESSWORK, ALSO LIZ WHO IS NOW 82 YRS OLD IS
VERY CONFUSED NOW.
WE ARE A GORMLESS LOT FANCY
NOT KNOWING THE AGE OF OUR FATHER, BUT THE PITY
IS THAT HE WAS BORN AT ALL! WE WERE SO BUSY LIVING AND HAVING A GOOD
TIME THAT THE PAST WAS A DEAD WORLD, BUT NOW IT’S TO LATE, WE WOULD ALL LIKE TO
FILL IN THE GAP’S. PERSONNALLY
{MAUREEN} WOULD LIKE TO TRACE ALL THE WOMEN IN THE FAMILY TO SEE IF THERE ARE
ANY TRAIT’S.
LOVE MAUREEN
P.S. BY THE ABOVE ACCOUNT THE FATHER MY GRANDDAD WHO
WAS A DRUNKARD TREATED THE GIRLS BADLY.
THAT’S WHY WHEN THEIR MOTHER DIED EARLY THE GIRL’S MOVED AWAY TO LIVE
TOGETHER AND COMPLETELY SHUT OUT THEIR FATHER.
JOHN IGO 2, WHO I NOW BELIEVE, WAS BURIED
IN MOSTON CEMETRY ABOUT 1960-1962. AGE
ABOUT 60?
TONY
RESUME:
JOHN IGO 1 BORN
APROX 1840-1850?
JOHN IGO 1 +
PARTNER ELLEN CAMBELL? HAD ONE BOY CALLED JOHN IGO 2. BORN WE THINK CO, MAYO 1890?
ELLEN CAMBELL?
MAY HAVE BEEN FROM NORTHRN IRELAND BECAUSE CAMBELL? IS A SCOT’S NAME
TRADITIONALLY.
ELLEN CAMBELL HAD
TWO DAUGHTER’S FROM A PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIP.
THEY WERE;
NAME
MARY.
KATIE
THESE WERE OUR FATHER’S STEPSISTER’S.
KATIE NEVER MARRIED.
MARY MARRIED MICHAEL SNEE AND HAD
THREE CHILDREN. THEY WERE;
NAME. BORN DECEASED AGE
ELLEN. 1912 1986-1987 76?
CATHERINE. 1913 1997 84
(ALWAYS’S CALLED HERSELF
KATHLEEN)
MICHAEL. 1919?
THESE POOR PEOPLE AS CHILDREN WERE
PUT INTO HOME’S BECAUSE THEIR MOTHER WAS AN ALCOHOLIC AND THE FATHER WORKED
AWAY, ON THE ROADWORK’S. THEY HAD AWFUL
TIME’S IN CHILDHOOD.
THERE’S A FINE OLD TALE, WHICH COULD
BE A “ SNEE’S” TALE NOT A “ IGO’S” ABOUT A IMMIGRANT GRANDPARENT FROM IRELAND,
AS MOST OF THE STARVING IMMIGRANT’S DID, THEY BROUGHT A PIG OVER WITH
THEM. ONE DAY A PIG ESCAPED AT
LIVERPOOL DOCK’S AND CAUSED MAYHAM. THE
LOCAL LIVERPOOL ECHO RAN A FEATURE ABOUT “PADDY’S PIG!”. SOMEBODY WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A COPY OF THE
NEWSPAPER BUT WE NEVER SAW IT.
OUR FATHER JOHN IGO 2, HAD AN OLD
AUNT CALLED HANNAH WHO WAS A NUN IN A LIVERPOOL CONVENT. MY MOTHER MAY REMEMBER MORE. WYNNE REMEMBER’S THAT SHE GAVE HER A HUGE
BUNCH OF RAMBLING ROSE’S FOR HER 13th BIRTHDAY.
JOHN IGO 2 MARRIED: HARRIET CHARLTON. BORN 1890? FROM KING’S LYNNE? BURIED 7TH DEC
1938. THEY WERE MARRIED 1910? AND HAD
10 CHILDREN, 4 BOYS AND 6 GIRL’S. THEY
WERE;
NAME BORN DECEASED
BRIDGET 1911. ?
ELIZEBETH ELLEN 1912.
JOHN IGO 3 1913.
HARRIET 1920.
JAMES 1922?
WILFRED 1924 DIED AT THE AGE OF 4 AFTER A
ACCIDENT.
BURIED
JAN 28TH 1928
EILEEN 1923
WILLIAM 1926
WYNNE 1927
MAUREEN 1929
OUR MOTHER HARRIET CHARLTON HAD THREE
SISTER’S AND ONE BROTHER. THEY WERE;
NAME
LUCY.
NETTA. (DIED AS A CHILD)
ALICE.
ALBERT.
ALICE MARRIED A FRUITERER AND VEG MAN
CALLED JOHN LEEMAN. THEY HAD THREE
CHILDREN.
NAME
JOHN.
TOM.
NETTA.
ALBERT MARRIED LILY? AND HAD ONE
DAUGHTER.
NAME.
AUDREY.
LUCY MARRIED JAMES SIDDALL. AND HAD SIX CHILDREN. THREE GIRLS AND THREE BOYS.
NAME.
