Fieldway Sandyway TWO DOGS

Unlocking Knowsleys Hidden Gems
TWO DOGS
Chestnut Avenue
Wallace Drive
Dinas Lane
Altmoor Rd
Kingsway
Bluebell Lane
Fieldway
Sandyway
Charnwood Rd
First published 2010
Amanda Meaghan
First published 2010
Amanda Meaghan
In Partnership with Knowsleys Arts &
Heritage Services ‘Unlocking
Gems’ Project.
InKnowsleys
PartnershipHidden
with Knowsleys
Arts &
Heritage Services ‘Unlocking
Knowsleys Hidden Gems’ Project.
CONTENTS
Introduction
x
Foreword
x
The Writers
x
The Origins of Huyton
x
Famous Huytonians
x
Did You Know Stuff
x
From a village to a Town
x
Moving to Huyton On a handcart
x
Make do and mend
x
Wartime Memories
x
Internment Camps
x
Camp Stories
x
Eagle and Child & other pubs
x
Childhood Days
x
School Days and playing out
x
Games we used to play
x
Funny Stories
x
Discipline
x
Morris Minor Van Man
x
Caldwell Poems
x
Pagemoss Trams & Ditty
x
Church Days In Huyton
x
Memories flashbacks
x
Biographies
x
LocalByPictures
Compiled
Amanda Meaghan and residents
of
x
Old Huyton Map
Huyton
x
Bucket List
x
Caldwell poem
x
More Local Pictures
x
Unlocking Knowsleys Hidden Gems
‘Huyton, Huyton
Two Dogs Fightun’
One’s a Black and
ones a White ‘un’
An old rhyme of unknown origin
mentioned by
J.E. Lloyd, in “English Villages in Rhyme”,
Published in the Geographical Magazine
1944
Compiled By Amanda Meaghan
With residents from
Huyton
This book has been compiled with the support of Funding by
the Heritage Lottery fund and supported by Knowsleys Arts
and Heritage Service.
3
Unlocking Knowsleys Hidden Gems
‘Unlocking
Knowsleys Hidden Gems’ is an exploration and celebration of
Knowsley’s heritage. Through this project, Knowsley Art and Heritage
Service have worked to unite people of all ages through their exploration,
appreciation and understanding of their neighbourhood’s rich heritage.
The project is designed to give the local community the opportunity to
sustain their community heritage and spirit.
Unlocking Knowsleys Hidden Gems is a three year Heritage Lottery
Fund Project. The Arts and Heritage service was awarded the grant in
May 2007 and throughout the life of the project it has captured the rich
heritage of the borough using a number of different formats from Art,
photography, story telling to name but a few.
This community group from Huyton have come together to compile this
book to share with others for many years to come. The book brings
together a number of their memories and life experiences alongside their
research information about Huyton and the changes they have seen.
Being involved in Unlocking Knowsleys Hidden Gems has given the
group the opportunity to develop new skills, build their confidence to
recognise the skills they already had and develop new relationships with
other groups who are interested to hear the many stories they have to
share with others.
‘Without these memories being captured for future generations. We will
all loose the opportunities of hearing about ‘The Good Old Days’ and a
whole piece of our social Heritage will be lost forever.’
Colette Thoms
Community Heritage Outreach Coordinator.
5
Betty Meaghan
I was brought up in Everton and I moved to Huyton 46 years
ago when I married a Huyton man called Colin. I went to
Newsham Secondary Modern where I was Head girl and I
swam for Liverpool. We had four great kids two boys and two
girls, I consider myself a Huyton girl. I have a great bunch of
friends that I have met through a variety of classes and am
always looking for a new challenge. I would honestly say the
best thing about Huyton is the people but saying that I would
love to travel a bit more...perhaps Japan- who knows. I would
love to walk the Great Wall of China ...one day
George Barton
I grew up in Low Hill in Kensington then moved to Huyton
I went to Sacred Heart School until 1956, then moved to
Huyton and went to St Margaret Mary’s School. I told my
Mam that I didn’t want to move to Huyton because it was
too posh. I am very happy living in Fieldway and have
made lots of good mates. I am married to a lovely
woman, Cathy, and have three kids and lovely grandkids.
Irene Falla
I live in Court Hey off Greystone Road and I do voluntary work. I
have many hobbies which include dabbling in the art class,
walking in Court Hey at the Wildflower Centre. I love to cook and
also enjoy cake making and of course attending the Caldwell
Writers Group,
.
Alma Brown
I moved to St Helens, England in 1964 from Jamaica and
moved to Twig Lane Huyton in1970. I have two sons and
lovely grandkids. My first job was in Mullards making TV
valves and now I am an actress. I love Huyton and wouldn’t
wish to live anywhere else. I keep busy with line dancing,
acting and I am soon to be awarded my brown belt from
Prescot Marshall Arts. I am often seen on the Empire and my
dream is to be in Corry or Emmerdale.
6
Mary Hayes
I was born in Manchester and moved to Mossgate off Pilch lane
nearly 70 years ago. I went right through Dovecot Secondary Modern
school. I was married in Page Moss Baptist Church and Christened in
Roby Parish Church and I have got 4 kids, seven grand kids and one
great grandchild. I think Huyton shops are fabulous but needs a good
DIY shop as I do all my own jobs. I am still looking for my soul mate
in life and I would really love to go on a cruise.
Joan McAllister
I was an original Ovaltiney and I went to Winstone Rd School
were I achieved the 11 plus to Ellergreen and I was indeed born
in Huyton. My parents moved from Tuebrook and were, lets say,
early settlers and had six kids. I have fond memories of Huyton. I
am a volunteer for Animal Rescue and I have two cats.
My
ambition is to one day own a Columbian square cut Emerald and
would love a swimming pool.
Dot Joans
I was born in Lemon Street, off the Dock Road but my tongue is
not as acid as that. I went to St Alphonsus School and the priest
was Father Window, but I could see right through him. The
Docks were bombed and I was evacuated to Bridge North but
fretted and came back home, then evacuated to Whiston. I have
two lovely kids, one of each. Huyton is best for the friends and
family and living next door to my brother. I would love to do a
parachute jump .
Ella Morelock
I was born in 1932 and moved to Huyton when I was 5
from Sefton Park for the good of my brothers health (all
the fresh air and open fields). I lived in America for 34
years and moved back ten years ago. I have five children
who live in America but I love living back in my home town
of Huyton. My reason for moving back is that my mother
always said never give up my citizenship and I wanted my
last laughs in Huyton. The best thing about Huyton is my
friends and family and my lovely memories.
7
ORIGINS OF HUYTON
Headstone dated
1604
For many who know of Huyton they may say it’s a newish town
outside of Liverpool, but to Huytonians, we know that we live in
a very old town. In fact it has ancient origins, Huyton Village
actually dates back to the 5th Century and in the Doomsday
Survey of 1086 the name of the settlement appeared as Hitune
-meaning literally ‘High Town’.
The spelling of the township varied from the Hitune (1086);
Houton(1258); Hyton then Huyton (1292)
8
The oldest church in the historic Parish of Huyton is St Michaels. This
medieval church dates back to the 12th century and still has loads of original
features despite restoration over the centuries. The oldest is a Norman Font
found buried under the tower early in 1872. A second font of octagonal design
dates back to the 15th Century. Historians have said that there may have been
a Saxon church on the St Michaels site but a church definitely existed in the
12th Century for it was granted to the Priory of Burscough, by Robert son of
Henry De Lathom (whose family will always be remembered in the present
day for Lathom Rd.)
The 14thCentury Lordship of the ‘De Lathom’ lands including Huyton, Roby
and Knowsley. This changed by marriage to the Stanley family and in 1485 the
title of ‘The First Earl of Derby’ was given to Thomas Stanley by Henry the Vll
to show his appreciation for the families support at the Battle of Bosworth. The
Harrington family (another important Huyton family) had acquired the tenancy
of the Manor of Huyton Hey also by marriage. These two families were very
influential in the future of Huyton.
Huyton Hey Manor Farm on Huyton Hey Road is said to be the oldest
surviving secular building, It houses a date stone showing 1670. The Manor
then passed on to the Molyneux family then becoming Molyneux–Seel
through the female line.
By the end of the 19th Century Huyton embraced the Industrial Revolution with
quarrying and mining becoming firmly established in the area. It was the
coming of the railways that was to further enhance Huyton’s reputation as an
important location and today Huyton station (one of the first passenger railway
station dating back to 1830) still remains an important link in the local transport
system following the success of Stevenson’s Rocket at nearby Rainhill Trials.
The ‘60s’ saw many changes in the area one being the building of the Huyton
Village shopping centre and the pulling down of many of the old terraces.
Huyton Quarry was one of the original passenger stations of George
Stephenson’s 1830 Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world’s first railway
to cater for passengers as one of its primary functions. It is argued that it was
the 1st Inter City Railway.
Today Huyton is a very busy place and boasts of an excellent shopping area
known still as the ‘Village’. As you will read there have been many famous and
influential people from our ‘Little Village’ and I am sure there is more to come.
