|
There
were thirteen kids in our family and just my mum to look after us.
My dad died when I was two. I'm the second youngest.
 |
| Cyril
and his wife |
I'd
say them days were better than now. You all knew everyone. You could
walk down the street and go in anyones house.
Bonfire
Night
When
there was a big do, like bonfire night, the whole street got together
round the bonfire. The people from the fish shop round the corner
would come and bring us potatoes to put in the fire and fish and
chips.
There
was lots of competition about who would have the best fire and we
used to go chumping, which was going into other streets to nick
their chump (firewood).
Street
Games
We
used to play games in our street, Rounders, Kick Out Can, Tig, Piggy,
and Chicken. For Rounders, we used to make our bats out of any bits
of wood that were lying around, but you needed a ball. If we didn’t
have a ball, we’d make one out of old socks. Or we'd play
Kick Out Can, which was like football, but you played it with an
old can.
In
the summer holidays, our family used to go up to Scarborough. We'd
stay for a week in a boarding house.
Christmas
Presents
On
Christmas Eve, my mam would make up little stockings for us, just
little gifts. One time, I got a car set with four or five tin cars
and a little tin truck. Another time, I got a fort. Also, there'd
always be an apple and an orange and a bag of sweets. My mam would
bring up the stockings when we were all asleep (or when she thought
we were asleep).
What
made life better then was that you knew everybody by their first
names. You knew the shopkeepers, the coppers, the people in the
next street, and ten streets away. People got together and shared
things…
|
