"TYKE TALK" - "art oft box" part 2

"TYKE TALK" - "art oft box" part 2

There is a saying in Yorkshire  

"Ifs thas nowt to seh -  seh't to thisen"  -       

" Av got a lot to seh" :-) especially now I have found my ancestral roots   

Part 2

Not the earliest image of me , but probably the least embarrassing 

Our “Queen of Villages” could NOT boast as having an Airport or Bus Station. In fact, throughout the full 20+ years I lived in the “Queen of Villages” I NEVER once saw an aircraft pass overhead -

 I did once hear the Luftwaffe though, I think it was 1942 - flying over us at night, to drop their load of bombs on the numerous Steel Works in the Sheffield/Rotherham area. It was during some dark, dismal and dank night, that I recall scrambling under our lounge table for protection, in case the bombs dropped on our house - none of the families nearby ever retreated to/used the brick built Anderson Air-Raid Shelters built for our communal protection, for they were damp, filthy and smelly. 

Oh! I should add that the local bus service did pass by our front garden (a 10ft x 10foot patch of grass described as lawn when the need to impress occurred). The “Yorkshire Traction” bus passed by twice each hour - every hour - in both directions, from 6.00am in the mornings to 10.00pm at night.  (20 minutes to, and 10 minutes passed, the hour, in one direction to Thurscoe and 10 minutes to and 20 minutes passed the hour, the other way, towards Wath centre/West Melton/Brampton/Wombwell and BARNSLEY - the nearest large town). The regular bus service was six days a week - on Sundays it was a reduced service, which did not start until mid-day and finished early at about 6.00pm.

I should have added that we did in fact have a 2 Bus Stops within 20 paces ( crafty measurement … yes? ) -that’s 20 child’s paces of our front door. No cars, or taxis service though. Shanks Pony was the only alternative - very few pushbikes also ( War effort  - I guess !! )

The “Queen of Villages” could boast an Infants and Junior School - Victoria School - (5 Bus Stops away) This was my school where I had my early education. I walked there and back most days - 30 to 45 minutes in each direction ( all weathers). I also had my own “personal coat hook” in the School Cloak Room- designated with a dangling coloured cardboard cut out, of a “Grey Elephant “- this was my own personal coat hook and I was very proud of it ( as the retention in my memory obviously substantiates).

 

                                       

There were separate Girls and Boys outside Loo s - the Boys Loos were really "Bogs !!" and were open aired and exposed to the elements, I doubt if this was true for the girls though. We also were allocated a camp bed put up each afternoon in the School Hall/Class Room - one itchy blanket. All the "infants" class were supposed to have a sleep - don't know why, probably because the school administrators considered that the possibility of nightly bombing raids would keep us awake and deprive us of rest we needed - hug ! No one of my friends appreciated the concern

I went to church every Sunday - to St James’ ( cant remember from what age). In later years I did play the Church Organ there, and occasionally (less than discretely I should add) during practice “pepped” up the music with jazz and boogie. That was until “Skip" - the Scoutmaster heard me one time, and suggested it was not the best way to air my talent, and that if I was not careful he may consider demoting me from the Patrol Leader of the my beloved “Peewits“ Patrol

(Only recently I learned that both Billy Connelly and Bernard Cribbens were also Peewit Patrol Leaders - such exalted company!) What a disgrace this would have been, it would be too great to handle, I guess I would have left the 12^th Don and Dearne St James Scout Troop - with Sherwood Green trimmed with Yellow edge Neckerchief, held in place with a woggle - in such a personal demise that life would have ended for me there and then ( is that where an anxiety complex took root ? ;-) )

Part 3 to follow

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