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Martin Skeffington recalls his early life in the 1950's.
When mother went back to work I would stay after school with Aunt Frances. By this time Aunt Frances and Uncle Les had given up the fish and chip shop in The Hollow, Earl Shilton, and went to live at Breach House, Breach Lane, Earl Shilton. Aunt Frances did not go to work until later in life but Uncle Les decided to work in the shoe industry, Greens, which was a very old fashioned shoe factory attached to the local cinema, The Palais, known affectionately as the flea pit. The factory was old even by the standards of the day and most of the machinery worked on the belt and pulley system.
Breach House was one half of a semi-detached, the next door being occupied by George and May Palmer and their son Robert. I remember coming home from school to watch children's TV on the BBC. It was quite exciting and a privilege as very few had a television set in those days in the late 1940's early 1950's. The coronation in 1953 led to huge sales of TV's and mum and dad purchased one, probably on credit through Mr. Edwards the local radio/TV shop. It had a 9-inch screen and was made by a local firm in Leicester.
TV in the early 1950's could be hit and miss especially during the winter when excess electricity was needed. I remember the screen fading if the power was low. Two memories which stick in my mind were Aunt Frances trying to get paraffin into holes created by wood worm using a pin and the memorable time when Robert Palmer set fire to the dry grass at the top of the allotments across the road. Mrs. Palmer just about blew a gasket!!
Later Aunt Frances and Uncle Les moved to Highside, a bungalow they had built at the top of Breach Lane in Station Road. The bungalow was built where Doctor Field's part of a former bridle way joined Station Road, and this meant that it had to be agreed by the authorities for a building could be erected there. More than just local planning permission. Eventually all was agreed and the bungalow built. We spent hours clearing the garden at the rear, removing stones that had accumulated on the old bridle way over the years. The bridle way used to go from Barwell to Potters Marston, a hamlet nearby.
As I got older, most Saturday evenings would be spent at Highside awaiting the return of dad and Uncle Les from the local Conservative club where they would be among their friends playing dominoes - known as penny knock. Often they would arrive back home gently swaying having imbibed plentiful beer. This I remember particularly when we had moved from Clodagh to our new bungalow in Stoneycroft Road. This new bungalow was known as 'Brambles'. It was later known as 2A, Stoneycroft Road, as being an in-fill building the local Council was not prepared to readjust the street numbering to accommodate our new home
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