Sunday, January 10, 2021

What was school like when you was young Grandad ?


What was school like when you was young Grandad ?





A Granddaughter question - 
great to be in daily visual/audio contact with your grandkids in lockdown !

She asked about our school days which were different than hers - 
a school project.

Grandma spoke about how everyone at school had a lay-down in the afternoon on camp-beds for a sleep.
And then she remembered more ……..
We were tuning into our 5/6 year old school days.

1   I spoke how I used to daily conduct the whole school from a podium as we sung the Nation Anthem.
2   How I used to go to school in Clogs. They had steel bars on the bottom and you could kick the pavement and generate sparks.
3   I told her how we used to go to school everyday with gas masks in a tin box. My three older brothers had different ones than me. Me, the youngest, had a Micky Mouse gas mask.
She could’t understand it ! So we told her about the war and the danger of the Nazi airforce dropping gas bombs - so the whole population has a special mask - never to be worn outside of a daily practice at school. I even remember where we stored them at home. It was in a big bottom drawer in the kitchen.
4   We had a Air Raid shelter in our back yard. Never used but it was there tp play in and existed long after the war ended.


Here you can see a back-yard air raid shelter and 
the Gas Masks being carried everyone including the child.

5   In the park opposite our terraced street there was a big row of big and long bomb shelters - each would fit about 20 people in to sleep on bunks. 
They too were play areas for all the local kids after the war.




6   I magically remember distinctly one special day.
 I walked past the local small shop AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE
 there was sweets in the window to buy! 
I had never ever seen that before. 
(NO chocolate - but boiled sweets - pear drops etc) 
The thrill of a little child. 
(I still have a sweet-tooth !)

I have sent these pictures to them so she can show them to her class !









My Micky Mouse Gas Mask



It has got me thinking.
I was born before the World War 2 started.
Before Churchill became Prime Minister.


I remember men coming into our street and removing all the iron railings in front of every home. And the nearby park railings and big park gates - all the material need to to melt down to help the war effort.

So many memories.

BHP