After The War

I do not know the exact year that Doncaster had its first Royal visit after the Second World War had ended but all the school children in the parish were required to put on their best bibs and tuckers for school and we were then walked to the Grandstand Road next to the Fire Station where we were given little Union Jacks, so that when the King came by we could give him a cheering Doncaster reception. In due course the Royal carriage appeared and we were told to cheer and wave our flags. In the carriage was King George the Sixth, Queen Elizabeth [the currant Queen's mother] and Queen Mary [the King's mother]. When the carriage reached our group, the Queen turned in our direction, she seemed to be looking straight at me and she gave me the most beautiful smile. I fell in love with her there and then and although she did not get the best press reports as she got a little older, I remained her champion throughout her life. I think that visit coincided with the St. Leger on which I am now going to write. The St Leger week was a good time for Doncastrians. The racecourse was teeming with entertainers, one of which was the racing tipster Prince Monalulu who gathered a crowd round him by calling "I've gotta horse". By crossing his palm with silver, he passed you a tip written on a piece of paper. If anyone passed any rude comments about him he would let loose a stream of swearwords at them. He was a wonder to behold. There was also the strongmen, on whose chest a large piece of rock was placed and men from the crowd were invited to smash it with a fourteen pound hammer and who, as an aside, would rip in half thick telephone directories. Another was 'The Son of Houdini', who would be handcuffed, chained and roped up, then placed in a huge canvas sack, which in turn would be chained and roped and then told to try to escape. A collection always followed these exhibitions.The Boxing Booth was another attraction, where the gullible were invited to see if they could last for three two minute rounds with this lethargic fellow with the cauliflower ears and the flat nose. The collection was quite good sometimes when the Joe Soap had put up a good fight. A visit to Gypsy Rose Lee [or it could have been the daughter or grand-daughter of Miss Lee] was a must for the ladies who wanted to know what the future held for them, in fact, the races seemed to be secondary to the attractions for most people. There were also a few occasions where the bookies took a few too many bets and found out that they could not cover them if a certain horse won, and when the lucky punters went to collect their winnings, they found a vacant plot and that the bookie had done a runner. The big sweet treat for us kids was Parkinsons Butterscotch and it made the day if we could buy some for the walk home. Before going home, the course would be scoured for used betting cards. Each of these cards had a number printed on them and we would play 'Odd or Evens' with them, gambling to see if we could predict whether the bottom card of the hand you bet on was an odd or even number. My first recollection of a St Leger winner was 'Airborne' [though I do not know the year]. On other occasions, the circus would come to town. They always pitched the tents on the Fire Station field. Billy Smarts and Chipperfields were two that I remember. The elephants would arrive at the Doncaster Railway Station at the cattle docks and us kids would walk alongside them all the way to Grandstand Road. Sometimes, but not always, the trainers would give us a preview of the lions, tigers and bears whilst they fed them.