Thought for today:
"I recall growing up during the 1950's and when I'd left school for the day I'd then have to start on my other jobs and get them finished before my dad returned from the pit and occupied our only room having a tin-tub bath. My home chores would amount to around one hour daily after school had ended, plus two hours on a Saturday morning before mum would let me attend the Saturday matinee in Cleckheaton.
She would usually give me my weekly spending money; a shiny, silver, six-penny piece to spend. There would be three old pence entrance fee to the picture house and two old pence for an ice cream at the interval, leaving one penny for two gobstoppers on the way home. I also had to walk the two-mile distance to and from the picture house. If I only had a three-penny bit spending money that week instead of sixpence, due to any shortage in family monies or having committed some misdeaner during the week (for which a three-penny punishment would be automatically levied), prior arrangements would be made with a friend who could afford the entrance fee to the Saturday morning matinee. My friend would visit the lavatory after the film had started and open the fire door to let me sneak in. I must admit, I didn't view this practice as being strictly criminal because we all did it sometimes.
By the age of 8 years, I had started to earn sixpence a week from an elderly-widower neighbour for doing his shopping and emptying the ashes from his fire grate once a day. I would give my mother this sixpence towards the household income and although she never admitted it, I strongly suspect that it was the very same sixpence that she gave me back on a Saturday morning as my spending money! She certainly knew how to make the household budget stretch and the money go round and could have easily given the Chancellor a few financial tips in the area of redistribution." William Forde: December 17th, 2013.
"I recall growing up during the 1950's and when I'd left school for the day I'd then have to start on my other jobs and get them finished before my dad returned from the pit and occupied our only room having a tin-tub bath. My home chores would amount to around one hour daily after school had ended, plus two hours on a Saturday morning before mum would let me attend the Saturday matinee in Cleckheaton.
She would usually give me my weekly spending money; a shiny, silver, six-penny piece to spend. There would be three old pence entrance fee to the picture house and two old pence for an ice cream at the interval, leaving one penny for two gobstoppers on the way home. I also had to walk the two-mile distance to and from the picture house. If I only had a three-penny bit spending money that week instead of sixpence, due to any shortage in family monies or having committed some misdeaner during the week (for which a three-penny punishment would be automatically levied), prior arrangements would be made with a friend who could afford the entrance fee to the Saturday morning matinee. My friend would visit the lavatory after the film had started and open the fire door to let me sneak in. I must admit, I didn't view this practice as being strictly criminal because we all did it sometimes.
By the age of 8 years, I had started to earn sixpence a week from an elderly-widower neighbour for doing his shopping and emptying the ashes from his fire grate once a day. I would give my mother this sixpence towards the household income and although she never admitted it, I strongly suspect that it was the very same sixpence that she gave me back on a Saturday morning as my spending money! She certainly knew how to make the household budget stretch and the money go round and could have easily given the Chancellor a few financial tips in the area of redistribution." William Forde: December 17th, 2013.
