Interesting Stories and Notes

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 'A Life of Lily'  

CHAPTER 4 

I Remember

Down our street and the next street, the men were always fighting.   It was great fun; we all used to run and watch them. They were stripped to the waist, there was blood everywhere, but we didn't care, because we enjoyed it.

Also near us were people who used to pickle and sell onions; they also made black treacle.    The sons in this family were always fighting, one against the other. Sadly to say one of them was a bit of a 'poofe', and he used to do all the housework, though very polite he was to us. Sometimes strangers would think him simple and take the mick out of him. My God did he give them a bashing, cheered on by the rest of the youngsters. "Beat him up Eddie." He always came out trumps.

Near us lived a cripple with a deformed leg who used to chase us because we used to call after him

"Bumpy Bill from Lavender Hill, never worked and never will."

Not very nice, was it?  I realise it now I'm older.

Another funny thing that happened while we were kids was the funeral of a very fat lady who lived in our street.  Some men came and took her away on a barrow, covered in a white blanket, to Sheepcote Lane mortuary. Us kids followed the cart there, that's why we know where she went.

We used to have parties now and again.   One day Queen Mary came down with her Toque (hat) and a gray dress on but she always had her neck covered up. She always carried a parasol and looked very stern and upright. We all put flags out, if only paper ones and we cheered our heads off, it seemed for nothing though, since she didn't seem very impressed. After she had gone we all sat down to a good feed, plenty of it with ice cream. Beforehand, neighbours came round each week collecting three pence to pay for the children's party. All children in the street were invited.   A very happy childhood memory.

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.

I remember that we once found a sixpence with a hole in it, so we put silver paper in the hole. My brothers and their mates sent me into a shop with it and I asked for 1/2d of this and 1/2d of that.  All of a sudden the lady said, ''Show me your money." The boys grabbed their sweets   and were off. Not only wouldn't they give me any sweets but also they chased me and pushed me down some basement steps and tied my hair to the doorknocker.   They scooted off and left me to my fate.  I tried to get away but every time I pulled, the knocker banged on the door, so an old man came out and freed me and clipped me round the ear, and off I went again.

Another time, I was sent by my Mum to one of our Aunts who was wealthy, to borrow two shillings.  Aunt Nell said, "Oh you have got your Fathers eyes."   I replied, "How can I if he's got them himself."  She chased me out of her house.   I never did get the two shillings.

Another Aunt, Auntie Flo, was a little boss-eyed and when I used to visit her she would always say, "If you sing a song I will give you a penny."   Unfortunately I sang

"Blind Haddocks,

Deaf and Dumb Bloaters,

Boss eyed Winkles,

Paralysed Shrimps,

All Fresh Today Ma'am.

They stink all right,

a Penny a Pint,

All Fresh to day Ma'am."

She chased me out... I never got my penny.

There was a shop where we used to go and spend ½d in a lucky dip. . If anybody found the envelope for 4 ounces we would get sweets for all the gang.    Poor old Mary - she didn't realise it was a marked envelope, so we took it in turns to find it each week.

Outside the shop was a man selling baked potatoes.   With the other 1/2 penny pocket money we used to buy a 1/2 penny baked potato with plenty of salt and pepper. In the winter we used to huddle around his coke fire to keep warm till we had to go home to wash and to bed.

I remember that old Ned used to sell winkles outside the pub on the corner of our street. Everybody going into the pub helped themselves to a few winkles and then threw all the empties back onto his cart.  He would come down our street after the pub was closed at lunchtime, and shout, "Winkles for tea - let your neighbours know."   We very rarely had them, but once my Mum let us go and buy a pint and they cost fourpence.   We were all given a pin, but we found half of the winkles were empty. After we had finished we were told to put them in the dustbin.  I used to put them on the dustbin lid and make a hell of a noise, so that our neighbour could see that we had winkles for tea that Sunday.