NELLY.
NETTA.
JIMMY.
ALBERT.
DORIS.
RONNIE.
ALL THE ABOVE CHILDREN ARE OUR
COUSIN’S.
my LIFE.
By Tony Hillier
DATED 1998
In the beginning. Let there be light:
FAMILY
HISTORY
TONY’S FAMILY TREE GLEN’S
FAMILY TREE
MOTHER’S
SIDE MOTHER’S
SIDE
Great
Great Grandfather.
Igo.
Ireland.
(No known details)
Great Grandfather
John Igo.
Born 1840-1850? County Mayo, Ireland.
Died?
+
Great
Grandmother
Ellen
Campbell?
Born
1840? County Mayo, Ireland.
Died?
Children:
John Igo. (Stepsister’s Mary and Katie
Campbell)
Grandfather Grandfather
John Igo. Jack Glover
Born 1890? Manchester. England? Born?
Died 1962? Died?
+ +
Grandmother
Grandmother
Harriet
Charlton. Sarah
Jane?
Born
1890? South of England. Born?
Died Died
Children: Children,
Bridgett
Igo, Betty Igo, Harriet Igo. Maureen
Igo. Lillian Glover. Mary Glover.
Wynne
Igo, Eileen Igo, John Igo, Jim Igo, Bill Igo. Jim
Glover Dorothy Glover.
Note.
The Igo Tree finishes here for
my family, But will carry on elsewhere.
Tony
Igo line to Hillier and Glover to
Lloyd to Hillier
Parent. Mother Parent. Mother
Harriet Igo. Lillian Glover.
Born
3/3/1920. Manchester, England. Born
3/2/192?
Died
Died?
+ +
Parent. Father Parent. Father
Tom
Hillier. Arthur
Lloyd.
Born
14/2/1920. Manchester, England Born 5/2/192?
Died
Died
Children: Children:
Anthony
Thomas Hillier, Brian James Hillier, Francis
Ann Lloyd.
Catherine
Teresa Hillier, Peter John Hillier, David
Arthur Lloyd.
Glennis
Yvonne Lloyd.
Anthony Thomas Hillier. 3/7/1947. + Glennis Yvonne Lloyd. 21/12/1947.
Children;
Karen
Jane Hillier. Joanne
Hillier. Allison Denise Hillier.
Karen
Hillier Joanne
Hillier Allison
Hillier
Born
6/4/1970. Tameside Born 4/2/1971 Tameside Born 25/6/1975 Tameside
+ +
+
John
Mullin John
Milne
Born
Born
Children Children Children
Jade
Rebecca Mullin. ANDrew
Paul Milne Rhiannon
Sarah Hillier
Born
24/7/1998 Tameside Born
10/3/1999 Born
21/3/1995
Jake
Mason Mullin.
Born
14/12/1999
Before I begin with my own life, I will insert here a
small chronicle of notes that my mother wrote. I will try to write it down has my mother wrote the notes.
CHRONICLE OF MY LIFE
BY
HARRIET IGO
I STARTED TO WRITE THIS SHORT CHRONICLE
OF MY LIFE IN JUNE 1986. IT MAY BE OF
INTREST TO MY GRANDCHILDREN.
MY NAME IS HARRIOT HILLIER, NEE
IGO. I WAS BORN IN ANCOATS, MANCHESTER
ON THE 3rd MARCH 1920. I
WAS THE 4th CHILD OF AN EVENTUAL TOTAL OF 10 CHILDREN, 6 GIRLS AND 4
BOYS.
WE MOVED TO CHORLTON - UPON - MEDLOCK NEAR THE CITY CENTRE OF MANCHESTER. MY EARLIEST MEMORIE’S ARE OF SMALL THREE-STORY HOUSE IN A SMALL BACK STREET, WHERE 10 CHILDREN SLEPT IN ONE BEDROOM. WE SLEPT 5 TO A BED.
ONE OF MY EARLIEST PLEASANT
RECCOLLECTIONS WAS WHEN I WENT TO BED OF A NIGHT I LOOKED TOWARDS A SMALL
LANDING AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS AND SAW A BEAUTIFUL GARDEN, WHICH I NOW
REALISE WAS ONLY A DREAMS. (FUNNILY
ENOUGH ONE OF MY SONS BECAME A GARDENER.
ALSO ONE DAY I LOOKED AT THE GARDEN OF MY 3RD HOME AND
REALISED MY DREAM HAD COME TRUE.) THERE
WAS NOT A BLADE OF GRASS IN OUR AREA WHERE WE LIVED. ONCE I RISKED BEING PUNISHED BY GOING DOWN A PASSAGE TO HAVE A
LOOK AT SOME PLANTS.
I AM AT PRESENT 66 YEARS OLD AND STILL
LOVE TO DO SOME WORK IN THE GARDEN.
MY FATHER, WAS THE SON OF
JOHN IGO, WHO ARRIVED IN ENGLAND FROM COUNTY MAYO, IRELAND. HE WAS ALSO CALLED JOHN IGO. MY GRANDFATHER TRADED IN SECOND HAND
FURNITURE, WHICH HE BOUGHT FROM THE WELL TO DO OF MANCHESTER, THEN SOLD IT TO
THE POOR COMMUNITY, MOST BOUGHT IT ON TICK, SO THOUGH IT WAS A THRIVING
BUSINNESS HE ENDED UP A POOR HAS HIS CUSTOMERS.
