THE FLATLEY DRYER

[Tizer]

Another vintage item there, the donkey jacket. One of my mates did an electrical engineering degree at Salford that included a couple of work periods with the electricity board. He was given a donkey jacket by the board and it was his favourite jacket, he wore it to university, to the pub, everywhere - he couldn't be parted from it. I bet he's still got it now!

[Stanley]

They were ubiquitous at one time due to the fact that the shoulders were waterproof. They supplanted another standard working man's gear, the ex-army leather jerkin. There must have been hundreds of thousands sold as war surplus together with naval duffel coats.

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz has an old postcard of the church at Gunwallowe in Cornwall. On the back it gives the publisher's name as `Women's Gas Federation'. We'd never heard of it but Google came up with:
The Women's Gas Federation promoted amongst women the domestic use of gas, along somewhat similar lines to the activities of the Electrical Association for Women (EAW). There were branches from Buckie in Scotland to St Austell in Cornwall. Some branches carried on as independant groups after 1994.

It seems strange for such an organisation to publish a photo of the church in a remote Cornish spot!

[Stanley]

Thanks for triggering a memory Tiz. I went looking for images of the two churches I was a choirboy at many years ago. I found them but in the course of the search I found this public notice. Apart from the spelling mistakes I was intrigued by the mention of a 'church plant'. What on earth could that be?

[Tizer]

`Church planting is a process that results in a new (local) Christian church being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, new worship centre or fresh expression is created that is integrated into an already established congregation. For a local church to be planted, it must eventually have a separate life of its own and be able to function without its parent body, even if it continues to stay in relationship denominationally or through being part of a network.' From Wikipedia

[Tizer]

Plenty of interest in this old postcard. Sorry for the quality, I copied it from a small picture in an auctioneer's magazine advert. Bottom right it says `Tramway construction, Haynes Park, 1906. The Shops to Let sign seems to have Wimbledon on it so I suppose the Haynes Park is probably around London somewhere. Google lists one near Romford.

[Stanley]

That technology was still in use in the 1930s and 40s. I remember the paviors laying granite sets and sealing them with hot gas tar by pouring it into the joints after they had been put in place.



A smaller version at Masson Mill in 2003.

[Tizer]

That looks like something used by the elves in their mines in the Rupert Bear books I had as a child!

[Stanley]

Robert's wife was at an auction and bought it for peanuts. She was worried in case Robert was not in favour but he loved it and so did I! Never seen another so small....
Is that Rupert Bear?

[Tizer]

Yes, that's Rupert with his mate Bill Badger. Wikipedia says: "Aside from his best friend Bill Badger, some of the most enduring pals are an elephant (Edward Trunk), a mouse (Willie), Pong-Ping the Pekingese, Algy Pug (who actually pre-dates Rupert), Podgy Pig, Bingo the Brainy Pup, Freddie and Ferdy Fox, the identical twins Reggie and Rex Rabbit, and Ming the dragon." What caught my attention as a child was when Rupert went down a hole in the ground and entered the world of the elves and their mines. They had railways and trucks as in the image. But when I googled for more images I couldn't find any more of him underground with the elves. Perhaps they've been removed on H&S grounds to prevent modern day kids going down rabbit holes!

[Stanley]

Rupert was in my dad's paper, was it the Daily Express? I never missed an episode. Same applied to Children's Hour, it was a religion with us kids. Toytown with 'Uncle Mac' (Derek McCullough) John Masefield's 'Box of Delights', Norman Bones, Boy Detective..... and many more still fresh in my memory. It was wonderful broadcasting for kids, made you use your imagination and we never missed it. I know TV killed it but could never understand why. (LINK)

[Stanley]

I think I read everything that came into the house. We didn't have many books until later when finances eased a bit and mother bought me every Ransome book in hardback as soon as they came out. (my brother Leslie pinched them when I went in the army!) The staple reading was my comics, the newspapers, Practical Engineering which My dad got and Woman's Weekly my mother's favourite magazine. I can still remember questions to Mrs Marryat who was one of the first 'agony aunts'. Then I discovered Stockport Public Library!

[Stanley]

Once I found the library I was away. I can still remember the names of my favourite authors, P F Westerman, Shalimar and Captain W E Johns...... Your brain is so receptive at that age, I think you could learn anything! Do we take full advantage of this in our education system?

[Stanley]

I stayed at Hope Memorial until I was 9 years old in 1945. For the last two years I and a girl were the only children in that year and we were taught exclusively by Miss Hogg, the headmistress. She looked incredibly old but I suppose was actually in her early 40s. She did a good job and when I moved to St Thomas' school Heaton Chapel I was so far ahead of the others in my class that they didn't bother teaching me anything for two years. I have never forgiven them for this......
Looking back there was no expectation on the teacher's part that we would ever be anything but factory fodder. As long as we could read and write that was all that was necessary. I often wonder if we have progressed even today.

[Stanley]

From me memoirs..... Primary education is powerful stuff!


