Childhood Memories

A Memory of Calverley.

I was born in Calverley in 1948. I lived with my mother, father and brother (Ernest). I attended Calverley Church School. I played down in the woods most of the time, with my brother and our friends. My brother was a bully with everyone that he came across, especially me. He used to tell me to climb down the Quarry to help him collect birds eggs, I was only 5 or 6 at the time. I have lovely memories of playing in the park, going to the town wells to collect frog spawn and trimming my bicycle up at Whitsuntide with crepe paper. There were several shops in Calverley, Grimshaws butchers, Drakes off-licence, Roberts groceries, a small fruit shop, opposite where the library now is. Christmas was a wonderful time. My mother and grandma asked me to write a list to put up the chimney to send to Santa Claus. Also I was told 'Jack Frost' had printed patterns on the windows, especially for me to look at. There seemed to be long icicles hanging down everywhere. I used to go pick holly down in the woods with my friend to sell for a few pennies to local people. I used to play skipping and hopscotch in the road on my way to school, on the bend, where the vicarage was. It is so busy now that you are lucky to get across it. My brother's friend Anthony lived at The Old Hall, where there had been murders years before, they locked me in and said the ghosts would get me. I was terrified. The rag and bone man would come around the square where I lived, I used to rush out with a bundle of clothes so that he would give me a few pennies. Mr Lee,the church bell ringer, lived next door, many times I sat on his steps and listened to the bells, I remember the sound to this day.
I sometimes go back to Calverley for a walk around, it doesnt seem to have the life in it that I remember as a small child. Everybody seemed to know each other and there were flowers everywhere. You could smell them, especially the wall flowers. My brother used to chase me around the village with worms out of the garden. People could hear me screaming as I was absolutely terrified of them, he used to throw them at me all the time. I wouldn't go home for at least an hour until he had gone out...
I was told that the house that I lived in used to have heavy weaving looms on the top floor, my brother and his friends started to fall through into the bedroom where I was playing. They were not badly injured.
One memory stands out - me and my friend Janice decided to go down to the canal to watch the barges go by, a boy that we knew well approached us with a plastic gun which we thought was real, he said he was going to kill us. We started running up home which was about half a mile away. It was all up hill. My poor friend ran straight into some barbed wire which stuck in her lip and she couldn't move. I was so frightened of the boy with the gun that I kept running, absolutely breathless, but I did make it home. I told my mother, and she and Janice's mother went to help. She was scarred for life! I have a lot of happy memories of Calverley, but tragedy struck in June 1957. It was time for school, I said to my mother "Dont go to work today as I feel sick and have a bad headache". I just didn't feel right. I was 8 years old. My mother said she needed the money. I pleaded with her but she said that she had to go to work. Towards dinner time there was a loud bang while I was in the class room. I went up home as my brother came up from Farsley School, to make my dinner. When I went back to school, the children came running up to me saying "Your mother's dead". The teachers came over quickly and told the children to go away. They said that I had to go up to my mother's friend at teatime, she worked at the same place but had shock. My mother worked at the Guys firework factory in the woods and someone had accidentally ignited the gunpowder sacks within the small hut where my mother and another 2 people were. She was severley burned and the others were as well. All three of them died shortly afterwards within days. I have lived in Scarborough now for the last 15 years and I've realised you just have to get on with your life whatever happens.