My dad used to say “it’s not the town that makes the people, its the people
that makes the town”, and I think he’s right. Some of the original old buildings
have sadly gone, but this is indeed due to the needs of a busy thriving
modern town.
9
Famous Huytonians
Huyton does not have its own hospital, therefore most of its famous sons and
daughters will have been born elsewhere, usually in Liverpool or Whiston
Hospitals. As well as some of our famous footballers, the following people who
have had links with Huyton:
x Joey Barton, footballer born 2/9/1982 who plays for Newcastle United
x Thomas Beecham (1879-1961), the famous classical music conductor, was
brought up in the Blacklow Brow area of Huyton although was actually born in St
Helens. In 1947 he founded the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
x Alan Bleasdale, local playwright famous for 'Boys from the Blackstuff’,
attended St Aloysius RC Infant and Junior Schools, Huyton,1951-1957.
x Stan Boardman born 7/12/1940, he is a well known comedian who shot to
fame after appearing on Opportunity Knocks and the ‘Comedians’
x Henry Bruner, chemist born 22/1/1838, resident in Huyton until his death.
x Sir Rex Harrison, actor who starred in films such as My Fair Lady and
Cleopatra was born and brought up on Tarbock Road in Huyton, and attended
St Gabriel's School.
Harold Wilson, Former Prime Minister (1964-1970 &
1974-1976) was member of parliament for the Former
Huyton Constituency
10
x
John McCabe. CBE born 21/4/1939 is a Internationally acclaimed composer.
He had written thirteen symphonies by age eleven.
x
Sally Morgan, Baroness Morgan Of Huyton born 28/6/59 became a Labour
Party politician who in 1985 worked for Jon Smith and Tony Blair. Sally Morgan
was Minister of State for Women before rejoining 10 Downing Street as Director of
Government relations. She was made life peer as Baroness Morgan of Huyton in
2001.
x
Reginald Heber Moss, cricketer, born 24/2/1868. Moss Played most of his first
class cricket for Oxford University appearing 13 times between1887-1890 he won
blue in 1889.
x
Peter Noone, singer, born in 1947 and 60’s band member of Herman’s
Hermits. Although originally from Manchester he settled in Chestnut Avenue,
Huyton, before wealth and fame came knocking.
x
Wes Paul guitarist and singer. Although originally from Toxteth, lived in Huyton
for 35 years.
x
Phil Redmond born 1949, is a TV producer and a screenwriter. He is well
known for creating three hugely successful series, Grange Hill (1978-2008)
Brookside (1982-2003) and Hollyoaks (1995-present day) He was the Creative
Director of Liverpool 2008 and he was awarded the CBE in 2004 for his services
to drama.
x
x
x
x
x
Freddie Starr, comedian, went to Huyton Secondary Modern and left in 1958.
Stuart Ferguson Victor Sutcliffe (referred to as The Fifth Beatle), born
23/6/1940, died 10/4/1962 aged 21. Stuart was born in Edinburgh and moved to
Huyton where he attended Parkview Primary School and later attended Prescot
Grammar School in 1950. He was the original bassist for the Beatles for 15
months (May 1960-August 1961) . He was a poet, painter, bassist and singer and
died of a brain haemorrhage.
Actor Jimmy McArdle, born and raised in Huyton.
Ray Ennis from Swinging Blue Jeans.
Derek Temple football player.
Famous footballers
Steven Gerrard, Peter Reid, Joey Barton, Lee Trundle, Tony Hibbert, David Nugent,
Leon Osman.
11 11
12
Did you know...stuff about Huyton.
x
The late Queen Mother used to stop off at Huyton Station before going to see
Lord Derby at Knowsley Hall. It is said that the stationmaster would wear a top
hat to greet them and precede them out by walking backwards.
x
Huyton Hey Manor was originally a farmhouse dating from 1670 and is
Huyton’s oldest surviving secular building.
x
Huyton is mentioned in the Doomsday Book.
x
Whilst digging the foundations for the Grade II listed Bridge by Archway Road
the remains of a vessel were found and thought to be Viking of Origin.
x
What was known as Harold Wilson's Gravy? HP Sauce. Also Harold Wilson
was one of the founder members of the Open University.
x
In the16th Century Huyton had two watermills, a windmill and a fulling mill.
x
St Michaels Church is a Grade ll listed building and dates back to the 12th
Century. Inside the Church is an early Norman font, a chancel screen dating
from 1460 and a 14thCentury effigy of a priest, probably John De Winwick. The
gateways, both listed, are constructed of stone with wrought Iron piers and
dated 1765.
x
Court Hey Park has the oldest tree in Knowsley which is The Old Oak aged
400yrs.
x
Many of the farmers were allowed a supply of rationed wartime petrol for the
tractors valuable work but it was coloured ‘PINK’ so that anybody caught
siphoning it off would be easily caught and fined or sent to prison.
x
Huyton is Twinned- Towned with Stradt Moers in Germany.
x
The Huyton Cross was erected originally in 1819 by the Vicar to stop
cockfighting and bull baiting.
x
Kilroy Silk was an MP In Knowsley in the 70s and 80s
x
Huyton had three camps established during the 2nd World War– a P.O.W
Camp, an Internment Camp and an American G.I Camp
x
The remains of the Mayfair Cinema can still be found at The Boots Chemist in
the Village, and you can still see it today.
13 13
14
From A Village To A Town
Born in 1932, I was the youngest of six children and was five years of age
when my family decided to move to Huyton. I was raised in Fairclough Road
where I met many life long friends one of whom I still keep in contact with.
Huyton still holds wonderful memories of my childhood today. My earliest
memories are those of my school days. I attended St Michael’s Church
School which was based in the church hall. We only had three classrooms in
the school and we would attend church every Thursday. A bus would collect
the children from home and drop them off at school every day. Our Journeys
on the bus were filled with singing. The police station was a large house and
was directly opposite the school.
As I got older I attended Longview School which even now is a thriving
primary school. When I think back to those days the air raid shelter which
was built underground on the school grounds always comes to mind. When
not in school my days were filled with fun and laughter. I can remember quite
clearly the river alt which ran alongside Fairclough Road. The boys would
dam the alt up and then swim in it as the water was so clear. Our summers
were long and incredibly hot and Huyton was mainly farmland. Throughout
the Summer days we would go collecting Blackberries for our Mothers to
make pies, unfortunately most of them were eaten before we got home.
I can recall one incident when we went to a farm to pick some apples. The
farmer saw us and chased us, so we climbed over the wall to get away, but a
policeman was waiting for us on the other side. He asked us if we had any
apples and we all replied ‘NO.' He then asked us “Have you got any apples
in your drawers” it was really funny. We all had a good laugh when he let us
go home.
On the other days we would all set off to Lord Derby’s where we would all sit
on the railings and tell ghost stories to each other. We would all be scared
out of our wits walking home. Huyton was mainly farms but the village had
many shops such as the gas company, and Brown’s the Butchers. There
was a knitting shop with a line of other shops opposite with the Mayfair
standing proudly amongst them. I can still remember women carrying their
wicker baskets to go shopping in the village. It was a beautiful village full of
countryside.
I had the most wonderful childhood in Huyton and have special memories
placed within my heart which I often share with my children, grandchildren
and great grandchildren.
It is no longer the same place, gone is the countryside, the farms and the
fields, no longer is Huyton a Village. Maybe it’s time we renamed it Huyton
town.
Ella
15
16
Moving To Huyton on A Handcart
My parents were allocated a bungalow in Ashbourne Crescent, Huyton in
1943. They qualified because my Father worked in the R.O.F factory where
they made ammunition and such, for the war effort. He was medically unfit
for service in the armed forces having been left disabled after crushing his
hand before the war. They moved from White Rock Street Liverpool 6.
Having four children and very little money they had to hire a hand cart for
the move. With all their goods and their prized possession, a radio set, they
set off on their journey which was about six miles to Huyton. Pushing all the
way with four young children alternately walking and riding took a long time
and by the time they reached Huyton it was dark. No street lights could be lit
during the war so unbeknown to them the road to their new home was
unfinished and the handcart bounced off the finished part onto the
unfinished rubble strewn section. Sadly the prized radio fell off the handcart
and broke. After gathering their goods and broken radio they found their
house, number 142 later changed to 164, when more houses were built. The
hand cart was emptied and the beds made up in the dark. They did not
realise until the next day that their new home had electricity which was
already switched on with light bulbs fitted. A flick of a switch the next
morning lit up the bulbs and was a great cause of excitement for a family
coming from a house lit by gas.
Joan
When we moved here it was like we were going on our hols ...not that we
ever had a holiday. It was just that it felt so exciting coming to a brand new
place ....with fields, loads of fields and farms and loads of kids running
everywhere playing all day in the fields. Y’see we only played on the cobbled
streets and it was really bumpy and we would play in the alleys, I am not
saying that we hated where we are from, I am saying that Huyton was a
brand new adventure for us as kids.
