About the contributor

DO YOU EVER FEEL THAT GOD HAS DOUBLE CROSSED YOU OR MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN BORN?.....THAT IS HOW I FEEL.
BORN AN UNEXPECTED TWIN DOESN’T GIVE YOU MUCH OF A START.....MY BROTHER, OLDER THAN ME BY TWENTY MINUTES ALWAYS GETTING PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN ALL THINGS, DIDN’T HELP ME ONE BIT. HE WAS CONSIDERED BRIGHTER THAN ME (which he was, in MATHS and remembering dates in HISTORY) BUT OF COURSE BOYS IN THOSE DAYS WERE GIVEN PRIORITY ( girls were nothing really) I WAS ALWAYS DRESSED UP PRETTILY ( had some lovely clothes ) BUT HAD BEST CLOTHES AND SCHOOL CLOTHES AND NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET...COULDN’T WEAR ANY NEW CLOTHES ON A SUNDAY IF IT WAS RAINING, A BIG DISAPPOINMENT IF YOU HAD TO WAIT ANOTHER WEEK TO WEAR THEM 7 DAYS WAS A LONG TIME...QUITE AN ORDEAL IN FACT.
I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE THAT I WAS BORN IN U.S.A. WHICH REALLY MEANS UPSTAIRS IN THE ATTIC...WHICH IS TRUE, MY PARENTS WERE LIVING, AT THE TIME OF OUR BIRTH, WITH MY AUNTIE AND UNCLE AND TWO COUSINS, SO IT WAS QUITE A HOUSEFUL....WHEN WE WERE SIX MONTHS OLD A HOUSE TO RENT CAME UP AND MY AUNTIE GOT ON HER KNEES AND PRAYED THAT MY PARENTS WOULD GET THE HOUSE IN ORDER FOR HER AND HER FAMILY TO GET BACK TO NORMAL...BINGO! SOMEONE AT THE RENT OFFICE TOOK PITY ON MY MOM AND SHE GOT THE HOUSE FOR US MUCH TO EVERYONES RELIEF....WE HADN’T BEEN IN IT VERY LONG BEFORE MOM FOUND BUGS UNDERNEATH MY BROTHER WHEN HE WAS IN BED AND SHE WENT BESERK AND THE WHOLE HOUSE HAD TO BE FUMIGATED..ALL THE WALLPAPERS STRIPPED OFF (and there were several layers of them)....AND THE HOUSE DONE UP FROM TOP TO BOTTOM.
.MY FATHER WORKED IN THE STEEL WORKS AND HAD A LOT OF UNEMPLOYMENT(on the dole really) SO MOM HAD TO SUPPLEMENT THE HOUSEKEEPING BY CLEANING FOR OTHER PEOPLE AND DECORATING TOO....SHE USED TO PAPER A ROOM FOR LESS THAN HALF A CROWN AND MORE OFTEN THAN NOT DIDN’T GET PAID ....SHE ALSO USED TO KNIT AND SEW FOR PEOPLE AND SOMETIMES DIDN’T GET THE MONEY IN THAT QUARTER EITHER...SHE WAS A VERY HARD WORKER WAS MY MOM.
MY DAD WAS A MARVELLOUS DANCER AND USED TO M.C MOST OF ALL THE BIG FIRMS ANNUAL DANCES AT THE SHEFFIELD CUTLER’S HALL THERE USED TO BE 2 DANCE HALLS ONE FOR MODERN AND THE OTHER OLD TYME MY DAD DEALING WITH THE LATTER AND IN ONE OF THE BIG BANQUETING ROOMS THEY USED TO HOLD WHIST DRIVES TO WHICH MY MOM OCCASIONALLY WENT IN TOAND ONCE WON THE FIRST PRIZE OF A FULL 12 SEATER TEA SERVICE AND THEY HAD TO HAVE A TAXI TO BRING IT HOME (it was a lovely tea service).....! NEVER HAD A LESSON ON HOW TO DANCE IT WAS INBRED IN ME AND I WAS DANCING AT THE AGE OF TWO...MY BROTHER AND I WENT TO OUR FIRST DANCE AT THE RIPE OLD AGE OF SIX MONTHS..EVERYONE TAKING IT IN TURNS TO NURSE US....MORE OFTEN THAN NOT WHEN MY MOM AND DAD WENT TO A DANCE WE WERE LEFT IN THE CARE OF THE NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOURS MR. AND MRS. SPRIGG AND MORE OFTEN THAN
NOT WE WERE NOT IN BED WHEN THEY GOT HOME ‘COS THE SPRIGGS LIKED TO HAVE US IN THEIR HOUSE WITH THEM. MOM MADE ME SO ME LOVELY DRESSES TO GO DANCING IN AND I WAS NEVER ALLOWED TO PUT THE DRESS ON UNTIL WE WERE READY TO SET OFF TO THE DANCE AND I REMEMBER THAT ON ONE OCCASION I WAS WEARING MY LOVELY UNDERSKIRT AND ONE OF MY FRIENDS CAME TO BORROW MY SKATES WHICH WERE KEPT IN A CUPBOARD.....GUESS WHAT?.....I GOT SOME OH. OFF THE WHEELS OF THE SKATES ON TO THE UNDERSKIRT AND DIDN'T I GET A CLIP FOR THAT. MOM WAS FURIOUS
AND I CRIED OF COURSE *COS YOU SEE THE DRESS WAS MADE OF CREPE DE CHENE AND THE UNDERSKIRT SHOWED THROUGH IT, SO DID THE OIL FROM MY SKATES.
