Sounds like you had the same rag and bone man as us Cheetham Hill lot Deeps.

Went to school in Cheetham Hill, Ellen. Short trousers - pockets sewn up of course as young boys shouldn't be seen slouching around with hands in pockets LOL; black blazer and cap with gold stripes. The only thing to be seen in my hands was a school satchel - no iPod or Smartphone. The daily bus trip was an hour, changing at All Saints and with the return trip being twice, perhaps three times as long when Smog hit town. The Smog that the Chinese are currently experiencing is nothing compared to how it was in industrial Manchester in the 1960's.

I bet our busses past each day as I went to St.Joseph convent in Longsight and like yourself it took over an hour to get there. The nuns would only let us go home early in foggy weather if they couldn't see the church which was in our playground only a short distance away. I used to be terrified stood at the bus stop in thick fog hoping to get home. No flippin wonder I have so many hangups as an adult

Lucky to go home Ellen! I was a convent boarder. When you mentioned the nuns earlier in the thread it brought back the memories......Sister Anastasia with a beard that David Bellamy would have been proud of and Sister Alberta who wielded the strap at any opportunity!
Interminable masses and millions of rosaries, but one of the most vivid memories is of porridge! Every morning we were marched to the refectory where the individual battered aluminium bowls had our portion of porridge with its added golden jewel of a cod lover oil capsule. Of course this had burst or melted before we arrived so there was a decorative comma of fish flavoured porridge. The dilemma was whether to eat it first in one spoonful or skirt round it for a while......

TonyP

Junior school was the only one I wore uniform to. When I failed my 11+ I went to a secondary school in jeans and Dr martens (which I bought myself from my paper round or shop earnings). I was a right scrote at school and rebelled at just about everything. I had 2 paper rounds before school and worked in initially my mum and dads small shop on a caravan site, but went to another shop after we moved.

I used to get picked on and bullied because we lived in a caravan but when they knew I could look after myself that stopped

I have absolutely no regrets and have lived a crime free life, no parking tickets, no debts, no points on my license, nothing.

I live a clean life, I don't drink, and I've been married once for 37 years to my best friend, Jen. We spend most of our time together and only she really knows me

I speak to people, I show respect, and I have manners.

So education failed for me, my fault, but I don't care, we are happy and both retired early, me at 56, Jen at 55, we enjoy our lifestyle and long may it continue.

To all those still working I would say this "there's more to life than a new car on the drive, don't chase the money enjoy what you have and when you can retire, EARLY, life is to short"

I have to agree with you as I was a scote and for a girl that was not good. I rebelled whenever possible and to this day my mum looks up to heaven at my past BUT, like you I don't drink anymore or smoke and I would rather help someone than hurt them. Have to admit tho I do swear badly and enjoy doing so.

Swearing!






I do that lots! But not in front of ladies (some would call that sexist, but I call it old fashioned values)

Only to myself nowadays.

Oh, the Manchester smog in the 60's was summat else. Was a student then and couldn't see the end of my car. Had to abandon it and walk from Ardwick to Withington. . .

I'm stil 'ere!

Any of these bring back memories, Ellen?

The first one looking in the direction of the Railway Station was probably taken from near the corner of Marshall Road where we lived. It was also the former home of the King Brothers (remember them) before better times befell them LOL. My brother and I used to play Commando's on foggy days - sneaking along the railway line from the right in the image, enter the waiting room (people in it or not didn't really matter) and then press the red knob which turned on the electrical heater before making our escape down the stairs and exiting the station by the entrance that you see in the picture.

Then there's the old Regal Cinema where I spent many a happy Saturday morning and at one time winning a case full of Dandelion & Burdock (much better than Coca Cola) in a Highway Code quiz. They turned the Regal into a Bowling Alley shorty before I left Levenshulme to travel the wide world.

And finally of course, the Library up Cromwell Grove the source of many Enid Blyton books that I used to read at that time. Remember the adventures of Tom, Dick and whatshername. It was also the source of my first dirty book . Well I suppose nowadays it wouldn't be called a dirty book at all but as a teenager showing signs of rising sap any mention of girlies underwear was highly erotic.

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I had the most fantastic childhood, we had nothing skint zero zilch. I never had a uniform we had plastic shoes in the winter and plastic sandals in the summer. We only got new when they split and started cutting your foot. There were six of us eight with mum and dad very small house and freezing in winter. I can say this honestly hard to believe but it not only rained in but when it snowed the holes in the roof were that big it snowed in. No locks on the doors, toilet in back yard no door and no back gate on the back yard windows broke. I could go on you would really find it hard to believe how we struggled.

The above is just a taster of the bad bits now for the good. Mum and Dad loved us all very much although we had no money we were all very clean. Tin bath Sunday night was great fun I was always last in wanted to play out the longest. There was a down side to this that all the rest had been in before me and had a wee. One side next to the fire and when your bum touched a bit hot. We filled the bath out of the old washing machine after it had heated the water. We had fantastic family Christmas (although a bit sparse mum got what she could) Easter in fact all holiday times. Weekends and summer evenings spent exploring Parks and fields, woodlands a bottle of water jam butty off for the day returning home just before it got dark. I would not swap those days for anything they put me in good stead for the road ahead. Just remembered picking the nicks for gas tar to make balls, marbles, magnifying glass trying to light paper with the sun. And also if you ever got enough money to go to the swimming baths used to swim in the canal instead. Then with the money go to Woolworths and buy broken biscuits out of them big tins of all sorts of biscuits they had. Can not believe this thread has started the memories flooding back.

One day I have said I will write a book with tales of my childhood I have also been a Park Ranger for 38 years now and that in itself could be a book on its own. One day maybe! Morphy

Here's an old school photograph taken during my days at Alma Park Primary School. I'm the young tearaway wearing Lederhosen therefore demonstrating his family roots - middle row 4th in from the right. So members have no excuse for not recognising me should we meet up some day on a distant campsite.

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It's easy to see why some of us are just so happy with what we have now, I am proud to say that Mark and me cherish our little Eriba, after all we have waited nearly 30yrs for a mobile palace. I do think that you appreciate things when life was so hard when we were kids. Deeps, I used to go to the Premier picture house on Cheetham village, not there now of course but then nothing much is from our childhood days.