Memories - early or general

Now when I was small and started school we had a nit nurse, this nurse would visit the school every so often you would stand in line and she would run a comb through your hair, really hard, if she thought you had nits, your hair would be shorn off, can't remember if she did it or your parents had to. Now when the yanks came over they had a working suit, 'denims', did their training and dirty jobs in, I doubt if anyone here knew of this material. So when I came home in 1948 I had a crew cut hairstyle, and a denim suit in my bag (I swopped a tin of fifty cig's for the denim suit). Mother took one look at my hair, 'Oh my, you will have to wear a hat, you won't be allowed to get on the bus like that, people will think you've got nits', and all the Victorian 'stuff'. Next morning I put on the denim suit, 'You can't go out in that' it's disgusting, makes you look 'slovenly'. So here we have a fine example of English culture with modern Americanism. But I believe the denim suits the yanks had as overalls were the beginning of your casuals of today.

As we lived pretty close to each other Kaga we probably had the same visiting nurse. I seem to remember having my head scrubbed with some black stuff that when washed out turned the water milky white. A bit like Dettol I suppose. Personal hygiene was not to high a priority in those days and few houses had a bathroom. Our bath hung on a nail on the back fence. A galvanised bath with a handle at each end. About once a month it would be lifted down, a couple of kicks to frighten the spiders out then part filled with cold water then some warm water added from the kettle to take the chill off. To empty it was an even bigger chore as the water was scooped out with saucepans and tipped down the kitchen sink. There was three of us children in the family but we didn't share the same bath water so the whole business had to be repeated three times . Later we discovered that Livingstone baths had slipper baths so then we would visit there once a week. Norman

Yes Kaga Simpson I recall the nit nurse, they stopped in the 80s, I was told when it stopped, by a nurse, to make sure when my children came home from school each day to brush their hair over the bath then if they got any brushing would damage their legs and prevent them from breeding then to treat it. In the 70s living by the canal in a house I used to have one of those tin baths hung outside, no bathroom, nor roof on the house nor no inside toilet. I used to do the same as Norman Conquest, bang the bath in case of spiders, when the bath developed holes I bathed the children in the sink and I had strip washes No central heating only coal fires. The reason you would place cold water in first because if you tipped hot water in first, the heat would heat the metal of the bath and burn the children and you.

Coventry gone by This is a story I am not proud of, but it was funny. As with most kids in our time we had gangs much the same as now but without the knives. (Having said that, we did have knives, penknives and sheath knives but they were for cutting wood or throwing, never ever thought of using them as weapons). We are talking about kids of 9 years old-ish, anyway just thought I would lay down the prelude. It was very rare for me to be a gang leader as I was not the most dynamic child in the bunch but on the rare occasion the responsibility did happen to fall on my shoulders, the reason from what I recollect was due to the gang members not being older than me, the older lads had gone home. The gang consisted of girls and boys and I had a second in command called "Tony". On this particular day we were to make out we were a military group, namely the Army, I seem to remember some of the kids being a right pain and chatting - this had to stop if I was to show them I was in command. I had to devise a plan to make them tow the line so I picked up a small stick - well it was a branch still with the leaves on. I bellowed for them to be quiet or they were to be punished. At that one of the girls ran off screaming, I thought "what's wrong with her, it's only a game?" Well, I guess I was a bit over the top, the responsibility of being the gang leader had gone to my head somewhat! Anyway she had gone and so we carried on playing and I must say things were now going much better. I had them all lined up and marching really well, we had now become a force to be reckoned with. I was going to make a name for myself. It was just then I could see the little girl returning followed by her dad! "Gulp" - now because I could see them coming towards us, the gang could not as they were facing me. "Arr", I thought I need to go to the toilet, very quickly, so I called on my second in command "Tony" to take charge and duly handed over the so called whip while I made a quick exit through the hedge, ducking down and hiding. Some commander I turned out to be, first sign of trouble and I was gone, still live to fight another day. As the father approached he began to shout at my friend (well, he was my friend). No need to tell you what he said but it was a bit heavy, he took the stick off Tony and broke it in two, then began to give him a right earful - the other kids just stood there in shock and fear. Tony tried to explain that it was not his stick but the man was so, so outraged he would not listen! He grabbed his daughter and disappeared, shouting as he went "I will be round to see your parents later". Poor ol' Tony was now in tears -from what I remember he was already on jankers, or to use the modern saying "grounded". I remember thinking "Tony was not going to be too chuffed with me after this little foray". I waited for a while until things had settled down and thinking I had not better return too soon as he would gather that I had been hiding behind the hedge. I came scurrying back as if nothing had happened, only to be greeted by Tony and saying what had happened. I exclaimed "No, if I had been here I would have told him it was not your fault. Sorry, Tone" He replied "Well, it was not your fault, how would you have known he was going to appear?" I replied, "You are right, I did not know otherwise I would have stayed and faced the music. Tell ya what, why don't I come round to see your dad and tell him it was my fault?" (I was always sticking up for Tony and I was playing a blinder, his dad would have said "Sod off "and sure enough, after Tony had said to his dad it was my fault he said, "It's about time you stood up for yourself instead of your mate Colin taking the blame". (What a smooth operator I had become!) I hope the younger persons reading this do not judge me has being a bit of a tyrant, you must understand in our day we did not have PCs or IPads etc, we had to make our own fun, we acted out some of the war scenarios and kept fit during in the process. A true story by Colin Walton. 2015

Hi guys, I can think of my early Coventry memories. Queuing up for orange juice at Gulson Hospital, being lifted to watch milk bottles being filled in the dairy next door, watching circus animals walk from the train station to Hearsall Common, winning a goldfish in a bag at the fair, crying when it died before we got it home. Bathing in a tin bath in front of a coal fire, Being taken to the police station after wandering away from my mum in Owens when I was 3, I loved it, the nice policeman gave me sweets and 6d for being good and knowing my name and address. Milk and coal being delivered by horse and cart, collecting the leavings of said horses for the roses or was it rhubarb? Such simple happy times.

