Our favourite place for doing blackberrying was a place called John Pye Hill.
We loved blackberrying. Our favourite place for doing this was a place called John Pye Hill. This was alongside High Flatworth Farm. We walked up the Backworth Colliery Railway Line from Percy Main. Sometimes we would go a lot further by jumping onto the last coal truck of a line that was being taken back to Backworth. It was a dangerous thing to do but we never thought about it. We had to watch who was driving the engine because Mr Adams, who lived across the back lane from us, would go straight to our mams if he saw us. Then we would all be in big trouble.
Apart from picking blackberries we would, if they were there, pick a turnip out of the farmer’s field and eat it on the way back home. On one occasion, we did this but the turnips must have been for feeding to the cows. They tasted horrible.
Our mothers made lovely pies with the berries, usually with apple – delicious.