Hi David
I grew up less than 20 miles from Knotty Ash and was always on the lookout for”jam butty” mines. Never saw Doddy, but I remember my parents returning from a rare night out, raving about him. So this is very familiar territory for me. And we were “innocent and undemanding”. The company my dad worked for used to organise an annual works’ outing to star-studded Blackpool. They would book the whole train and we all ate a restaurant with linen tablecloths and more cutlery then we knew what to do with. Blackpool is a sadder place these days. I do hope Douglas hasn’t fared quite so badly and that there is still some unbuttoned fun to be had.
As always, your details (eg emptying your Dad’s van to make room for the kids) do an admirably economic job of recreating that time. (And I loved the van/Victorian rhyme.)
Tatty Bye!
Joe
|