Tag Archives: 1950s

Rodney Corbett: Services, Fire Brigade 1950s

Fire Brigade

Fire Brigade 1950s

Now my Uncle Ted as a young man was the ‘leader of the band’ of mostly builders who used to run with this handcart if anywhere was on fire. The handcart was kept in the Town Hall; they didn’t even have a horse. It must have been a very slow turn-out – to go round gathering the men in to run with the handcart. The handcart brigade would deal with anything round the town.

Just before the war they decided that Yarmouth would have to have an Auxiliary Fire Service team and Ted got ousted because it was all made up of Bucketts.  Ted went off in a fit of pique and joined the Home Guard. In the war it became National Fire Service from Auxiliary, and after the war they were put back to the local Councils and then became the Isle of Wight Fire Service.  When I joined, the original Fire Chief for the Island, Sullivan, was still there and how many Chiefs did I see? – dozens. Rod Corbett b 1943

Fire Brigade in action

Fire Brigade in action

 

Peter Smith, Robert May: Services, Undertaker, 1950s

Robert May, carpenter, joiner and undertaker outside his workshop in Ommanney Road.

Robert May, carpenter, joiner and undertaker outside his workshop in Ommanney Road.

My great granddad Robert (Bob) May ran a carpenter’s and undertaker’s business from his large workshop alongside Fernside in Ommanney Road. His son-in-law, my uncle Ted, also worked there. In the school holidays my cousin David and I would be encouraged to make things in the workshop, and as there were always lots of off-cuts we invented all sorts of things. Mostly though we used some very nicely shaped triangular pieces about 18”long and 6”wide to make boats and built upper decks and funnels and gun turrets etc. It was some time before we realised where the triangular pieces had come from; they were off-cuts from the coffins that granddad and Uncle Ted made!

I’ve seen Uncle Ted on many occasions finishing off a coffin by heating a saucepan of pitch on the tortoise stove in the workshop and running the molten pitch all round the coffin corners by standing it up and moving it around to ensure all the joints were sealed.  Peter Smith b 1946

Blanche Kennard: Shops, High Street, and buses 1950s 1970s

Bus in High Street 1970s : photo John Golding

Bus in High Street 1970s : photo John Golding

The buses used to pass so close to the shop door at Higginbothams. One day when I was just paying for something at the counter, I let go of Colin’s hand, – he was only about 3 –  to get my money out, and he ran to the door. It was open and the bus was going past. I just grabbed him in time. Oh, it did give me a scare.
Blanche Kennard nee Dore b 1923

Pauline Harwood, Shops, High Street, Higginbothams 1940s

Mr Higginbotham the draper, he had a wooden leg.  If my grandmother was coming to tea, my Mum used to say, ‘I haven’t got a clean tablecloth. Go up Higgies and get one’, because they weren’t much.  We used to buy underwear up there and all sorts of things.  We used to go in the left to the drapery part, and there would be nobody there. Suddenly you would hear thump, thump, thump as he walked across. Pauline Harwood nee Hatch b 1930

 

Advertisement for Higginbothams

Advertisement for Higginbothams

Pauline Hatch, Palma Holloway, Shops, High Street, Westons, 1950s

It was awful if your radio was packing up. W e used to go to Weston’s and get our accumulator. They didn’t charge much and if you were lucky you had two, so you took one out and put the other in.  We used to listen to ‘Take it from Here’ and things like that.
Pauline Harwood nee Hatch b 1930

When our accumulators were charged up at Weston’s shop, they were put on the shelf  waiting to be collected. You had to put your name on them. Palma Ault nee Holloway

Brian Pomroy, Shops: High Street, Westons 1950s

After Harwoods you had Pack and Cullifords, then Malcolm Mallett in Ablitts Butchers. Hopkins had a little café, then Whitewoods, then next door was George Weston. George did everything there, bikes, radios, paraffin. On a Friday we used to carry our batteries to George’s shop to get them charged up so we could listen to ‘Dick Barton Special Agent’ on a Saturday.  We didn’t have electricity, only gas.
Brian Pomroy b 1937

