大象传媒

The things I used to eat when I was young (about 10 years old)...

Fish like red herrings, bloaters, gernits - they had a lot of bones in them, then there was offal - sheeps head stew, tripe, chittelings, cows heels, shin of beef, brisket and chickens. For Christmas, a turkey was never heard of round our way.

Easter was a big holiday for us kids as your mam got a 10 pound ticket from the Provident and we would go to the Lion Shop down Cleethorpes Road and spend it on a grey blazer and short pants plus a pair of brown leather sandals for my brother and a straw bonnet that tied under your chin with a bow of ribbon. You got a dress and always a pair of ankle strap patent black shoes with white ankle socks. That was okay until it rained then the hat would go all soggy and limp. My first pair of shoes with a bit of a heel were the ones my grandfather bought me from Lennards shoe shop down Freeman Street and they cost 7 shillings and 11 pence (about 40p).

After the easter holiday, if you had kept the clothes clean, to the pawn shop they went. I was quite good at going to the pawn shop, Seniors in Oxford Street. You didn't go in the main shop, you went down the side passage. As soon as a fisherman went to sea for 3 weeks, I would go with his suit and it was there for about 3 weeks. When the wife got a telegram to say that the fishermans was coming home, I would go and get the suit out of pawn. Some girls wouldn't go to the pawn shop but I used to get a treat, so I didn't mind. I've taken wedding rings in to pop and it if was a decent ring you could get 10 shillings.

I remember my first ice lolly, it was just a piece of ice on a stick and it was on the ferry that went from the Royal Dock to Spurn and back on a Sunday afternoon. Fares were about 2 and sixpence for an adult and I think the reason it was so popular was the local pubs closed a 2pm and as soon as the ferry left the docks the bar opened.

On a friday, we left school at 1.30pm so you could go down the dock and get your mother's wages from what ever office your dad was sailing for.

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