Thoughts where given on the next meet before Xmas and we shall meet in the Wallop Area so more of you can attend . Details to follow later. As all things chatter was about the past so I thought why not jog your memories about the good old days when we were young ,these are my memories that I have in my grey matter of the the good old days
AS a youngster I lived in a remote part of Ikeston near the Erewash canal, that was the bottom cut then the river Erewash and above that the top cut another canal.
Almost all of the peoples needs were met by one small store the size of a living room; it provided for passing trade too. This was the Co-op now closed but still the facade is the same. It used to be fridays I think when my mother went there ,I remember the wooden flooring the weighing out of the sugar and butter ,rationing was still on and I still have my ration card. Three minutes walk home was Mrs Robbinsons an all hour store where my dad could buy his woodbine cigarettes and beer by the bottle I don’t ever recall a sense of being deprived of anything. How well we lived without much of what we consider today to be life’s necessities. Few had a car; a bicycle did fine, the bus passed through twice a day on its way to the nearest three miles distant.
We were more independent back then. Mother knitted or sewed much of our clothing; she repaired it too. Footwear and clothes lasted longer and was passed down from sibling to sibling. Much of what we ate was grown in our kitchen gardens; locally produced chickens, rabbits and other livestock filled our tables. Dad was a dab hand when it came to enticing the local river’s ducks to their destiny with fate.
What we ate was home-cooked on a gas stove. Even our school had its own vegetable and fruit gardens. I am surprised the shop did any business at all. Nowadays we are dependent upon daily visits to vast supermarkets of which 90 percent of our ‘essentials’ were unheard of a generation ago. Most of our possessions were British made; now they're Chinese mad.
There was no debt as such although on occasion something would be bought ‘on tick’ and settled within an hour of the breadwinner’s arrival. Father’s wage sufficed. Mothers had enough to do, managing the house and bringing up the kids. I can’t recall any of my mates mothers working other than as mums.
Heating was provided by a fire that burned locally cut logs or coal that was delivered by the sack load. Being a mining area some where lucky to get the coal free like my grand ma; the bed was warmed in winter by a hot water bottle. Light was provided by flickering lamps. A bath was a zinc bath in front of the fire; sheer luxury.
I wonder how today’s generation will cope in the event of real economic austerity.
Entertainment was home-grown too and we had four seasons back then. The summers were long, hot and humid; they were perfect for sitting on the bridge parapets and late night playing; flirting with the girls. My first unforgettable crushes were with fresh-faced girls in simple cotton dresses. Sex was a little coy kissing; otherwise girls were different only inasmuch as they thought bird egg collecting cruel.
Autumn was for berry picking and helping the local landowner flush the pheasants at the shoot. In the winter we skated, made sleds and cavorted endlessly. When darkness closed there were board games not bored games.
There was bartering too. My stepfather, a joiner carpenter, would make things for other people and often return not with money but with payment in kind. Televisions were unheard of and we did not have one till 1953 and radio offered a choice of four stations. There was great excitement when we listened to a different type of crackling; Radio Luxembourg. We had no idea where Luxembourg was.
I suppose it was different for the townies with their cinemas and regular bus service; trips to the seaside and occasional visiting circus but both had their advantages; we wanted for very little.
Will austerity turn the clocks back so that families learn how to be self sufficient, to value life as it comes as nature intended?
Well happy reading till next time as I am away for a while having my other eye done .
Toodle pip Magic.
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