one with Caruso, the then, famous Italian tenor singing some aria or other . Mum and Dad would settle down into a couple of easy chairs, whilst Stan and I sat on a couch . My Dad would open a bottle of Port wine and charge his and Mum's glass and then proceed to crack a few nuts (which for some reason seemed to be a luxury in those days ) . After this he would open a box of dates. Crackers would be pulled and we'd all end up with funny paper hats on and settle down in the dusk, the room's only illumination being the dancing flames of the coal fire .

I never remember my parents going to any social functions . I remember a family named Hamilton used to visit us, and us them . They had a son named Eddie . Mrs Hamilton died quite young with cancer . We never saw anything of the father and son after that.

One of the annual events was making marmalade . This happened when the Seville oranges arrived in the country . The jam making was a joint operation by my parents who would sit for hours peeling the oranges, then cutting the peel into what I suppose would be called ' Thick cut ' today . It was made in a huge brass cauldron, which would fetch a small fortune on the market today . They took turns standing at the gas cooker and stirred the marmalade in the making for hours . When the cooking process was completed the jam would be poured into glass jam jars and sealed with grease proof paper tops . This marmalade would last us until the next Seville orange season in twelve months time . It used to go into suet puddings, on toast or bread and butter, sponge cakes and tarts and it was delicious !

Mondays always smelled of steamy clothes, and lunch was always Corned beef and potatoes with lots of butter and milk mashed in . Presumably this was an easy meal to prepare and cheap, nevertheless I enjoyed it .

Sundays in the summer would be a day out . We would all go either to New Brighton, Sefton Park, Calderstones or Woolton and we'd go on long walks . We would walk to Sefton Park . We would get the Tram to Calderstones or Woolton . Woolton in those days was virtually open country and again we would go on long walks. Now it's all housing estates. The fare was a penny each for children and during the school Summer holidays you could get a ticket that would give you four rides for a penny! When we went to New Brighton we would go by Ferry boat . We would have nice long walks along the Prom or go down on the sands with our buckets and spades and make sand castles and paddle . These outings stopped abruptly when I became a Cathedral Chorister.

As an infant I went to Granby Street school . I remember very early on at school we were asked to draw something, so I drew a swan for which I received a little book as a prize . I don't remember a lot about those early days except that discipline and respect for a higher authority ( the teacher ) were pretty deeply instilled into the children . A pity this isn't the case today.
See previous pageTree12next page