Old Boys, Girls and Teachers Guestbook

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Welcome to the Guestbook
Feel free to add messages relating to the site and the school. The only rules are: real names only, no personal attacks and no unrelated messages (inappropriate messages may be edited/withdrawn without warning).

It would be appreciated if you gave an email address, where you now live and said when you were at the school, but you don't have to.

Plase note that if you click on an email address below you will need to replace ~DOT~ with . and ~AT~ with @ in your email program. The Guestbook presents these this way to avoid email address harvesters collecting your email addresses from the page. I know it's a pain, but it's very much better than the alternative.

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There are 500 messages in the guestbook
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Viewing messages 31 to 40

Alex Patterson, VUA, 1946=1951 | ad1935ap~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hello Mike, Neale, Bruce et al,
Winkles…….that’s the word I couldn’t recall…I don’t think I ever used the terms “Whelks or Willocks” By the way. I am neither dextrous nor ambidextrous although I would give my right hand to be.( corny old joke)
When I was going to the Odeon on Saturday mornings, I bought a sixpen’orth bag of winkles in a white paper bag, with one side longer than the other. Why
longer? I don’t know!!
This was my technique for disembowelling a winkle:-
1…..With bag of winkles in left hand, select a winkle with the right hand.
2…..Place bag into lap and transfer winkle into left thumb and index finger
3…..Take pin (safety pin, straight pin or upholstery pin) in right hand and remove winkle from shell. “Howk it oot”

P.S. I used an upholstery pin from my Mum’s sewing box; it had a shirt-button sized head with a short spiral pin…ideal for winkles.

On another topic I have just returned from a 5 week stay in Hospital. We went for our annual medical check up. My doctor didn’t like my bloodwork results and sent me for a repeat test. She called me immediately, “Go to emergency NOW!!” I did, even though I had no symptoms, pain or discomfort. I was diagnosed with ’acute kidney injury’ and my creatinine levels were 4 times higher than they should have been, in the high 500’s. I was injected with high doses of anti biotic until the readings started to recede into the mid 200’s where it seems to have stabilized. So go get your bloodwork done on a regular basis. It’s worth the effort,,,it might save your life,
The medical care here in Toronto is marvellous, the help has been fantastic and we are being well looked after by our three fabulous daughters. We’ll be moving into a retirement home next month.
Best wishes from a sunny and warm North York,
Alex

Tue 15-Aug-2023 17:44 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Neale Backhouse | nealebackh~AT~gmail~DOT~com

Hi Mike. Hope you are keeping well.

Alex and Bruce's foray into the world of whelks,Willocks and winkles (I seem to remember they were winkles on the Sutton) had me returning in memory to what was virtually a rite of passage at the time they describe. I must admit that I failed miserably to pass the test . Nothing could persuade me to disembowel an unfortunate winkle by means of a pin and pop him in my mouth. I watched other kids do it and marvelled at their dexterity,and feeling at the same time the stigma of failure which attended my decision. I was forever banished from the winkle crowd. I am therefore intrigued by Alex's admission that he carried a bagfull (presumably a cornet of newspaper) of these creatures to the Odeon National Cinema Club. How did he manage the disembowelling in a darkened cinema. He only had two hands, one to hold the bag and the other to select a victim. So where did the pin fit in?
I was also a member of the Odeon Club.(The first movie was an animated version of Gullivers Travels) and remember the soft drink stall in the Market Place, as we emerged in bright sunlight, and bought Dandelion and Burdock with it's frothing beer like head. That put a suitable cap on the morning's entertainment.
Liz says It's movie time.
Bye for now, Neale,

Sat 8-Jul-2023 04:58 - Victoria BC

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

I love Alex's recollection of the Saturday morning at the Odeon, But, Whelks? Quite large and up-market!

On the other hand you could buy a packet of winkles in the market en-route to the Odeon, enjoy them courtesy of a pin and then throw the shells around!!

Anyone who is not from that generation will be wondering what the (Choose your own expletive) are these ancient people talking about.

But we're still here.