Alec Cokes: Shops, Mills, Sid and Alf Kelleway, 1940s, 1950s

Sid Kelleway did the slaughtering and the game, and he made the brawn in a big copper just inside.  He had a cousin called Alf Kelleway, who drove the British Road Service lorry, In those days of course, there wasn’t Health and Safety, and stuff like barley came in 160 lb sacks, huge great sacks. Alf used to bring these round and of course he couldn’t get his lorry up that little lane, so he had to get them off his lorry down in the Square, put them on his truck, trundle them up.
He went in Mills one day and Sid was doing something, and Alf said ‘You going to give me a hand with this then?’ and Sid said, ‘ No, bugger off.’
They argued a bit – the brawn was cooking away, and as he went out, Alf picked up another handful of spices and chucked it into the brawn. When he came back with the next sack, same thing. He finished up putting about four lots more of spices, herbs or whatever.  Sid went on and made the brawn. It was all sold and people came back and said, Oh that was wonderful, that brawn, it was so tasty.
Alec Cokes b 1945

Shops: Mills and bakers, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s

Mills had a very dark haired nice- looking boy who used to push the bread round daily on wooden trucks door to door. Also we had bread delivered from Whilliers at Newbridge.
Pat Burt nee Adams b 1929

Athel Henderson worked in a bakehouse in Mills. They used to cook some bread there, when you come to think of it!  They had 2 vans on the road, one used to go out with the bread and one with the groceries. Brian Pomroy b 1937

I can remember sitting in our big old pram outside the bakehouse, waiting for my Dad ( Athel)  to finish his shift. Terry Henderson b 1947

Shops: The Square, Mr. Burts, 1950s

Sometimes we used to collect our milk in jugs from Mr Burt who had a shop where ‘On The Rocks’ is. He ladled it out from the churn of milk. And he also did home deliveries in a cart. He sold home-made ice cream, a real treat.
Sue Russell nee Hayles b 1940

The Square, Burt's ice cream parlour and green grocers

The Square, Burt’s ice cream parlour and green grocers : Photo Pat Burt

In the summer you got your ice creams from Mr Burt on the corner, Pat’s father in law. They were lovely ice creams , strawberry, vanilla or chocolate, made in the back of the
shop.

His shop was called Shalfleet Manor Dairy because he collected the milk from Shalfleet Farm every morning and delivered it round Yarmouth from the churns into people’s jugs.    That must have been in the 30’s, up to the war, because then he was in the Navy, he was called up.
The bit at the back was the ice cream parlour in the summer, a greengrocer’s in the front. He used to grow a lot of vegetables. He had a piece of ground on the lane leading up to the recreation ground, on the left hand side, where there’s a bungalow now.  He grew vegetables, kept a few pigs and he bought a lot of veg. from Mrs Crozier’s estate at Westhill.  He used to go over there and buy it off the gardener because there was just the one big house there to supply, with gardens where there‘s bungalows now. Burt’s carried on into the 1950s when Mrs Burt was running it.
Pat Burt nee Adams and Annette Haynes nee Holloway b 1929

Mum used to bribe us by offering us an ice cream from Burts when she wanted us to leave the beach without making a fuss. M.S.

Jack Burt used to come round with the milk in churns. Ash from that damn pipe was always falling in it. Nick Chandler b 1937


Eileen Smith: Yarmouth Carnival 1930s – 70s

The Yarmouth Carnivals were a highlight of the year, always held on a Thursday, early closing day. There were maybe 4 bands, proper bands.  They were wonderful .

Jazz band 1930s

Jazz band 1930s with Curly Jupe on accordion and Megan Cook vocals

 The fishing competition on the Pier used to draw over a hundred rods. My Grandfather, Robert May, supplied the Rod for first prize.My aunt was asked if she’d like to keep up the tradition after he died, but she said no, it was the end of an era, and Harwood’s took over giving the prize.

Robert May awards Carnival Fishing prize of rod

Robert May awards prize rod for Carnival Fishing competition off Pier

Robert May awards the prize rod for the fishing competition on the pier

During Carnival Week there were harbour sports, greasy pole and swimming races off the Common. All the families joined in and won prizes too. Yarmouth was a town of families, now it’s a town of holiday homes. Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921