Fish And Ice Cream!

A Memory of Thornhill.

Hello.
I used to live in Thornhill from 1958 to 1968/9 (aged 1 -11) and I always seem to remember it being sunny even though the area is one of the wettest in the UK!
Fish and Ice Cream....not together. I remember my mother often bought fish, not from the local shop but from "the Fish Man". This was a man who would come round Thornhill in a Landrover and he would ring a handheld bell shouting "Fish, Fresh Fish". The back of the Landrover had a horizontal door which became the counter and neighbours would buy their fish. I always asked my mum if I could have a packet of "Nibbits". I don't know if that was their actual name but today the equivalent would be a packet of "Quavers". I still eat them.

Ice Cream...I remember that the Ice Cream van would come by most nights in summer time. It was Hartley's Ice Cream of Egremont and the van was a cream colour. The driver would sound his horn (no music) and I remember he parked at the top corner of Kersey Road and Harpur Place. He was a popular vendor in Thornhill and the Ice Cream tasted great. Sometimes my dad would take me to the Hartley's Ice Cream "factory" (it wasn't really a factory but a small local business) when we went to Egremont, which for a little boy was exciting.

I loved growing up in Thornhill and will always have fond memories of a happy childhood.

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