Yuk1950s 1960s

A Memory of Salford.

I remember my mother buying a hot black pudding in Bury Market and giving half to me and the other half to my sister. It was absolutely freezing weather and it was used as much to keep our hands warm as for food. I can't even bear the smell of it now. Then, we lived in Devonshire Road, opposite the playing fields. I remember trying to get to St. Johns Primary School and the fog being so thick, we literally could not see the pavement at our feet. I remember it as being dirty, grey and wet - I have no good memories of Salford at all. Eventually, we moved to Worcester Street and I went to Higher Broughton School for Girls on Cheetham Hill Road. I left in 1961 and went to Salford Tech for a year, on a scholarship.

I left home at 17 and left Manchester at the same time. I never regretted it. I occasionally visit my oldest friend, who now lives in Partington, but I loathe the place so much, I rarely stay as long as I say I will. Last time, she drove me back to see the school - or what's left of it - it was being demolished and it looked so small! Worcester Street was also still there, unfortunately.

I remember Salford as a miserable, nasty, ugly place and hopefully, I'll never, ever have to go back there again.

And Manchester itself has changed so much that I have no idea where anything is any more. I cannot find a landmark to relate to.

When I left I re-invented myself. New name, got rid of the accent, the whole nine-yards. I've now been down south for so long, my eldest son insists I'm an "honorary southerner".

Oh! One good memory - in my teens, of spending evenings at the Cona Coffee Bar. It seemed like a different planet and without that, I think I would have gone mad.

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