When I was ten I was moved to an intermediate school
about a mile away. This was a long way to walk back home at lunchtime.
Sometimes a few of us lads would come out of school and wait for a slow lorry
or steam engine to come out of the nearby rail goods yard. We would then chase
after it and hang from the tail board for dear life until we were closer to
home. We then had to wait for the wagon to slow down for us to release our
grip, and make a safe return to earth. We got to know which wagon was going our
way.
My mother took in a lot of washing, to do for a few
people. In those days she had a wooden washing tub and a wooden dolly. The water
was heated in a brick surrounded cast iron boiler over a coal fire, and then
ladled into the tub, with clothes to wash and a few handfuls of powder. Then
the clothes were pounded with the dolly in an already steamy wash-house for
about ten minutes. When considered clean enough they were put through the
mangle with big six inch rollers. When the pressure was put on the mangle it
was hard work to turn the eighteen inch diameter wheel to squeeze the water
out. This pounding, and turning the mangle, was what I was given to do on wash
days when I came home to my lunch from school. My mother would say "Here
Jack, come and do this while I get your dinner." Then when the washing was
finished and ironed, my sister and I would have to take it back to where it came
from. That could be as much as a mile away, on foot of course.
At the intermediate school I remember we had someone
come to give us a talk on the Ovaltine product, which was a kind of advertising
gimmick. Afterwards we had to write an essay on the subject. There were three
prizes for the best essays and I was the winner of the second prize, which was
Ovaltine samples and Ovaltine chocolate. This success inspired me to do well in
the entrance exam for a chance to go to the
I now had my first bicycle which came in handy to
hurry to and from school. My friends also had a bicycle, so during the summer
months we organised outings together at weekends to the local beauty spots. We
took sandwiches, and bat and ball, to really have a good day out. Sometimes we
cycled fifteen or more miles each way, enjoying ourselves in the fresh air.
It was about this time that my mother was offered a
key to a new house. This was quite exciting, so my sisters and I went to see
where we were likely to be going to live. With our encouragement my mother
accepted the key, so we soon moved into the new house away from grandparents,
aunt and cousin. The distance to school was very much the same as before but in
a different direction. It was a pleasure to come from school to the new house
where I was able to do homework in comfort. We had a large lounge, kitchen,
bathroom and coal store downstairs, and three bedrooms, but now we also had a
lovely big garden. The garden entailed a lot of hard work over a long period before
it was dug over and planted. My mother became a keen gardener. My friend had a
nice garden with an archway and trellis work on either side about three feet in
height. With roses growing along each side of the trellis and over the archway
it gave the garden a bit of character. It gave me the idea to ask my mother if
we could have one. When I had the offer of help from my friend, my mother
agreed to let me do the job. I found this very interesting and challenging, as
my knowledge of woodwork then was very little. With my friends help we slowly
assembled the archway and trellis and erected it along the back of the house.
Then we had to paint it green to complete the job. The next job was to buy and
plant the climbing and rambling roses, which was done with much satisfaction.
The follow on job from that was to lay a brick path from the archway to the
bottom of the garden. This was a hard but essential job but when completed our
garden began to take shape. There, I think, my gardening enthusiasm ended. It was
my mother who became the gardener.
In the 1930s and even a few years before then I
attended Sunday School every Sunday morning and
afternoon, and also the adjoining Methodist Chapel in the morning and evening.
There were some very good teachers at the Sunday school who organised Scripture
and Band of Hope classes. They taught us that life could be good without
wrongdoing and drinking alcohol. There was also a Boys Club and Girl Guides for
the girls, which were attended enthusiastically. We entered into scripture
examinations with other schools and also temperance exams from which I gained
several book prizes. At the Boys Club we learnt plays and produced them on
stage in the schoolroom. One such play has remained in my memory because it was
so popular. We performed this play called The Nigger Parliament many times and
at different locations. It was about an all black Negro parliament debating,
and a very funny comedy it was. The words were often wrongly or strangely
pronounced. The word "political" became "politickle."
Following on from this I was asked to join a Drama
Group with a senior cast who were rehearsing for Shakespeare's Merry Wives of
Windsor. I got the part of Robin, and attended rehearsals every week. After
many weeks the play was ready to go on stage. We had the dress rehearsal, and
then at the final moment the producer fell ill. As she was taking two parts,
and no-one could take over, it was abruptly cancelled. This ended my stage
career.