George
I moved over from Ireland in 1947 to join the N.A.F.F.I and this is where I
met my husband who was from Liverpool. He was a Liverpool lad. In 1948
we were married and lived in West Derby until we moved to Pagemoss in
the 50’s .The trams were still running and Pagemoss was the Depot. My
eldest son Davy had never seen a tram and he thought it was a train on the
road . We had a small Police Station and its gone now.
Phyllis
17
18
Making Do And Mend
Many things were unavailable to people during and after the war. Rationing
did not finish completely until June 1954. As well as rationing, money was
also a problem. Wages were low and the average worker still had little or
nothing left the day before pay day. So to make things rather than buy them
was the norm. As children my father would make us hats out of old coats.
Playing in the snow in the winter, we would use old socks as gloves when the
one pair you had (if you were lucky enough to have a pair) were soaked from
playing snowballs. They would be hanging on the fireplace to dry., so the
socks were the next best thing. My father also repaired our shoes on a
cobblers last, carefully cutting the leather (no synthetics then) and nailing it to
the shoes.
When I was about 21-22 my Brother-in-law bought a lot of material from a
man in Marmaduke St who could get it cheap. I remember everybody having
a share to make something with and my Mother making curtains with hers.
But nothing was ever wasted. It wasn’t really curtain material. My friend made
a lovely dress with her share. One night we had been out and had been
brought home by two boys. Those days we still came home early enough for
our parents to be up and as we were staying in my house they were invited in
for a cup of tea it wasn’t until my friend took off her coat and sat on the sofa
we realised that the curtains behind her, the cushions on the sofa and her
dress were all made of the same material.
Joan
We never had paint or wall paper years ago and we used to make our own
emulsion, it was mixed up from a substance called distemper, we made it into
white wash and then coloured it with food dye. We used to make patterns
with Dolly Blue, which was a small piece of dark blue stuff that put a blue tint
on the walls or your white washing. When dampened we would make blue
spots on the walls which I think went pink. When I think about it now, it was
awful, but we loved it back then.
Joan
I lost my husband at the early age of 42 and I was left with five children to
look after. I soon had to learn very quickly how to make do and mend and in
them days, It was very hard but people were very kind. I would darn all socks
and stockings with wool and make patches for the bedding and patches for
the jackets and trousers. I also learnt how to toe and heel shoes for me and
all my kids with a last. Usually the fathers did this in the homes but I had to
do it, I had no choice. Yes, I got very good at make do and mend.
Phyllis
19
When I came here in 1964 I was 15 and the next year the Beatles started. Me
and my two sisters went to the club the Plaza in St Helens, Dad had his Morris
Minor and he would take us and pick us up. We used to like to dance to soul
music. As me and my sister were dancing a group of boys from Huyton were
staring over and in the end I married one of them in the Registry Office in
Pagemoss. I was poor and had to buy a bridesmaid dress and cut it short and I
borrowed a coat from my friend who didn’t turn up to stand for me. None of my
family or his family came, only his friend. We used a white taxi to take us for a
meal. It rained and rained, I should of known it was an omen, but I still had two
lovely boys to him. I lived with him for twenty years in Twig lane with his mum
and dad. I got divorced after many years of unhappiness.
Alma
My mum knitted all our socks on four needles and if they got a hole in them
then I had to darn them with a mushroom. I used to love darning and I became
quite an expert at it. It was a case of having to, having two brothers who were
always getting holes in them. What I used to hate was wearing wellies because
you always had a ring on your legs where the wellies had to be folded over to
make them stay on if they were too big for you. The mark on your leg would be
there for over a week. My dad was a dab-hand at making things last and fixing
things and making do. If my mum was given a pair of shoes that were to big for
me she would stuff the toes with newspaper and I had to wear them. Dad used
to save all the bits of soap derbac, carbolic and sunshine soap and boil them in
a tin then leave them to go hard. Then you would push out the soap when it
had gone hard and it would look like a multi-coloured mish mash swiss roll.
Then dad would slice it with a knife into rings. I hated it because it really stunk.
Betty
No such thing as toilet roll in our day, instead we had to cut very neat squares
of news paper and thread string through one corner with a darning needle. We
used to turn collars that had gone frayed and we would unpick them and turn
them round so they looked like new. My mam would say “ooh that collar needs
turning.” I used to put gravy browning on my Aunty Ev’s legs and then draw a
line down the back with and eyebrow pencil to make it look like she had
stockings on. I dare not make a mistake. Our bedroom was so cold it had
icicles inside the room and we had bed bugs. We would wait ’till it went dark
then pull the covers back quick, light the candle and then get a wet piece of
soap and press against the bugs to catch them because they suck your blood
you know.
Betty
20
Women repaired nylon stockings as they were expensive to buy, sewing toes and
ladders so they wouldn’t be noticeable. Men’s socks were made of wool so were
darned at the toe and heel so they would last longer. A mushroom was used with a
weaving stitch for the repair. Because shoes were expensive too they had to last for
years. Any repairs were done on a cobblers Last, mostly by the men of the
household. Leather soles were cut to size and stuck on, or Woolworths stick on
soles cut and shaped again to size with tacks on the toes and back of the heels.
We used to get all that stuff from Huyton Village; the Woolies, it’s gone now. When
a child outgrew any item it was unpicked washed and wound into balls and used to
knit something else such as a pullover, cardigan or scarf or even baby clothes.
Women did a lot of baking as they were at home all day looking after the home and
the children. Stews were made with what was left over and had more vegetables
added and warmed up for the next day. Lots of cakes were made and iced fairy
cakes and fruit pies. Bread was made from flour, yeast, salt water and sugar. Bread
was made in all different shapes and sizes. We never went hungry. Our Huyton
streets were very friendly and if someone wasn’t coping then a neighbour would
pop food round. Party hats were made of newspapers and Xmas decorations of
coloured strips of paper joined together to make chains then hung from one corner
of the ceiling to the other, sometimes twisting them for different effects. We would
collect holly and mistletoe from the bushes around. We never had much, but no
one did, so there was no ‘keeping up with the Jones’. People grew potatoes and
vegetables in their gardens, raspberry and gooseberry bushes to make homemade
fruit pies and jams. Everyone I knew in Huyton, especially after the war, grew stuff
because the rationing went on for quite a bit after the war you know.
Irene
My Mam would get a tin can and put holes in it and then put bits of old soap in it
and then swill it round the dish water to do the dishes.
Dot
In the late 70s when money was very scarce we had no money for paint so we
bought some emulsion paint and I coloured it with Camp Coffee and I think OXO.
The colour was great and the kids kept sniffing the walls...funny.
Betty
We used to wear our sock as gloves and our coats on in bed.
Dot
21
22
War time memories
During and after the war almost everything was rationed , which meant how ever
much money you had it didn’t matter at all because with out coupons you really
couldn’t buy things. After the war they still had to keep rationing until a period of
time and one of the last things to be free of rationing was sweets in about 1952.
This meant until I was about 8 years old me and my brothers and sisters only ever
had a sweet once a week and that was on a Saturday . We went to the sweet shop
on Dinas Lane and my Mother got as many as we could with the coupons ...which
wasn’t many . The kids today wouldn’t cope I know that.
Joan
I know that Huyton was hardly bombed during the war in fact a lot of the children
from Liverpool were evacuated to Huyton , they used to camp out in The Bluebell
Woods. I remember two houses were bombed one in Jeffrey's Crescent number
33 in1940 and in Coronation Drive during the May Blitz of 1941.
Betty
V.E day celebrations were huge in Huyton everyone was just so happy every where
you went in whatever street people were dragging you in for a drink even if they
didn’t even know you We were just so happy the war was over and no more of
our men were in the war. It was a sad time as well for those who already knew
their men, fathers, husbands, lovers and sons were never going to walk through
that door....really sad.
Pat
One night toward the end of the war, mum woke me and all the kids up shouting,
“there’s an air raid” and rushed us all to the air raid shelters in our garden. After
what seemed like hours she took us back into the house and it was only the next
morning that we found out it was a thunder storm.
Dot
I was still In Ireland during the 2nd World War so I don’t have too many memories.
But I do remember there was one night I was lying in bed and I heard a kind of
droning sound as if something was in the sky, it was the middle of the night and
when I woke up the next morning it was all over the papers that parts of Dublin had
been bombed. It seems the Germans had bombed the Jews that lived in that part of
Dublin.
Phyllis
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During the war my dad was captured and was a Prisoner of War so it was a terrible
time for us all. I remember us all with a sad dark cloud just hanging over us. Then
when V.E. Day came we felt as though we couldn’t celebrate because our dad
wasn’t with us. Yes we were so happy that the war was ended, of course we were.
We just felt it wasn't right to be celebrating in the street, so we missed the V.E. Day.
Then when our dad came home, then it was ok to celebrate V.E. Day because it
was the best day of our lives. All the family and the neighbours in the street had a
street party just for him it was lovely. My dad brought me an ambulance with little
men in it, I thought it was the best present ever. I think he might have made it while
he was captured, but one night he came home and accidentally sat on it.