MY FATHER MARRIED MY MOTHER WHO WAS A
ENGLISH WOMAN FROM KINGS LYNNE, NORFOLK.
BEING THE 4th CHILD LIFE WAS
A BIT EASIER THAN MY OLDER SISTER, BECAUSE THEY HAD TO GO OUT WITH A HAND CART
AND SELL FIREWOOD THAT MY GRANDFATHER CHOPPED ON A BIG CHOPPING BLOCK.
WE HAD A DRUNKEN FATHER, BUT OUR MOTHER WAS WONDERFUL, AS SHE WAS OFTEN SHORT OF MONEY WE NEVER WENT HUNGRY AND SHE MADE SURE WE WERE WELL MANNERED, AND KEPT US CLEAN AND TIDY. IT WASN’T EASY IN SUCH CRAMPED CONDITIONS. WHEN WE WERE ILL WE WERE PUT TO BED AND MADE A FUSS OF. WE HAD A MARVELOUS DOCTOR BURKE WHO VISITED US ON A PONY AND TRAP. HE HAD A LADY WHO COLLECTED A FEW COPPERS A WEEK FOR HIS SERVICES. HE HAD A NUMBER OF SONS, ONE OF WHICH BECAME MY OWN DOCTOR IN LATER YEARS. (HE WAS A SAINT IN MY OPPINION NOTHING WAS TOO MUCH TROUBLE FOR HIM). ANOTHER SON BECAME A BISHOP.
HAS
CHILDREN WE ALL ATTENDED ST AUGUSTINES CATHOLIC SCHOOL AND CHURCH IN THE HEART OF MANCHESTER. WE OWE A LOT TO THE TEACHER’S WHO WERE
DEDICATED AND GAVE US A VERY GOOD EDUCATION AND A LOVE OF READING.
I LIVED IN A HOUSE IN A SMALL BACK ST, BUT IT WAS A HIVE OF ACTIVITY. THER WAS A PAINTER AND DECORATING FIRM AND TWO FRENCH POLISHING SHOP’S IN THE ST. THER WAS A PUB ON THE CORNER AND A VARIETY OF SHOP’S ON THE MAIN RD NEARBY. WE HAD A CATMEAT SHOP THAT ONLY HAD A BIG PIECE OF MEAT CALLED PLUCK, WHICH PEOPLE BOUGHT FOR THE CAT’S. WE HAD OLD MR KIRBY THE HERBALLIST WHO HAD CHESTER CAKE’S UNDER GLASS IN THE WINDOW, THE LOCAL BOY’S USED TO BUY THEM WHEN THEY WERE HUNGRY EVEN THOUGH THE CAKE’S HAD BEEN THERE FOR WEEK’S. WE HAD A JEWISH COBBLER CALLED MR ROSE AND A COLLECTION OF OTHER SHOP’S. SO AS CHILDREN WE WERE NEVER BORED BECAUSE OF THE ACTIVITY OF PEOPLE COMING AND GOING CALLING AT THE SHOP’S AND THE SHOPKEEPER’S USED TO CHAT TO US.
SOMETIME IN 1930’S THE NEWPAPER PUBLISHER’S BUILT THERE PRINTER’S AT THE END OF OUR ST, IT WAS CALLED THE DAILY HERALD AND BECAUSE IT WAS A VERY HOT AND THIRSTY WORK, THE MEN WERE ALLOWED OUT FOR A DRINK AT DINNER, THEY USED TO RACE DOWN THE ST TO THE PUB. I OFTEN WONDERED HOW THE PAPER’S EVER GOT PUBLISHED.
MR JONE’S AND MR JACKSON WHO OWNED THE DECORATING FIRM WERE VERY KIND TO THE RESIDENT’S OF WOOD ST WEST. WE CHILDREN USED TO PLAY IN THE STREET, AND I SUPPOSE WE LOOKED SCRUFFY URCHIN’S AT TIME’S, BUT IF ONE OF THESE FINE GENTLEMEN WERE GOING ON BUISNESS THEY WOULD PILE US IN THEIR CAR’S AND TAKE US INTO THE COUNTRY, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS WONDERFUL. EVERY CHRISTMAS EVERY HOUSE IN THE ST WOULD RECEIVE ABAG OF FRUIT AND GOOD’S FROM THESE MEN AND IF ANY OF THE LOCAL BOY’S GOT IN TROUBLE WITH THE POLICE THESE MEN WOULD STAND BY THEM AND EVEN GIVE THEM JOB’S.
I LEFT SCHOOL AT 14 YRS OF AGE, AND WENT TO A MACHINING FACTORY. IT WAS VERY HARD WORK AND VERY POOR WAGE’S. I DID MACHINE WORK FOR 6 YEAR’S.
WHEN I WAS 18 YRS OLD THERE WAS A WAR SCARE WITH GERMANY. WE HAD 12 MONTH’S OF PEACE, WHICH ENABLED US TO GET READY IN CASE HITLER TURNED NASTY, WHICH HE DID IN 1939. WHEN WAR WAS DECLARED.
