| Ron
Williamson
"There
were regular traders came round. There used to be a greengrocer
with his horse and cart.
There
was one old fella he used to ride a tricycle, and when I say that,
this was two wheels in front and one behind. And one day he'd come
round with general household cleaning stuff, like doorsteps, stone
step cleaner, all general cleaning stuff like this. Another day,
particularly Fridays, he'd have fish on, and there'd be fish straight
from the market, and he'd cut it up for you on his barrow just outside
your house. Fish, and rabbits, he'd have them dangling on the sides
there.
On
a Sunday, he used to come round with winkles, shrimps and prawns,
they was general Sunday tea for everybody. That was just something
you did in those days, everybody had winkles and shrimps for tea.
And of course muffins, they'd call them crumpets now. There was
the muffin man come round with a big tray of muffins on his head
ringing the bell.
You'd
have the rag and bone man collecting old tots, shouting out and
calling, and sometimes you'd have people give you a goldfish for
a bag of rags, or a couple of coppers you see.
On
Sundays, especially as a lad, Sundays was a real day of peace, and
on Sunday afternoons particularly in the summer, families used to
walk around this estate as a family, looking at the front gardens
looking at all the flowers blooming etc."
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