I REMEMBER THINGS

Reminiscences of a Sutton Childhood

Having now reached a respectful age of 81, I seem to have quite a lot of time recalling  my youth as a teenager in the good town of Sutton-in-Ashfield. Although I left the town in 1924, I still think of it as it was then, and not as it is at the present time.

I was born in the region of Starch Yard, or, as some people called it, Aked's Yard. It was a cul de sac off Mill Street, and was a yard with six or seven cottages, with one communal tap to serve the six or seven houses. I had reason to believe it was called Aked's Yard because Aked's the grocers, who had a large shop in King Street, had a building down the yard, where they bagged their flour, which was also adjacent to some stabling for their horse which was used to haul their grocery van.  I had an uncle residing in that yard, and his sole vocation at that time was dealing in wild rabbits. I was about seven at that time, and at weekends he would allow me to accompany him to a farm in Blidworth  in a pony and cart. We would eventually return to Sutton, where he would retail the rabbits at the price of one shilling (5p) each, or two for one and sixpence  (seven and half pence). They were what were called "the good old days". At that particular time, King Street was a very busy thoroughfare, especially at the weekends.

There were two hostels, one called the Newcastle Arms, and the other called the Black Bull. From Friday night until Sunday night, quite a few vehicles (brakes we used to call them), would be operating between Sutton and Kirkby. They would usually stand waiting for customers outside the two pubs. The charge for the journey was 6d (two and a half pence) for one person. I might add that at time they were very busy.  There were no buses at that time.

I myself, with one or two boys, used to earn a few coppers by keeping a watch on their horses, whilst the owners had a drink inside the pubs, touting, I suspect, for prospective customers.

As I have said, King Street was a very busy street. Aked's the grocers, Sampson the wine merchants, Brook's music shop, Marsh the tailors were a few of the shops down one side.
On the opposite side were Taylor's the butchers, Bonsall's barber shop, Castles the butchers, Collings the fruitiers, and a furniture shop  I cannot remember the name, but they produced their own furniture on the premises. I remember a sweet shop next to Marsh the tailors. This shop also sold tobacco and snuff. To me, and a few others, it had a delicious smell. The owner, a Mrs. Marriott, was a jovial kind, and was always nice to us kids!  I had a weekend job at the barber's shop opposite this sweet shop, as a lather boy working for a couple of hours on Friday night, and a few hours on a Saturday, and all for one and sixpence (seven and half pence)! A shave cost one and half pence, and the price of a haircut was 4d. Five Woodbines were five a penny, three boxes of matches a halfpenny, and cigarettes like Players, Gold Flake and the like were three pence for ten! Tobacco was cheap those days.

Twist, I remember, was four pence an ounce, and the better brands cost a little bit more, but not much.  The only school I attended as a boy was the National School situated close to Mary's Church.

I was  five at the time, but I still remember our Headmaster (we called him, the 'Gaffer'). His name was Mr Owen, and he was very old, but kindly. He retired soon after I started school, and was followed by  a gentleman by the name of Mr Harry Ainge. Our teachers, to name a few, were Mr Fred Hardy, Mr Wardle, and the Misses Townsend, who  I remembered eventually emigrated to South Africa, Miss Reynolds and Miss Kitchen. Incidentally,  I remember, the leaving age at that time was when one reached the age of thirteen years, and one was presented with what was called a School Leaving Certificate, allowing you to qualify for a job.

I, with two of my brothers. became members of St. Mary's Church Choir.  I believe the
Reverend F.G. Adams was the vicar at that time, 1907.  I think  the Reverend H.V. Turner came after him. We had choir practice twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday. Thursday was the practice when Mr. A H. Bonner took us 'under his wing'. He was also the church organist. He was very strict with us choirboys, I can assure you. We had some excellent men singers, including a Mr Hedley Wright, and a Mr. Stevenson, who had a chemists shop in King Street. I would like to mention in passing that we, the choir, had a special visit once a month from a gentleman named Mr Dunnel, who traveled from Nottingham. He was very keen, and I believe we had a jolly good choir!  Eventually, my family moved along to Sherwood Road.  That would be about 1909. It was not what one would call very fashionable, but I do remember on two occasions when someone was very ill, that loads of straw was spread outside their houses, so as to deaden the sound of horses and carts, thus keeping the people who were ill very quiet.  We used to go long walks those days, even though we were young. Our Dad most Sunday nights used to say, "Come on, my lads, let's go a yard or two up Kirkby Lane!" We would set out about six o'clock on a summer evening, and get as far as Kirkby pastures, eventually reaching 'Dumble's Wood' and then proceed along various bridle paths, reaching Clark's Crow Tree Farm, and cut along to Fulwood ('Fulard') Cuttings, hence down what was Celandine Lane, on through the 'Weedes', back up to Sherwood Road, and you can be assured we were ready for bed at night. If any of us dared to grumble about it being a long way, all he would say we "Well, it kept you out of mischief". But they were lovely walks  and we used to enjoy  them,