Margaret
We moved from the Dock Road. So for us, moving to Huyton was like moving to
the countryside or even like being in another country. My cousins used to tell their
friends they were on a trip to the country when they came to visit us because
there was a field and a farm by ours. During the war we got evacuated to Whiston
and I went to Lyola Hall School ...it was great just like being on our hols.
Dot
I remember vividly the camps. The P.O.W camp was on Georgies field and we
would go over to the camps and mock them. They used to march everywhere. We
would also see the Italians and the Germans who we would see walking about and
my mother used to have two of them from the Internment camp over for tea every
Sunday. The Italian was called Joseph and he was very handsome and I forget the
Germans name but the Italian was after my sister. The Italian, I remember, brought
a huge piece of cheese for my mother which was a feast for us because of the
rations. My mother used to say that if it was her son in a foreign country she would
hope that some mother would do the same for her lad. Joseph and the German
invited us all back to their camp where we watched them perform in a cabaret show
and we loved it.
Ella
I remember Ma Meaghan telling me about the camps at Longview and there was
an America G.I. Camp in Bluebell and Eddie Fisher was there. All the girls loved
a soldier, especially an American one. I was told there was lots of romance with
the G.Is and I suppose this made the Scouse lads jealous. There was a lot of
fighting between the Yanks and Huyton lads in the Eagle and Child and the U.S.
Military Police had to come in with pick axe handles to sort them out. I think that’s
where that poem comes from ’Two Dogs’ because of the Black and White Dog
soldiers fighting in the Eagle.
Betty
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Internment camps
During the 2ndWorld War Huyton suffered bombing from the Luftwaffe. Some
Huytonians were killed and injured but the scale of destruction was nowhere close
to that experienced by Liverpool, Bootle and Birkenhead.
Huyton was host to three wartime camps: an Internment camp, a P.O.W. Camp
(prisoner of war) and a base for American Service Men (G.I.s)
The Internment Camp, one of the biggest in the country, was created to
accommodate those ‘enemy aliens’ (Germans, Italians and Austrians) deemed as a
potential threat to National Security by being spies or saboteurs. Churchill’s
demand to' Collar the lot’ meant that 27,000 people ended up being interned in the
UK. Unfortunately many of the Internees were refugees from the Nazis including
many artists attacked for their ‘degeneracy’. The Camp became known as ‘The
Huyton University,’ on account that many of the Internees were academic or were
indeed artists including Martin Bloch, Hugo Dachinger and Walter Nessler .
The camp, first occupied in May 1940, was formed around several streets of new
empty council houses and flats and then made secure with a 8ft high barbed wire
fencing. There were twelve people per house but often there was overcrowding
which meant that the men had to sleep in tents.
Initially the camp was only meant to hold the internees until they could get shipped
to the Isle of Mann. However, largely in response to the torpedoing of the
‘Transport’ ship ‘The Andorra Star’ with the loss of 700 people, the deportations
ended.
Most of the Internees were released long before the camp closed in 1942.The
Camp was cited in and around what was known as ‘The Blue Bell Estate’ and many
of the streets were given names of the Great Battles of 1939-45 War.
The P.O.W. Camp was opened in 1943 situated in Huyton and was only closed in
1948. Many of its prisoners went ‘native' and stayed in Britain and married local
women. Amongst those in the camp was Bert Trautmann who later went on to be
goalkeeper for Manchester City FC.
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Camp Stories
I remember the entrance to the camp was Wavel Road ...it’s funny because I go on
walks and I was telling this woman about there being camps in Huyton and do you
know what ...she didn’t believe me.
Betty
When we first moved here in the 50s we thought it was great all the trees and the
street lighting. We were made up with our house in Longview with a front and a
back garden...it was lovely. But, then my son came home from school saying that
his new little mate Billy said that he swears he seen a German soldier in his
bedroom. I thought “Jesus what’s going on round here,” so I went round to their
house by Bakers Green to tell his mother and she said, and I'll never forget it “Oh
yer, we see him all the time”. She didn’t bat an eye lid!!!
Pat
My Aunties house used to back-up onto the fence of the P.O.W camp so we could
see them easily from the bedroom windows. They used to look scruffy and we used
to feel dead sorry for them. Our Uncle used to tell us to stay away from them in
case we caught something but we used to give them our Jam Butties...it was all we
had.
Joan
I know a woman who fell in love with one of them and she was always at the fence
I think he was Italian .They were all very handsome you know. The woman used to
stand for hours sometimes just waiting for him in all sorts of weather. When he’d
come to the fence she would stand there more hours. Then she’d pass notes
through ...must have been love letters , I don’t know if she married him...I
sometimes wonder.
Pat
I remember that the camp had a footy team and we were just kids then and they
played against the Eagle and Child Pub Team and I remember it was a good game
but forgot who won, and Bert Trautmann played ....he went on to play the 1956 FA
CUP ....he had broken his neck you know, I’d love to know who won that game.
George
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Famous Huyton Pubs:
The Allies (Social Club) The Boundary, The Bluebell, The Doms (Social
Club) Huyton Labour, The Dovey, The Quiet Man, The Seel Arms, Rose and
Crown, The Queens, The Tent, The Farmers Arms, The Oak Tree, The Bow
and Arrow, The Stanley, The Edenhurst and the Hillside. To name but a
few……………
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Famous Huyton Pubs
At one time, Huyton had a thriving ‘Bevvying’ scene. In fact, people from all
over Liverpool came to drink in our Huyton Watering Holes. Yes, some boozers
had ‘not so desirable’ reputations like the ‘Eagle and Child’ who’s landlord Eddie
Cavanagh was famous for running on the pitch in the 1966 F.A. Cup Final. But
of course, it was known to most Huytonians as the place to get your stuff back if
your house had been burgled. This place was famous of course for the fights of
drunken men and sometimes women, not usually the kids though because they
were safe sitting on the step drinking lemo and crisps.
One fight started in the Eagle, rolled outside and ended up on the top bit of the
Tram because all the trams would come into Pagemoss in them days.
But of course the traditional working class pub was much more than a bricks
and mortar, it was the ’soul’ of a community, the place where, like the American
Bar ‘Cheers’ everyone knew your name.
You could buy good quality goods on the black Market, in-fact more often than
not my dad would often stumble in with a leg of lamb and sometimes it was still
attached to the rest of the lamb. You could get anything you wanted from razor
blades, booze, cigarettes to whole sides of beef and at one time, monkeys and
parrots were very popular, brought by the lads home on leave or docker’s with
goodies that has accidentally fell out of the containers.
Then there was the music, singing until the early hours with a lock-in (after
hours drinking at the discretion of the landlord) that usually ended with wives
banging on the door to get their husbands to, “get home NOW!" In fact I
remember my mum taking my dad's Sunday roast down to the Huyton Labour
with a knife and fork to embarrass him into coming home.... but that was not the
case, my dad replied in front of the barmaid and all the punters, “Now that’s
what I call a real wife...where’s the salt and pepper?”
In Huyton we used to have a old ditty we used to say about our most
popular Pubs
The Farmers Arms
Fired a Bow and Arrow
At the Eagle and Child
But it missed and hit
The Oak Tree
George
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The Eagle and Child
I remember the Xmas Parties in the Eagle for the orphans and kids. It was always the first
week in January. Eddie Cavanagh organised it and had the Everton Players there because
he was a mad Evertonian. Eddy was famous for running onto the pitch in the 1966 FA Cup
Final and the coppers were chasing him round the pitch at Wembley. The Eagle had a bad
name but they did a lot for charity....it was a good pub!
George
My husband Colin would often frequent the Eagle and Child and he told me once that a fella
came riding on a motorbike in the front door through the pub and then out the back door. That
kind of thing was normal for the Eagle and Child.
Betty
I don’t know if this is true but someone told me that they used to have mice races in The
Eagle with a proper mouse track. Not that I have ever seen a mouse racing track. Everyone
was betting on the mice including women and apparently a fight broke out because some
mad fellas tried to eat the mice. Then there was a fight and that’s just how it was.
Betty
The Eagle was the hardest pub I have ever known, even the dogs were scared to go in there.
Mary
The Boundary
I remember when some fella selling bottles of whiskey came in one night and said they were
knock off. He had one bottle open for people to taste and the fellas were made up y’know.
Quite a few bought the bottles but imagine their faces when they got home and opened it up
to find that it was cold tea.....I wouldn’t mind but it was sealed and everything....genius!
George
I remember Paul McCartney’s 21st Birthday party at his Aunties house in Dinas Lane and the
word got out so a couple of hundred people turned up but the Beatles came in disguise.
George
St David's Hall
There was a hall in St David’s Road in Huyton where we used to go and see bands it was
very popular and it was full of teds and rockers. This was the place where I first saw the
Beatles. That was in 1961-1962. I saw them a few times. I remember one night this gang
came down from Old Swan while the Beatles were on stage and George Harrison shouted,
“We’ve got a Barnie.”