SEPTEMBER 1939.
ENGLAND DECLARED WAR AGAINST GERMANY.
THIS
WAS CALLED THE 2nd WORLD WAR.
HITTLER HAD BEEN PERSICUTING THE JEW’S FOR YEAR’S AND PUTTING THEM IN CONCENTRATION CAMP’S WHERE EVENTUALLY MILLION’S WERE EXTERMINATED IN THE GAS CHAMBERS. WE NEVER KNEW ANY OF THIS UNTIL AFTER THE WAR
WHEN I WAS 21 YEAR’S OLD I WAS CONSCRIPTED FOR WAR WORK. I WORKED IN TRAFFORD PARK AT METRO VICK’SHELPING TO MAKE AUTOMATIC PILOT’S FOR PLANE’S. I DID THIS JOB FOR 6 YEAR’S.
ALL OUR FAMILY SURVIVED THE WAR. WE HAD GOOD TIME’S AS WELL AS BAD TIME’S. THE FIRST YEAR’S OF THE WAR DIDN’T EFFECT US VERY MUCH. THEN WE STARTED HAVING OUR TOWN’S HEAVILY BLITZED (Bombed) WHICH WAS TERRIBLE. MANCHESTER HAD A VERY BAD BLITZ AT CHRISTMAS 1942? . ONCE ME AND MY FRIEND ELLEN ARMSTRONG, WHO I STILL KEEP IN TOUCH WITH, AND IS NOW CALLED MRS DAVIS, WERE AT THE APPOLLO CINEMA ON A SUNDAY NIGHT LISTENING TO A CONCERT. THE DANCE BANDLEADER WAS OSKA RABIN. WHEN THE BLITZ STARTED THE BAND KEPT PLAYING FOR AS LONG AS IT COULD. WE WERE NOT WARNED HOW BAD THE BLITZ WAS. WE CAME OUT OF THE CINEMA TO HUNDRE’S OF INCENDIARY BOMB’S FALLING DOWN ON US AND EVERBODY PANICKING. LONDON AND COVENTRY WERE THE TWO CITIE’S CONSTANTLY BOMBED.
ALSO ALTHOUGH WE WERE EXTREMLY POOR WE WERE ALL VERY INTELLIGENT AND MANAGED TO WORK HARD AND GET OUR OWN HOME’S
SO IN MY 60 YEARS,
PROGRESS HAS MADE GREAT STRIDES NOT ALLWAYS FOR THE BETTER. THE LOCAL COUNCILS PROVIDED US WITH
BEAUTIFUL COUNCIL HOUSES, AND WE TOOK
GREAT PRIDE IN THEM STILL BEING A COUNCIL TENENT AFTER 30 YEARS AND NOW IN MY
SEVENTY’S OUR GENERATION TRY TO MAINTAIN OUR PROPERTY. BUT I’M SORRY TO SAY MOST COUNCIL ESTATES
ARE IN WORSE CONDITION THAN THE SLUMS OF THE 1940’S.
NOTE. LOT OF MISSING YEARS
HERE. MY MOTHER NOW JUMPS TO 1970.
Tony
1970. WE NOW LIVE ON A HOUSING ESTATE IN PARTINGTON, NEAR URMSTON ABOUT 10 MILE’S OUTSIDE MANCHESTER.
MY SECOND SON BRIAN GOT A JOB AT AN ENGINEERING FIRM IN CADDISHEAD. THE ONLY WAY TO GET THERE WAS TO GO OVER THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL ON A FERRYBOAT. THE OLD FERRYBOAT USED TO BE SKULLED ACROSS, BUT NOW WE HAVE A MODERN MOTOR BOAT. WHEN BRIAN WAS 18 YEAR’S OLD TRAGEDY TOOK HIM AWAY FROM US. HE HAD GONE TO WORK AS USUAL, BUT WHEN THEY GOT TO THE FERRY THERE WAS A THICK MIST OVER THE WATER THE FERRYMAN WOULD NOT TAKE THEM OVER, SO THE MEN DECIDED TO SKULL ACROSS BUT THEY GOT INTO DIFFICULTY SO THE FERRYMAN HAD TO GO AFTER THEM IN THE MOTOR LAUNCH WHICH IGNITED THE MIST ON THE CANAL.
THE OUTCOME OF THE INQUIRY WAS THAT A SHIP THAT WAS UNLOADING CHEMICAL’S AT PETROCHEMICALS FACTORY, DEVELOPED A LEAK INTO THE SHIP CANAL WHICH NO ONE SAW. 6 MEN WERE KILLED INCLUDING MY SON BRIAN, AND ALSO THE FERRYMAN WHO WENT TO THERE AID, AND 3 MEN WERE BADLY BURNED BUT SURVIVED. MY HUSBAND AND I RECEIVED THE PRINCLY SUM OF £500, FOR THE GRIEF MY FAMILY SUFFERED. THE SUM WAS LOW BECAUSE WE WERE NOT DEPENDENT ON BRIAN. THE RESIDENT’S OF PARTINGTON WERE VERY KIND TO US, ALSO THEY RAISED A DONATION OF £500.