Also we had an Italian looking woman used to come down our street calling out,

"Hokey Pokey, All Hot, A Penny a Lump, The more you eat, the more you get."

Hokey Pokey was like a sorbet and was sold in small blocks on a cardboard wrapper.  Since it was frozen we never understood why the woman shouted out that it was Hot.

Then we had the cat meat man selling his meat. Sometimes we used to get a pennyworth for the cat.  The Coalman, the Rag and Bone Man came around the streets; also a man used to come down selling ice cream from a cart.  He had a barrel organ and also he always had a monkey on his shoulder. The monkey used to sleep in the ice cream container at night, but his ice cream was lovely, even if not hygienic. We used to get two-pennies worth in a basin for all us kids. We always got a lot of specky apples for 1/2 penny.   One pennyworth of Pot Herbs went into our stews; times were hard, but nobody complained since we were all in the same boat.

I remember when I was quite small, I used to go out to watch the trains go by at Wandsworth Common, and stand near a fence and wave till it was out of sight.   When I was a little bit older I used to go to Battersea Park on the swings; if you went very high you could see over a big garden wall, which I enjoyed doing.  I could watch boys playing football in the winter.  In the summer there used to be a nice field where men played cricket.    I used to cheer when they were run out and sometimes I caught some black looks.   I used to walk on through the park to Queens Gate, where the Gas Works were at Battersea Power Station, and walk down past the big mansions to home.  There was no fun fair then, but there were beautiful flowers and also an aviary, lovely birds and animals

I remember when I was little older I went to Wimbledon Common with my older sister.   We had to walk up a big hill.  After a while I ran away, and became lost; my sister went home on her own to tell my Mum that I was lost. So my Mum rushed to the Police Station to see if they had heard anything.  I was getting frightened and I was crying when a lady came and said to me, "Are you lost?"  All I could say was, "Yes." She was kind and I eventually told her where   I lived.   We caught a tram and as soon as we got off the tram at the Prince's Head I thanked her and ran all the way home.   My Mum and I went to the Police station where I was told never to do that again.  I was scared I would get a good hiding from my Mum, but she was so relieved to see me she must have forgot. You may not believe it.

One day our neighbour's husband went into the closet. He was there a very long time so his wife came into my Mum's and they went into the toilet and found him with the chain, which had string at the bottom, around his neck.  So she got a knife and cut the string as he had committed suicide.

There was a lot of talk about people who committed suicide in those days. Neighbours went down the street to collect for a wreath; any money over was given to the wife or husband.

During the war everybody in the street used to save any waste vegetables, potato peel, cabbage, apples etc.  We used to take it in a pail down to the bottom of the street.  Guess what for?  A man had a pig tied up in his front room. All we kids had to do was push his window up (It was a sash cord window) and throw our stuff into the room.  As you can guess the pig was fat and large.  The man said that when the war was over everybody would get a piece of home cured pork.  But somebody reported him and the authorities came to take the pig away. All the kids in the street rushed down to see him go but the funny thing was they could not get him out of the room. They had to take the window out to get the pig out into the street.  We were all very sad and we waved him goodbye.

When Mum was short of money we had to go for 14 lb of coal on an old sledge made from a plank of wood and any old wheels we could get. They used to shovel it up and put it on a large scale and we went happily on our way.

We also had a Bootleg Bookie and his lookout since betting was illegal on the streets in those days. If the lookout gave the warning that the police were coming the bookie would hide in any house.  Mum now and again had a sixpence bet, she always used any winnings to bet another six pence on the next race. Sometimes she would lose her money, and was not happy about it either. If she was to win, if only a shilling, her face would light up as she thought she was lucky and rich.

Sometimes, not very often, my Dad would try his luck, but not very successfully.  We also used to do the pools for six pence.   The numbers were put in an eggcup, shaken like mad and we then took turns to pick a number. We never had any luck, but it kept us all amused. What we were promised if it came up! It never did, but we were all a very happy family, glad to say we still are.

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