I must have been about seven years old when with hindsight I had a tremendous stroke of luck. Due to some hiccup in the birth rate or people moving away, a situation arose where there were only two of us in the class. I can't remember the girl's name but I know she took dancing lessons, tap and ballet! From this point until I left Hope Memorial at nine years old and went on to St Thomas's, Miss Hogg the head mistress taught the two of us like a private tutor and I have little doubt it was the best schooling I ever had. She was wonderful and kind and treated us like her own children. Much of the time was spent reading stories by the fire and I remember particularly 'The Water Babies' and one about a Chinaman with a pigtail. The latter got me into trouble later on but at the time was just a story. I'm relating it now because I think it's a wonderful example of how influential very simple things can be to impressionable young children.
The story concerned this Chinaman and his pigtail so Miss Hogg asked us if we knew what a pigtail was. I think we probably knew but didn't let her know in case we were wrong. I remember very clearly that she said "If you promise not to tell anyone, I'll show you". I knew something important was about to happen because we had to keep it a secret. Miss Hogg wore her hair in a bun at the back of her head, she looked incredibly old to us but I suppose she could have been in her mid thirties, probably caught in spinsterhood by the shortage of eligible males after the Great War. She reached behind her head, pulled a pin out and uncoiled a pigtail that fell into her lap as we sat by the fire. We gasped with astonishment, I don't think either of us had ever thought about her hair, it was just a lump on the back of her head. More delights followed, she ran her fingers through the plait and shook her head and there was this cascade of dark blonde hair that reached below her waist. Then, quicker than I can tell it she separated it into three strands, plaited it down to the tip and wound it up into a bun which she pinned on the back of her head. She had taught us what a pigtail was and as later events showed, she had seriously manipulated my psyche, to this day the phrase 'letting your hair down' takes me back instantly to that fireside, Hope Memorial and Miss Hogg.

[Tizer]

Here's another old postcard pic, a bit fuzzy because I copied it from an auctioneer's advert. Above the central pic it says `Fulham depot' and they have a SW London address. Now you know how the King got his palace cleaned!

[Whyperion]

Plenty of interest in this old postcard. Sorry for the quality, I copied it from a small picture in an auctioneer's magazine advert. Bottom right it says `Tramway construction, Haynes Park, 1906. The Shops to Let sign seems to have Wimbledon on it so I suppose the Haynes Park is probably around London somewhere. Google lists one near Romford.

Its Raynes Park. LSWR is on the embankment I cannot work out if camera is facing east or more likely I think west .if you can find more of the railway signals then the road falls into place, can I share on my local history groups? One great uncle may have been working on this site. Fairly certain I hzvea now view of this. The London united tramways service Hampton Court to Wimbledon was constructed.

[Stanley]

I love the pic of the road train in the advert. I can foresee lots of difficulties if they actually tried to take that through the streets. I suspect a touch of exaggeration crept in there!
Steam hauled transport was used in Stockport in WW2 by Nelstrop's flour mill to get round the shortage of petrol for deliveries. I remember vividly seeing their wagon coming through the market place into St Peter's Square one day fully loaded, blasting steam and steam and smoke high in the air. It must have made an impression on me! They are still in business (LINK)

[chinatyke]

It's a wonder vacuum cleaners ever caught on! Can you imagine the Goblin salesman on your doorstep trying to entice you to buy one of those?

Just reminded me of an event in my early childhood when my Dad came home with a Goblin cleaner. I've no idea where he got it from. He plugged it in and there was this loud noise like a cow mooing. Dirt and dust flew out of the other end, and we all collapsed laughing.

[PanBiker]

They used to demonstrate the suction in a Goblin cylinder vacuum by sticking it to the wall. We once had a full demonstration of the Kirby vacuum cleaning system which was so well designed in the 1930's they have never needed to alter the specification. High quality and often used in hotels and the like. The demo was a good afternoons entertainment and yes, they did tip ash all over the carpet!

[Tizer]

Whyperion, yes, go ahead and use the image. I photographed it from an auctioneer's advert in `Picture Postcard Monthly' magazine (January 2018, p.40). Unfortunately the sale was on 24th Jan so you've missed the chance to buy it! The auctioneers were Warwick & Warwick Ltd, based in Warwick (tel: 01926 499031). You could phone and ask if they have a better image of the postcard that was used for the advert. Thanks for adding extra information.

When Mrs Tiz's Manchester grandma was newly married she had a vacuum cleaner salesmen visit. He gave a brief demo and she asked him to leave the cleaner with her so she could try it out properly. She got the house spotlessly clean but there was no way she could afford the machine and when the man returned she told him how good it was but handed it back and sent him on his way!

Here's another photo prompted by the same auctioneer's advert, except this time I found a better copy on the web. It's a mixing vat being conveyed from AZ Clarke in Melbourne, Australia in 1906 to the Wandong Cyanide Company works.

[Whyperion]

I aim to post some old family postcards on Postcard World in due course (www.45spaces.com/postcards)
There are rail mounted wet and dry vacuum cleaners

[Stanley]

Advert on the side of the railway embankment at Primet Bridge, Colne in 1987. Whoever the copy writer was he or she knew nothing about American English usage!

[Stanley]

In 1936 my mother had a Hoover Junior vacuum cleaner at Norris Avenue. When war started GGA where father was works manager were making flare casings for the RAF. The welding slag and dust had to be cleaned out of them before installation of the end closure and father found a solution. He confiscated mother's Hoover for the war effort and she never got it back! I'm not sure how father negotiated his way out of that one!

[Stanley]

Towards the end of the war my sister Dorothy and I were in the house and we both heard a V1 pass overhead. Over the years I was told that this was impossible but Dorothy told me years later that it had been confirmed. We heard the engine stop, then that horrible pause as it fell and the explosion. Not a biggie but nice to know our memory was not at fault. See THIS for the evidence.