My very first memory was of being in nursery school and being dressed in a green gingham pinifore. Two other memories
of this time also come to mind ,one of me thinking I was in charge of who had rides on the rocking horse, and another
of me being punished for throwing sand in another little girls face in the playground, for this misdemeanour I had my ration
of milk withheld for that day.I was also made to stand on a box in the middle of the hall where ,because of lack
of space, my class along with four other classes was forced to be held, so there were a lot of children there
to witness my shame. Today this would be seen as a very harsh punishment for a child of three.
After nursery came Infant school , a much happier time for me.The school was a very interesting design there
were two seperate buildings for infants and juniors they were identical and stood side by side.These buildings
were one storey quadrangle in design with an open garden at its centre the inside walls of the classrooms were hinged and
could be opened and folded back in nice weather so everyone could enjoy the fresh air the garden was seperated into
four sections and sometimes classes were held there.I most probably remember this time best because my eldest daughter
started school here too.
It was quite a distance from home to school and we would walk there four times a day. It was not compulsory
then to have dinner in school so my mother would come and take me home for lunch I did try school dinners once and everything
was ok for the first four days untill friday.Traditionally friday use to be the day everyone eat fish instead of meat .At
the time i didn't mind fish as long as it was cooked in batter and served with chips but the fish they served at school
was with parsly sauce to me at the age of six it was white custard with green bits in I hated it and refused to eat it .After
that i refused to have school dinners and to this day i still dislike parsley sauce.
Junior school was a for me was a discovering how much you could get away with I was always trying to think up thing
to get me out of lessons like the time I put vaseline around my eyes and told the teacher i had drops in them and everything
was blurry and couldn't see to write.That ruse worked and spent the rest of the day playing with plasticine but it wasnt much
fun on my own and I wasnt allowed out at playtime in case I hurt myself .I soon learned that getting away with
things is not always fun.
Across the road from the school was a small greengrocers run by two elderly sisters ,it was a house really bit on
room was used to sell fruit and vegatables.Outside the house in the front gardenstood two life sixe statues of of two
dogs all the childen were convinced there were dogs buried under the statues but we never found out.They also had a brother
who sold his wares from a horse an cart he would ride around the streets shouting out his name so everyone would know he was
on his rounds.The sisters were very kind they would sell apples with the damaged part cut away very cheap but that didn't
stop us kids trying to get fruit even cheaper and free if possible.One scam was to go int the shop crying and pretend we had
lost our money on the way to school it nearly always worked. An apple always tasted better if you didn't have to pay .
My cousin Pat was in the same class as me while we were in junior school we got on quite well. Pat was the second
youngest of eleven children, her father was my fathers eldest brother . Once in a while i would spend the night at Pats
house while Mam and Dad had a night out wih my uncle and aunt .Mam wasn't to keen on me sleeping over she didnt think
they were very clean but i would plead with her till she gave in ,I only had one brother and he was eleven years older that
me but i loved being with a large family.
The family lived in a five bedroom council house but because they didn't have a lot of money my uncle and aunt couldn't
afford to furnish all the rooms.Only seven of the children still lived at home the four girls .thelma margaret violet and
pat, shared one room and one bed, johnny the eldest had a room of his own and donald and alfie shared another room.There
were no carpets anywhere in the house just a few home made rag rugs scattered about .The only furniture in the girls
room was a big double bed and an old dressing table without any drawers or mirror.The only light was a candle in a saucer
on the high window sill, there were no curtains, the bed clothes consisted of army blankets and army great coats ,no such
luxury as sheets and pollow cases but i didnt care, it was a bit of a squeeze with five of us all in the same bed,even donald
and alfie would join us so they could listen to the ghost stories thelma would tell us .It was easy bing scared in a house
with not many lights and lots of echoes.
We would all huddle together under the blankets giggling and laughing and trying to keep warm,wherever you were
in that bed some part of you alway stuck out.
