MEMORIES OF SPEKE

KEN SAVAGE
memories from 1944 up to 1966

I WAS BORN AT 84 LINNER ROAD ON THE 5th OCTOBER 1944. MY FIRST MEMORIES ARE OF GOING TO THE DOCKS TO MEET MY UNCLE JOE BUDWORTH COMING HOME FROM THE WAR, HE HAD BEEN OUT IN INDIA. MY NEXT MEMORY IS MY FIRST DAY AT STOCKTONWOOD ROAD SCHOOL AND ALL THE MUMS CRYING, I THOUGHT SCHOOL WAS GREAT AND ALWAYS LOVED GOING. AFTER LEAVING THE INFANTS I DIDN'T SEE STOCKTONWOOD ROAD SCHOOL FOR ANOTHER 4 YEARS EXCEPT FOR THE PLAY CENTRE AT NIGHT. BECAUSE THERE WAS SO MANY WAR BABIES AND THE CLASSES WERE SO BIG WE SPENT THE 1st YEAR JUNIORS IN A WING OF STAPLETON AV. BOYS SCHOOL. THE 2nd YEAR WAS SPENT IN THE OFFICES OF DISTA AND THE 3RD YEAR WE HAD TO GO TO BANKS ROAD SCHOOL IN GARSTON. IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE 4TH YEAR THAT WE RETURNED TO STOCKTONWOOD. I THINK IT IS HARD TO FEEL PART OF A SCHOOL WHEN YOU ARE MOVED AROUND SO MUCH. I WONDER DID IT HELP OUR EDUCATION. SOME OF THE TEACHERS WERE MR. SAVOURY, MISS JONES, MR DUNN, MR BIRSTOW AND MR WEBB THE HEAD. THAT YEAR SAW MY FIRST HOLIDAY AWAY WITHOUT MY MUM & DAD, WE WENT TO THE ISLE OF MAN AND STAYED IN A SCHOOL IN ONCHAN. THE TEACHERS AT STOCKTONWOOD ASKED ME TO GO BACK THE FOLLOWING YEAR TOGETHER WITH A LAD NAMED FRED GREEN. WE HELPED THE SCHOOL COOKS IN THE KITCHEN AND CLEANED UP AFTER MEALS. WHAT YOU'LL DO FOR A FREE HOLIDAY BUT WE HAD A GREAT TIME.

 

AS WE LIVED IN THE FOUR BED ROOMED HOUSES IN LINNER ROAD AND EVERY ONE HAD BIG FAMILIES THERE WAS ALWAYS GANGS OF KIDS TO PLAY WITH. I WAS AN ONLY CHILD BUT WE LIVED WITH MY NAN AND GRANDAD AND THE REST OF THE BUDWORTH FAMILY SO I NEVER FELT LONELY AND EVERY ONE CALLED ME KENNY BUD. NEVER SAVAGE. MY DAD STAN WAS A WINDOW CLEANER SO IT DEPENDED ON THE WEATHER HOW MUCH MONEY WE HAD BUT WE DIDN'T NEED MONEY TO HAVE FUN. OF A WEEK END ALL THE MUMS & DADS WOULD COME OUT AND WE WOULD ALL PLAY ROUNDERS OR SKIPPING WITH A BIG ROPE RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. COME THE WINTER IT WAS WINTER WARMERS ( a tin can with holes in it on a piece of wire. You put coal in it and made a fire, you then whirled it around your head) AROUND THE LAMP WITH THE OLDER LADS TELLING GHOST STORIES TO ALL THE YOUNGER ONES. DIFFERENT TIMES OF THE YEAR HAD DIFFERENT GAMES. THERE WAS OLLIE'S, TOP & WHIP, BOW & ARROWS, TENNIS, FOOTBALL, CRICKET, STEERING CARTS & HOP SCOTCH. YOU COULD PLAY ALL DAY AND NEVER SEE A CAR.