THE
YEAR IS NOW 1990 AND WE HAVE HAD A TORY
GOVERNMENT FOR 11 YEARS. I WAS A LUKE
WARM SOCIALIST UNTIL OUR FIRST LADY PRIME MINISTER TOOK OFFICE 11 YEAR’S
AGO. SHE CUT LOCAL COUNCIL SPENDING,
CAUSING COUNCIL ESTATE’S TO DETERIATE AND I REALISEDSHE DEFINATLY WAS NOT FOR
THE WORKING CLASS. THEN HER GOVERNMENT
CREATED A NEW TAX ON HOUSE’S CALLED ‘ POLL TAX’ THIS PUT A VERY HIGH TAX BURDEN
ON ALL THE LOWER PAID.
IT IS NOW JAN 2nd 1994, SO I MUST PUSH ON WITH THIS DIARY. I WILL BE 74 0N 3rd MARCH. I HAVE HAD A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR, PLENTY OF DRINK AND FOOD AND MY FAMILY AND FRIEND’S AROUND, PLUS LOT’S OF PENSIONER’S PARTY’S.
I STILL LIVE IN PARTINGTON, 23 YEAR’S NOW AND I DON’T THINK I’LL EVER LEAVE. PEOPLE KNOCK ESTATE’S BUT MOSTOF THE YOUNGSTER’S AND PEOPLE IN MY AGE GROUP ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH.
THE
ABOVE NOTE’S WERE GIVEN TO ME TO TYPE UP.
I DECIDED TO PUT THEM
IN
MY OWN, MY LIFE DIARY, 1N 1999.
Tony
My parents were married on
26/12/46. I was born 3rd day
of July 1947. In a small terraced house
in
Craven St. In the district of Hulme,
Manchester, Lancashire. My parents were
married just after the 2nd world war.
My mother is called Harriet, maiden
name Igo, and came from a large family of 6 girls and 3 boys.
My
father is called Tom Hillier he had no background because he was fostered by
his stepparents John and Sarah.
I
only remember certain things which will not be in order:
I
remember waking my parents up one Christmas morning, with a drum. I recall the music at night, coming from the
pubs.
The
big event of my life then was the coronation of Elizabeth to queen. We had all the streets decked with bunting,
and crowns painted on the walls. I
remember going with lots of people to watch the coronation on a Television,
which was in a shop. This was a
historic moment for us, because television had only just been invented.
I
recall my first brother Brian, sitting on the steps of our house with me, we
both had a coronation mug and Brian broke his.
I
think in the early days, we had my mother’s mother living with us. I do not remember her, but my father told me
that just after she died, my parents heard a knock on the door, when my father
answered it there was no one there, but a figure in the distance.
Bonfire
nights were big occasions, everybody went to the local fire. The fun for the bigger lads like me, was
pinching other lad’s bongy wood.
I
can remember the name of my first school, it was St Wilfreds catholic junior.
My memories of junior school are very
limited:
My
recollections are;
I
recall we sat on long wooden benches for our dinner. One day the bench was lifted up and came down with one of the
legs on my big toe. I was not treated
for it and it is still swollen today.
2.
We were once playing some silly game
where we were crawling about on our hands and knees and I
accidentally
put my hand on a wasp and it stung me.
3.
Having to go to sleep in little canvas beds.
4. In my last year another school coming to our
at playtime and causing a snow fight
Us kids used to love the special days
when the men went on their days out. We
would all go to the pub they
were going from and wait for them to
throw us coppers. (Half pennies and
pennies)
I vaguely recall going on a trip to
the seaside. We played i. spy and I had
my parents
guessing on the letter U, which I
said was all in the Charra (Bus) they had to give in, and were annoyed for me
to give them the answer of Umans.(Humans) .
My dad once took me on his bike, I
sat on the crossbar he kept saying keep your feet
Away from the front wheel, but I
eventually put my feet in the wheel and we came a cropper. We were not that bad but my dad came out the
worse.
In the year of 1955. We moved into a downstairs flat, in
Brooklands estate, Wythenshaw.
These estates were concept of
rehousing people from slum and old areas to large open country areas far away
from the city and friends. This was to
change the old traditional communities and society completely. The flats were
on Warmley Rd and called Elizabeth Yarwood house. I grew up here till I was a teenager.
They were good times. I went to St Aiden’s catholic junior
school. We used to walk it there and
back, about 3 miles each way. Buses were a luxury.
The first and best friend I had was a
lad of my age, his name was Hughie Delarghey.
He only had
a Father who was a retired
teacher. He had lost his Mother, and
had a sister Mary, who was the oldest and another younger sister. We were both brought up strict Catholics. Another
School pal was Eddie Madden who I lost touch with after I left St
Columba’s. At school they indoctrinated
us with the catholic faith, every morning at school we had to learn the
catechism. Hughie more strict than me,
he be came a alter boy, and he learnt me Latin of mass, and the lords prayer
which I knew then off by heart. We were
good mates and all the stuff lads did.