Sunday mornings there weren't so good , my uncle liked pigs trotters and salt fish for his breakfast on sunday, the
smell was awful ,also on a sunday my cousin thelma would wash and disinfect the whole house with jays fluid another
awful smell,to this day i still hate the smell of jays fluid .Going home should have been a pleasure
but mam was very fussy and when i got home i would be stripped and made to take a bath she would spend
most of the rest of the afternoon and evening combing through my hai with a toothcomb to make sure i didnt come home
with any unwelcome visitors and no amount of pleading would get me out of it.
As i got older the visits got les and less but the memories never faded.
Babysitting was now down to my auntie Beatie, Mams sister,uncle Glyn and my cousin Myra would come to, they
didnt have a telly then so didnt mind coming over to our house.
Progressing to senior school was harder in the 50's that it is today we had to take the the eleven plus exam which
would determine if you were good enough to go on to grammer school or just an ordinary secondary modern. I didnt
want to go to grammer school, it sounded to much work to me I just wanted to have fun,so i deliberately flunked
the exam ,not a good idea as i was to find out.
I was sent to Townhill secondary school for girls , the boys were segregated to othe side of the building,classes
then were graded as A B C the lowest was C, which was very basic,at the end of the first week the teacher realised i shouldn't
have been there but in a higher grade and by second week was moved up to the A stream where i stayed till i left school
at fifteen.
My favourite lessons were art, handy crafts, sport and cookery and the bible stories we had in religious studies.
I didnt take school to seriously,which was a mistake I know now, I loved school but just saw it as
a place to escape I didnt realise it could be a stepping stone to better things , I could have stayed on the
extra six months to go to art school but couldnt wait to leave school.I dont know if mam and dad knew i had any
talent but i didn't get much encourgement from them I guess I was in to much of a hurry to grow up to notice,and
grow up fast i did from a school girl, who had never been into town on her own,to a shop girl with a three pound a week
wage packet in her pocket two weeks after she left school.
In between school the holidays seemed to last for ever. very few people had cars so we would go on bus trips to the
country and seaside, summers then always seemed long and hot,sometimes some of us kids would put on shows and charge the other
kids a penny to come see them,can't remember if they were appreciated or not.I was always singing and dancing around the house
and dressing up in mams clothes. Because i wasnt allowed stay out late I had to entertain myself a lot.
Funny how things turn out isn't it just after I started writing this account of my early life a picture appeared
in the local paper of the street party we had for the Queens coronation it brought back memories of a wonderful day.
The day started with my dad bringing home a telly so that we could all watch the coronation, although it was in black
and white it was still a wondrious thing to watch a real live princess being crowned Queen.
The best part of the was of course the street party .
It was nineteen fifty three and most people in Swansea ,as in other parts of the country, were still trying
to get back to normal after the second world war. Most of Swansea city had been flattened during the bombing and there was
a lot of rebuilding to be done so this day was even more special .Most of us were in fancy dress nearly all the
boys were dressed as pirates ,except kenny he was dressed as an old woman,lorna was also dressed as a pirate,she always was
a bit of a tomboy,Eliazabeth was dressed as a gypsy ,it siuted her because she had lovely dark hairand dark eyes,she cried
the night before because her nan wouldn't let her have her ears pierced,Jennifer and christine were dressed as little dutch
girls,poor christine died sometime later after having measles.I cant remember what my costume was but i know it didnt last
long as it was made of crepe paper,which breaks easy and the colour runs when wet so its a good job it didnt rain that day, I
aso had a funny little hat.Later in the day my dress did indeed rip so i sneaked home to change into my mothers best dress,
she was angry at first ,good clothes were hard to come by , but she was soon laughing nothing could dampen the happiness everyone
felt that day.
All the food was out on long tables in the middle of the street, there were sandwiches ,sausage rolls, pasties, cakes
,biscuits ,pop and squash.After all the food was scoffed the tables were moved out of the way so we could have games,even
the grown ups joined in,there was musical chairs, threelegged races and sack races. Everyone laughed when my dad fell
in a heap while running in the sack race.Of course there were no losers all children got prizes.
The best part of the day was being allowed to stay up later that usual with all the dads getting merry on a barrel
of bitter they had all chipped in to buy. Everyone went home happy and far to exited to sleep it really was a day to remember.
