Arthur Paynter A True's Yard Museum trustee, Arthur Paynter was born yards from the museum at the corner of North Street and Pilot Street in 1934. He has fond memories of Mrs Benefer's sweet shop on the corner of North Street where he was paid six pence to help make the ice-cream by turning the handle on the churn. "It was a treasure trove," he said. "Mrs Benefer's shop was only tiny, two steps inside the door and you were whacked up against the counter." "All our favourite sweet:; liquorice allsorts, gobstoppers, bulls eyes, liquorice bootlaces. It had a lovely smell to it: sweets and tobacco and stuff," he added.
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Bill Irwin Bill Irwin, vice chairman of the True's Yard Museum,Ìý was born in 1943 at 14 Pilot Street which is one of the few North End properties which remain. There was a fish and chip shop in the street which led Bill into trouble during one choir practice at the chapel.
 | | Arthur Paynter: "A treasure trove" |
"I remember buying fish and chips and going along to choir practice. Not having had time to eat them, I placed them on the radiator inside the chapel," he said. "We had choir practice but by this time the chapel was filled with the smell of fish and chips and I got a right rollicking," he added.
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Bob Castleton ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Norfolk's Bob Castleton is the grandson of Frank Castleton. It was Bob who suggested the ´óÏó´«Ã½ should produce a project about the North End. Although Bob moved out of King’s Lynn at an early age, he has fond memories of visiting his grandfather who used to take him out in the Wash as did his father, 'Toots' Alan Castleton. "My father used to take me out into the Wash and he let me actually pilot the trawler up the channel before we reached the Wash. I used to stand on a box because I wasn't very tall!" he said.
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Brenda Carter Brenda Carter, a member of the Pratt family, was born in 1933 in Landsdowne Street. She briefly attended St Nicholas School in the North End which closed at the outbreak of WW2. "My father was a fisherman, he had two boats and I have a brother who is a boat builder so it's in the family," she said. "My father had brothers who were in the fishing industry as well and my father supplied different people, like down in Bristol and other parts of the country, with shellfish – but it was a very hard life," she added.
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Brian Chase Brian Chase is a trustee of the True's Yard Museum and is also chairman of the Friends Of St Nicholas Chapel, the church which was a focal point for North End life. Brian was a church choir member for many years and is still a member of the King's Lynn Male Voice Choir. He can remember his visits to the Fisher Fleet.
 | | Fishing runs in Brenda Carter's family |
"Watching the boats come up after a day out and helping, in the early days, with the unloading of the catch and one thing and another and, generally, the atmosphere," he said. "The spirit of the fishermen who were calling out to one another, messing about. In all, they were happy days," he added.
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Doris Johnson Doris Johnson was born in 1925. She lived in one of the small cottages in True's Yard. As an only child life wasn't quite as cramped for her family. She recalls the close sense of community in the North End. "We had a coal fire and an oven. We used to cook in the oven and put pans on the fire. Later they put gas in the street and we had a gas ring," she said. "We were all hard-up so if anyone had anything left (they'd say) 'Mrs So-and-So could do with that – take that to her and she'll make use of that'," she added.
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John Holman John Holman is a member of the Castleton family – his great grandfather was Frank Castleton. John is now 18 but is a regular volunteer at True's Yard Museum because he enjoys learning about the history of the fishing community. "I am really proud of all this. When you come here you learn about your family history and you enjoy it more," he said. "I decided to volunteer here because I'm interested in the community. It makes me feel closer to my past and closer to my family as well," he added.
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Josephine Land Josephine Land is a member of the Guy family. She was born on the edge of the North End in 1933. As a baby she and her family moved into a house in True's Yard where they lived for three years in one of the tiny cottages. She remembers that life in the North End was a communal one. "We shared the bath, we shared all the washing facilities and there was only one tap in the yard and everybody used that one tap," she said. "It was one-up, one-down so there was no kitchen, living room or anything like that – we just lived in that one room," she added.
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