A stick of liquorice, a nougat bar, even sugar in the newspaper and a stick of rhubarb, alleys down the gutter, hoops with a stick, skimming a stone across the slough, slices of bread and treacle, or Tate and Lyle syrup, my sister taught me 'sums' with the little black golliwogs of Robertson's jam, toast on a fork over an open fire, bread and dripping, hung our coats on hooks on the back of the front door, coconut matting, that scratched your knees, long short pants handed down from my brother, toes in the potty if you had chilblains, cod liver oil and malt every night, loved every minute of my young childhood.

Goodness Kaga, to quote a phrase, I am walking in your shoes, although, not too sure about the 'toes in the potty bit'. We saw a little metal Robertson's jam gollywog 'nurse' broach in a secondhad shop a couple of months ago in Fremantle and they wanted $70 for it, and an old pair of wooden 'shoe trees' for $80, remember those? Looking at all the English paraphernalia in the sec shops (most with the English brand on) they must have been brought out on the First Fleet. We have a habit now of checking all the old china, it's amazing what you can find from ye olde merry England.

Did you ever place onions or potatoes at the back of the fire to roast? I would do it now but we have reluctantly moved on to central heating. We had an old cast iron range with a built in oven and a hook to hold a kettle over the fire. Christmas time we loaded up the front bars with chestnuts, waited for them to pop then dipped them in salt. Finger lickin'good. Baked apples with cores removed and stuffed with brown sugar, everything done on the black range, no microwaves then. Outside, winter warmers, an old can with holes and wire for a handle. Get coal burning inside then swing it round and round until the tin glowed red. Fruit stolen from the vicarage gardens, why I don't know, we had fruit trees in our garden but there was no excitement in taking that. Hop scotch, conkers, marbles, five stones (forgotten the moves in that) and all the things we got up to. Rat Tat Ginger, remember that? All gone, replaced with an X Box.

Yes we had the same range, but five stones silver star things you threw in the air caught them on the back of hand, then picked the others up, oh gosh yes. My dad made puzzles out of plywood, had an H and a couple of Z's made a draught board, oh yes I remember now. He used to do metal castings, a little iron cup over the range with bite of metal, when it was runny he would pour it into a sand mould, made gollywog money boxes, horses, all manner of things.

Just been talking to an old guy. Five stones, the moves were snatches, pick ups, grabs and fingers. The old guy couldn't remember any more.

Norman, yes got it, you threw them in the air, caught them on the back of the hand, you then threw the ones on the back of the hand in the air while you snatched the one's that had dropped on the floor and still caught the ones in the air on the back of your hand,.or you threw the one's on your hand in the air while you locked the ones on the floor between your fingers, yes, either you snatched or grabbed.

Played this for hours with my friend next door. Seemed to remember you had to pick up one at a time, then 2 at a time etc. Also you were talking about toes in the potty. we only mentioned this the other day at a collectors fair where we saw a poe, guzzunda, jerry or whatever you want to call it. yes, it was a good cure for chilblains, also jelly fish stings. some people have never lived !

I have no idea how old I was but my cousins who lived in Holbrooks came over for the day, we kids went out to play, I said lets go along the cut. My hoity-toity girl, cousin a little older than me, "It is not the cut, it's the canal". "It's the 'cut'". "No, it's the canal". "It's the bloody cut". She stamped her foot. "Oh, you are so beastly", and ran back to the house. Me, I was doubled up with laughter. We never said another word the rest of the day. A few years later and we heard Holbrooks had been hit, so dad, me and my sister cycled over, not knowing what to expect, but they were ok and my hoots-toothy cousin was all grown up, waiting to go in the WAAFs and had lost all that hoity-tooth stuff and she was a real "cracker".

I'm very fortunate in that every home I've ever lived in has had a bathroom. Some of my friends in Coventry didn't even have a toilet of their own let alone a bathroom. Mind you the bathrooms were seldom heated so in that respect a tin bath in front of the fire was an advantage.

Yes Dutchman, these days it is so easy to go into a central heated bathroom and have a quick shower every day if you want to but the rigmarol I can remember when I was younger, once a week was enough. First of all lighting the paraffin heater so it was warm enough to strip off and then being careful not to bend down and burn your b*m on it. Then light the geyser with great difficulty and wait for ages to get hot enough. No loo in the bathroom so nip outside as well. Then jump in the bath, the bathroom now so steamed up you can't see. Get dressed as quickly as possible and hope the hot water bottle you have put in the bed has warmed the bed enough to stop your feet turning to blocks of ice in the night. I had the bedroom over the hallway so Jack Frost used to leave his patterns on the inside of my window.