| Description | DOB: Unknown
DOD: Unknown
Grew up at 10 The Brows, off Collyhurst Road, Manchester, overlooking the River Irk.
Youngest of five siblings; parents were in their forties when she was born. Her father left work due to illness (euasthenia) when she was two, placing financial strain on the family.
Attended willet street nursery (described as warm and nurturing).
Brief time at Collyhurst Tin School, which she disliked due to an early experience of exclusion.
Later attended Smedley Road School (formerly Smedley Board School), where she stayed until age 14. she enjoyed history but struggled with reading aloud and composition.
Enjoyed traditional street and playground games: skipping rope, hoop rolling, rounders, marbles, clay modelling, dressing dolls etc.
Played ludo and snakes & ladders with her father.
Crafted toys with her father in the cellar, notably a doll's table.
Treasured walking in Whitsuntide processions in new clothes.
Loved cream cakes and home-baked treats.
Experienced local neighbourhood decline between the 1920s and WWII.
Cared for by a brother 12 years her senior after elder siblings married.
Took a rare family holiday with her father to Marton and trips with her mother to Southport or St. Anns.
Describes changes in the textile industry affecting her brother's employment.
Type-written
Collyhurst, River Irk, working-class Manchester, The Brows, childhood games, neurasthenia, Smedley Road School, WWII austerity, street culture, willet street nursery, early 20th century, family resilience, domestic life, Edwardian nostalgia, school discipline, lost community pride. |