George
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32
Childhood days
When I was about eight or nine I had to have my tonsils and adenoids
removed and I had to go to Rathbone Rd Hospital which is very old and
had long wards and iron beds. Everyone was in there for the same thing
and that doesn’t happen anymore. I remember that my mother could only
visit on a Wednesday for half an hour and for an hour on the Sunday. I
remember all the children singing Doris Days ’The Black Hills of Dakota’
before the operation as it was the popular song of the day and after the
operation we were croaking like frogs. When my poor sister had to be in
Alder hey for three long periods all I could do was wave because
children were not allowed on the strictly run wards. I remember the
sheets were so tightly tucked in I she could hardly breath and we were
told not to cry for by mother. If my mother wanted to know anything about
my sisters condition. She had to make an appointment to speak to the
doctor she wasn’t allowed to just speak to the nurse.
Joan
We moved to Huyton really because we had no choice. We had been
living in Sefton Park, South Liverpool and my brother Walter had been in
a hospital in Moreton for ten years. The doctors had said that he come
home only if we were to live in the fresh air with lots of green open
spaces and Huyton was just that. My brother had been playing a game
and hurt himself when he was about seven and we think he had
diseased bones, well that was what the doctor had said and off he went
to hospital for all those years. I think now he probably had TB. Not to say
he didn’t have a good time in hospital because he did . He was part of
the Boy Scouts in the hospital and met many of the Scouts who came to
visit the children in hospital from all over the world. Walter would make
the most exceptional art pieces and send them to friends he had made.
When we picked him up from the hospital he had boxes of books and
cards that people had sent him from every country imaginable
wishing him well. My father had bought him a puppy and Walter was so
happy and we all used to be in fits of laughing as he got the puppy to run
up his iron leg. Sadly after living in Huyton’s Countryside for only six
months my lovely brother Walter died he was about 17. I will always
remember him and his fantastic artwork .
Ella
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Childhood Memories of Huyton.
Exploded Bomb.
Sometime in the Summer of 1945 or 1946 a group of my brother’s friends were
out playing l remember that it was a Sunday. They would leave our house early
in the morning and come back early evening. Sometimes they would play down
by the Alt and sometimes they would play in Bluebell woods. On this day they
were playing in an old Army camp and they found an unexploded bomb and
started throwing stones at it as boys do. The bomb exploded and five of the
boys were killed and one lost a leg. One boy was unhurt.
Dot
We would play for hours in the fields of Huyton. ‘Don’t forget Huyton was full of
farms and fields so there was loads for us kids to do. Especially like for so many
of us we had moved from town and as proper townies we were used to the old
cobbled streets, with the gas lights, so seeing a field for us lot was great. If you
had a bike you were rich! and everyone wanted to have a go. We used to give
takies.’ Years ago there was swings in Huyton Village, the old iron ones (no health
and safety then) We would ride our bikes round the village. On windy days we
would make kites out of two canes tied together covered with newspaper and tied
with string, If we had any ribbon we’d tie it to the string. Sometimes we would
make grass traps in the long grass in the field at the back of our house. Then we
would lie in the long grass and watch anybody running across the field would
catch their foot in the trap and fall face first.....wicked!
Irene
After the war there was still air raid shelters left standing. We used to play in the
ones in Ashdown and Dinas Lane. They were great places to hide in and we could
stay in there for hours. We would make up daft games...I feel sorry for kids today
who can’t play out and learn stuff like we used to. We used to play hopscotch,
conkers, hide and seek and knock and run especially down the big houses down
Dinas Lane as they had a path in front of their house so they would never catch
you...some of them had big dogs as well. On Roby Road we used to go to a Youth
Club which was the Court Hey Methodist Church...everyone went to church in
them days.
Joan
Our mum would make us go and collect the manure every time the milkman came
down the street with his cart. I remember it just stunk and was so heavy, I had to
get it for mums gladioli and for dads mushrooms, but they never grew. Our Mam
worked in Crawford's and she used to bring home broken biscuits and we just
thought they were gorgeous and as a treat on pay day we had fish and chip,
lovely grub.
Margaret
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Mayfair Cinema.
We used to go to the Mayfair cinema in Huyton Village. If you want to you can still
see the workings of the cinema in the Boots in Huyton Village you use to be able to
ask the manager if you can go up and see. We used to go there to see Laurel and
Hardy, Roy Rogers (cowboy) and lots of cartoons. We would wait all week
sometimes all month to spend what little money we had on going to the cinema it
really was a highlight in our lives. We would buy sweets before we got there and
sometimes we would see lads being thrown out for sneaking in. They used to get
them by the scruff of the neck and throw them...couldn’t do that now , they’d sue
you and when we were inside the cinema there would be the girl with the big torch
shining it up and down the aisles checking we were good. If it was Roy Rogers the
boys at the end of the film would come running out of the cinema acting like
cowboys...all of them would do this, when I look back it was so funny!
Joan
We used to go the Mayfair Cinema when we were kids, we used to watch anything
and I first saw Diana Durbin at the Mayfair she was lovely. When we were kids
though we used to put our arms in a sling with my mums scarf and the ticket
woman would let us in first.
Joan
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School days and playing out
I went to Huyton With Roby Secondary School, it’s on Rupert Road- now its
Knowsley Community College. In those days you really did as you were told and
the teacher was the master. Our old music teacher Mr Harry Leader stood no
messing around. When anybody got disciplined he would get out his jar of canes
that were all different thicknesses. And he would say “choose the one you wish
to be caned with” . After that the whole class got detention.! You hardly were ever
off school unless you had a proper sickness like Scarlet Fever it was just the
done thing to get sent to school and if you were off to many times the school
would send the inspector round to the house no phones in them day’s y’see. But
a lot of us loved school it was fun and you learnt stuff and it was the best time
ever when we had the end of year sports days. There would be the white marked
out track on the huge sports field and our parents would all come down to watch
us it was such a good time. We used to have relay races, egg and spoon races
and donkey hop, this was when two people got tied at their ankles. We would do
long jump and the high jump. In them days everyone was sporty and the girls
were always playing netball, hockey and jumping over the horse in the gym. I
loved my schooldays.
Irene
I went to school in Jamaica and they were called open air schools held under the
trees. We used slate and chalk. My dad couldn’t afford to send us all to the Spanish
school in the country so me, my sister, and my brother went to the Junior school in
Kingston Town run by the nuns, boys and girls separated. This is when I thought I
would like to be a nun but I was skitted so I changed my mind. We used to get free
milk everyday and on a Friday it would be milk powder to take home with us ...a bit
like marvel.
Alma
In my school the girls would play two balls or three balls, if you were rich. You
would play the balls against the school wall ,over arm , under arm , round our backs
and even through our legs whilst singing Rhymes. We loved playing 2 balls and if
you dropped the ball it was the next girls turn. The boys would make paper
aeroplanes and steering carts out of old wood and abandoned wheels off old
prams. They would steer them using a piece of rope and your feet and another boy
would push. We would go to the swings by us and have jam butties and water or
lemonade made from lemon powder.
Joan
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Jacko’s Farm (now Huyton Leisure Centre)
People don’t really know this especially if your not from Huyton but Huyton is full of
farms and we used to do all our playing in fields or in woods like Bluebell woods.
When the bombs were going off in Liverpool they used to send the kids to Huyton
and we used to camp out in the woods it was great...I remember when we were
kids we would go to Jacko’s Farm and it had a lake in it, and in the middle of the
lake was an island it was like out of a Boys story book and me and me mates would
make a raft out of old wood branches and tie it all together with reeds or rope or
anything really just so we could get over to the island for the Duck eggs...it was the
great, but then the farmer caught us and chased us, we never ever went back.
George
I remember when I first moved to Huyton Colin my husband used to tell me
stories about how him and his sisters used to play truant from school and they
used to go up to Georgies Field to feed the Ponies from the Pits.
Betty Roby Church
We used to walk through and play in Roby Church. We used to use it as a cut
through and we used to hop over the graves. Reverend Jarvis was six foot and
had a mop of grey hair. He travelled everywhere on a large old fashioned ‘sit up
and beg bike’. Everyone knew him and used to shout “look out, here comes old
Jarvis”. We used to chase each-other over Bridge Road to the Roby Kiosk,
(established 1936) to buy sweets with a penny, we used to get Black Jacks and
sherbet lemons. Then we would run over the styles to the fishing ponds. It was here
that me and my friends would sit for hours slowly and carefully sucking our sweets
to make sure they lasted us all afternoon. We never had nets that you buy in the
shops now, there was no such thing and if there was we never had the money for
any of that, we would have to get our Mams or Aunties or any ones old nylons and
sew it round a piece of wire and tied in a knot at the end then attach this to a piece
of cane. We then would have washed out jam jars with string around the sides
made into a handle. If we wanted to catch frog spawn, tadpoles and stickle backs
we would get to Carr lane and go over the fields and this would take us to
Netherley.....oh Happy Days!
Irene
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We used to go fruit picking all the time as girls we used to eat more that we brought
home, we used to pick Blackberries, red current and raspberry and make pies..
When we felt like being a bit mischievous we would sneak into peoples gardens
after the Autumn fall and pick up all the crab apples or steal them off the trees. We
would spot them first in the daylight then sneak back in the dark. We would go
down Roby Road way round Bridge road because they were the big posh houses.
