Before he went to sea, my father was a midden man who emptied the netties, as the toilets were then called.
I was born at home in 1909. I had four sisters and two brothers. We lived in Church Street and all the family went to Northumberland Street Mission. We went carol singing to collect pocket money to give poor people a meal on Christmas Day and after that, we gave entertainment in the evening. Miss Moffat after whom the sheltered house is named after, worked hard for the mission.
My mother worked in Carr’s pottery.
My father went to sea for eighteen years as a fisherman. If the catch was poor they didn’t get any pay. Previous to that he was a midden man who emptied the netties as the toilets were then called. This was done late at night.
We were bombed out in 1940 and moved to Landsdown Terrace where I still live.