MY BROTHER AND I ATTENDED THE SAME SCHOOL AND WE WERE IN THE SAME CLASS UNTIL JUNIOR SCHOOL, AT THE AGE OF SEVEN WHEN GIRLS AND BOYS WERE SEGREGATED. HE BEING MORE INTELLIGENT JUMPED A YEAR AHEAD OF ME SO HE WAS THE SHINING LIGHT, SO TO SPEAK. AT THE AGE OF 10 HE SAT THE SCHOLARSHIP EXAM ( A YEAR EARLY) AND WON A PLACE AT THE GRAMMER SCHOOL OF HIS CHOICE BUT MY DAD WAS OUT OF WORK AT THE TIME AND COULDN'T AFFORD THE NEEDS FOR SUCH AN EDUCATION SO IT HAD TO BE TURNED DOWN.....THE FOLLOWING YEAR WHEN THE EXAM CAME AROUND WE BOTH SAT THE SAME EXAM AND WHEN THE USUAL FORMS WERE BEING FILLED IN, MY BROTHER WAS GIVEN THE CHOICE OF SCHOOLS AND OF COURSE CHOSE
THE ONE HE SHOULD HAVE ATTENDED THE YEAR BEFORE ...I HAD NO CHOICE...THE SCHOOL NEAREST, HIS CHOICE WAS DECIDED FOR ME SO THAT HE COULD TAKE ME (I was treated as if I was at least 2 years younger than him,always)
AT SCHOOL I LIKED MOST LESSONS BUT ESPECIALLY SWIMMING, DANCING,SEWING, DRAWING, DIDN'T LIKE HISTORY OR GEOGRAPHY VERY MUCH YET I GAINED A DISTINCTION AT THE MERIT EXAM WHEN I WAS 14 ..ONE THING I DIDN'T DIG VERY MUCH WAS MENTAL
ARITHMETIC, UGH!!....! WAS IN THE ROUNDERS TEAM DANCING TEAM AND NETBALL TEAM (The latter occasionally because I was so small) I LOVED DOING ALL THOSE THINGS AND THE TRAVELLING
AROUND TO VISIT OTHER SCHOOLS. I REMEMBER ON ONE OPEN DAY THE DANCING TEAM DID THE USUAL PERORMING AND THE TEACHER HAD TOLD US TO GO IN A PLAIN SIMPLE DRESS AND HOW EMBARRESED I BECAME WHEN MY MOM DECIDED THAT I COULD WEAR ONE OF MY BEST DRESSES FOR THE OCCASION I DAREN'T TELL HER WHAT THE TEACHER HAD SAID SO I STOOD OUT LIKE A SORE
THUMB (in my opinion) I DON'T SUPPOSE ANYONE NOTICED BUT ME.
I WAS PROUD OF MY SWIMMING ACHIEVMENTS HAVING GAINED A MEDAL FOR LIFE SAVING AT THE AGE OF 14 AND MY BROTHER COULDN'T EVEN SWIM.......BUT (wait for it) HE STARTED TO GO FOR LESSONS AT THE RIPEOLD AGE OF 13 AND BY THE TIME HE WAS 14 HAD BECOME THE YORKSHIRE SCHOOLBOY BREASTROKE CHAMPION AND I ONCE MORE WENT IN TO THE BACKGROUND. WE BOTH SAT THE MERIT EXAM AND PASSED BUT NATURALLY HE DID MUCH BETTER THAN I DID ( another good mark against his name) THOSE DAYS A BOY WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A GIRL WHEN IT CAME TO DOING WELL SO IT DIDN'T MATTER ABOUT ME ( any sort of job would do for a girl)WE EVENTUALLY SAID GOODBYE TO SCHOOL DAYS AND STARTED LOOKING FOR WORK IN ORDER TO BRING IN A FEW PENNIES FOR THE HOUSEHOLD...AND HAD TO GO TO WHAT WAS THEN CALLED THE LABOUR EXCHANGE AND "SIGN ON"