To really understand this past true story you need to get to understand the time & ways and how the folk of that timed lived So this will be in two parts
PART ONE,
I was born in 1949 January, And as Im sure you"ll understand it was not that long after the end of World war two,
My home was over the river mersey opposit Liverpool, in a place called Wallasey, We lived about a mile from the Docks, secombe As the area was known as had plenty of places that Hitler wanted to bomb, Like the factories that made bombs/built ships / large factories that made flour, etc etc etc,
So as Im sure you can see the area was bombed offten and after that was over the bombs we’re still being found unexploded, the houses in our area we’re mainly streets of back to back and the only semi detached ones we’re because next door was hit during the bombings and these you could tell was because they had wall paper outside the gable ends, We had plenty of buildings that had to be demolished and we just did not have fields or woods around to play in, the only grass we kids did see was the embankment that stood on both sides of the railway that at my childhood had the steam engine trains, You’d offten hear one of the kids mums telling them to go play on the railway, the mums did’nt want the kids run over by the odd train that was going past, but the fencing was long pulled down and it was a good wide grass space for kids to play on,
So the street was as far as us kids went our play ground,
, I do not ever remember any family in our street going on Holiday’s to far away places, The street i lived in was long on both sides with a shop at one end,
It was lined with metal gas lamps with the cross bar at the top of the post, this bar was for the street lamp maintainance man to put his ladder and clean the glass area and ensure the lamp worked, "But these lamp post we’re also great for skipping ropes to be attached and long enough to go from one side of the street across to the othere side, This was used by the girls and I can still remember seeing these girls running under the rope as it was swung around and the songs they’d sing (three six nine the goose drank wiine etc etc) You’d get the mothers every now and then running into the looped rope and join in much to the delight of both the girls & the other mums leaning in their doorway chatting away,
The Pavement’s were all flagged with square slabs and again this was more for the girls to use they’d chalk numbers on some slabs and play hopping games or of film stars (they’d be asked a question and if they got it correct they could take another hop to the next slab, when they got to the end of the slabs they had to say who the film star was ? And the younger kids would be playing house and pushing dolls etc around, Now us lads played japs & commanders, hiding in the front doorways of the house’s and when the enemy appeared you’d make a DA DA DA sound with your machine gun (It could be anything really from a bit of a pole to a bit of a brush)
Now the shop at the end of the street sold bread/ milk/ genral foods, but it had a big long wooden sliding door we’re the battery charged milk float was housed during the day and the milk kept in a big cool room ready tobe loaded on the float later for early morning delivery, Now that wooden sliding door was our Goal area and all us lads played every day (Week end) in this part of the street “No girls allowed” it was a very happy street On a friday the Pop man delivered lemonade,
The bread & cake deliveries we’re delivered daily, and again on a Friday the Ragman and his hand cart would park at the far end of the street singing out Rag owns, bring your old rags rag own,
He always had an Over coat on and looked dirty,
Again on a friday afternoon as we came home from school we’d find this Big Black horse with a big box trailer that was really painted nice dark blue “It was from Secombe Steam Laundry” this horse and box trailer went over to Liverpool around all the big Hotels etc collecting the dirty sheet’s etc and we think the driver of this Box trailer was visiting his mum and the horse "We named SILVER, well we had’nt heared of any other horses name so inspite of him being Black that was his name and it fitted him just good, I mean who ever heard of (HI HOE BLACKY?)
But all the kids “girls & boy’s” would stand and look at Silver as he ate what ever was in the sack covering his face, And after a while he’d lift his tail And much to the screams from the girls and laughter from us lads he’d do his stuff “PLOP PLOP PLOP” some times it would splash all over the place and the girls shoes,
The area was a mixed one ref a lot of Irsh folk and a mix of welsh even a few from Birmingham,
It really was a slum area and all the houses had damp walls and outside loo’s But us kids didnt really know any better and it was our home, We had a few cars and my mums mates husband had a CO-OP coal wagon but that was about it, People took pride in the houses they lived in mostly rented, Thay all had the window’s cleaned and the front walls of the house about 6 foot high was painted red, the front door steps had a paint type paste (Cardinal excuse the spelling on this) that dried a sort of faun , All the people did these things except Mrs Couchie, she never had her window’s cleaned or her step painted and her net curtains we’re just rags and unclean, She herself had very long white hair and long nails, her dress was very poor she had a mans shirt without any colour and she had a black long dress again raggy and on top on the dress she had what looked like a sack tied around her, Not one of the neighbours ever talked to her and we kid’s did not like her because she could & did put spells on you,
We had a girl much older than us (I was 5yrs old) and this girl “Betty” was about 13yrs and her face was all yellow when she came home from school "b"ut half hour later when she’d come out Her face was all red (she’d been popping her pimples and we we’re told mr’s couchie had put a spell on her and the Lad who lived opposit her “he had a turn in one of his eye’s” So we kids kept away from her & her house (she lived two doors down from our house)
TBC TOMORROW