1921 to 1931

I was born in Dorset in 1921 in a terraced house not far from the sea. The rent was 10 shillings a
week, which would be 50p in todays money. There was no central heating in those days, we uselessly washed in cold water , we had a outside loo ,no hand basins or bathroom and no carpets but lino. I went to a Church of England school at 5 years old. Boys were kept separate from the girls. My brother also went there as we were twins and we went everywhere together.
We went home for lunch – no packed lunches or school meals – and on our way home we would walk along the beach and my brother would look at the canoes which would have paintings of Red Indian head dress. He would go home and copy the paintings – he was very good at it . When I was 10 years old I had my appendix out. I was in hospital for about 3 weeks and only went to school in the mornings for several weeks.
At school we had reading writing arithmetic and Physical Education ,in the morning we had prayers ,and at end of school a evening prayer , Lighten our darkness we beech thee o Lord and bye thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night ,for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ amen ,and then the Blessing .This was at Primary school, if we did not pay attention in class we got the cane,we would have to hold our hand out and a cane about 1 meter long would come crashing down on the tip of your fingers ,if you moved your hand you would get a double one .

My Twin brother worked at my father shop ,he was a shoe repairer. From the age of 10years he would help out in the evenings and on Saturdays he would often be delivering shoes as the bell on St Marys church would chime Midnight ,as the customers would need them for Church on Sunday morning ,as people only wore there best clothes Sunday. On Saturdays shops were open till 9pm some like my Fathers even later. The town would be crowded with people ,the butchers would sell off any meat they had left cheaper after 9pm . In the 1930 -1950 s people worked much longer hours for very little money . As there was was no T V. we listened to the radio favorites were Henry Hall and his band and Tommy Handley" that man again," all harmless stuff compared to todays TV which is often violent and sleazy.
I went to Westham Secondary School at 11 years old, it was a boys school. I started work at the age of 11, working on a Saturday and in the evenings in a shoe shop. I had to dust the shelves and clean the windows and on a Friday and Saturday I would work until 9pm. I bought my first full sized bike on installments .We never went on holiday our treat at the end of the August holiday would be to go out to Upway Wishing well in a horse and trap driven by Sugarham Shorey .When we were very young my father had a motorbike and side car ,mother and me in the side car and my brother on the pillion seat ,it was very scary at times .In the summer on the beach opposite Marks and Spencer ,there was a stage were the Pirouette would give a singing and all dancing show ,they brought a box round for voluntary money, we would see the show many times for free.

I left school at 14 years old. It was half term and I started work on the Monday in a baker's shop. My day began at 5 o' clock in the morning; I had to ride my bike from Littlemoor Road to get there. My first job was to weigh out the flour for the rolls and bread. The morning goods were all made that day – doughnuts, custard tarts, scones, sausage rolls and pork pies. Most cakes were made after lunch when the oven was a little cooler. I worked a 48 hour week which was the usual working hour: half day on Saturday, Sunday off, one week's holiday a year .

Pork Pies were made every day,the pork was supplied by the local Pork butcher and made that morning . they would be in the shop by 10am.Today they are often several days old before they get to the shops.