Fri 7-Jul-2023 18:44 - ruskington lincolnshie

Alex Patterson, VUA, 1946-1951, | ad1935ap~AT~gmaill~DOT~com

Hello Mike and his followers (like me),-
Bruce’s comments regarding post operative ice cream and other things we ate at the end of the war reminded me of one of my favourite snacks. On my way to Saturday mornings at the movies (Odeon for me) I used to pop into a little fish shop on Queen Street almost directly under the railway bridge. After many iterations and owners, it is now “Falafel Freiha” The shop in my day sold whelks (Willocks) for sixpence a bag and I would pocket them until I was seated inside the cinema. I loved these and sometimes would get another bag to eat on the way home They were beautifully cooked and salty.
Years later, when I’d moved to Canada, I found a rather upscale fish shop on Ste Catherine Street that sold whelks by the bag, (more than sixpence however) and savoured the thought of them as an after supper treat. But I was thwarted because I couldn’t remove them from their shells. My daughter soon spotted the reason when she noticed the whelk’s eyes moving around and peeking out of the shell !!. However they tasted just as nice as the old S.S. willocks.By the way, my daughters were horrified when I popped them in the pan of boiling salty water.
Bon appetit from a sweltering North York,
Alex Patterson.

Thu 6-Jul-2023 21:58 - North York, Ontario, Canada

Bruce Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

Probably/possibly the things that we didn't eat, or couldn't eat. I recall that when the wonderful Minchellas ice cream shop was just getting going after all of the restrictions of WW2 I had my tonsils removed and ice cream was strongly recommended as a healing agent.

It wasn't too far from Quarry Lane to Prince Edward Road.

Tue 27-Jun-2023 19:21 - ruskington lincolnshie

Neale

Welcome aboard,Eric.
Congratulations on joining us here in the 60 plus club. Best wishes to both Doreen and yourself. Do you think it was something we ate back in the fifties that's kept our clogs intact? Cheers.

Fri 23-Jun-2023 02:00 - Vic BC

Eric Moyse | eric,moyse35~AT~yahoo~DOT~com

Doreen and I are just a couple of months behind Neale and Liz as our 64th comes up in July.
Just for the record, our first meeting has a strong connection with the Boys' and Girls' Grammar Schools where we were both sixth formers. Charlie Constable ran a branch of the United Nations Association for the two sixth forms, which held its meetings in the top floor of Percy Villa, a house at the sea end of Beach Road then occupied by the manager of Westoe Colliery and this is where Doreen and I first met.

Tue 6-Jun-2023 10:44 - Reading, Berkshire

Neale

Congratulations and welcome to the 60s plus club, Bruce!

Wed 31-May-2023 18:37 - Vic BC

Bruce Spencer Graham | bsgraham~AT~btinternet~DOT~com

Great recollections, so to keep the pot boiling.

Very much a junior with just 60 years of marriage to the wonderful Gill. Married , believe it or not, at an RAF base in Libya (Idris airport as it was now in ruins).

My brother Douglas from your vintage was an afficionado of Jean Heilbrons and really got into the ballroom "thing". Those who enjoyed tripping the light fantastic may recall the Sutton Estate Hall that had a sprung floor.

Sun 28-May-2023 21:26 - ruskington lincolnshie

Neale Backhouse | nealebackh~AT~gmail~DOT~com

What a relief. I'd been thinking, Alex, that my previous, perhaps too personal revelations, had resulted in me being sent to Coventry by all and sundry. But here you are lifting my spirits.

It's 64 years for Liz and I (March 1959) and we too met at Jean Heilbrons in July 1954. I have fond memories of "Jeans". The first hesitant steps aided and abetted by the young proprietress, who taught me the intricacies of the quickstep. It was a happy crowd and Liz and I often croon to memories of the Bradford Barn Dance,(with the mandatory "HANG ON!" thrown in),when we hear familiar lyrics on the radio.

I'm sure we all concur with your appeal to our contemporaries (and everyone else) to keep the Guestbook alive and well.
Cheers, Neale.

Wed 24-May-2023 19:43 - Victoria BC.

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