My family moved to 16 Stocktonwood Rd. Speke. From Pomona St, off Mount Pleasant and Brownlow Hill in Town about a week or two before Xmas day 1951. My Family consisted of, dad Peter, mum Lena, older brother Lawrence and older sister Jenny.The first I remember is playing in the back garden, then being allowed at an older age to play in the front garden. Never in the road even though there was never a car to be seen except the coal wagon.

Mum had orange lilies growing around the bay window and was often asked to sell one on lodge day to passers by; she never did, as she loved them too much.My mum worked as an orderly then an auxiliary nurse at Garston hospital, she was on duty when my brother was taken into casualty with a fractured skull, he had gone swimming with friends to Garston baths and was knocked down by a moggy minor shooting brake. (Morris Minor Estate Car. Like Oscar uses in Heartbeat.)

There were only 2 boys in our street the same age as me, so while the older kids were at school Alan Callahan, Malcolm Chester and I would play together, Alan had a 3 wheeler bike he would give us backies on, Malcolm had Tortoise's!! and I had this horse with a seat behind it that when you stood up hard on the pedals it's legs would contract and release making it move along.

 

 

Dr Callahan was our Dr and l think there was another Dr at his surgery named Dr Black we had a TV and l do remember watching the Coronation, l still have the mug from then, l don't remember a street party but l was only 3.
We attended Sunday school at All Saints, I remember the dog belonging to the Sunday school teacher laying under the organ, if you were good you were allowed to stroke the dog. A photograph appeared in the Liverpool echo of one of the harvest festivals.I remember at school being in a long building like a long brick hut, I can't recall the teacher's name!! I used to love going to the library on a Saturday morning, I liked being inside the building as well as looking for a book.

After that it was then off to either the pictures in what my brother and others termed the Bughouse or swimming both in Garston. Sometimes he would take us to Woolton baths or pictures. (He was a good swimmer having taken his lifesavers certificate with the Sea Cadets S.C.C. Conway.)
The boys would always be Zorro or whoever happened to be on, I only really liked Flash Gordon.
My sister jenny had her nose split open by a boy (no names mentioned) swinging round a wheel by its pedal and letting it go. All in a day at school nothing to sue anyone over.

I remember the foliage in front of the school always seemed to be alive with butterflies.My brother used to take us round to the lecy place and he would bunk us up onto the flat roof and we would jump off the other side, he would also take us to Speke hall, what a playground. Somewhere there was a field either side with a cattle grid on the path, sometimes we had to wait while the cows were taken across from one field to another. We would wait in line with the visitors strategically placed along and sneak in without paying and meet up inside, we never did anything wrong and always behaved in there, it's a wonder I'm not a walking encyclopaedia on the place but I never seemed to hear what was said, I was always in awe of what I was looking at.

 

There was a small bridge I think in the moat area that my brother said if we went under it the skeletons would get us. We had many a picnic there.

I remember the gypsies camping by the Pegasus pub and standing talking to them, watching them whittle dolly pegs to sell.The crescent, well that was a marvellous place to shop, so mum said, - me, I was more interested in watching the chickens in the garden of one of the cottages that backed onto the crescent, funny thing is the barbers is the shop that stands out to me the most, probably the red and white pole made it look more attractive to a kid.

The rent office, wow it smelled dusty and musty in there to me, that's all I remember about it except for waiting in the queue with mum to pay the rent.

I remember a maze somewhere about that we used to play in.I hated having to go around town for our Sunday best dresses and white buckskin sandals. School shoes and uniforms, what a drag, Lewis's, Blackler's, T.Js and the Clarke's Shoe Shop. Having to stand up on the bus and in the winter it was freezing cold on them, no heating and comfy seats.I do remember the Whit sun walks and May Queen. Sitting on the back of dressed up lorries parading around like movie stars. Sometimes in the summer holidays we were allowed to sit on the seats by the bus stop on Western Avenue and wait for mum coming home in the morning from working the night shift at Garston Hospital. Two little girls 6 and 7 wouldn't allow it these days.

Approximately 1956/7 the family uprooted and moved to East Damwood Rd. mum wanted an extra room downstairs so us kids could play and not mess up the living room, and probably so dad could watch TV in peace.We changed schools to Millwood Rd. Mrs Smith was headmistress I was to meet her in later life while taking my son to playgroup, she was headmistress of Palacefields Junior School in Runcorn and yes she remembered me as the girl with the broken arm who read a lot. Millwood was a good school too, in fact all the schools l went to were. My teacher was named Miss Gorse I was in top infants then, the main thing that stands out was the play centre for after school. It had two rocking horse's one seemed massive and of course was my favourite.