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN ALL THE SUMMERS WERE HOT AND WINTERS HAD LOTS OF SNOW. THE FIRST DAY OF THE SCHOOL SUMMER HOLIDAYS WE WOULD BE UP EARLY AND DOWN TO OGLET SHORE, AS A KID OGLET LANE SEEMED MILES LONG. WE WOULD BUILD A DEN ON THE CLIFFS THAT WOULD LAST US THE WHOLE HOLIDAY. WE WOULD CLIMB CLIFFS, SWIM THE CHANNELS TO THE SAND BANKS & ROAST POTATOES ON THE FIRE. EVERY DAY WE WOULD GO HOME ABOUT 9 p.m. TIRED BUT HAPPY TO OUR WAITING MOTHERS. ON THE WAY HOME THERE WAS A FARM HALF WAY ALONG THE LANE WITH A BIG TAP IN THE YARD, I CAN STILL TASTE THAT LOVELY COOL WATER. OTHER PLAYGROUNDS WERE THE DAM WOODS, THE EMPTY ARMY CAMP DOWN OGLET LANE THE GUN EMPLACEMENT BY DUNLOP'S FACTORY AND WHAT WE CALLED THE ELECTRIC WOODS IN TEWIT HALL CLOSE. THESE WERE RHODODENDRON BUSHES AND WHEN YOU GOT INTO THEM YOU COULD NOT SEE MORE THAN A FEW FEET. IT WAS A GREAT PLAYGROUND.

 

NO T.V. ONLY RADIOS SO THREE OR FOUR TIMES A WEEK IT WAS OFF TO THE PICTURES WITH MY AUNT & UNCLE, AGNES & RITCHIE KEETON FROM SPEKE CHURCH ROAD. IT WAS THE EMPIRE OR LYCEUM GARSTON, THE WOOLTON OR THE MAYFAIR AIGBURTH AND THEN THERE WAS THE SATURDAY MATINEE. DO YOU REMEMBER THE PICTURES IN THE WOODEN HUT AT ST. CHRISTOPHER'S? I SAW MY FIRST FILM IN 3D THERE. AFTER THE MATINEE ON SATURDAY WE WOULD RUN DOWN STAPLETON AV. PRETENDING WE WERE THE HERO OF THE FILM WE HAD WATCHED, FLASH GORDON, BAT MAN, ROY ROGERS, HOPALONG CASSIDY, THE MYSTERY RIDERS, THE LONE RANGER OR SUPER MAN.

 

IN 1958 A PARTY OF LADS FROM STAPLETON AV. SCHOOL WENT TO SWITZERLAND ON HOLIDAY. (See photo on web site) IF YOU WENT ON THAT TRIP PLEASE GET IN TOUCH. DO YOU REMEMBER THE CINE CLUB TAKING A 16mm FILM OF THE TRIP? I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WERE THAT FILM IS AS I NEVER SAW IT. DO YOU REMEMBER GOING TO THE RECREATION CENTRE AT THE SCHOOL; I THINK IT WAS TWICE A WEEK, TUESDAY & THURSDAY. AS WELL AS LOTS OF DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES THERE WAS A FILM SHOW ON TUESDAY AND A DANCE ON THE THURSDAY. LEFT SCHOOL CHRISTMAS 1959.

I HAVE A TERRIBLE MEMORY SO PLEASE LOOK AT THE PHOTOS I HAVE PUT ON THE WEB SITE AND IF YOU CAN PUT A NAME TO ANY OF THE TEACHERS OR PEOPLE IN THEM PLEASE GET IN TOUCH. IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO PUT AN ARIAL PHOTO OF YOUR ROAD ON THE SITE LET ME KNOW.

MEMORIES OF SPEKE
CONTINUED

KEN SAVAGE

DO YOU OFTEN WONDER HOW WE SURVIVED AS KIDS? WE DID ALL THE THINGS THAT WE TELL OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN NOT TO DO.

