My Childhood Day's Growing Up In Pontefract

A Memory of Pontefract.

Pontefract a place I call home, my early years were spent Carleton Home's, it would be 58 years before
I saw my real Mum Minne Martin from Castleford. from off the West wood Est. in Cutsyke.
I was adopted by the Scorgie Family in 1949, & from the age of six I grew up in Cromwell Crescent up Baghill, at around 7-30 from my Bed-Room Window every morning I would see the Girls going down the Cinder Track to Ewbanks Liquorice Factory at bottom of Grove Town, their white head bands bobbing up & down as they went down the hill past the allotments field where we used to play football,& Cricket, I remember once we had no wickets so I turned my Sisters Pram round used it instead. as the wickets, when we were playing football we just used our jackets. I remember Mr Thornton's stable, the old man telling my dad Michael should be a jockey, since having just come out of the children's home I was very frail & small, I remember going to Willow Park Primary & Infants School
Mr Charles Reading was the Headmaster, Geo.Senior & Pearl Davis, were my teachers. On Saturday Morning we we would walk down Station Lane into town, I remember seeing the Bales of Wool been driven up the hill in the direction of Wakefield & almost being choked by the exhaust fumes they turned out, I hated the smell. We would go the Vaux Brother's for ground coffee, The Maypole for cheese cut with a wire & blue bags filled with sugar. during the week we would collect News Paper's from Cromwell Cres & Walter Dunmore at the Fish shop would give 2 P of Chips we would sit on the steps up into Cromwell
enjoying those delicious chips, in those days Fish was 4 P & Chips 2 P, I remember going to Dalless's forBread, I remember Mothers Pride being one of the first sliced loafs you could buy, Varleys Hardware Van & Rington's Tea, the Horse Driven Round about & the Mobile F & Chip Van all regulars onto Cromwell Estate, plus the guy with the Wooden Leg, green's cart, & Nurse Day, Leaning to ride a bike in Cromwell Crescent, Sledging down the hill at the back of Mrs Wood Heads No 81 Cromwell Cres. with all the gang of lads, Cowboys & Indians on top of the Railway Banking, being shouted by the man in the Signal box, getting a new bike & riding down to Blue-Bell Woods, Pulling Peas For Maurice Wilson the Farmer getting on the lorry for 7-30 with a bottle of Water & Jam Sand's. Pea Pulling great days, Mrs Bins our Senior Boys School Diinner Ladies, who always gave me extra. Playing kick off the Can around the gas lamps, & Wrigglesworth Ice Cream van & the fancy Ice Cream Van of Masserella's , We had wonderful people who lived on Cromwell Cres. everyone knew every one, My Neighbour's were Mr & Mrs Dunwell & Mr & Mr Scholey, The Peaker's & Atkinson's also, & oposite was Mr White, & Mrs Firth ,The Appleyards & The Cobb's. all brilliant people

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