Growing Up in the 1940s

I was baptised at The Parish Church, St. Mary the Virgin, on March 31st 1940 by the Reverend George Roland Hall when I was six weeks old. Later my mother cleaned for the Reverend Hall at the vicarage and also for Miss Stancliffe at the Old Rectory. I remember evacuees staying at the Church House and food parcels from Australia with foods I had never seen before such as tinned peaches. We had a coal burning range, and a tin bath which was filled from a boiler built into the range. I remember my mother black-leading the range and us taking our baths in front of the fire.

This was the Northorpe Platoon of the Homeguard in Mirfield during World War II. The Homeguard has been the butt of many jokes over the years fuelled by the lightheated view presented by television programmes such as Dads' Army (excellent as this was) but, make no mistake, these men really did represent our last defence against any invading force.

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Photograph by courtesy of Mrs. L. B. Wolstenholme.

This group was photographed on land at the bottom of Camm Lane around 1943.

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Photograph by courtesy of Rudie and Elizabeth Thramer.

This is a party held by the Battyeford Methodists to celebrate VE Day which was the end of hostilities in Europe at the close of WWII.

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Photograph by courtesy of Rudie and Elizabeth Thramer.

My father worked on the railway which was a reserved occupation during the war but he served in the Homeguard. His rifle was often hanging behind the front door but I've since learned that it didn't have any bullets. When the air raid siren was heard my mother used to put me and my younger brother Brian under the stone staircase with the tin bath turned upside down over us. My other brother Ronald, my sister Audrey and herself were under the solid table in the room. This was all because she had found earwigs in our Anderson Shelter so would not use it.

Once my older brother put our names forward for the poor children's trip run by the church and my father played merry hell with him saying that we were not poor although in truth we didn't have much of anything even though we always seemed to manage to get by. We didn't get to go on the trip.

I remember the mulberry tree in the grounds of the Old Rectory and a magnificent doll's house in one of the rooms. I remember the old Tithe Barn which stood nearby and garden parties in the grounds of Blake Hall.

Transistors had not been invented then and our valve radio used an HT battery and a Lead-Acid accumulator for the valve heaters, which we had to carry to Herbert Senior's workshop in Littlemoor Road for recharging. Our first mains powered radio was bought from the coop and came as a relief to us children because it didn't need the heavy glass accumulator but instead had a long lead which plugged into an adapter in the light fitting hanging from the ceiling.

ID Card cover

King's Proclamation

Inside of ID Card

We had identity cards then and mine was issued on 14th March 1941 and is shown above. Also all schoolchildren received a proclamation in 1946 from King George VI after the end of World War II. Click the proclamation to read it.

Milk was delivered in churns by horse drawn carts from Ted Thwaites' farm at the top of Parker Lane and measured out into a jug using a long handled scoop. One day the horse bolted tipping the cart over and all of Pinfold was awash with milk.

Our next-door neighbours at no. 19 were Mr. and Mrs. Eykyn who had been involved in the theatre in their younger days. Mr. Eykyn first walked onto a professional stage at the age of 10 and maintained a close connection with acting and the theatre until he passed away in October 1956 at the age of 81. He used to make model road rollers from old treacle tins for us. He became involved with the drama productions at the Grammar School taking on the job of making and painting the scenery. He was also the author of over 50 plays.

Mr. and Mrs. Eykyn had worked for Mr. Will H. Glaze's company at the Alexandra theatre and when, in 1940, they retired to Mirfield they took over the cottage at no. 19 Pinfold Lane that had just been vacated by Peter Glaze's mother who had moved to the cottages at the rear of the Old Rectory. It is only supposition by me that there is a link between Will H. Glaze and Peter Glaze but it does seem a strong possibility. The photo at left shows Peter Glaze with his long time comedy partner Leslie Crowther whose association began with the television programme Crackerjack in 1960. Crackerjack was a children's entertainment show that had it's roots firmly set in the old music hall/variety tradition. It was introduced each week with the by-line "It's Friday, it's five to five, and it's Crackerjack!" to which the shows adolescent audience at the BBC's Children's Television Centre would echo the shows title 'CRACKERJACK' at the top of their voice. The show was originally introduced by ex-boxing commentator Eamonn Andrews (later to host This Is Your Life), but perhaps best remembered for it's golden era when co-hosts Leslie Crowther and Peter Glaze would perform comedy routines, introduce the guest pop act, and host the weekly quiz 'Double or Drop' that had been devised by Andrews in the early days of the show. In this quiz contestants were given a prize for a correct answer or a cabbage for a wrong one, and then had to hold as many as they could without dropping them. Win or lose everyone went home with a 'Crackerjack Pencil'. Peter Glaze was a frenetic actor on Crackerjack as Leslie Crowther's sidekick and he did a one-man show in Edinburgh years after his heyday. Peter's more serious acting credits include being a Sensorite in the Doctor Who story The Keys of Marinus and in the Big Spender episode of The Sweeney as Joe Spratt. He died in 1983.

Our next neighbour was William Hepworth, headmaster of the Grammar School who was also an accomplished amateur photographer and took a prize winning photo of my brother Brian shown on the right. It shows Brian supposedly eating an apple but he was too good at it and several apples were reduced to only a core before the picture was ready to be taken. The apple had to be substituted by a sponge ball before the picture could be taken successfully. The picture of myself was also taken by Mr. Hepworth.

Mirfield before the 1940s. Click on the picture for a larger image with an identification of the main buildings.

Eastthorpe, Mirfield probably around 1920 or 1930. Click on the picture for a larger image.

Whitsuntide was an important part of our year. That was when the children were kitted out with their new clothes ready for the Whitsunday Walk. As members of the Parish Church we would turn up at Lee Green School, where the Sunday School was held, ready to be organised into a parade and with a lucky coin in one pocket of our new jackets as was the custom of the day. The younger children and the dignitaries would be loaded onto the back of a decorated lorry when I was taking part, but in earlier times it would have been a horse and cart as shown in the picture. The adults and older children walked behind, and out in front was a brass band. The band would start playing and then the procession would move off keeping time with the music. The first stop was just down the road at the Over Hall where a couple of hymns would be sung and then we would move off and along Flash Lane to Northorpe Hall. I can't remember all the places we visited but they included all the main Halls including Blake Hall.

On the left of this photo is the former Bridge Hotel at the Mirfield end of Calder Road, Lower Hopton. The road curving left round the hotel gives access to Butt End Mills, North Street, South Street, etc., and also Lower Hopton School and the engine shed. The road running off to the right crosses Ledgard Bridge on its way to Mirfield town centre and the railway station.