Web Page No 2518

13^th October 2018

1^st Picture. Pig Swill Bucket

2nd Picture. Scrubbing the step

3^rd Picture. The first NHS birth certificate

4^th Picture. Who can forget Dr Finlay’s Case book

Looking Back Again

Those of us who are now in their 70s, which I assume are most of my readers were brought up in a unique time. For example, I was born I 1946, naturally I do not remember the war but I do remember the aftermath of it and the regulations and restrictions that were put into place. How many of these do you remember?

Firstly, looking at the home life we led. Our mothers would always drain the fat off a roast joint and pour it into a flattish dish and put it in the larder where it would set into dripping and gel. My grandmother, who lived with us, loved dripping sandwiches, I hated them. I also disliked the gel which set underneath the fat. Another food related item that I remember is the pig swill bucket. Outside our back door my mother kept a bucket with an attached lid that the local pig breeder, Mr. Cooper, supplied and into this went all the cooked food waste (not that there was much waste at that time) and the lid firmly put down. In our household all the raw waste food such as potato peelings etc were collected up and placed into the potato trench in the back garden. Back to the pig swill! Twice a week Mr Coopers van would come round and take the bucket away and replace it with a clean one. This continued well into the 1950s when the Ministry of Food declared that boiling pig swill was unhygienic and so the process was stopped. Actually, it was not until March 2001 that the government totally banned the boiling and use of pig swill.

Whilst talking about food and provisions we all had MoF Orange Juice to keep us healthy and our mothers were getting used to the fact that there was now a new National Health System and patients no longer had to pay to see the doctor. As with most of you who are around my age we were all pre NHS babies so our parents had to pay for us to be born. Before July 1948 mothers wishing to have a doctor in attendance at childbirth had to pay not only his fee, but also for any medicine they required. Plus there was also the obligatory laying in period of ten days after the birth.

In the home labour saving devises were few and far between. Cleaning was done with a scrubbing brush, a bucket of hot water and a bar of Sunlight Soap. It must have been well into the early 1950s that my mother became the proud owner of a vacuum cleaner. Up until then its was a stiff brush and damp tea leaves to clean the carpet of the wooden bodied Ewbank Carpet cleaner. How things have changed.

One of my other lasting memories is travelling into Portsmouth on the bus and as we approached the Buckland area seeing all the bombed out houses, shops and businesses still laying undeveloped as the city concentrated on providing homes in Leigh Park and Paulsgrove for those who were still billeted in temporary accommodation. These were the glory days of Charlotte Street with its multitude of stall holders and market traders. Several of our neighbours would travel down to Charlotte Street on a Friday or Saturday to buy their vegetables for the weekend. This market continued until the building of the Tricorn which totally destroyed the atmosphere. Here I have to declare an interest because for a short time whilst I was at college on a Saturday I worked on a fancy goods stall (all seconds, I know this because I spent many an hour with an ink rubber removing the words from the soles of the beach flip flops).

Looking back the market was a great place to get bargains if you were a bit wary of what you bought. However, I think Pam and I did well as we bough a couple of Witney blankets in the market before we were married and we still have one of them left and that is 51 years ago!!!!

Keep in touch

Yours

Peter

gsseditor@gmail.com

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News and Views:

On this day 13^th October 1960 -1965

On 13/10/1960 the number one single was Tell Laura I Love Her - Ricky Valance and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. The top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68.The big news story of the day was No Hiding Place (AR).

On 13/10/1961 the number one single was Kon-Tiki - The Shadows and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Heller's Catch-22 published.

On 13/10/1962 the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes and the number one album was Best of Ball Barber & Bilk. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 13/10/1963 the number one single was Do You Love Me? - Brian Poole & the Tremoloes and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 13/10/1964 the number one single was Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was XVIIIth Olympics in Tokyo.

On 13/10/1965 the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 13/10/1967 the number one single was The Last Waltz - Engelbert Humperdinck and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Jungle Book. A pound of today's money was worth £10.99 and Manchester City were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.