Four Yorkshiremen

[Gritstone Ram]

4 minutes ago, BaaLocks said:

Mix is a Derby phrase as well - first time after left home walked into the chippy and asked for a Curry Mix to deafening silence....

I thought a curry mix was just chips and curry. 
I would go into my local chippy many years ago and ask for a pea mix and can you put some scraps on it please.

[RamNut]

8 minutes ago, Gritstone Ram said:

I thought a curry mix was just chips and curry. 
I would go into my local chippy many years ago and ask for a pea mix and can you put some scraps on it please.

I asked for a pea mix in Leicester. They hadn’t got a clue what I was on about.

When the chippy behind leppings lane offered scraps without even asking, my heart warmed a little but towards Sheffield folk.  

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

41 minutes ago, RamNut said:

I asked for a pea mix in Leicester. They hadn’t got a clue what I was on about.

When the chippy behind leppings lane offered scraps without even asking, my heart warmed a little but towards Sheffield folk.  

I did that in Wolverhampton- once again a look of emptiness.

[Steve How Hard?]

1 hour ago, RamNut said:

I asked for a pea mix in Leicester. They hadn’t got a clue what I was on about.

 

32 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

I did that in Wolverhampton- once again a look of emptiness.

I once asked for gravy on my chips in London. Left the chippy disappointed and feeling like a leper. 

[BaaLocks]

1 hour ago, Gritstone Ram said:

I thought a curry mix was just chips and curry.

What do you mean 'just'? It needs to be no more, save a soaking in vinegar.

[Eddie]

We were evicted from our hole in the ground.

[sage]

42 minutes ago, Eddie said:

We were evicted from our hole in the ground.

We were so poor my Mum used to send us round to KFC to lick other people's fingers. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, RamNut said:

We weren’t skint when i was a kid. We had a comfortable home. We were never the first house to get a colour tele, or a freezer or whatever else, but we got them in the end.

We never had foreign holidays but we didn’t do badly at all.

occasionally I’ll tease my mum by reminding her that I never had a train set or a cricket bat or roller skates or - my particular favourite - a Johnny Seven. Remember them? A toy gun worth £500-£900 if you can find one now. They were the coolest thing to have. I only knew about two or three kids who had one.

 

But as a student my god we were skint. All our money went on rent and books and equipment and other costs. 

i remember working out what was the cheapest meal - which was two slices of bread, toasted, without butter, and half a tin of tomatoes dumped on top. Cost 20p? I had that day after day when the money had run out by the end of term.

it was normal to open the fridge and find that all we had was half a pint of milk and a half a piece of cheese at the most.

at the end of the year when I had to get some clobber to go for interviews i remember buying some trousers in a sale which when I got outside the shop into daylight turned out to be a grey/lilac colour. The jacket came from Age Concern for £5 and the woman serving took pity on me and gave me the tie to go with it. 

I don’t know where people get their money from these days. Everyone seems to have flash cars, posh kitchens, exotic holidays. I have young cousins who never went to college or university who are millionaires. Others who own multiple homes. Even my brother has a big flash car, big house, and retired at 58. Compared to them I feel like a pauper. Fortunately I am not materialistic and I don’t hanker after stuff, but it would be nice to be a bit more well off.

Never mind.....whenever I open the fridge and see it’s full  I always think back to those student days and how things have changed.

still can’t afford a Johnny 7 ?

Wow the Johnny Seven I certainly remember - Roman Kemp was on I’m a celebrity a year or so back saying how it was the coolest present he’d ever bought his Dad, Martin who burst into tears when he opened it. 

Regarding the point about where all the money comes from the ready availability of credit and credit cards probably as seem to remember a lot more ‘saving up’ when I was younger

[Turk Thrust]

My cousin was so poor that when she couldn't afford to pay the Catholic church for her exorcism, they repossessed her.

[Grumpy Git]

3 hours ago, RamNut said:

I don’t know where people get their money from these days. Everyone seems to have flash cars, posh kitchens, exotic holidays. I have young cousins who never went to college or university who are millionaires. Others who own multiple homes. Even my brother has a big flash car, big house, and retired at 58.

One reason - cheap credit.

Imagine if the interest rate was 5, 10 or even 15% like it was "back in the day", from a personal point of view I'd be made-up as I have some savings which currently pay you an interest of two-tenths of feck all.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Eddie said:

We were evicted from our hole in the ground.

To move to live in t’lake??

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, sage said:

We were so poor my Mum used to send us round to KFC to lick other people's fingers. 

[uttoxram75]

Great thread.

Until I was 4 we lived in a terrace house with an outside loo, I have vague memories of pissing in the pot in the corner of the bedroom in the middle of the night. It was always cold.

We moved to a brand new council house on the edge of town in 1964, it was a pebble dash concrete prefabricated house but we had a corner plot and a big garden with open fields at the bottom. 

I had the "box" room, absolutely freezing, not only ice inside the windows but the bed clothes were sometimes stuck to the wall with ice as well - must have been the concrete construction instead of brick.