WE VANISHED DOWN OGLET SHORE FROM EARLY MORNING TO LATE AT NIGHT EVERY DAY (No mobiles to keep in touch), CLIMBED CLIFFS THAT SEEMED AS BIG AS MOUNTAINS, LIT FIRES TO ROAST POTATOES WE BORROWED FROM THE FARMERS FIELD. WE SWAM IN A RIVER THAT WAS LIKE A TOILET (No one ever caught a fever). OUR GAMES ALWAYS SEEMED TO INVOLVE POINTED STICKS (No one got there eye poked out). WE RODE BIKES WITHOUT WEARING A HELMET, WENT IN CARS WITH NO SAFETY BELTS, SOME OF US GOT BROKEN BONES FALLING OUT OF TREES OR TRIPPING OVER ( No one got sued), OUR PARENTS WERE ALWAYS ON THE SIDE OF THE BOBBY, THE TEACHER OR ANY OF THE NEIGHBOURS ( you got a belt off them and then a belt off your mam or dad saying you must have done something wrong).

SO YOU SEE WE SHOULD NOT REALLY BE HERE.

BUT THERE AGAIN WOULD YOU LET YOUR CHILD OR GRANDCHILD GO OUT ON THERE OWN THE WAY THE WORLD IS TODAY. THE'RE NOT EVEN SAFE IN THEIR OWN HOMES WITH THESE CHAT ROOMS ON THE PC.

THE FIRST THING THAT CHANGED OUR LITTLE LIVES FOR EVER WAS THE COMING OF TV. WHEN IT CAME TO OUR ROAD, I THINK IT WAS FOR THE CORONATION IN 1953, THE LADY WHO HAD IT CHARGED US 1d TO WATCH CHILDREN'S HOUR, SO FROM 5.00pm AND 6.00 WE WERE LOST IN ANOTHER WORLD. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVERY ONE IN THE PLAYGROUND WAS TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED ON THE TV THE NIGHT BEFORE. IT ALL CAME TO AN END WHEN SOMEONE REPORTED HER FOR RUNNING A BUSINESS FROM HER HOME. WE THEN STARTED TO BOTHER OUR MAMS AND DADS TO GET A TV OF OUR OWN. OUR FIRST ONE HAD A 12in SCREEN IN A GREAT BIG CABINET.

THE OTHER THING THAT CHANGED OUR LIVES WAS ROCK & ROLL, FOR THE FIRST TIME WE HAD MUSIC TO LISTEN AND DANCE TO. MY MATES HAD BROTHERS WHO WENT TO SEA AND BROUGHT ALL THESE NEW RECORDS HOME. I REMEMBER GOING TO A LADS HOUSE TO PLAY SOME 45s AND ALL HE HAD WAS A WIND UP GRAMOPHONE FOR 78s. WE LISTENED TO RADIO LUXEMBOURG FOR THE TOP TWENTY. THEN CAME TRANSISTORS AND WE WERE ABLE TO CARRY A RADIO AROUND WITH US. WE WOULD SIT ON THE CORNER OF LINNER RD. UNTIL LATE LISTENING TO POP MUSIC. DO YOU REMEMBER THEM ALL SAYING WE WOULD GO DEAF AND TURN IN TO LUNATICS LISTENING TO THIS CRAZY MUSIC. THEN EVERY ONE STARTED TO JOIN GROUPS, WITH OUR WASH BOARDS, TEA CHESTS AND GUITARS. WE WOULD ALL STAND IN THE ROAD AND LISTEN TO KENNY JOHNSON PRACTISING IN THE ATTIC OF THERE HOUSE, OF COURSE HE WENT ON TO GREAT THINGS AS A BIG NAME IN COUNTRY MUSIC AND ROCK & ROLL, HE NOW PRESENTS A SHOW ON RADIO MERSEYSIDE