The Catch.
Sarah Sheraton asked me if I knew her Father and it brought back a memory of him she would know nothing off.
It was boys own stuff and became a local legend among us lads for years after. Do you remember the Catch? and we would all be talking about the wonderful catch Ken made one warm summer evening on Norton Green.
I am adding the full story as a comment to this introduction.
Those days are long gone in the new age of ipods game boys and computers. All our life was outside the house now the young people never seem to leave the house, they are missing so much and will never know what it was like to make a catch in front of most of Norton on a balmy summers night.
It was boys own stuff and became a local legend among us lads for years after. Do you remember the Catch? and we would all be talking about the wonderful catch Ken made one warm summer evening on Norton Green.
I am adding the full story as a comment to this introduction.
Those days are long gone in the new age of ipods game boys and computers. All our life was outside the house now the young people never seem to leave the house, they are missing so much and will never know what it was like to make a catch in front of most of Norton on a balmy summers night.
posted by Anonymous at 8:37 pm
6 Comments:
Frank -
fantastic tale of derring do as we all have those memories as we never stood still when we were youngsters - there was always a game on somewhere with a "tanner ba" - until the local dog caught it and then we needed some more savings to get another one.
I'm sure Sarah will be even more proud of her dad.
Frank -
you must have been rich to have bicycles - ice skates and all that equipment - we had our hob nailed boots and usually bare feet or sandals in summer and just made do - nowadays the kids have to have all the 'gear' before they would even think of playing a game of anything - no wonder they are obese, and bored !
What a great story, in spite of the war, Frank! How come you never posted this to the "People's War" site. It would have been a fine addition to the website, especially if you'd put a photo of your pals.
These are the kind of stories I'm sure would have the younger children in schools interested when they are studying aspects of the war. I don't know if you have ever been invited to talk to children in the local primary schools. But if you haven't you certainly should be, and with stories like this I'm sure youi'd have the 'ipod genreration' absolutely fascinated!
You must really keep on writing these things down, or even make an audio recording if that is easier for you. Otherwise, once you head for the cricket ground in the sky (hopefully a long time in the future!) these kind of stories would be lost forever.
At a local studies level, a story like this would be of great value in years to come. In fact, I would say wartime accounts about the Home Front are as interesting to the younger modern generations as accounts of the great battles.
Frank - you were indeed rich to have such parents - by the same token - we never knew that we were poor either, as we never accepted anything from anyone or any authority unless my parents worked for it.
I can never forget our Larry having a new pair of boots - he immediately went out and played a game of soccer - coming back with one sole hanging off - Dad got his gear out and mended the boot, Mother was upset and Larry put his arms around her and said - "never mind - I'll buy you all the shoes you want when I'm big."
When he played for Aston Villa a few years later - he bought her shoes by the dozen"
WE too were rich in the real sense Frank.
Hi again Frank,
A lot of this kind of story you have put down here seem to be what a lot of younger kids would be interested in. One chap I interviewed a few years ago (now deceased) started getting asked to speak to children in Junior Schools. He would talk about the games they used to play, the food they used to eat, rationing, Sunday School outings etc.
At the end of the talks, he told me the teacher invariably would ask if they had enjoyed listening to him. They always used to jump up and shout something like "Oh, yes Miss! It's been brilliant!"
According to my friend (who was called John Skelly), Teacher then used to say to the class: "Do your grandparents ever tell you what they did when they were children?"
The answer from the class was usually something like: "Oh yes, Miss they do start on, but it's really boring. They always go on about the same things!"
Teacher would then say to the children that Granddad or Grandma would be telling them the same kind of stories as Mr Skelly. She used to tell the children to go and get Granddad or Grandma to write some of their stories and bring them into the class and they would listen to what they would say.
I think if their grandparents had died they were told to ask another older relative or neighbour. This approach seemed to work fairly well, or so I was led to believe.
There were some schools that registered as Site Users for the "People's War" website, and it appeared that they had asked grandparents and others in to be interviewed. Some of them seemed t oproduce a good dialogue and there were good stories added to the site. However, I know those of you who were Site Helpers noted on more than one occasion that some of the 'stories' ended up with very little content. It was such a pity with those ones, because they were a lost opportunity to make a really good lasting contribution, and get school children interested.
Never mind, Frank, just make sure you get your stories recorded for posterity! You could always try and see if the local Archives Office would like to take some of your stories.
I've been really surprised how many people have contacted me regarding something I've perhaps written about their Granddad, Grandma or other relative. For example, one gentleman and his wife contacted me via the "People's War" site asking if I knew anything about his grandparents.
At that stage, I had posted stories on behalf of people I know who had briefly mentioned other distant relatives of this gentleman. When I worked out who his grandparents were, it turned out his Granddad was a nephew of my paternal grandmother! As a result, I eventually posted quite a few stories to the "People's War" site, based on photos, newspaper cuttings, various family items and memories etc. There was actually a lot more information than I posted to the "People's War" I was able to let them have (ie outside the scope of a WW2 project).
So, keep up the good work, Frank! Just make sure you get your stories recorded for posterity! You could always try and see if the local Archives Office would like to take some of your stories.
Thank you very much Frank for recounting a memory of my dear father.
Sometimes my father would talk fondly of his childhood in Norton during the war years.
He particularly mentioned to me the dedication and saccrifices made by his own parents. As you may already know, my father Ken had 5 siblings: Jos, Gordon, Roger, Ann and John. He pointed out to me that his mother would rise early to wash her boys' shirts in the poss tub, dry them outside and iron them *before* they got up! He always recognized that, compared to some other boys at the time, he always had shoes and good food and admired his own parents' hard work and comparative luck. (My grandfather Jos moved to the area to work as a boilermaker at I.C.I.)
One story he told with affection for his father. My grandfather promised my Dad that if he won the pools, he would buy him some football boots. One day he did win a modest amount on the football pools and the first thing he did when he got the money was to say to my dad, "Come on then, son, let's go and get those football boots". Not an enthralling story of course but to my Dad it was everything and he never forgot his Dad's kindness. in a time when shoes were a luxury for some.
He told me that some just did not have shoes and so he was fortunate to have parents who made saccrifices for their children.
His mother was extremely good at managing the household for food etc. and he never forgot that.
Norton Green was, to my Dad, a place of great memories. The greatest for him was when he got together properly with my mother Jean (nee Hatton from the same school - "the sec") at Norton Green. So much so that he asked that his and my mother's ashes be deposited there after his death. (Which I did...shhh [sheepish grin]).
Your first comment on "The Catch" was posted here on 12th May 2006. I am sure that it is no coincidence that you chose that day to write so fondly about my father as it would have been his 77th birthday.
Sincere thanks and best wishes.
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