The funniest thing I remember was: One night we slept out in a tent, and
my mother gave me a key so I could come in the house if things went wrong. In the early hours I woke up with something
cold and moving about in my sock, which I took off and through out of the tent,
in the morning I picked up my sock and found the problem inside my sock was the
key my mother gave me. Hughie’s father
died, so he had to move to a uncles a long way away.
NOTE. I
regret fully, never saw Hughie again.
Many years later about 1990 I wondered
how to get in touch with him, but did
not. Just after this my mother told me
he had died and he lived just near me in Droylsden. He had become a teacher.
I now work with Eddie Madden.
I think I read my first
books about now, and was my last serious attempt until I started work on the
buses.
The Two books were:
Robin Hood by
Alice in Wonderland by
Robert Lewis Stevenson.
They both had a strong effect on me.
The only other material I
read were comics like:
The
Beano. Superman. Beezer
I can remember 4 bad incidents that
occurred:
The first one
happened just before Christmas. Me and my
brother Brian slept in the back bedroom, and we had a Christmas tree in the
bedroom, it had little mettle candlestick holders so I decided to put in some
candles and light them, obviously the candle flame set fire to the tree, I
stood in the corner of the room with the burning tree in my hands screaming for
help. I think my mother ran in and
grabbed the tree and ran out with the tree.
The second incident,
concerned my pet hamster had two golden hamsters plus a baby cream hamster,
which my friend John Chapman gave me after he had bred fourteen baby
hamsters. Some of them cream .One day I
had my hamsters running about on the grass in front of the flats, my cream one
had strayed, so I went looking for it and went and stood on its head. I cried that night, saying I was a murderer.
About
this time, me and my pals decided to club together to form a animal club. The first one we bought was a grass
snake. We could not get it to eat, we
gave it small dead fish, but it would not eat them, so it soon died. We found out after that we should have gave
it live food.
The Third incident concerned our new baby sister Catherine, who slept in the
front bedroom with me and Brian. I
slept in a bed on one side, and Brian and Cath slept on the other side of the
room in bunk beds. One night after
lights out I decided to throw my wooden darts at Brian’s wall and he returned
them. My mother heard funny
bump or thud noises, and came flying in, screaming how stupid we were throwing
darts right over Cath.
The Fourth incident was about our Brian.
He was out on his paper round when a American boy knocked him down on
his bike. We took Brian to hospital, he
had a broken leg, unfortunately my mother had given Brian a cup of tea so they
could not reset the leg for 3 hours.
Talking
of accidents, the Fifth incident
concerned me. I had to go to the
doctors for my first two stitches in my right thumb, it happened while riding
my boggy, which was simply the wheel base of a old pram. I just trapped my thumb between a other
boggy.
I remember
the buses that used to pass our flats.
We hardly went on them, but when we did my dad would buy a daily
ticket.(when he had finished with it he would pass it on).The bus company was
North Western. The seats upstairs were
in long rows, with a aisle at the side.
At
school I can only remember one lesson that I enjoyed. The class was put into teams and had to choose a tree and put
anything to do with the tree into a scrapbook.
We did the Oak tree. It was very
interesting. We had someone draw
it. We collected leaves and Fruits, and
wrote about any thing that lived on it.
I think this got me into Birds and Wildlife.
One
embarrassing thing was asking my Mum to buy me Y front underpants, the old type
were that long you had to wear them with turn ups.
By now we had a Black
and White television. Most of the time
all that was on was interludes, which were pictures to put on the screen while
waiting for a programme. The favourite
children’s programmes then were a series called watch with mother, they included:
MUFFIN THE MULE
andY PandY and LULU
THE WOODEN TOPS
BILL and BEN THE FLOWER
POT MEN
One of the adverts I
remember off T.V then was a toothpaste commercial that went like this:
You’ll wonder where the yellow went,
When you brush your teeth with PEPSEDDENT.
I
developed my three hobbies during this period.
They were:
Egg
collecting. Stamp collecting. Fishing.
My
first egg was taken from a nest in a hedge in Wythenshaw Park. It was a Hedge Sparrows, small and light
blue. I carried it all day with me then on the way
home, fell and broke it. Egg collecting
then was not as serious as now.
There
were plenty of birds. We also had a
code to take only one egg. {Maybe with
hindsight it created people to take
eggs
from rarer species with no moral code}.
I would recommend that you go to the Manchester university museum to
see
their collection). You always get the
bad Apples. Many a time while out
nesting, you came across a ragged nest
(that
is a nest that as been destroyed) I could never understand this. I had quite a fair egg collection which were
in
sawdust
in biscuit tins, until one day my mother whilst cleaning knocked them all over.
A most
unusual thing happened to me one day. I
was walking around the chicken farm fence at the back of the
flats,
when a starling landed and laid a egg, then flew off. Hard to believe but true.
Happy
times. I used to go fishing on moor
lane ponds. There were three of them,
one bigger than the others.
One
sunny summers day, I was walking around the big pond and noticed all the fish
on the surface, mainly Mirror Carp,
the
colours were breath taking. One of my
most vivid memories.
My
first fish was caught on the Brooklands canal it was a small Roach, which I
took home in a baby milk mettle
container. I put it in the bath in ordinary tap
water. It was dead in the morning.
