The Last Chapter Read online

her a love letter, her mother found it and took it to Mr Rowland’s. Next morning at assembly he read it out to the whole school and then asked who wrote it. I kept quiet, hoping that would be it, but he called me out and made me admit it was my writing. It took me a long time to live it down, one or two from school were in the Boys Brigade so that made it worse. Ronnie Smith had two teeth growing either side of his mouth like Dracula when he was at school. Years later when I started for John Duggan in scaffolding, who was driving the wagon only Ronnie minus all his teeth. He could bit an apple in half with his gums. We had a good chat about old times and after that we worked together quite a lot. I haven’t seen him for at least 20 years.

  I’ve mentioned my dad playing football, I went to one of his last games at a playing field off Dwerryhouse Lane. I remember he scored two goals in that match but what sticks in my mind was after the match. One of his mates called Horace stuck something in my hand and when I looked, it was a half crown. When your pocket money is only 1d or 2d, half crown was a small fortune. Today it’s worth twelve and a half pence.

  My dad started to take me to Westminster Road baths on Sunday mornings. He taught me to swim after a bit and I used to really love going on Sundays. I used to go with the school later on, but Sundays were the best. My dad used to dive in and do about 5 or 6 lengths and he was happy with that.

  Arthur Williams my friend accidentally tripped me up going down a flight of stone steps in school and I landed on my head. The bump was a beauty and my mother hit the roof over it. A few months later I was playing football in the playground, the ball was kicked high, I was walking backwards , Jimmy Bert was walking forward and both of us were going for the ball, I turned around to see the ball and collided with Jimmy head to head. Consequences were I landed up with another egg on my forehead. This was all part of growing up the year was 1935, I was 10 yrs. old.

  When we lived in rose Vale I remember on a Friday night every week my dad with 4 or 5 footballs. Those days the balls were leather and need the inner tubes blown up and then dubbin was rubbed into the leather to preserve it. My dad played football for over 20 years for various amateur clubs, he was a right winger and was good. He would often enjoy a kick around with the kids in the street until the police came. Those days it was illegal to play in the street. Football was priority with my dad and he had me the same way, after he took me to Scotland Road to see Everton bringing the F.A. Cup home 1932-33. I’ll always remember the open topped coach and Dixie Dean holding the cup over his head. I was on my dad’s shoulders and I was almost 8yrs of age, that day I became an Evertonian.

  My dad took me when he could to Goodison Park but with playing himself he couldn’t take me regular. When I got to 10 or 11 he would let me go to matches but I had to go in the boy’s pen which was safer than the actual ground. I loved the atmosphere in the ground and them days all teams had mascots. Everton had two men, one was Mr Williams who lived close to us and he used to dress up as a policeman. The uniform was made up of blue and white patches and he carried a blue and white umbrella. At the matches he would come to the boy’s pen after going around the ground and start to sing “The Umbrella Man” made famous by Flanagan & Allen. Everyone joined in with him and it was brilliant. Mr Williams went to Birmingham to an away game, it was a blustery day and his helmet blew off and in trying to retrieve it, he was killed by a bus. The other mascot Mr Jones dressed up in a suit and a tall top hat (all blue and white) he was funny and made everyone laugh with his antics.

  I had the bug now, I couldn’t keep away from the ground. I looked for players for their autographs and had some good ones. We were playing Preston N.E. about 1937, their coach was outside the player’s entrance. I asked one of the players for his autograph and he asked me did I want the rest of the team, a few minutes later I had the whole Preston team. I was going to a match once with my dad and we were somewhere near the players entrance when this man, who was very well dressed asked my dad to let him take me in the main stand on a spare ticket. My dad agreed and it was like being in paradise, looking down onto the pitch from a great height. I was only 10 yrs. of age, can you see any father to-day agreeing to that.