Everyone in our row had a veg plot and fruit trees and everything was shared, so if one bloke had a surfeit of carrots they'd swap for potatoes/ onions, runner beans, peas cabbage, caulis, rhubarb etc....if someone down the road fell on hard times, lost a job or bereavement then bags of fruit and veg were left on the doorstep without a word being exchanged. 

Dad never had a car until I was 14 but we had free rail travel because of his job at British Rail. In those days you could get direct from Utch station to North Wales one way and Skeggy the other, so summer holidays were spent in chalets or caravans at Rhyl, Colwyn Bay or one of the camps between Skeg and Ingoldmells. I think dad must have got promoted around the mid 70's because we went to Butlins once.

I have nothing but happy memories of growing up, our playground was a vast array of fields, building dens, annoying farmers and playing football on a rec, moving the goalposts near a street light  when it started getting dark.

Dad was an electrician by trade but like many of his age he could do anything, he made us wooden toys like Army tanks for Action Man, properly sanded and painted with turrets and insignia. He built a generator for the power cuts , looking back he probably "borrowed" some bits from the Loco works.....

Not much money about, mum was permanently shouting at us if we ruined our clothes, we weren't allowed to waste food, I was lucky being the eldest so my brothers got the hand me downs although I had to have some stuff off older cousins and neighbours.

What we had though was love and hardworking parents who wanted nothing but a better life for their kids than they had when they were young.

[Brammie Steve]

Chips? You were lucky!

We'd go from chippy to chippy asking for batter bits.

Then we'd go in t'next chippy for salt n vinegar.

If we were really lucky they'd put the batter bits on paper anorl!

You try telling that to the kids today, would they believe you?

Nooooooo!

[richinspain]

10 hours ago, uttoxram75 said:

Great thread.

Until I was 4 we lived in a terrace house with an outside loo, I have vague memories of pissing in the pot in the corner of the bedroom in the middle of the night. It was always cold.

We moved to a brand new council house on the edge of town in 1964, it was a pebble dash concrete prefabricated house but we had a corner plot and a big garden with open fields at the bottom. 

I had the "box" room, absolutely freezing, not only ice inside the windows but the bed clothes were sometimes stuck to the wall with ice as well - must have been the concrete construction instead of brick.

Everyone in our row had a veg plot and fruit trees and everything was shared, so if one bloke had a surfeit of carrots they'd swap for potatoes/ onions, runner beans, peas cabbage, caulis, rhubarb etc....if someone down the road fell on hard times, lost a job or bereavement then bags of fruit and veg were left on the doorstep without a word being exchanged. 

Dad never had a car until I was 14 but we had free rail travel because of his job at British Rail. In those days you could get direct from Utch station to North Wales one way and Skeggy the other, so summer holidays were spent in chalets or caravans at Rhyl, Colwyn Bay or one of the camps between Skeg and Ingoldmells. I think dad must have got promoted around the mid 70's because we went to Butlins once.

I have nothing but happy memories of growing up, our playground was a vast array of fields, building dens, annoying farmers and playing football on a rec, moving the goalposts near a street light  when it started getting dark.

Dad was an electrician by trade but like many of his age he could do anything, he made us wooden toys like Army tanks for Action Man, properly sanded and painted with turrets and insignia. He built a generator for the power cuts , looking back he probably "borrowed" some bits from the Loco works.....

Not much money about, mum was permanently shouting at us if we ruined our clothes, we weren't allowed to waste food, I was lucky being the eldest so my brothers got the hand me downs although I had to have some stuff off older cousins and neighbours.

What we had though was love and hardworking parents who wanted nothing but a better life for their kids than they had when they were young.

I was not in Havelock Road, Normanton. We also had an outside loo. I remember bath night being in a tin bath in front of the fire. The potty was always full in the mornings. We moved to Willington when I was 5. It meant that visits to the BBG were more difficult (I first went when I was about 3, walking the short distance to the ground) as my dad had to pick and choose more so big games were difficult with being so young. I used to get put on the floodlight pylon in the corner between the Popside and the Normanton End. The season before the Ley Stand was built my dad broke up the wooden go cart he had made me and converted it into my own personal seat that slotted into some holes just above head height in the old stand. I had the best view in the whole of the Popside for one season.

[angieram]

I wrote this post yesterday but thought it was too personal to post, but it so echoes what @uttoxram75 says above that I have changed my mind.

We didn't have so many possessions growing up, but we were only poor from about the age of 10 to early 20s, I think. It's all relative, isn't it? 

We had an outside loo and a tin bath until I was 9, but so did most families on our street. We didn't have central heating but not unusual. Didn't have that until my second home after marriage, 1985. 

We didn't have a telephone until first house after marriage and then it was a party line (don't ask!) 

Didn't have a fridge but a lovely cool step-down pantry. I remember the doctor being shocked we didn't have one as mum was prescribed some drugs that needed to be kept in a fridge. 

We also ate a lot of our own produce, fruit and veg and kept hens for eggs and Christmas birds. I too remember the rhubarb, and the egg cup of sugar to dip it in! 

We always had a car, usually a quite grand one that had seen better days and was kept going by my dad's mechanical nous. I particularly liked one we had with running boards on, we would stand one each side of the car and hang on to the orange indicators as dad drove it down the street. When I wasn't in the garden I was in the garage with dad, helping him fix up the cars.