As I entered my teens the next thing that I did was to
join the local cricket club as a member. This allowed me to watch the first and
second team play at Haden Hill ground. It also enabled me to practice in the
nets and sometimes with the team members on the ground. My love of cricket grew
from this early age, and I still like to watch a match. In my late teens, I did
the scoring for Old Hill second team in the Birmingham League, which I enjoyed
very much.
At the age of fourteen, although I was happy to
continue school, my mother wanted me to leave and get work, to help run the
home. One could leave at fourteen then, or at our school, carry on to eighteen.
So my mother arranged an interview for an office trainee at
After twelve months at this work I was moved to a
bench job to assist a tradesman making purpose made joinery. There were
fourteen such pairs of workers who between them turned out a lot of work. Now I
was beginning to like my job, so then I enrolled for evening classes twice a
week doing cabinet work. This was at
The hours of work were from seven till five in winter,
It was at the age of seventeen when I began what was
to become a serious friendship with a girlfriend whom I had known for several
years by going to Sunday School. We used to meet with
other boys and girls around the lamppost after homework was done, laughing,
joking, and telling yarns during the dark winter months. In the summer we
walked to the local park to meet up and have a game together or listen to the
band. Then, one Sunday after Chapel we met by the park and took our first walk
together. After that Sunday walk we became very good friends, meeting on free
evenings and weekends, whenever possible.
The following spring holiday we decided to go hiking
for the day. We took a packed lunch and set off about
The man said, "How far are you going?"
I said, "Probably as far as the Lickey
Hills."
He replied, "I am going to
Cycling was still a great love of mine, and at work
there were other enthusiasts. One workmate, who was a few years older than me,
had a tandem bicycle. He went on quite long trips with his wife on this tandem,
and so it came as a surprise when he asked me if I wished to go with him on the
back of the tandem, to the cyclists Annual Meeting at Meridon near
By this time in my life, and still courting strongly
with my girlfriend Mary, we began to go to the theatre. Neither of us had much
pocket money so we had to save hard to be able to enjoy our new found pleasure.
Besides going to the local theatre to see Musicals, we
occasionally went to Birmingham Hippodrome to see top stars of the day in
Variety Shows. We saw many of the old favourites like Tommy Trinder, Max
Miller, Randolph Sutton, Larry Adler, Florrie Ford, and others. It is a love of
the theatre and music, and especially good singing, that
has remained with us. Another kind of music which we loved to hear was played
by brass bands in the local park regularly every Sunday in the summer. It was
then, and still is, a lovely park. There must have been thousands there on a
Sunday to walk around, and listen to the band, and I must stress at this point
that there was never any misbehaviour. The park to us had everything to enjoy
oneself. With natural lakes and trees, historic buildings, and bowling greens,
and tennis courts, it was a great attraction for all ages. We spent some of the
happiest days of our lives there.
Cycling at the age of nineteen had a special appeal
when I had a brand new, shining chrome, bicycle. It had hub brakes and dynamo
lighting. My excursions into the countryside were more enjoyable and more
frequent. There was at this time a workmate who enjoyed riding, so we planned
to go in the summer holidays on our cycles to the seaside for a week's holiday.
The nearest resort was
We started at
Soon afterwards that same year I spotted an advert in
the local newspaper. It was asking for anyone who would be interested in
joining up to form a harmonica band. Well, I had been playing one since I was
about six years old so I thought it sounded quite interesting. On Saturday
afternoon off I went to the meeting place at Brierly Hill. The organiser played
an accordion, and he was looking for about five more to join the band. He had
the required number apply that day, so the band was formed and rehearsals began
with four mouth organ players, an accordionist and a drummer. Afterwards we met
every Saturday afternoon and learnt many pieces of music. Many weeks later we were
able to put on a concert at a local school. We each wore grey flannel trousers
with a wide, pleated, dark blue silk waistband, a white shirt and blue and
white striped tie. Bookings were few but we continued practising.
About the same time I enrolled for a Correspondence
course for Carpentry and Joinery. With evening classes twice a week I was very
busy outside working hours. After about fifteen months doing the Correspondence
course I had to give it up, but it was mainly because I couldn't afford the
monthly instalments. My mother could not, or would not help me either.
Now at twenty, I had finished making the wardrobe at
evening classes, to complete the bedroom suite. It was now at home in my
bedroom where I could see the satisfying result of five years patient work, all
done by hand. I was rewarded each year with a prize and a free studentship as
well.