大象传媒

This story was added to the site by Edwina Davies of Newby Bridge. The author understands the terms and conditions

For a young boy, the war years allowed me an independance and freedom children today would not be allowed. I seemed to have license to roam and come and go as I pleased. I was still seven when the war ended, My mother was busy with lodgers and used to work as well.

We boys played war games and it was desirable to have at least some of the gear. Kudos attached to authenticity. The Army and Navy Stores were a big attraction. There you could buy all sorts of things, not just clothing. Knapsacks and pith helmets were popular. The money to acquire these had to be acquired, This could be begged from parents or earned. There were various means of acquiring money.

Jam jars were currency. So, like many of my peers, I pestered my mother and begged them from neighbours. Redmans (a well known grocery chain) would take them. You received 1/2d for a 1lb jar and 1d for a 2lb. So, in todays money, you needed twenty four 1lb jars or twelve 2lb jars to earn a shilling (5p).

The Army and Navy Store were not the only recipients of my hard earned money.

Although I listened to the radio it was the cinema which I loved. There were plenty to choose from with a cinema in practically every street in the centre of town and on every block on Lord Street. Two or three times a week I would be at one of them.

The first thing was to acquire the requisite admission. The ABC minors was 6d, as was the GB (Gaumont British) Club. Apart from the collection of jam jars, I worked. I delivered newspapers on an evening round. Saturday morning I took out groceries on a carrier bike for a local shop and in school holidays, I really boosted my earnings, Mr Stanley whose shop I have already mentioned, began to sell toys. There was a ready market and he got himself a jig to make blackboards and easels. My job for a shilling and a half a day was to paint the blackboards.

If funds were lacking there were still ways to get in. The obvious one was to sneak in. This required patience. You loitered at a side exit. The door could not be opened from the outside otherwise the cinema would have been full of small boys. You waited til someone came out, grabbed the door before it closed and nipped in. Being caught meant a reprimand and a threat to bring the police but we were undeterred.

The other challenge was to get into the "A" catagory films. Children were only allowed in if they were accompanied by an adult. One ploy was to get an adult to take you in. Queues were normal so you would seek out a friendly face and ask. On one occasion I took a different approach. I was keen to see a film at the The Forum. I remember the cinema still but not the film. First I used some of my money to buy a pair of long trousers from a second hand shop at the corner of Linaker Street and Duke Street. I was tall but I must also have been quite plump because they would not fasten up. I hit on the idea of wearing them back to front so whilst my front remained modestly covered, my rear was exposed and I sat throughout the performance in my mackintosh. I also attempted to cultivate a deep voice so as to seem older, not very succesfully!

I only recall one occasion being taken to the cinema by my mother. It was to see "The Picture of Dorian Gray". It terrified me and gave me nightmares, but did not deter me from going to the cinema.

As children, my friends and I walked miles. We were explorers. We collected all manner of creatures, frogs, toads, tadpoles, newts, anything which could be brought home in a jam jar. I loved natterjack toads and would go to Woodvale to see them. We wandered the dunes, lovers of nature but not conservationists.

Fishing was popular but you had to have a line that wrapped around a wooden spool not a rod, nothing which the park keeper could spot. I once caught some roach in the Botanic Gardens and brought them home. Mother refused to cook the and gave them to the cat. They made her sick.

The gloom and darkness of of the blackout was all I knew in the war, so when VE night came, I was overwhelmed by the brightness and gaity. I was on Lord Street amongst the crowds. There were fairy lights all along it and music and bands. Outside the Cambridge Hall it was all lit up and there was a band playing and people dancing. I watched amazed as the young men threw there partners in the air as they jived. The privations would continue after that night but for once everyone seemed happy.

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