Rag 'n' Bone men

The bone man that I recall in the fifties, trampling around Sewall Highway, traded with Stoke Salvage who were based in Heath Rd, off Clay Lane.

Stoke Salvage, It was your recycling centre of the day (second hand shop) I remember it well in the 60's. Known locally as Big Jacks, after the owner, he had a modern house build adjacent to it and he also had an American car, quite a character in fact.

Yes, a big Pontiac. Eight cylinder automatic. He might have had a Chev before that. Descendants of the family ran a cafe on Ball Hill that was decked out with US car memorabilia. Covid finished it off I think.

More memories of our weekly rag and bone man: horses defecate as they are walking, trotting or even cantering, and the stuff lands on the road surface. The rag and bone man never cleaned it up. He did not need to. Opposite our houses was a massive area of rough waste land and allotments. (That was then - it was converted into a public park after we left Coundon; Lake View Road to be precise.) An old chap, one of those who always wore an old three-piece suit and a flat cap, even in sweltering hot summers, used to follow with a galvanised bucket, and collect up the stuff for his allotment over the road. As little kids, we were disgusted that he used to pick it all up with his bare hands! It is reported that before the internal combustion engine, every day, over 1000 tons of horse manure was cleaned up off the streets of London.