If we had any pennies we’d get some black Jacks from the Roby kiosk that’s gone
now .
Irene
We used to play skipping with a ships mooring rope. It was thick and heavy and all
the mums and dads used to take turns in turning the rope across the road. Of
course there were very few cars in them days so no danger really.
Joan
Jubilee Party
It was 1977 and its the Queens Jubilee that means she’s been on the throne for 25
years and we were so happy for her that’s why we had parties all over Huyton,
Liverpool and the UK . In Twig Lane all my family and the street families got
together and put our money in a club and saved for the event....well it was for the
kids and we had the best laugh ever all singing and joking and the adults had a
drink it was one of the only times the whole street pulled together ....it’s not like that
anymore, people are too busy now thinking of themselves, but I think it’s important
for the younger generation to know that there was a time when everyone wasn’t
anti-social there was a time....when we did pull together.
Alma
On Bonfire night we would get all the old bits of wood we’d been collecting for
weeks and set up the bonfire and then an adult would then take charge, no-one
ever back chatted or caused trouble with their dad in them days else you got a thick
ear. So it was the dad who lit the fire and we would throw potatoes into the fire and
then get a small branch to pick them out and hold them to stay warm. We’d sing
songs then the adults would throw us to bed at 8 o'clock so they could have a drink
and sing songs.
Margaret
When we were kids we used to love roller skating and taking turns a piece. We
used to go up and down Dinas Lane because it was one of the very few tarmac
roads in Huyton and it was known locally as the Smoothie.
Joan
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Games we used to play.
My uncle gave us a ships rope to skip with and when we used to get home it looked like
we had been whipped on the back of our legs. Sometimes we would sneak our Mams
washing line out and go to the hard bit in Jubilee Park.
On The Mountain
Some of the Skipping songs
On a mountain stands a lady, Who she is I do not know,
All she wants is gold and silver all she wants is a nice young man,
So I call in my very best friend, then spell her name and then say,
While I go out to play.
Tiny Tim
I had a little puppy
His name was tiny Tim
I put him in a bath tub, to see if he could swim
He drank all the water, he ate a bar of soap
The next thing you know he had a bubble in his
Throat
In came the doctor (person jumps in)
In came the nurse (person jumps in)
In came the lady with the alligator purse (person jumps in)
Out went the doctor (person jumps out)
Out went the nurse (person jumps out)
Out went the lady with the alligator purse
Three Six Nine
Three, Six, Nine, the goose drank wine
The monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line
The line got broke, the monkey got choked
And they all went to heaven in a little row boat
Clap Clap! Clap Clap!
Jump with Me
I like coffee, I like tea
I like (the persons name) to jump with me
(That person joins the first person so that they are both now jumping)
One, two, three, change places, seven, eight, nine change places etc
(until the pair misses the skip. The two change from the right to the left each time they
said “change places” and all would keep track of who got the highest number before
missing the skip)
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Teddy Bear
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear turn around
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear touch the ground
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear show your shoe
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear that will do
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear go upstairs
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear say your prayers
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear turn out the lights
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear say goodnight!
The skipper jumps the rope while singing this rhyme, he/she
Acts out the actions as the words come up in the rhyme
Jack be Nimble
This is a double Dutch skipping song
(Double Dutch skipping involves two skipping ropes being turned. The
turners hold a rope in each hand and turn them individually, one after the
other)
JACK BE NIMBLE JACK BE QUICK
JACK JUMPED OVER THE CANDLESTICK
MUMBLE, KICK
SIZZLER, SPLIT
POP UPS 10-1- HIT IT 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
The jumper jumps up high with both feet leaving the ground at the same
time
Mumble- by putting both feet together making very small hops;
Kick- repeatedly kicking one foot outward and back again;
Sizzler- crossing and uncrossing feet and legs;
Split- opening and closing legs three feet apart;
Pop- jumping high in the rope with both feet coming off the ground
together
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Circle Games
To play this game the children would get into a circle and hold hands
whilst walking around in a circle chanting these words, sometimes with
one child in the middle.
The farmer wants a wife, the farmer wants a wife eeiyaddio the farmer
wants a wife
The wife wants a child, the wife wants a child eeiyadio the wife wants a
child
The child wants a dog, the child wants a dog eeiyaddio the child wants a
dog
The Dog wants a bone the dog wants a bone eeiyaddio the dog wants a
bone
Then one of the children from the circle would break away and run round
the outside of the circle until someone would have to catch her.
2 Balls Songs
This had to be played usually on an end terrace and we either waited for the
owner of the house to go out or we would get chased by them because of the
noise. I do think we all preferred to be chased as it was more fun.
Some of the rhymes we sang while playing two balls were:
Aunty Mary had a canary up the leg of her drawers.
Queeny I Queeny I Whose got the ball.
One potato, two potato three potato four.
Other games were:
Jacks– This was a Jamaican game, you had a piece of flat metal the size of a
coin and you would throw it up and catch it on the back of one hand. Then with
the other hand throw a ball and catch it in your hand. At the same time flip the
coin from the back of your other hand and flip it into your palm. It was very hard to
do.
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Songs/Rhymes
The Ovaltine Song
We are the Ovaltinees ,Little girls and boys
Make your requests we’ll not refuse you
We are here just to amuse you
Would you like a song or story
Will you share our joys?
At game and sports we are more than keen,
No merrier children could be seen
Because we all drink Ovaltine
We are happy girls and boys
This rhyme is relevant to the group as one of its members was an original
Ovaltinee.
Brasso
So shine up your buttons with Brasso, Two pence and Halfpenny a tin.
You can buy it or knock one from Woollies, but make sure its got something in.
Some say he died of the fever, some say he died of the fright
But I know what my Daddy died of He died of , all covered in, Shine up your
Buttons with Brasso Two pence and Halfpenny a tin
Huyton Pussy Song
I am a little pussy with a coat of silver fur
And I live in a field not very far from here
Although I am a pussy
I’ll never be a cat
You see I am a pussy willow
Now what do you think of that
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The Huyton Penguin
Consider the penguin as smart as can be
Dressed in his dinner suit permanently
You never can tell when you see him about
If he’s just coming in or just going out
Dutch Girl Song
I’m a little Dutch girl dressed in Blue
These are the things that I must do,
Salute to the Captain, Bow to the Queen
An sing all the colours in between
Oranges and Lemons
Oranges and Lemons says the bells of St Clements
You owe me 5 farthings says the bells of St Martins
When will you pay me says the bells of Old Bailey
When I grow rich, says the bells of Shoreditch
When will that be?
Says the bells of Stepney
I do not know, says the Great Bell of Bow
Here comes a candle to light you to bed
And here comes the chopper to chop off your head
Two children would form an arch with arms stretched upright , then the kids would
get into a line of pairs and go under the arch whilst singing the song. When it
comes to the chop the last pair would have to be chased and the two who were the
arch would chase them to get them out.
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Funny Stories
My Son Jeff would often come home with things like a wild rabbit from one of
the fields and then another one came and let’s just say they weren’t brother
rabbits because our back garden was soon to resemble ‘Watership Down,
when the rabbits made their own warren. Then my son came home with a
duck and we called him Daffy duck and then he started laying eggs so we
called her Daffina, Daffy for short. The thing was we wouldn’t eat the eggs as
we felt like cannibals so we gave them to a nurse from work and she loved
them. We treated that duck like a member of the family and when my
daughter came home from London with her new boyfriend, who she wanted
to impress, we sent him to the upstairs to use the bathroom . He soon came
running down and said in a cockney accent “erm Mrs Meaghan d’yer know
there’s a duck swimming in the bath?” I said “yes ...but her pond was leaking
outside and she has to have a little swim.” Our Mandy just glared at me and
said “this house is nuts.” After we left that house we had to get new homes
and the rabbits had burrowed their way out to the estate at the back ,so we
had to find a home for Daffy and the nurse said she’d have her. She got Daffy
a boyfriend and she let her sit on her eggs and she had lots of little ducks.
Ah!!
Betty
In the 70s I was working in the D.S.S and a Xmas Party in the office .
Afterwards we were going to town . Being a little drunk I put on what I
thought was my coat , but when I woke up and looked at it I realised I had
gone dancing in thinking I was Gods gift in my Maxi dress and instead of
my lovely green military maxi coat I had on a short green mac that was the
cleaners. What must I have looked like ?
Joan
I remember that we never had the TV on during the day ...it just was never
allowed I don’t think there was anything on anyway and my mother used to
put a table cloth over it . At the end of the night the man on the telly would
say “ Goodnight from me and goodnight to you” and then we used to watch
the dot go and Alma used to say “goodnight to the TV”
Betty
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My Uncle was a Medic in the army in the second World War and he used to come
home and stay with our family in Huyton. He was a very proud soldier especially
because he was a medic so all the girls used to fancy him in Huyton especially
when him and his army pals would strut about the Huyton pubs thinking they
were Gods gift . Anyway, all the soldiers had to be very meticulous over their uniform and would have to Blanco (Whiten) the gaiters and it was a known fact that
they didn’t carry spare bits As he was splashing on the aftershave me and my twin
sister May (real name Mabel) we threw them on the open fire, why I don't know ,
and my Uncle was furious. He had to go out underdressed . When he got back to
Barracks he was denied his 48 hr pass for being improperly dressed because he
was not in full uniform. He never came home on leave to our house again.
