Penny,s Place

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This is not really a story just a few things I remember from my childhoood. Things like the chimney sweep, wonder what happened to them, we lived in a tenement, at about 6am the sweep would arrive my sister and I would still be in bed and we could hear the sweep call wooooooooooo down each chimney till he partner replied.

We did not cook on a stove it was on the big black grate. and the big pot was always ready for a cup of tea. I loved watching the coal burn and see the fairies in the firewatch as their castles crashed down. Holding bread on end of a toasting fork till it was brown and then doing other side. Odd how I see children with all the fancy toys and I think back to my Dad making our doll's pram we shared it and thought it was the best. Gettting in trouble for using Mum's machine to perforate paper into postage stamps and blunting her needle. Oh and being sent to corner shop for bread if you had a farthing you got a big toffee, there was a fight to get to go. Being allowed to take the taper and light the gas lamp in the stairwell now that meant you were growing up.

Then being sent to get jam in the big glass jar and swinging the shopping bag as I walked home to find the lid had come off you know where the jam was.

We may not have had much but I assure you we were happy playing shops with stones and houses with dolls pretending to me the Mothers we would become one day. I may not have had riches but I had the fun of a child.

Silk have just read your message and yes the memories do come back.Didn't that toast taste so much nicer done on the fire. And the chimney well we lived in a very old house with a chimney that dropped staight down and My mum used to climb on the roof which had a slope and drop the christmas tree down to clean it.She would tie the old flat iron onto it and it would go right down ha! ha! To see pictures in the fire was great fun. Making acorn men was a thing we liked to do with match sticks.And little matchbox cars with an elastic band.Remember playing with a couple of buttons on a thread and you spun them round and they made a lovely whirring sound. Tops that you chalked pattens on so they looked pretty as they spun. I remember being so proud of a fountain pen my Dad made for me from some old broken ones. It was my christmas present, maroon tortoishell. When you had so little you treasured these things and made sure you kept them safe. What a long way we have come till we reached this throw away age. A button falls off now, no need to sew it on go buy another ha! ha!

Jings just after reading what you both have been remembering.....I remember baking mud pies...coloured glass for money....making daisy chains...blewing through grass to make a noise....all the differant weeds to make cabbage..minse..ect...also I love my scrap books...had 2 ..they were actually old books filled with scraps, had loads of fun exchanging them...funny enough i love telling my grand daughters about those things....they didnt even know what a daisy chain was.....I loved running in those days..and loved to play balls as well...nothing like annoying the neighbours in the tenements when you played your balls against their wall ...och those were the days....Oh nearly forgot my skipping rope.welllllll an old washing rope really...we did have FUn in those days.....also remember listening with my parents once a week to a ghost story on the wireless "Little Mary Rose" it was called.....Remember when we first got a tv..it had 1 station, think I was about 14 at the time lol ..can honestly say I was never bored in those days....I still have some of my books from my childhood "Little women" being one of them...loved that story....Oh well back to remembering lol

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