Memories of a childhood in Newtown

Published 3 Dec 2009 09:00 2 Comments

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Retro: Paper memories of store

Retro

CHARLIE Wheeler's reminiscences have been enriching the pages of The Chronicle for years and on November 19 he was invited by New Town Primary School head Linda Sujeewon to share some memories with her pupils. This is what he told them....

l I STARTED by telling them that I commenced my education at New Town Infants School in 1935 and I didn't like it at all, but I soon found out that if you didn't go to school a man known as the beadle called at your home to make sure that you did attend.

He was, in fact, a school inspector. I soon got used to it and one day a little girl started crying in the class and teacher asked me to take her home. I did this a few times and her mother suggested that we went to Palmer Park together to play on the swings and roundabouts after school so we did this for about a year, during which time the other boys and girls teased us by saying we were going out with each other.

There was very little traffic around the area in those days so we were able to have races around the streets on our little tricycles. There were railings around the houses which enabled us to tie a net to one of them on one side of Liverpool Road, whilst the other side was held by one of us. The boy or girl used to raise it just as we were about to jump over it, the result being that we fell over.

We used to play marbles in the gutters and then, when the war came in 1939, the railings were all removed. That made it easy to get from one house to the next, so we tied a piece of string to number 63 Liverpool Road door knocker and then to 65 and so on until about a dozen were all tied together, the result being that when the lady at 63 had her door knocked by one of us and when she came out to see who it was the next one automatically knocked and so on until they had all come out. By then we had scampered into Freshwater Road and although we were never caught I think they knew it was us.

I earned extra pocket money by doing a paper round and helping the milkman, who made his deliveries with a horse and cart. I also spoke of rationing and was able to display what represented a piece of cheese which had to last a whole week, and I showed the classes a bottle which was about a third of a pint of milk which I delivered to every class, mainly to get out of geography lessons.

Clocks were put back and forward by two hours so that the German aircraft had less hours of darkness to bomb our towns and cities such as London, Hull, Liverpool, Portsmouth and Southampton and I was able to tell them that, as my uncle was a high ranking naval officer, he was in a position to get passes for my mum and dad to take me to Portsmouth which was, in fact, a restricted area.

There, with other children from the area, I used to watch the barrage balloons fly into the air along the Southampton Road with the idea of trapping the German bombers in them so that they crashed to the ground.

I mentioned how we played hide and seek in the air shelters which were built of brick, partly on the roads and partly on the pavements, as well as in Palmer Park, and I told them that part of one of them still stood in Liverpool Road about 25 metres from Radstock Road.

After answering several questions I explained that coinage was in pounds, shillings and pence and I explained that 144 old pennies equalled £1 and when I asked what 72 old pennies meant today, one boy immediately gave me the correct answer of 50 pence, perhaps he may be the chancellor one day.

I finished by saying that we should all remember that many people gave their lives for us so that we can enjoy the freedom which we have today, and I gave a salute to them.

I found both classes very attentive, very well behaved, clean, polite and a credit to the school as well as being a very nice experience for me and a privilege to be invited.

Charles E Wheeler, Theale.

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Nick Clifton
Unregistered User
Dec 6, 12:53
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Thanks to Charles for disturbing the corner cobwebs but ... weren't there 12 pence to the shilling/bob, and 20 shillings in a pound (£), making 240 pence/pennies to the £. What about the farthing and halfpenny? How many edges were on the threepenny bits,(not the earlier silver coin)? There were also sixpence pieces (tanners), florrins (two-bob bits), half-crowns which took 4 to make a brown-coloured, paper ten-bob note: (50p today) And of course the paper £1 note (greenish)!

There'll be a shilling loaf before you know it!!!

Thanks again Charles... enjoyed it.

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Rosemary Harper
Unregistered User
Dec 12, 17:29
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Yes nick - you are right ..

What surprises me is that this particular part of the storymade it into print ... everyone can make a mistake about the 'old money' - but why did no one spot it to save Mr Wheeler's blushes?

Thabks for putting Retro online - I am not in Readond so I can't look at the paper itself

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