Whitsuntide was for us an important occasion at that time. Times were hard then, but most parents managed to get us kids some new clothes, of one sort of another. If we didn't manage a new suit, one would  get a new jacket, or a pair of trousers, (for Sundays only, mind you!). The Whit walk round was on Monday and Tuesday. Monday for the Chapels, and Tuesday for the Churches. The walk rounds, with bands, culminated with a gathering on the Market Square and singing hymns. The singing was conducted by Mr. H Ainge, School Master from  the National School, and we were always given a bun after the service. It was also imperative that we show our new clothes to our uncles and aunts, Grandmas and  Granddads on the Whit Sunday mornings, and for which we were duly grateful for a few coppers. The weather for the walk rounds was not always in our favor, but we managed. The Market Square and Low Street always appeared to be the focal points for business in Sutton at that time. The Square, on Friday and Saturday nights, was lit up with the paraffin flares the stall holders used for illumination in the evening. It was a very busy place, with clothing and produce always very cheap. One could purchase a dozen oranges for threepence or fourpence, bananas four for threepence, garden peas five pounds for a shilling, potatoes half penny a pound. One could sometimes get a good second hand suit for ten shillings, and shorts for 2/lld.  Scotts used to have an ice cream tent on the market, and it used to be lovely to go in and have a good thick ice cream sandwich for a halfpenny! There was a particular stall which sold sweets, chocolate etc. and about this particular time there was a crime committed, a murder, by a man named Dr Crippen. Now the man who tenanted this sweet stall introduced  a special mint rock, and for some reason or other, called it Crippen's Rock One could purchase a large block (it was sold in blocks) for the small figure of four pence.

It was very tasty too. This particular sweet stall occupied the bottom part of the market, and in close proximity to the old Police Station in those days. This was at the market end of Low Street right opposite the Denman's Head Hotel. I remember seeing quite a few occasions when police, struggling with a few offenders, eventually managed to get them finally inside.

This police station was about this time pulled down, or demolished, and the new one built on Brook Side or Brook Street.  Low Street was always a very busy thoroughfare, and still is, I am sure. This was so especially during the 1914/18 war. At the weekends, soldiers from Clipstone Army camp used to flock in. On Saturday nights in particular, quite a few of the "townies", on encountering a person who was not dressed in khaki uniform, and appeared to be between the ages of sixteen and twenty, would enquire why 'you' weren't in the Army. One had to have a satisfactory answer why not, and there would be a lot of 'scraps'. Portland Square, or the Green as we always used to call it, was always a focal point, those days. On quite a number of occasions during the year, it was occupied by a huge roundabout;  dragons we used to call them. Proctors was the name of the owners. The steam organ was a wonderful sight to see, and to me, and most others, the music it played was exhilarating, and was always worth listening to. When the Green was not occupied by these roundabouts, there would be a couple of those chip frying cookers where one could buy a packet of chips for a penny or two pence, and one could even get a haporth! One or two dart stalls occupied the Green at the same time. The prizes at these stalls were, in the main, cigarettes. The price for three darts was two pence, and you kept all the cigarettes you won. And I must mention in passing, there was always the ice cream stall, Scott's!  a name never forgotten in Sutton!  One remembers at that time, when Sutton Wakes came round, the occasion lasted about a  week. There would be a few times when brakes would stand at the bottom of Oates Hill, and for a penny or two pence, one could get a ride up as far as the Bluebell Inn, then right down Priestsic Road, as far as the New Cross Hotel, or the Dewdrop, as the locals called it, and proceed back to Oates Hill! It used to be called a ha'penny ride round Priestsic! Speaking  of Sutton Wakes, it used to be housed in a field on Brook Side (where a Police Station was eventually built), but after a time it was transferred  to a site at the top of Welbeck street. I well remember the disaster at Bentinck Colliery. It appeared that the two cages clashed halfway down the pit shaft. There were quite a few casualties, and the whole area was shocked by the occurrence. It was not long after that mishap when the pit top caught fire. A lot of fire brigades were called in, and eventually the fire was brought under control.  We had two football teams in the town at that time. One was the Sutton Junction, and the other Sutton Town. Both teams were very popular. They were in the Central Alliance League. There was always a lot of rivalry between them, and the two Mansfield teams, Mansfield Town and Mansfield Mechanics. Great Rivalry, yes, but never the 'aggro' which appears to be so prevalent nowadays. I remember the occasion when Meggit's Bone Mill caught fire. It was a huge blaze. We were amongst a lot of people viewing the fire when we were forced a long way back by the Police.