Mary
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Funny Stories This still makes me laugh even today. It was about1945 or 1946 and we used to
play on the River Alt. It used to be a really wide river, at least 11 ft . It run right by
Fairclough Rd so a stones throw from our house. We used to play in it all through
the Summer time and some of the boys would go and find old planks of wood and
make a dam at one end so we all could jump in , it was so good and we had such
a laugh. Anyway, on some days we used to go and collect shrapnel on the fields, if
it was too cold to jump in the Alt and this one day I saw Mrs Hughes son blowing up
balloons on the Alt and we all knew never to touch balloons off the floor. So I ran to
her house and told on Billy and said , “Your Billy's got a balloon in his mouth”, she
jumped out of her chair like a Jack in The Box, Id never seen her move so fast. By
the time we’d got to the Alt Billy's balloon was nearly covering his face much to the
disgust of his mother who yelled ,“Billy Hughes get that out of your mouth right
now!”. It was of course a French Letter.
Ella
I met my Huyton husband in the Grafton . I thought he was Dutch because he
was very blond and tanned and he also talked funny I thought it was his accent .
We arranged to meet the next night and then I realized it wasn’t his accent ...he
was just drunk . I was 16 and very naive .
Betty
My Nana Birrell used to come to our house off Breck Road and she let herself in
because we never used to lock the door. This time when she came and she saw
our tortoise and thought it was cold so she popped him in the oven for a bit , she
says it was only a bit too. When we came home we all walked in to a lovely roast
dinner smell and of course it was Tommy being cooked alive. Those were the
days.
Betty
We used to have to have two telly’s in our living room one on top of the other
because as telly’s used to break down all the time so often the sound went on
one so we would have one with a picture and have the other one for the sound.
When we got a TV with a remote we thought it was a miracle gadget.
Betty
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Discipline.
I wasn’t allowed to wear make-up even when I was courting. So if I went out to the
Grafton I put it on there, then wiped it off before I got home as my dad would kill
me. I had to be in by 11 I was17 and dad was strict. We had a clock that chimed
and if I wasn’t home by then woe betide me. My dad, put me in clogs because I
was a bit of a tomboy and as the only girl my mam had to spend good money on
my shoes and I kept scuffing them so my dad, as I said, put me in clogs.
Betty
My father would only have to stand up, push his chair out, and just touch his
belt and that was all he had to do and the bad deed never happened. I felt real
fear, even now just thinking about that makes me fearful, it’s just how it was in
those days .
Phyllis
I have had loads of little jobs not really in Huyton though, I do remember that
whatever job I worked in I had to hand over nearly all my wages and I had left
school at 14 so I had no choice else I would have been on the streets. I worked
in Littlewoods on Walton Hall Avenue until the kids were born as a tele-printer
operator, it was like a huge computer. I would say that I had one of the most
important jobs because I was a good typist. I got to type out the cheques for the
big winners they were on a big roll. I must admit I was tempted to type one out
for myself. I then worked in Plessey on the Twilight Shift and later on worked at
Barker and Dobson's.
Betty
My Father and Mother were very strict Catholics and I remember living in what I
thought was the most strict house in the street. We were never ever allowed to
play ball or any street games on the Sabbath (Sunday.) I could never wear nail
varnish because I would be called a Tart or a Harlot. We could never ever sit in
our Fathers chair ever not even just playing around. Meal time on a Sunday was
1: 15 pm and if we weren't there on time there was the Bells of Shannon so
believe me we were never late. If I had ever gone to a church dance I had to be
back by 11 pm and my Father would be waiting with a stick tapping the clock, tap,
tap, tap and if it was five to eleven I would take my shoes off and run like the wind
down our street. I always vowed never to have a clock in my house because I
never wanted to be that rigid about time. Funny enough when I had my kids he
was what you would call a model grandfather to them. Maybe he was trying to
amend his ways.
Pat
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Morris Minor Van Man
As the hours pass slowly
My mind retraces back
The man with the Morris Minor Van
Things to do, people to see
Always a great help to me
Always rushing off his feet
Giving a helping hand with their shopping
Giving lifts, entertaining all his friends
And the round of laughter
The man with the Morris Minor van.
Alma
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Flat cap
Flat cap shiny glasses and a Caribbean smile
His voice warm, unique with a Jamaican style
He was cultured , well mannered and versatile
He was part of our lives for a long while
A humble man, good natured with pride.
A father of 8 and their life term guide
Stories from early years, a life overseas
He was a train driver, in communities
That part of his life was unknown to me ...
Reminiscing he smiled about his youth care free
When entertainment was cricket and there was no TV
A lifestyle rarely spoken,
A bit of history
He dreamt of change and changed his life to here
A new way of life as a minor and a service volunteer
Every week, he’s at my Huyton door to collect our pools
That spot the ball!! Don’t follow their eyes ,
cause I’m sure they bend the rules
He’d laugh his unique laugh! That should set you at ease .
When dreaming of the perfect life , misfortune is a tease!
Now when I think of him at peace in our Huyton family tree.
Live your life! Be good, take care is what he’d say to me!
Alma – Dedicated to her Dad
Dad left for England in1958 there was no aeroplane to take him from
Jamaica in those days so he had to sail to Britain on the Reema Del Ma
Ship. It took six weeks and cost him £89 and it then docked at South Hampton. His friend went to meet him and brought him to St Helens,
this is where he stayed and my dad got a house in Shaw Street in the
Town centre. My brother still lives near dads old house today.
My dad became a miner after a month and got a house in Parr. When
he was settled firstly he sent for the eldest son and daughter, later
followed by the rest of the family, my mum was the last to come over
bringing my younger brother and sister with her. Mum died in 1971 and
my dad never remarried.
Alma
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Hitler's Fault
Mam said we’re moving to Huyton,
Our Joe said “Why, they’re always Fightin’ ”
Our Mary said “it’s too far”
Mam said “we’ll go by tramcar”
And so we moved near the River Alt
And it was all that bloody Hitler's fault
I bet Wordsworth is spinning in his grave
Dot Joans
Almas Poem
I am Alma Brown
I am 62, 5ft2 living in Huyton since I was 22
Dark with brown eyes and go line dancing
Had two boys who went to Parkview School
At St Aloysius Church we played Bingo at night
Have a few drinks and maybe a fight
Look around the club only black face you see is only me
With a warm friendly smile Huyton is the place for me
Was amazed to see pubs on every corner
Bluebell had sawdust on the floor
The Hillside, The Farmers are not here anymore
Alma Brown
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Them Were The Days
Them were the days when Huyton was new
Farmland turned into streets
Houses build two by two
Them were the days
When me dads docker wages
Didn’t quite last the week
Or ward off one of mam’s rages
Them were the days
But we still had our pride
No unmarried mothers
Tho’ many a blooming Bride
Them were the days
When off to Bowring Park
We’d go to catch the tram
Or meet boys in the dark
Them were the days
And I'd go back in a flash
Back to a simpler life
Back to the youth of my past
Mary Hayes
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Insert Tram Pics Here
A Beetle got stuck in the jam
And cried out “oh how unhappy I am“
Ma said, “Don't talk if you really can’t walk
You better go home on the tram”
Irene’s mum would sing this to on her many journeys on the 6A tram
to Pagemoss.
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St Michaels Church In Huyton
Reverend Ellis Ashton was the Vicar at Huyton Church and when he was
younger he asked his congregation to stop the barbaric practice of cockfighting and Bull baiting which was carried out at the Annual Derby Road
Fair. At one such fair he rolled up his sleeves and fought the perpetrators
one by one . There was no-more cock-fighting or Bull Baiting displayed
opposite Huyton Church and he later originated the idea of a cross to fill
the space on the green. The cross was built in 1819 and was replaced by
a newer one in 1897 . He is commemorated as are many famous people
by having a Street named after him.
Joan
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Church days in Huyton.
When I was about 13 or so my friend and I would go to the Cinema on the
Sunday evening. We had to be there early because the cinema closed early on
the Sunday evening this was quite normal for the 50s its not like now you have to
remember that Sunday was a sacred day shops used to shut and that was it.
Anyway, as a catholic girl my friend had to go to mass on a Sunday and she was
too lazy to go in the morning so I had to with her in the evening before the
cinema. I don’t know if its the same now but in her school on the Monday
Morning they had to know the colour of the priests vestments and the content of
the sermon. If ever we were a bit late and never went to mass because we didn’t
want to miss the cinema she would be frantic and desperately begging someone
for the answers to what he had on and what he was talking about. Once a nasty
girl in school told my friend a pack of lies for a laugh to my friend, so she would
be caught out, and my friend got the cane!
