Arrow on browser to return back to
previous page
to bottom of pageInteresting Stories and Notes
Click
Arrow on browser to return back to
previous page
to bottom of page
Chapter 2
My Mum and Dad.
My Mum and Dad had lived next door to each other in Orville Road, Battersea, as children. They were married when my Mum was 20.
My Mum had to use the pawnshops in my early years. These were everywhere and had 3 Brass Balls hanging outside. Every week a tallyman used to call selling sheets, blankets etc, on credit. My Mum would sometimes buy a set of sheets for which she would have to pay 6 pence a week. As soon as he was gone she would rush to the Pawnshop.
"Come on Arthur, make it sixpence more this week."
"No I can't do that Ma."
"You old sod," my Mum would say jokingly.
This would happen every Monday because we were short of money. The sheets would come out again on Friday and be put back in hock again on the Monday. But we all survived.
When it was Empire Day, Mum used to send us for two penny worth of narrow ribbon, one yard in length. I had to share that with my other two sisters. We always had a half-day off after assembly. We wore dresses with a collar and had a pinafore over it. Also we had black stockings and black shoes with a buckle on the front. In the winter we had boots with buttons and we used a buttonhook to do them up.
Mum always bought three dresses for the girls and used to pay for them on the 'never-never'. The three dresses were all the same, and were always too large because we could only wear them on Sundays at first. After they were older we would wear them every day, so they had to have plenty of 'growing room'.
After we had our baths my Mum would line us up to give us our weekly medicine, brimstone and treacle or syrup of figs. I don't know how we all managed it because we only had one closet.
We couldn't afford to be ill. Dr Kingdom (nicknamed Kingdom Come) charged 6d a visit. He wore a black tailcoat, which had two buttons at the back of the tail, and a black top hat. Dr Bean charged one shilling a visit and so had fewer patients.
Another time, when the war was on, about 1917, my poor Mum went to line up to get some sugar (no ration cards in those days). While she was queuing the gas went out, so we were left in the dark. To make it worse the cuckoo clock somehow would not stop cuckooing. It scared me so I rushed to the street door wanting my Mum. Well a nosy neighbour came and wanted to know what the trouble was. She then went and got my Mum out of her line: the consequence was no sugar, and my Mum went mad.
My Mum used to shop at Battersea High Street or Northcote Road where all the stalls used to be. She would often go late on Saturday night and get a hank of bananas (about 30) for 6d.
Other items were:
Coxes apples 4 lb for 6d
kippers 2½d a large pair
potatoes 81b for 6d
cabbage 2d for a very large one
peas 21 lb for 2½d
tea 1d per packet
sugar 1d per brown paper bag full.
The stalls used to sell veg, meat, fruit, and ice cream. At the fish stall the fishmonger would constantly wave his arms around to shoo away the bluebottles. There was a shop that sold pie and mash or stewed eels and mash. A dispensary where you could buy medicine in small bottles was another shop.
Although we didn't have much money my Dad was always in work, so we were not poor. Mum always insisted that we had the best bacon and butter as she wouldn't have any rubbish. Our rice pudding was usually made with Nestles condensed milk and we also had it in our drinking chocolate. It was about 4d a tin.
We very seldom had tea since it was expensive. Usually we had hot chocolate with condensed milk, which was cheaper.
At the top of the street was the corner shop that sold everything - jam, pickles, washing powder, hearthstone white, currants, flour, all but the kitchen sink.
Mum used to send us to Wall's factory in York Road to buy meat pies, which the salesmen had fetched back from their rounds at the end of each day.
Also in the York Road was a shop that used to sell faggots (1d) and Pease pudding (1d). We sometimes had that for dinner at 2d each, so it was quite a cheap meal.
In the Falcon Road was Perks the cake shop. They used to sell angel cake at 4d a lb and lots of other cakes. It was a very clean shop.
At Christmas people used to take their turkeys to a baker in Wafer Street, where they were cooked for 6d.
Mum used to make a lot of spotted dick. She would always cut a large lump for our next-door neighbour, and it was my job to take it round to them. When we had finished tea Mum would put an extra spoonful of tea in the brown china teapot, top it up with boiling water and send me next door with it. The man next door always looked forward to this cup of tea. "You do make a nice cup of tea," he would say. His wife used an enamel teapot and kept it brewing all day on the hob.
Neighbours were very good to each other in those days. If they had something that you were short of (tea, sugar, custard powder) they would always oblige you with a small amount. All were in the same boat.