They said there was a big tank containing some sort of liquid which, if it became ignited, would cause a terrific explosion. We, of course, gave it a wide berth, and, fortunately, it didn't happen, but a lot of damage was done.  I remember the town had a good Fire Brigade team at the time. I saw them turn out on a few occasions, and they were very smart, and very quick when the alarm sounded. The Fire Station at that time was situated along what we used to call Little Lane.

It was about that time the sinking of the Titanic occurred. It had been publicized some time previously how big the ship was, and could carry quite a lot of passengers, so one could imagine the consternation and shock, when it was learned that the ship had struck an iceberg, and sank with a tragic loss of so many lives. About that time there used to be Magic Lantern Slides (colored), weekly at the Town Hall.

Admission charges were usually one penny, or two pence. The slides would illustrate quite a  lot of subjects, and were very interesting. Such songs like 'The Old Rustic Bridge by the Mill', and  'Don't go down the Mine, Dad', and 'The Old Mill by the Stream, Nellie Dean', to name just a few. During the showing of these slides, there would be a gentleman by the name of Aubrey Allen, singer, and he would be accompanied on the piano by a gentleman of the name of Charlie Keeton. I wonder if that rings a bell to any of the 'old 'uns'! And when the moving pictures arrived, which were of course, the silent type, the same Mr Keeton was the pianist, but only at the Town Hall.  There were only two cinemas in Sutton at that time. They were the Town Hall, and one which we called the King's Theatre. This theatre was a huge corrugated structure, and was nicknamed 'the old tin tabernacle'. But, strangely enough, the first film I ever saw was in the Brookside Cafe!  I remember the name of the film, it was called 'Quo Vadis', but what it was about, I just cannot recall. The admission prices at the cinemas were two pence, four pence and sixpence. The King's Theatre had a change of programme twice a week, and included various serials, and popular comics. Among the comics, the favorites were, of course, Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, and old Mr John Bunny, and a few of the serials were "The Broken Coin", "The Clutching Hand", and "The Perils of Pauline". "The  Clutching Hand" used to frighten us to death!  In the Kings Theatre there was an upstairs gallery which ran around the place, and we used to have a bit of fun by dropping things on the people down below. We were 'rumbled' at times, and were cleared out by the scruff of the neck!  Eventually another cinema came into operation, which was called the Queen's Theatre, and became very popular. There were a few dance halls around the town, and these were well patronized. The Drill Hall on Alfreton Road, The Church Hall on Brook Side, the old 'Welcome Cafe Ballroom'  which had a lovely dance floor, and the St.Modwen's Church Hall on High Pavement. At the time I am thinking of, the only dance music we danced to was with the piano!  No dance bands there. The admission charge to these dances was usually nine pence or a shilling, but if the powers that be managed to engage a violinist to augment the pianist, we had to pay an extra sixpence!  But we enjoyed it all the more. A few of us used to have a change on odd weekends and travel down to Mansfield to Roscoe's. They had a good four piece band, and it was very good, but it used to cost us the enormous sum of two and sixpence, or half a crown, but I thought it made a lovely night out. I remember the time when we only had paraffin lamps in our houses, and they were very good too, but when the Gas Company installed gas, we were on top of the world. We had a pre-payment meter put in, but we didn't get any gas until we had inserted one pennyworth at a time.  There were good times, though, I'm sorry to say, it was sometimes difficult to find a penny when it came to Thursday night. However, we always seemed to pull through.

Then they put the street lamps (not many!) up. The chap who came round at night to light them we used to call the lamp lighter. He was an odd sort of character, but I've forgotten his  name. And of course, he had to go round in the morning to turn them out. Of course as kids, we played around these lamps in the evening, thus making ourselves general nuisances to the people living around them. Thinking about these lamp lighters reminds me of a few odd characters who were about at that time. One who we called "Rubstone" Jack came round the streets selling rubbing stone. This was a hardish piece of rock, about the size of  a tablet of soap, which, when slightly dampened, was rubbed on a stone window sill, or on the doorstep, leaving a beautiful white surface, very pleasant to look at. It was cheap to buy, too, about a penny or two pence. Then we had the "Pikelet Man" coming round once or twice a week. He'd ring a bell, shouting "Pikelets, seven for three pence!" They were nice with a cup of tea, even in those days. Every so often  the Knife and Scissors grinder would come round.

For about three pence one could have these articles as sharp as a razor. Yes, it's nice to think back on the old times. Some were bad, some were good, but that's how things come and go.