George Spenceley recalls his childhood memories of Middlesbrough and how his large family coped with life in World War II and with the happy and sad events of family life.

My Father George William

My Dad was a man who enjoyed life, a gardening man, he revelled in a game of football playing for Cargo Fleet. A happy man always singing or whistling the songs of those bygone times and of course he enjoyed a pint of beer with the lads.

My Father & Friends

Dad also enjoyed tap dancing. I have heard stories that at times he was cajoled into tap dancing on the tabletops in the Brambles Farm Hotel. Yet he was very quiet.

My Father George

Most of his time at home was taken up cobbling the family's boots and shoes. He bought large pieces of thick stiff leather and mended the shoes with the aid of different sized lasts.

These were pieces of metal, a similar shape to the footwear to be cobbled that the boot or shoe was fitted over, it acted as a firm base on which to do the hammering.

My Father George B

He spent hours cutting and shaping the leather to affect the repairs. After sole and heeling my boots, a metal toe and heel plate was tacked into position followed by large metal studs hammered into the soles to try to make the repair last longer.

Dad was not a greedy father even during the days of food rationing. If bacon was on the menu even though it only a small portion he would always see that we kids had a taste.

Having a number of children around him, at times we would annoy him. He would raise his hand to us youngsters but I cannot remember a time when he hit us in anger.

Dad had always wanted a garden and at our new house we had a garden on three sides of the house with open countryside and views looking across to Eston Hills about four miles away.

A box van drawn by a horse was used to move us. We didn't have much furniture in fact very little but Dad like a lot of other men was quite handy with his tools and he made various articles of furniture to help fill the bedrooms.

He used tea chests and other pieces of wood to make dressing tables and things and then varnished them with a dark stain. It looked practical enough but when the doors were opened there were no inner shelves to store things, however, we found them ideal places to play hide and seek in.

We had a large mat in the living room made from coconut fibre and the surrounding floorboards were stained dark brown. Upstairs the boards were scrubbed white every week with carbolic soap as there was no floor covering.

There was no such thing as a tablecloth, sheets of newspaper were laid across the table and discarded when dirty and later a material known as oilcloth was used. It was like a painted pattern with a cloth base and could be wiped clean.

I think we were very hard up in those days but then most families were in the same boat. Then came the war.

George Spenceley, 2002