Ordsal Park on Hulton Street

I was born in Hulton Street, Ordsal, and lived all my life in the same house my mother was born into, no. 56 on the corner of Oxford Street. We were 3 girls and 2 boys, I was the middle one. My dad Jack Neilan was an Irish man who worked on Salford docks for 45 years. Everyone knew my mother and father as her dad and brother also lived in Hulton Street. When I wasn't in school (St Joseph's) I was in the park, usually up trees, the neighbours used to say "Get down Maria, you're not a boy". But all I played with were the boys, there were only my sisters and I was a tomboy until I was 13. The parkie used to shout at me "I know where you live, I'll tell your mother" when I was up trees. I also remember the Bergons ice cream with the white horse, I loved that horse. Also the shop on Tatton Street, a sweet shop that made lovely ice cream, I think it was called Lewis's, by the time I got back with it, the ice cream was running down my arm...delicious? We all went to the Boro pictures on Saturday morning and I pretended I was Nioka, queen of the jungle. Also Flash Gordon was my hero. On the build up to bonfire night we would travel far and wide to collect 'bunnie wood', sometimes as far as Trafford Park to the wood yards for off cuts. All the neighbours gave us their old furnature, I'm sure some of it would have been worth something today. How innocent we were in those days. I moved when I got married aged 19, and ended up in Bramhall with 2 children and 6 grandchildren, 5 boys and 1 girl. I have taken them to see where I lived but all that remains is the tree in our garden and a lot of junk. They had no reason to demolish our house - it was supposed to be to extend Ordsal Park but it never happened. It would break my mother's heart to see it now.