  Between the years 1935-1939 was probably the best years of my childhood. There were no T.V’s no computers no mobile phones, no internet etc. But there was so much to do starting with after school I’d go to the “Rec” in Sessions Road. All my mates would be there with a ball of any size and we would start a game, we’d play till we dropped, I’d get home sweating like a pig. Apart from football there was loads of different games we played, even if it was only “Tick” that meant chasing each other till we touched. We would go to the cinema, a matinee, to see a western. The cowboy heroes then were, Buck Jones, Ken Maynard, Tom Mix and Dick Feran (singing cowboy). When we got outside we’d use our imagination and re-enact what we’d seen. Great Fun.

  My dad was always into boxing his idol was Nell Tarleton who was British Featherweight Champion who fought for the world title against Freddie Miller the American World Champ. There was an amateur contest between The Army and The Police. Dad took me to the Carisbrooke tram sheds to see the show. The guest of honour was Nell Tarleton and as we went down the stairs on our way out my dad said “Do you want to meet him”. I couldn’t believe my ears and before I knew it I was shaking hands with the great Nell Tarleton and getting my hair ruffled. I couldn’t get to school fast enough to tell my mates the next day. A boxer called Billy Gammons was the only British boxer who can claim a win over Freddie Miller The World Champ and that was on a low blow disqualification. I remember walking up Utting Avenue with my parents and my dad said “Quick, get some paper and a pencil you can get Billy Gammons autograph”. The boxer lived in Norris Green and where the pencil and paper came from, I don’t know, but I got his autograph.

  It was about this time my parents had a surprise for me. It was my birthday (I can’t remember which) and they had bought me a bike. It was a three quarter size sit up type and practically new. They had only paid 1 guinea for it and that was £1/1 shilling (5p). I enjoyed that bike for a long time, I don’t know what happened to it.

  Every now and then my mother used to take me to West Derby where my Aunty Betty lived. I used to love going there because she used to give us jelly and custard, cakes, biscuits and everything we didn’t get at home. I remember we went on Sunday and my cousin, Aunty Betts youngest boy had just died. I don’t know what killed him, but he was only about 4yrs old. I remember his hair was very curly and I said to my mother “I think he moved”. Uncle Alf who was Aunty Betts husband was a strange man, being so young I can’t go into any details. But he was a football referee who had occasionally refereed some of my dad’s matches. At the same time, I don’t think he was very good to Aunty Betty and I believe he eventually disappeared. Her eldest daughter was Mary who in later years joined the W.R.A.F and was posted to Blackpool about the same time I was in the R.A.F. We were supposed to get together but it never happened and I never saw her while I was there.

  I was probably about 11 or 12 yrs. old when we moved to a rented house in Stour Street which was actually the next street to Orwell Road. I think the fact that old Willie liked to cook and the kitchen was so small, my mother wanted more room. So when this house came up, she jumped at the chance, my dad just went along with it, anything for a quiet life. I made some new friends in Stour Street, a family who lived a couple of doors away were Williams, dad, Billy, Teddy & John. John was nearest my age, so I got on quite well with him. Their mother had died, leaving the 3 boys and dad who worked at the silk works in Aintree (later “Caurtalds”). He worked long hours at the factory and so the boys had the run of the house. Consequently the kids would all congregate at their house which was quite a mess, probably because there was no woman there. Next door to us a woman called Mrs Mason lived with her father and her son Frankie, she was a busybody who knew everybody’s business. I remember her father worked in a bakery a
nd he told us once, that malt loaf was made from the sweeping up in the bakery. I believed that for quite a long time.

  Before we moved Nin, Bob and Aunty Ethel and her family had moved from Rose Vale up to Orwell Road. I used to hear Bob cobbling his or somebody’s boots and cursing when he accidently hit his finger with his hammer. As it was when we moved it turned out that our back yard was opposite Nins so it was easy to go across to see them.

  In those days there were plenty of cinemas, our local ones were “The Garrick”, The Deric, The Victory, The Astoria and The Queens, the last 3 being in the same road (Walton Road). The town was full of them as well, like the “Paramount”, The Forum, Palace de luxe, The Scala, mix these with theatres here and there, there was plenty of entertainment. I remember as a little boy going to the “Rotunda” this was a music hall situated at the point where Stanley Road comes to meet Scotland Road on the left hand side. No microphones were used, because when the artistes were on you could hear a pin drop. When the comics were on there was lots of laughter. A