Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Was it really better ?

Well, granny, if you're not on a meter you should consider it. The water company will fit it free. I think the rule of thumb is that if there are more bedrooms than people in the house, you're better off with a meter. I'm metered and I pay £11.50 a month.

On the meter as well, much cheaper but only until they put the prices up once everyone switches to meters, can't have the profits falling can we. Droughts promised for this summer again. Remember the 76 one, just joined the RAF and had to sit in a field tending a pump which took water from the river,all over the fields to RAF Bawtry fishpond, using the RAF fire hoses. Got a nice tan anyway and it was a good little number for a couple of weeks and saved the fishes.

LOL, bandy; I was just up the road from you, but 20 years earlier. I was at RAF Lindholme; it's a prison now: not much change there then.

Small world then and the RAF is about to get smaller still. I was only there 6 weeks , waiting for my security clearance and then moved to Digby after a course at N Luffenham. Bawtry was literally like a holiday camp though, a la carte menus, lovely little NAAFI club, Billy Butlin must have got the idea from there I think. Private fishing lake, orchards and private grounds. It was 2 Group HQ if I remember rightly, I used to do the comms with the Shackletons and Nimrods.

Lindholme was Bomber Command Bombing School, flying Lancasters, Varsities and Hastings. I was a radar fitter there. I was also the camp cinema projectionist a couple of evenings a week.

You're right about the RAF getting smaller; my son, who's a navigator, is about to leave and join the Canadian Air Force

My nephew is a Canadian Air Force Nav, getting Afghan tours in and all that guff, they're good lads. You nevery know he might have come our comms class at Cranwell, I was in the comms school there from 2000 to 2007, worked on the comms simulator as a controller, broadcaster and comms link, loved it. At a bit of a loose end now, bummer.
I assume I'm still on topic as things were definitely really better then.

My lad went to Cranwell in 1984. He's actually re-training to fly in AWACS in Nova Scotia.

Te AWACS will be good, more work in the back of the kite than the average, big crew as well so the socials are good. Wish him all the best Chris.
1984 I was in W. Berlin, another good posting.

Great post, abolutely agree with all you have written.

Back in the fifties I remember me and our kid sat on the steps of the Rio in Price Street, of a Saturday afternoon hoping that the doorman would take pity on us and let us in for the last half of the kid's matinee for free. He always did. We had nothing but we were happy.

Ah, the Rio. Must remember the wooden seats then. Bunking in through the side fire door, getting caught and thrown out. The Saturday matinee, playig cowies on the way home with your coat round your neck on one button like a cape so you could be Zorro. Good big gangs of kids then all bombing it down the hill of Price Street we had rock all.

My auntie used to work in the crisp factory across the road. Me and our kid used to go around the side and give her a shout...she'd come to the open doors (it was obviously very warm inside) and she'd shout: 'You two buggers will get me shot.' But she always threw us a couple of packets.

Crisps? Reminds me that when our dad used to take us to the Rio on Sunday nights to the one night showing only show. He hated the start of the main feature because people had bought crisps off the usherette during the interval. As soon as the credits went up, people started shaking their little packets of salt onto their crisps and then they'd start shaking their packets to spread the salt on them. They would be shaking them for ages.

It's a wonder too we could see the screen for the fog of ciggy smoke, because nearly all adults smoked.

I think the Rio must have closed its doors for the last time in the early sixties.

You are right Bandy, we did have "rock all" as you say. But we were all in the same boat.

Blimey yeah, the crisp factory. We used to be able to get bags of brokies as well, we'd scoff anything and the cheaper the better. I aint changed much. You must remember Abba and Tony then, they were always in the Rio, poor fellahs.

Sometimes, things spring to mind.

It used to be better before all the men became peacocks and strutted the John Travolta walk down the High Streets. They all walked the same and near enough in a line, probably comparing each others ability to get it right. Boing, boing, boing, all the way.
Put your hand up if you were one of them.

granny how are you? i was married to a boss poser like that, strutting in every shop window he could, hence, was married to him. i boing boinged him off. oh and dont get me going about dancing he was always first on the dance floor, but should have been glued to his seat. max