The
most exciting fish I caught was a Crucian Carp, in the small pond. This fish is small and golden brown
coloured. PS its funny how your younger days, everything
seems bigger, and the summers were
nicer
or were they compared to today’s no seasons.
I used
to be a paper boy for a newsagent on Warmly Rd, and the money helped, and for
extra cash I ran errands
for a
coloured nurse over the road, She was called Mrs Dickens. She told me if I kept doing errands for her,
she would
buy me
a new fishing rod for Christmas. She
did, and I chose mettle telescopic one.
My
telescopic rod served me well, but it did develop a small fault, the tip
section used to come out, so before I
would
cast off I tightened it up.
Unfortunately Brian did not know this and one day he, borrowed it with
out my
knowledge,
and lost the tip.
My
stamp collection was, by today’s missing old British stamps, quite good. The stamps I had then were really
quite
common then (but not now).
The
stamps I liked most were from Poland, and Magyar (Hungary). My rarest stamp, especially today, was a
small
one from a country called Saar. I
joined an approval stamp club where you got a book of good quality stamps
that
you had to sell, your commission was a stamp of your choice, the only trouble
was you did all the buying. My
mother
sent them back with a nasty letter. I
think I swapped what was left of my egg collection for some stamps.
Looking
back we also had in them days lots of picture cards you got them in everything,
but the
common
one was toffee cigarettes. The pictures
covered animals, film stars, sports stars, cars, planes, and many more.
They
would be worth some money today, not only because of their rarity but for their
quality.
Some
games we played then were:
Hopscotch, where you marked out 10 squares numbered 1 to 10
starting with 1 and 2 together (2 squares)
and 3
on its own. You started with the slate
on no 1 and hoped on number 2, and staying on one leg picked up the slate,
then
you went to the last numbers and back by either hopping on the single numbers
or putting one foot on each
numbered
square that formed a double square.
Another
game we played was a game using either picture cards or cigarette packets. (Cigarette packets in them
days
had a outer case which covered the inner sleeve that held the cigarettes) the
outer sleeve was flattened and then
could be
thrown. Again these cards were by today’s standards very attractive and of good
quality.
With names like:
Woodbine, Capstan, Players , Senior
Service, Park Drive, Black Cat.
The
game consisted of throwing a card each towards a wall, then each person threw
another card and tried to
land
one on top of the already thrown cards, any cards that got covered you won.
Marbles or Allies,
was the most popular game. Marbles or
Allies were small round glass balls with various
colours
inside, some were common colours but some were rarer, these you tried to win if
any were thrown in a game.
Some
were larger, and were called Daubers.
Some were silver ball bearings.
There
were two games:
One
game was played on grass or dirt, and you made a small depression in the
ground. Then you stood several
feet
away and you each rolled a marble toward the hole with the front side of your
finger, like golf, you released several
marbles
each, then you took it in turns to push the marble into the hole, the one who
gets the last marble in the hole wins
all the
marbles in the hole. To make it harder
near the hole your opponent could say little finger, you then were told
either
to push with your little finger on top of the marble or with your finger tip.
The other
marble game started with all of each others marbles put in a solid ring, then
you aimed a marble at the
ring to
break them up. Then you took it in
turns to aim a marble at another marble if you hit it you claimed it.
Another
game was conkers. (The conker is
the hard brown seed of the Horse Chestnut tree.
The
Latin name is Aeculus Hippocastanum.)
You put
a hole in the conker and threaded a piece of string through the hole with a
knot on the bottom.
Two
played the game, you held the string steady and your opponent had to hit it,
when he missed you had a go. The aim
was to
smash the conker. Some tricks to make
the conker tougher was to either soak it in vinegar or put it in the oven.
For
each conker that another conker smashed it increased by 1 or added any number
that the other conker had, i.e. if a
sixer
was smashed by a oner the wining conker became a sevener.
Lollipop sticks was again used for a game
of two. One held the stick horizontal
and the opponent hit it with their stick.
The aim was to break the lolly stick.
One way to make them tougher was to soak the
stick in water.
We
sometimes went swimming at either The Galleon or Castleton outdoor pools.
One day
at the Galleon I was on the raft and was kicked off, and got stuck under
it. I had to be rescued by a
lifeguard.
We used
to go to the pictures on Saturday mornings, it was for the boy and girls of the
ABC picture house.
One day
after the pictures, I was with our Brian, when I saw a stack of electric train
lines for sale at 3d, I went into
the
shop for what I thought was a bargain only to be given 1 train line. I realised then what ea. meant.
Educational note: d
was the old sign for pence. £. s. d.
Pounds. Shillings. Pence
The coins were:
2
Farthings = Halfpenny.
2
Half Penny’s = 1 Pence.
2
Three penny bits = Sixpence.
12 Pence = 1 Shilling.
2
Tanners (sixpenny pieces)= 1 Shilling.
2 Shillings = 1 Florin.
2 Shillings and Sixpence (2/6
) = Half Crown .
5 Shilling’s = Crown. 10 Shillings = 10 Bob note.
2
Ten Bob notes = 1 Pound.
1
Guinea which = 1 pound, 1 Shilling.