 

 

There was a library at Alderwood Avenue Shops; l spent many happy hours there too. My brother would take the grocery list to the grocer there, hand it over with the money and shopping bag and in return would get the bag packed with the grocery order and the right change to take home again.
It wasn't long before my brother got the great idea to become Catholics!! It happened we changed schools AGAIN to st Ambrose's and went to father Crowley for instruction and was duly dipped, (baptised) we were attending mass at the upstairs church until the new one was built, I remember everyone wanting father Barret to be taking mass as father Crowley was all fire and brimstone.
That is where I made my holy communion with a massive bandage on my knee as my sister had fell on me some weeks before. I was given a cushion to kneel on during rehearsals and the ceremony, I still recall some of the other kids moaning cos they had sore knees and I had a cushion.

On a Thursday morning in one, l think 4th year Mrs Rawlinsons class, we would go into the little woods alongside school to pick up leaves to bring back and paint one side and rub into a book. Or upturn stones to see what was underneath, try and identify trees, it was great in the autumn running through all the leaves and fern.
Playtimes we could watch the farmer ploughing, his mighty shire horse leading the plough, sun lighting up the sweat on the horse. It looked the size of a giant to us kids, he would always answer questions we asked, and he was never too busy to chat to the kids.

On my way home I turned left out of the gates onto Alderfield Drive and passed the daffodil field that ran alongside the infant dept. it was a sight to see in spring, we were allowed to pick the flowers from the outer part of the field as they got weather damaged.

I had friends from all over Speke with living at both ends; my sister had a friend in the Mains too. I thought it looked spooky there as the first time I saw it was winter and the few trees were bare. The people seemed really nice though, as did most in Speke.

The shops at Eastern Avenue were in full swing on East Damwood Rd side, Mr Benholme had the newsagents, and there was the Chandler shop. Harry was the Butcher. There were the Greengrocers. The Electrical Shop run by two brothers with their box shaped vans.
I can't remember what else there was at the moment. On the other side (Damwood Rd) there was a shop on the corner then at one time a clothes shop, there was Hale's cake shop, the Hairdresser's. Not sure about earlier but later the Café bar. The Co Op and Luke's Chippy which was taken over by Jimmy, great chips and fantastic chop suey rolls.

            I was growing up and Speke was opening up for me. The new shops had been built. Speke Parade it was always called the new shops by us from the top end.
The day I discovered Oglet Shore (The Onk) was brilliant. I took my brand new bike mum had bought for my 13th birthday and followed my nose; it led me down there.
I kept it nice and clean and a nice bobby fixed my gears but from that day on my life changed. Away went the smartly dressed schoolgirl and my bike and me had a makeover.

The people who lived in the cottages were really good, they would never refuse a kid the use of the toilet or a drink of water, and some even gave lemonade.
The houses before them were posh ones, at one house lived a Solicitor with his mother, they had an elderly dog called Toby, my sister and I would take him a short walk down to the shore wall have a rest and take him back, we were always rewarded with pop and biscuits. My sister preferred the dancing and clubs like the boy's club. I wasn't interested.

I got in with a group of boys, to name a few, Les Morris. Kevin Daley (Dalla) a lad from Western Avenue named Montroni (Monstro) Jay Wilson. Dave Green. Kenny Barlow. ? Dickens. To name but a few, anyway all our bikes were painted Silver Red and Yellow with wide handlebars (mine were a pair of motorbike one's bought in Hunts Cross for 7s 6d) most of the guy's had scoured Speke looking for discarded small bikes to take the crank off to fit it to their bigger bike so when they peddled you peddled like the clappers and moved a few feet, I think they use gears for the same effect these days. It was great for getting uphill with little effort and we could do wheelies from a standstill for ages not a quick front wheel up over the bump and down again. We did scrambling and trials riding down the Onk imitating the guy's who did it for real on their DOT, Greaves, Bultaco, Francis Barnet motorbikes + a few I've forgotten. And the good old Royal Enfield with it's taped up seat Whacka sold to Willie Span to grace the hills of the Onk on.

The guy's were.

The Barlow brothers Whacka and Ray. The Bailey brothers Ted and Roy. Tony Henny.

You guys on Choppers came second!!We (us kids on bikes) spent most nights after school and weekends perfecting our skills. Even in the dark some bright spark came up with the idea of using a candle in a front light housing cos we didn't have front lights. It worked too.
We would practise our wheelies on the pavement in front of the Dove and Olive and along Dungeon Lane.
Frequently being chased by Mr Shinner or one of his sons Ian or John would yell at us.
Also we could circle our bikes in between the parking lines for one car.
We didn't need entertaining, we did our own.
Ok sometimes we came a cropper on our bikes and got dirty, worse still so did the bike but it was good, clean!! fun that cost nothing.

That's all for now but there will probably be a lot more to come. .....................to be continued