The Old Days In Solford

A Memory of Salford.

I started life in Berrie Street off Ellor Street in Salford, the houses then were all terraced with back entries at the back of Saint Paul's chuch. The first school I remember going to was John Street then the following: Odsal, Seedley Council, Tootal Road Secondary then Hope High. Life in those days was hard, living on what we could because our parents did not have a lot of money in the 1950s. We used to have hand me down clothes from my older brother. Many a time we lived on Oxo and bread, bread and dripping, jam butties, cabbage and ribs, tatta ash with a crust on top, jam pies that my nanna used to bake. I remember when we used to walk into other people's houses because we all knew one another for cups of tea and a slice of cake or a biscuit. Those times were hard but they were also good because we used to play games like robbers knock, kick the can, hide and seek, rally evo. We used to make our own games up all the time, like allies, shovel, cards, whilst in the house we were never bored, we always had something to do like reading comics such as the Beezer, Topper, Dandy, Beano, DC comics, etc. Or we would play in the parks like Builhill, Chimney Pop park, the reck, etc. We used to eat cod liver oil and malt that my mum used to get from the clinic on Langworthy Road in Salford. There used to be loads of shops on that road, it was good looking through the windows and especially when we used to get spends, I always bought lucky bags, black jacks, fruit salads, fizz bombs, liqourice root, etc. I wish we could go back to them times, even though we did not have much money we really enjoyed life with our friends, not like today, we hardly know one another because they split us all up and moved us further afield so we all lost touch with one another. This was not fair. Also they built them stupid high rise flats that were like prison cells, nobody saw each other, not like the old streets. Salford has changed for the worst in my opinion, stupid upside down houses. The last place I lived in Salford was on Langworthy Road near the school. Our house no longer there, just like the others I lived in, on Nansen Street, Langshaw Street, they have all have been pulled down, even two of my old schools have been pulled down, Seedley and Tootal Road. These were landmarks, now gone forever.