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

Another question,for the older generation.

Can you still buy hodge (spelling?) I had a strange craving for it a few weeks ago. I think its a stomache,not really sure,last time i had it was at my gran's almost 40 yrs ago.

Enter Bandy.

Went to Haworth some years back and they had a kind of retro shop there that sold carbolic soap. Came in long bars they had to cut so we bought a chunk for the novelty and the smell.

Some things that have disappeared in my life time.

Gas street lamps and the men who lit them.
Pig swill bins.
Decent coal shovels.
Coal men (well I don't see many).
Bread men.

Carry on!

Eeew yeah pig swill bins.
There's still a few coal men i see when in wales,and a few still left on the canals that keep us boaters warm through winter.

My mum was a bread woman in the 50's for the co-op and then sunblest.
Lots of memories of delivering in the snow,with snow chains on the wheels and a sledge full of bread.Having to make a fire in a steel tin underneath the diesel engines to get them started.
And trying to catch people in to pay their weekly bill!!

Rag and bone men
Tar bubbles
Silver topped milk bottles that the blue tits used to pierce and drink the milk from in the winter. I still get bottled milk but they don't do that anymore.If it was really cold the milk would freeze,expand and push the top off.

Horse pulled milk carts
There was never any horse muck around.Everyone would fly out of their doors trying to get there first and scoop it up for their roses.

Bubble cars (a bit later I think)
Great fun they looked, but were banned because they were too small and dangerous. Not much difference between some of the ones we have today. They were so light, people could pick them up and walk off with them.
There used to be a competition to see how many could get in one....and travel with them in! You'd see heads poking out of the top.

Kenneth Horne in 'Round the Horne' and 'Beyond our Ken'

Any more?

Haha tar bubbles,i can remember getting rubbed for hours with butter to remove said tar!

Pressing button "B" in the phonebox to see if you got any money.

You could still get hodge in St Johns over the water earlier in the year so can't see it disappearing. Liverpool dockers were known as "hodge eaters" but I used to have it as well. Boiled and soaked in vinegar, used to love it, a bit chewy and would now be called an aquired taste.
I still eat lambs fries, sweetbreads, oxtails, pigs feet, ham shanks, and any other stuff I can get hold of. I'll never starve.

Thanks Bandy,i used to spend every weekend and school hols at my grandparents,and they ate all sorts,and so did i.
I couldn't eat sweetbreads or lamb fries now,but still have roast oxtail and ham shanks,liver kidney's,and now hopefully hodge!

There was also a pigs head on the shopping list on a saturday,boiled i think to make brawn.

If you can get pig cheeks (they call it pork chap in Linconshire), it is very nice roasted, has a subtle flavour to it, luvverly.

The Brussels mob would have a field day in the kids' play area. How nobody was ever killed is beyond me. That bloody maypole swing where kids would swing around horizontally at 100mph. Standing with 'no hands' on top of the monkey bars. Seeing who could go the highest standing on the swings and coming head first down the chute. All of this on SOLID CONCRETE. Then there was the cinder pitch where the Lauries played. No problem there getting cut to ribbons.

Remember one of the Kierans played for Lawries and another played for Tranmere, both bloody good players, with the big boots and casies that you could use as cannon balls.
The Lawries played in green and white, a la Hibs and there was another team St Annes, played on grass further up the park, they played in red and black stripes. Used to get a good crowd at them matches, 3, 4, 5 deep around the pitch and the collection bucket for pennies going round at half time. The magic sponge and bucket with the trainer, whoopee!

Local (Wallasey) New Potatoes and Local Tomatoes. They were some of the best (tastiest) I've ever had!

John Willie Parker also played for them. He ended up, at inside left, along side Dave Hickson at Everton.

My dad was brought up in Wallasey and always said that the Cheshire potatoes where known as the best in the country.