I was born on the first of June 1938 just before midday. It was in my parents home at Earnshaw Bridge in Leyland .

I don't remember this photo being taken but it must have been sometime in 1939, perhaps it caused the Second World War.

These two pictures and the one above may all have been taken around he same time?

They are all in the same place on the path between my Uncle Joe and Auntie Lily's house and my Grandma and Grandad's farm on the corner of Gough Lane and Kellet lane.  Sadly both houses and the ones next to them on Kellet Lane have been buried under Walton Summit Industrial Estate.

They may be before Uncle Norman was called up into the army, he served in Egypt and Italy as a driver, so they could be in 1939 or 1940.

How old do I look? Two perhaps.

My memories from this time include my brother Robert having a broken leg. I was very protective of him at the time. I don't remember starting school but I can remember , in fact it is as clear as crystal in my mind, sitting with Ruth behind me in miniature wooden armchairs. We were engaged at the time, five years old!

I don't remember starting school but I can remember , in fact it is as clear as crystal in my mind, sitting with Ruth behind me in miniature wooden armchairs. We were engaged at the time, five years old!

My first teacher was a Miss Oddy.  I could do nothing right for her.  I suppose my fault is that my mind wanders off all over the place, i.e. I don't always pay attention. She made me stand at the front of the class until I could pronounce the word 'said'.  All I could think to say was - s - a - i - d !  At least I was trying; how was I to know it was sed!  I read somewhere recently, probably the Guardian, that the reason some children couldn't read and write was the perversity of the English spelling - I agree.

I can remember being off school for five weeks with yellow jaundice while I was at St John's.

I must have started at school while the second world war was still raging . We all had gasmasks.  Robert's was a Mickey Mouse one!

The school room was one large hall with a partition at one end. This partition was always closed and this is where the first class was held.

The second and third years were in the remaining area; in the centre of the south side was a fire place.  The second year teacher, Miss Porter had her desk in front of the fire and the headmistress's desk/office was in front of the third year desks. Can you imagine a headmistress not having an office today, 2009.

All I can recall of the second year was that the teacher had cards with 'sums' on them.  We had to go up, select a card and do the sums on, I think, our slates.  I always picked the same card because I knew the answers - strange that I turned out good at mathematics?  All round the room were our 'times tables' hung up, up to 12x .

I can't remember a romantic attachment in the second year but in the third year I was sweet on Olive, who wasn't sweet on me. We sat next to each other on the centre back row and she used to ...........

The toilets were abominable. You urinated up against a wall, similar to some urinals today but these were dark grey concrete and smelled strongly, no roof over this part.  The 'sitting down' lavatories where a row of cubicles, each with a longitudinal board with a hole in it.  The holes underneath all ran into a large gutter that was common to them all!  You held on till you got home.