Minnie passed on her memories
My mum Minnie was born in 1919 in Crumpsall Hospital. She was christened at St. Gerome's Church in Rylance Street. She was one of 2 children. Her brother Fred worked as a bus driver at Queens Road bus station. Minnie remembered him not collecting fares from inebriated folk on the top deck, even in those days.
He would use the bus to move furniture when moving house! That would be unbelievable with the stricter regulations of today.
Minnie's dad, also called Fred worked as a labourer at Johnson and nephew wire works at Philips Park Road. During his leisure time he was an avid bowler at Philips Park, and won many bowling competitions in the 1940s. The bowling green is still there (though changed) at Philips Park.
Her dad was a resourceful man and would mend clocks for people, often supplying a replacement, to enable people to wake up in time for work. He would also fix shoes. He even made concrete skirting boards to repair their rented property in Hampson Street (Hailsham Street) opposite Forest and Sims Iron Foundry. These concrete skirting boards cut down the amount of creepy crawlies that people found in their houses in those days!
Minnie would take her dad's football coupon into Manchester on Saturday night and walk back in safety-not like today, and like most other people at that time she would 'go to the pictures' at the Don cinema.
Minnie knew everybody in that area. She attended Queen Street Junior School, and later attended Manchester High School for girls until her parents lack of money caused her to leave at 13years of age.
As a member of the girls' brigade, she loved the annual trip to Barmouth in North Wales. What a change of scenery that must have been. Her memories of Philips Park were the open air swimming pool-dancing on Saturday nights and the girls/ladies with lovely dresses. These activities seemed to stop after the 2nd World War.
The 'Cocky Farmers' (as the park keepers were known) kept order. Also there were two ponds with small rowing boats people could hire for a half hour ride. Minnie remembers a couple of the names painted on the sides of the boats as Wendy and Peter Pan.
Minnie worked at Stevenson's Box works, near the now demolished Silvana's Clothes Factory.
David Hutton