My Dad was kind to us all. He told us he started work at thirteen years old as a signal lad on the Great Western Railway. He worked for them for 52 years; his money was regular and my Mum knew how to spend it; things were much cheaper than today. When he retired aged 65 I phoned his Station Master and asked him if my Dad was entitled to a gold watch. He referred me to Head Office and their reply on the phone was, " No, he isn't entitled to receive one as he had more than four years broken service." This was when he went to War fighting for King and Country, so in no uncertain terms I told him to stick it up his jumper, and rang off.
During the First World War my Dad fought at Gallipoli and after the defeat he was sent to
Egypt. He was later posted missing. During this time we were all crying round the table when there was a knock at our front door. A man came and told my mum to put us in a home. My mum was furious and she told him, "to sod off." He went away very quickly. After six weeks my Mum got some very good news for all of us. My Dad was found safe and well. Towards the end of the war he was posted back to the trenches in France, but managed to survive it. He was in the Green Howards.
When Dad was returning home from Egypt they had a fire on-board ship. Every night at home he would rake out the fire and make sure that it was out by pouring water on it. When asked, "Why are you doing that Dad? Mum will have to remake it tomorrow." He replied, "You haven't seen what a fire can do. I don't want any of my children being hurt."
My Dad always used to sing to us all the old War songs such as
'It's a Long Way to Tipperary';
'Goodbye Dolly Grey';
'Comrades ever since we were boys';
These songs are still remembered 70 years after the War.
When my Dad was demobbed we again settled down as a happy family. He and Mum gave love and kindness to every one of us from the oldest to the youngest. I was proud to call them my Mum and Dad.
My Dad continued work on the Great Western Railway and became a station porter.
One time when my Dad had a day off, he took my two sisters and me for a trip to see the sea for the day. He told us before we went that he only had three pence; that was in case we had to pay to go to toilet. Anyway we saw an ice cream man. "Dad, can we please have an ice-cream?" we said. He must have felt sorry for us since he gave us a penny and we rushed over to buy our ice cream. I told the seller we only had a penny and we had to share the wafer ice-cream between us. He also felt for us, so he made a tuppenny one, which was very thick and lovely, and he broke it in half for us. We ran over and told Dad. How lucky can you get!
As we were walking along, Dad said, "You may find something along the sea front, keep your eyes open." Well, he did; he picked up this shining thing and it was a real sixpence, so we had lemonade to go with the sandwiches Mum had made for us to eat. My Dad never forgot it; he said, "He went out poor, but was much richer later in the day."
None of us ever had a good hiding from our loving and hard working parents.
He also had an allotment near to Chelsea Football ground. This was across the river from Battersea and about 3 miles away. A lady who lived near us kept chickens and we would collect the old grit and chicken droppings. It made wonderful manure. As children we used to push the manure on an old cart with wooden shafts along the back of the railway lines to the allotment. Dad used to grow a range of veg such as cabbage, carrots, and turnips, beetroots, all of which found there way into the stew pot. The best thing grown was pink clove carnations, which use to fill our front room with scent.
On Thursdays when he used to get his pay packet he would have a pint or two at fourpence a pint. He would come home singing at the top of his voice. My mum used to say
"Here comes Pissy Joe," but he was never any trouble and would sing himself to sleep.
One day I had a sore throat and was away from school. Mum told me that she was popping round to see her mother and that I was to get Dad's tea ready for him when he came home. She told me to put the two bloaters in the oven at 2 o'clock so that they would be ready for him at half past two when he returned from early turn. I did as I thought right, and put the fish on a tray with their heads, tails and innards still attached, and put them in the oven. When Dad arrived home he said, "My God, your cooking has stunk the house out." "It's OK Dad, I've got your tea ready," and I put the plate of bloaters in front of him. He had to laugh, but couldn't eat them.
When Mum came home she said, "You silly cow." I said, "I'm sorry Mum, I just did what you told me to do." All was forgiven and we had another good laugh.
The only time my Dad had a bit of money was when he retired, from some sort of Saving Certificates. He wanted to give my two children some money, which they kindly refused. They weren't very old, but they used to have a Post Office Book with not much in it and they told him, "No Granddad, we have much more money than you." He said it was a very nice thought of them, but I think he would have liked them to have it.
When my youngest brother, Alf, was leaving for sea for the first time (on the Artic run to Russia during the 1939-45 war) Dad gave him some sound advice.
"Now you must understand, my son, that the sea can be your worst enemy. But have faith and you will be well. God bless you and keep you safe until we meet again"
My Dad always voted communist because he thought that there were too many evils in the system.