The Little Wooden Wagon.
My brother and I had a wooden wagon we played with. It was made of wooden slats you could see through, and many a times we would go bottle picking with Neil Stoppard who's mother owned the hardware store in Matlock Green. The best place to pick up bottles was the first entrance to the Matlock football field that had a locked gate so people would not sneak in without paying. There was a square of bushes surrounded by a boxwood hedge, which continued all the way to Farmers Garage, and the entrance to the football field where you paid to get in to watch the game. Neil and Andrew who were four years younger than I would go on all fours through the bushes and find many bottles. They would throw them out and I would put them in the wooden wagon. When they came out the boys were filthy, the clothes, knees, and shoes looked as though they had seen better days. I wore a dress and cared about getting dirty, but they were boys and thought nothing of the dirt. We would pull the wagon along the boxwood hedge sometimes people would stick their empties in the hedge and fill our wagon to the top. Auntie Dolly Wall would take all the Corona bottles and Squash bottles and my Dad took the beer and wine bottles at The HorseShoe Pub. One day we made a lot of money 30 old pence which would be two shillings and six pence, and we split it equally between the three of us. I know Neil came to a sad demise but when you are children you are innocent and not tainted by gossip or hate.
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Written by Susan Oliver.
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The Horse Trough.
My little brother Andrew aged 3 liked to play with the water in the horse trough. Luckily my mother was washing dishes and could see him through the window. One minute he was playing with a stick with his back toward her, the next all she could see was two legs and two feet. Mum rushed out and grabbed him from out of the trough where he was stuck fast by the sludge at the bottom. Mortified Mother was near tears but my brother was no worse for wear and smiled at her. We took a photo; he had the biggest grin. We drained the trough after that. Our pub The HorseShoe use to be a stage coach Inn in the early days that was the reason for the horse trough and the out buildings were once stables that were changed to garages. The pub was originally built over a duck pond.
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Written by Susan Oliver.
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Auntie Dolly Wall 1.
Auntie Dolly Wall had the sweet and paper shop in Matlock Green in the 1950's. She was one of those people who could put you in your place, Mother said she had a soft side but some times she would speak out when the men took too long deciding what they wanted, but she loved children. There were four sizes of paper bags she had a small cone shaped paper bag just for the children and she would put sweeties in this little bag and give it to the children free while the parents were deciding what to buy. Do you remember when you could buy half a hovis? Aunty Dolly would cut it in half and place the other half crumb down back on the bread shelf. On Tuesday and Friday there was a delivery of cakes, baps, and cobs. In the summer the wasps were an annoying part of having the cakes. We did not care. Sometimes there would be a ham. In those days people would ask for two slices of ham, or two eggs, or half a loaf. When she got the Wall's ice cream now that was exciting. There was noth ing as good as the vanilla ice cream in wafers. The choices were not as vast as they are today. I have so much more to say about Auntie Dolly and I will.
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Written by Susan Oliver.
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Auntie Dolly Wall continued 2.
Sometimes we would look through the Sweet shop window at all the sweets and wonder what we could buy with a few pennies. Here are some of the sweets I remember Black Jacks, Fruit Chews, Barley Sugar Sticks, Dolly Mixtures, Flying Saucers, Sherbet Dabs, Chocolate Covered Dates, Red Lips, Violets, Penny Arrows all flavours, Butterscotch, Marshmallows pink and white, Pink Sugar Mice and White Sugar Mice, Coconut Ice, Fry's Five Boys, Nips, Cough Candy, Honeycomb, Rainbow Bits, Jelly Babies, and then there were the big jars full of Mint Imperials, Spearmint Chews, Foxes Glacier Mints, Foxes Glacier Fruits, Lemon Drops, Humbugs, Gob Stoppers, Chocolate covered Turkish Delight , and really small boxes of Black Magic Chocolates, for sixteen pence old money. Then there was a tray of Toffee, which Auntie Dolly would bang with a hammer to break it up to weigh and Lollipops in a jar. There was so much more and how she got it in her little shop I will never know. Sometimes she would g o in the back and bring out jars of sweets if you could not see them in the shop.
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Written by Susan Oliver.
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Half Closing Days.
Shops closed early on a Wednesday at midday and at 2.00 p.m. on a Saturday. There were no shops open on Sunday except Aunty Dolly opened up to sell the papers from 10.00am to 12.00am if my memory serves me right. You really were not allowed to buy anything else on Sunday but like Mothers who forget the bread, an old loaf would go out with the paper. We would see Dolly taking her dog for a daily walk in the park. Not a fashion maven wearing sturdy lace up shoes grey socks tweed skirt and cardigan or blouse and thick coat when it was cold. Her hair never changed it was short just below the ears with a side parting and a sturdy grip pinning her hair down to keep it from falling into her eyes. We leave this world without telling people how much we cared for them. I really did care for Dolly as a child and now as an old lady. I see things now I never understood before.
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Written by Susan Oliver.
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