Nowadays, domestic light and heating are controlled by the flick of a switch but when I was a boy, it was a bit more involved. Lighting in the home was provided by gas via a mantle which was lit with a match or taper and, similarly, street lights were also gas lit. Oil lamps, candles [...]
|
||||||
|
They haven’t come to see “Old Tom” they have come to see “Old Harry” This cartoon by Alec Wills was published in the March 2009 edition of CT Poole When Martyn Brown was editor. This was at the time of our ‘Old Poole’ feature writer, Tom Scott, being in hospital. It seemed that everyone that [...] Standing on the Hamworthy-Poole lifting bridge, I found myself trying to remember the industries that existed there before Sunseeker arrived. Looking from the bridge, along the Hamworthy side of the quay stood: Corrals – fuel oil distributors; R H Newman & Sons – boatbuilders; Wilkins & Wilkins – Marine Engineers; Stoneyard Ballast; The Shipwright Arms [...] Anyone in my age group will remember the words “Put that light out,” used by ARP Wardens during the blackouts in World War II. All houses had blackout curtains, vehicle headlamps had hooded shades and cycle lamps and torches were dimmed by black paint over half the lens. Even striking a match in the dark [...] Can you remember the ferryman who gave a rowing boat service between the Quay and the Shipwrights Arms on the Lower Hamworthy side and Burdens and Piplers on the Poole side? The fee was 1 penny per trip per person. My mother would use the ferry boat some days when she’d been shopping in the [...] Winter, 1941. The snow was gradually turning to slush. The war was in its third year and, being an eleven year old boy, I found it all very interesting – especially the tasks we had to fulfil to help with the war effort. After school our duty was to report to gun sites and help [...] How many old Poole-ites remember where Corona Soft Drinks (Thomas and Evans) were situated? You don’t? I’ll tell you. In West Quay Road where Westover Motors now stands – opposite Sunseeker. On one side stood Pender Plating, on the other was Blue Boar Lane. The railway ran down the road from Poole Station, along Nile [...] Until he died, my dad would fish or rake for cockles in Poole Harbour, selling his catch to the local pubs. The cockles needed to be fresh, so our tin bath was their haven until sold. However, Friday nights were bath nights so our small kitchen became the bathroom. The salt water was rinsed from [...] From 1940-1945 my schooling was at Henry Harbin School (now Poole High School). The headmaster then was local historian Mr H P Smith. It was a well run, disciplined school where boys were segregated from girls – meaning no distractions from the opposite sex! Teachers’ tools of punishment were bamboo cane, chalk board rubber, measuring [...] Here’s another story of how well I was looked after as an apprentice at Bolson’s shipyard. I was asked to work overtime one evening to finish a project. I didn’t mind, but by the time I left work for home it was dark and miserable with rain. Even though I had no lights I decided [...] |
  |
|||||
|
Copyright © 2012 Poole Community - All Rights Reserved |
||||||
