Memories of Early days in Gloucester

I have many memories of my early days in Gloucester

The changes I have seen in my lifetime are incredible. The photo on the left shows my family sitting around the Phillips radio. From left to right, my mother, me, my father and my sister.  This was our main source of entertainment. No TV of course. Very few had one at all and if you did it would have been a tiny black and white object that could only get 1 channel.

It really was a different world then. The photo was taken in Germany as my father was in the RAF and posted to Cologne. We moved back to England after nearly 5 years as my mother was worried about us loosing our British citizenships.

We moved in with my grandparents who lived in  Serlo Road Gloucester. As an eight year old this was very exciting to come back to a country that I remembered very little of and to meet many relatives that were really strangers to me at the time. My grandparents were marvelous people and the whole family revolved around them.

My grandfather was relatively well off as he was a self employed builder. There he is holding yours truly. When he went to a job, all his tools and ladders were taken on a hand cart. Very few people then had cars. I have fond memories of riding on the hand cart as he pushed it through Gloucester.

The house in Serlo road was a typical working class terrace. We had no central heating, just a coal fire in the living room and no bath. We kids were washed in front of the fire or in the Belfast sink in the scullery. The toilet was an outside outhouse and of course we all took a pot to bed in case you needed a wee in the night. I share a bed with my uncle Ray in a magnificent feather bed, and n the winter months a hot water bottle was essential.

I very soon discovered a love of Rugby. The Gloucester Rugby Ground  was close by and from my bedroom window I could see just over half of the pitch. At half time I would run down Deans Walk into the alley at the back of the grounds and as it was free from half time, I could enjoy the match even more. Sadly that is no longer the case.

Gloucester Cattle Market

In those days Gloucester had a thriving cattle market. This was right in the city centre where the current bus station is. We boys used to help drive the cattle up Westgate Street, through the centre of Gloucester and into the cattle pens. It was later moved to St Oswolds where a shopping park is now.