How
did we survive in those days:
To
keep our feet warm, we cut the corner off brown paper bags, and put them over
our toes, over the socks.
To keep our ears warm we wore Balliclavers,
which were knitted hoods, which started at the neck, and covered
all of your head except your eyes.
Me and Brian joined a shop savings
club near our school St Wilfreds, to buy my Mam and Dad a box of liquors
for
Christmas.
I also joined
the cubs. It was expensive for my
parents because you had to have the full uniform.
In my
last year I was selected to run for the school to run cross country at a other
school we got no help getting
there,
I don’t think I ran for school again, but I do recall a period then when I used
to run around the green across the
road, I
just ran round and round, in plimsolls.( white flat pumps.)
What
did we eat for sweets:
Well
there was kaoli, (a sherbet powder) you bought it out of a large jar and it was
put in little paper bags. You
then
wet your finger and stuck it in the kaoli and licked it off or if you could
afford it you bought a penny liquorice
stick
and stuck this in the powder. l used to
buy mine from a shop around the corner that was run by a blind lady. You
could
not kid her with money, she ran her fingers round the edge of the coins.
I
bought wagon wheels off a ice cream van called Grenellis. They seemed bigger then.
We used
to suck gob suckers and aniseed balls, arrowroot (which you chewed like eating
a piece of wood.)
A
favourite treat I used to like was on a Thursday. My mother used to buy her groceries from a mobile van, and
she
always bought Kit Kats. I still
remember the taste, which was different than today’s Kit Kat.
Another
favourite was dripping butties.
I
remember going visiting with a friends parents down somewhere in Manchester,
and we went in the street and
played
with the pitch (tar) which ran in squares in the road and melted on hot
days. Our hands were a mess, and
margarine
had to be applied to the hands to get the pitch off.
One
funny thing happened about bonfire time.
We made a very big Guy Fawk with a mans coat and trousers on.
We
propped it up in the hall recess where you hung your coats. When my dad came home he got the biggest
scare of his
life
has he hung up his coat.
My dad
worked in a factory as an engineer (a turner).
But for extra money he used to be a pool’s collector.
You got
commission on the amount you collected.
I used to go round on a Friday night collecting from houses.
One
weekend after the pools agent had been and took in the coupons for the
deadline, my dad found two coupons
in his
work coat, belonging to work mates , he aged that weekend. Luckily they did not get any draws.
My dad had a sit up and beg bike, which
he gave to me. We just left it outside
the flat. One night it went missing
we reported it to the police. A bit later we were told it might be worth
going down to town to the lost property office, which we did. (The policeman on duty told my dad
unofficially if we see a bike like ours to say that’s it, theyhad that
many). We saw one just like ours and my
dad said to me is that it and I said no because it had no pump with it, ours
did when it was stolen. My dad cursed
me.
My
dad add a allotment and my Mam used to send me down to lift some potatoes while
my dad was at work.
At
weekends he would go up to the allotment and come back complaining some ones
been pinching his spuds. I don’t
think he
ever found out.
Near
these allotments was a brook, which I spent many happy days, mainly trying to
catch catfish.
On one
very hot day after being at the Brook, I went home and was very ill, I think I
had got sunstroke.
When I was about 10yr.’s old a lad
called Peter Ried asked me why my hair was so out of date. He had
greasy
hair with a quiff.
I can only remember Three occasions
that really should have changed me but did not:
First
moment was me and who ever was my mates then, went to see the film Expresso
Bongo with Cliff Richard’s,
the
pop star in it. I don’t know how we got
in because it was for X rated. It was
good.
The
second moment was dancing with my brother Brian to a record on the radio
called:
Running
Bear. by Johnny Preston.
The
Third occasion was when I went on a camping holiday with school, in Ilfracombe
Cornwall, and listening to
all
the bigger boys and girls with their transistors playing the big hit of the
day, ;
Cathy’s
Clown. By the Everly Brothers.
The
holiday was a camping holiday on a farmer’s field. and the toilets were large chemical drums.
My
life was about to change dramatically:
I
failed my 11 plus. So I went to St
Columbus secondary modern. I only
attended for the first year because we
moved
from the flat in Brooklands to a three bedroom house on a new overspill estate
called Partington.
I
did not complete a full year St Columbus:
I
discussed my situation with my mum and decided to stay at St Columbus so my
mother bought me a brand new
racing
bike, from a shop in Partington that sold everything. (Shop was called Penningtons).
I cycled to school for a while,
but
after getting wet several times I decided to change schools.
Two
records in the charts then were:
1. What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes at Me
For. By Emile Ford and The Checkmates
2. What do you want. By Adam Faith
Another
recollection was concerning my fishing.
I still went fishing after I moved to Partington I either went to
the canal in Broadheath or better still
Lymn dam. After one occasion I left my
Maggot tin in the toilet, and after several weeks my mother said it was making
a funny noise, so not knowing what Maggots were I open the lid and out came
thousands of Bluebottles I had to open a window and drive them out
NOTE (Maggots first changes into chrysalis
then come out as fly’s. Metamorphosis).
Go
to Part Two. My life by Tony. Teenager of 1960 to Parent 1970 .