Joan
Converting to Catholicism
When I moved to Huyton with my Huyton husband I was a red blooded
protestant from North Liverpool. My mam was a real supporter of the Orange
Lodge. We used to follow them when they would parade down Netherfield Road,
me and my brothers singing the songs and cheering them on it was all we knew.
Then when I got married my husband was a full Catholic and it just seemed right
that I converted to Catholicism, despite my Mams protest I just thought I was
doing the right thing, and besides he, my husband, was more into his faith than I
was. I took instruction in St Margaret Mary’s on Pilch Lane, its the old church.
Father English was the priest who gave me instruction. I had never ever been
into a Catholic church before and Father English took us in to see the church. He
walked down the aisle towards the alter and I was behind him, now remember I
had never been in a catholic church before so when the Father English knelt
down at the end of the aisle right before the alter to genuflect, I went head over
heels, over his head and was lying on my back in front of the statue of Jesus.
No-one told me that’s what Catholics do. Anyway it certainly broke the ice,
although my hubby thought I wasn’t taking the religion serious enough...it just
seems that in the Catholic church there is a lot of kneeling, standing and
kneeling again.
Betty
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St Aloysius Church on Twig Lane Huyton
I was brought up a protestant in the Everton area of Liverpool and I married a
catholic. That's how I was involved with the St Aloysius Parish as all my kids went the
Allies. Sometimes we would drink in the St Aloysius Parish Social club. My husband
Colin would often invite everyone back and of course the priests would come back as
well, they would bring their guitars. It was Father Fox and Father Flaherty and my
daughters used to pull their collars off, but after quite a few whiskeys the priests
didn’t notice. But the next day they would come round looking for their
collars and guitars for Church the next day.
Betty
The priest would often come round to the house it was very common in them days,
even up until the 70s the priest would come especially if you had missed mass. If it
was a Friday and he came and you weren't having fish then our Mam would have to
quickly think of a lie. He would sniff and say ‘I hope that’s not a meat pie!
George
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Huyton church
When I lived in Long view Huyton, (1953-1971) you could hear the bell of
Huyton church ring every night at eight O’clock. I was informed that some
person years ago got lost on Woolfall health and was guided to Huyton Village
by the bell. A sum of money was donated to the church to have the bell rung
every night at 8 O’clock. True or False does the bell still ring at 8pm?
Dot
Jamaica was a very religious country and a follower of religious teachers,
Priests and Nuns etc I went to St Josephs Girls School run by the nuns and
on Sunday morning all the family would go to church in their Sunday best.
Shoes polished, hats, gloves the lot. We all went to morning mass afternoon
and evening mass every Sunday. I remember one Sunday I decided to go to
mass on my own but instead of going to church I went to visit someone. When
I did get back to church it was such a shock to see my mum and dad at the
church. I just got that look to say I was in big trouble I was grounded for ages
needless to say I never went to church on my own again.
Alma
Every Friday the priest would come and we would see him coming up the path and
my daughters would shout, “Mum, the priest is coming up the path” and we had to
say “hang on Father” as we quickly tidied up and found some money for the
envelope, everyone had to give every Friday else your name was mud.
Betty
Making their Holy Communion
I remember when my kids had to make their First Holy Communion it filled me full
of dread. It was different when my sons made their communion it was just important
to have black pants white shirt and a tie but with my eldest Mandy it was a white
frock, gloves, head dress, rosary beads, white shiny shoes, and the thing was we
were poor, just like everyone else in the 70s. So I borrowed an old treadle sewing
machine off my Mam and made her the dress. My Mam came for the church bit but
was a bit put out as I think it was the longest she had ever gone without a fag.
Betty
I remember in Ireland the nuns would come round collecting money well it was a
penny to help the Black Babies of Africa.
Phyllis
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Memories Lane Flashback
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Wingate Towers used to be a block of flats that have been knocked down
now and they used to call these flats 'Heartbreak Hotel’. The reason being
that all the divorcees, both men and women but mostly men used to end up
here...so sad.
Saving Coupons for the Bride to be.
Lots of American G.I. Babies—war babies in Huyton
We used to get Canadian Apples sent over to England
Mrs Fursland and her Fruit and Veg on the horse and cart
The lemonade man with stone jars ginger beer, sarsaparilla, & Dandelion
and Burdock
Illegitimate babies
Slater's Sweet shop on Tarbock Road
They used to put a potters wheel as an Interlude for the TV, now we have
adverts.
When war was declared on the radio at 11 o’clock and everyone came out
into the street crying all of us were in shock.
Singing Christmas carols in the snow and people coming out with mince
pies.
At Huyton Station there used to be Steam Trains. The noise and the smoke
were breath taking for a child and never left my memory.
The shops in Longview used to hold dances in them for the soldiers.
There was a board that went on top of the bath and we used to eat our
dinner off it.
We used to sharpen the knife on the step to make out to the neighbours we
were having a joint, when it was sausages.
Collecting newspapers for the chippy on Dinas Lane and getting a free bag
of chips.
Sherbet powder in water and shaking it up for days out
Remember the Black Outs in the 70s, remember when we had no candles .
Some schools used to be open in the summer to give the children free
dinners.
We collected horse manure for Mums gladioli and Dads mushrooms. We
never ate his mushroom’s.
First time I saw TV was in a posh mates house. It was the Coronation of
Queen Elizabeth.
Only a Doctor had a telephone we got our first washing machine in the 60s
and a phone late 70s.
Saturday night was Blanco night for pumps, Monday, Wednesday and
Saturday was Nit comb night. Mum put vinegar on our hair to stop nits and
we smelt like a chippy.
First up best dressed, even fighting for the knickers.
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Biography
Amanda Meaghan
Born: 14/4/66
School: St Aloysius Primary & Secondary School
Qualifications: BA Hons in Creative & Performing Arts
(Newcastle Polytechnic)
BA Health Studies (John Moores University)
Amanda’s company aims to encourage positive contribution
within the arts arena and to establish a voice to those often
unheard. She has won many awards for her work and has developed projects
that enhance the individual, builds group cohesion and encourage
opportunities for fun and laughter.
She is also a trained Life Coach and has recently set up the W.F.M (wings for
mums) Life coaching project for young mums she is also a trained public
speaking coach for young people.
John Potter:
Born 4/6/64-Liverpool
John is a well established cartoonist, graphic artist who
studied Graphic Design (BA Hons) at John Moores
University in 1999.
Work History:1994 –2001 illustrator for People First-Adults with mental
health problems Advocacy Project.
2001-2006 Lead Artist for Safe Productions, Community arts Project.
2006 –2008 Arts Illustrator for the Spider Project, rugs and alcohol Rehab
Project.
Since 2004 Community Graphic artist for H.O.T.A developing creative arts
projects with vulnerable groups. Also worked as a Mural artist, set designer
and illustrator for a variety of theatre productions in The Northwest.
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This Huyton War Memorial is a tribute to Huyton and Roby’s fallen in
The Great War. This fine memorial stands opposite the Huyton Suite .
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The Caldwell Bucket List
Things we want to do before we kick the bucket.
Fly in a Hot Air Balloon
Learn the Piano
Travel to Cuba
Drive a Racing Car
Visit Niagara Falls
Walk the Great wall of China
Skydive
Swim with Dolphins
See the polar bears
Whale Watching
Visit Australia
Meet the Queen
Appear in Coronation Street or Emmerdale
Travel to Malta
Go on a cruise ship (never been on one)
Ride on an open air bus
Catch a big fish
Have eels and mash
Dance in Blackpool Tower Ballroom
Go to Japan
See if I could still roller skate
Go and see the white face in St Helens on the Hill
I want to bid at an auction
Go fishing on the open sea
Get married (not)
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The Caldwell Group Poem
Before we all moved to Huyton
We lived in many Liverpool parts
From Kenny, The Dock Road and Scotty
Everton, Jamaica all gave us our hearts
With fields and farms to greet us
The clean smell was a bit of a shock
We had come from small tiny houses
Outdoor lavvies that smelt like a sock.
But Huyton was new and had lights
No more gas lamps or peeing outside
Yes, we’d heard of some of the fights
But, we were here for the Huyton tram ride
Few bombs were landing in this town
It was quiet and with green places to play
Brand new schools were ready to teach us
But Jacko's farm we’d sneak for the day
Margaret Mary’s, the Allies and Park View
Columbus, The Doms and some more
Were some of the schools of our youth
Lifelong pals we made that's for sure
We made merry in Huyton’s best pubs
The Eagle, Bluebell and the Farmers
Saw the Beatles in a Huyton pub
Got wed, had kids to a Huyton charmer
Doomsday Huyton has served us all well
Famous faces were in this town born
All of us has a tale to tell
Maybe new authors will be perhaps spawn
But today is our time ,its our day
Please ourselves and do what we like
Armed with bus passes and we’re away
Travel to Southport on bus or by bike
We laugh with old friends and new
Huyton you gave us a unique firm foundation
Your life at 70 is just up to you
And this is our Huyton celebration
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