We had holidays every year at the coast and I still remember the number of times one of the old bangers broke down on us half way there! 

When we did become poor when dad lost his job after his heart attack, we struggled. Free school meals, no more holidays and mum went to work for the first time. Unfortunately she became ill soon after and had to give up. We all had to get Saturday jobs to help out but there was no pressure on us to leave school as dad wanted us all to get an education. Okay, I missed out on school trips but I always had school uniform, even if it was second hand. 

The worst time of my life was when dad died suddenly, after mum had died the year before. I was in sixth form at the time, about to sit my A levels. Some solicitors came to the house and insisted on taking the last bit of money we had out of the housekeeping purse. We were sat there, 18 and 16, both still at school without a penny to our names. Older sis had moved out but she was jobless and broke too.

Luckily neighbours rallied round and donated food, then someone anonymously sent me and my sister £40 each, posted through the front door in two white envelopes. Quite a lot of money in 1975. We never found out who did it but they saved our lives. As we weren't entitled to any benefits (we were old enough to leave school and go and get jobs) we lived off that money until we had taken our exams and the house was sold ( we were forced by law to sell it as my dad hadn't made a will.) Then we had a bit of money left after the mortgage was paid off but nowhere to live! 

I had a really happy childhood and never thought we missed out on anything. You're not aware of that, are you, if you're loved and fed? 

[richinspain]

1 hour ago, richinspain said:

I was not in Havelock Road, Normanton. We also had an outside loo. I remember bath night being in a tin bath in front of the fire. The potty was always full in the mornings. We moved to Willington when I was 5. It meant that visits to the BBG were more difficult (I first went when I was about 3, walking the short distance to the ground) as my dad had to pick and choose more so big games were difficult with being so young. I used to get put on the floodlight pylon in the corner between the Popside and the Normanton End. The season before the Ley Stand was built my dad broke up the wooden go cart he had made me and converted it into my own personal seat that slotted into some holes just above head height in the old stand. I had the best view in the whole of the Popside for one season.

Just seen that autocorrect has changed born to not. Don't know how that happened ??‍♂️

[StockholmRam]

18 hours ago, RamNut said:

I asked for a pea mix in Leicester. They hadn’t got a clue what I was on about.

When the chippy behind leppings lane offered scraps without even asking, my heart warmed a little but towards Sheffield folk.  

Sheffield folk are alreet I agree... for Sheffield folk. 

Prefer Blades fans to Whingy Wendies. 

[StockholmRam]

Ive loved this thread. Very interesting, humbling and inspiring to read about some of your upbringings. 

Angie Ram I couldnt have any more respect for you if I tried. 

Utch... good try lad. Yours just sounds like a posh Stokie. ??

 

[Mucker1884]

Being poor isn't just for kids... it's for life!  

 

Back in '86, I was 23, in the throes of being divorced, and had dumped my job to care full time for my two toddler sons, as a single parent, on the associated benefits.
... But the good news is, I had a new girlfriend... and she had a car!  Result!

So anyway... the 'phone bill had racked up... and with 5 days to go until my next benefit was due, I had enough food/nappies etc for the rest of the week, and still had just enough money to pay half the 'phone bill.  BT said that wasn't enough, and they'd cut me off there and then, whether I paid half or nothing... so I paid nothing (and got cut off, obvs!).

So the following morning, here we were, with about £40 "spare", (and enough food in the cupboard, remember!) so in my girlfriends car we jumped, and we headed off to Skeggy for the day, as a treat to my boys.
A great day was had, and the last few quid was spent topping up the fuel tank to get us home (As near as damn it, that's near the cricket ground).
We reached the last lay-by before Spondon, before juddering to a halt!  With literally not a penny to our name (until my next benefit was due 4 days later.)  It was dark (About 9:30pm).  The boys were sleeping on the back seat.  So we hauled them up, locked the car... and started walking... carrying a child each... along the grass verge of the A52 Dual Carriageway!

Luckily, we had walked only a few hundred yards before some kind soul pulled up in his Range Rover, and offered us a lift to the fuel station.  Too embarrassed to explain the lack of funds, I said (Lied!) I'd sort the car out the next day, and could he drop us off at Pentagon island, which he did (leaving us with no more than a 5 minute walk home).

Two days later, the girlfriend did her Saturday job on the market, got paid (Cash in hand), and after buying a can, and filling it with petrol, headed straight up the A52 to reclaim her car... only to find a ticket on it, for being parked up with no lights on!  
All in, including the fine, that little lot in the last sentence cost around £40 to £50 from memory... that was back in the day when literally, 50p would have covered us for enough fuel to have got us home!

So close, yet so far!  

 

But wait... there's good news... A happy ending even... The girlfriend hung around, brought up my kids whilst I went to work, and after spending 10 years living in sin, we'll be celebrating our silver wedding anniversary this coming August... and we not only own our house outright (albeit a crappy ex-council house on a currently crappy estate), we have well over a hundred pound in the bank... and enough food in the cupboard to last until next pay day!   ?