This must have been a special occasion as we were having this photo taken in our nan's front parlour of 12 Tracey Street, which was only used on high days and holidays - or funerals. John Crow is on the right (back) next to David with me, Janice, sitting on Dave's lap. Leslie's the little one with the sticky rock . I remember I always felt like the bees knees when I wore this dress. Get the haircut, Dave!!
On the subject of haircuts, the boys were always taken to Palladinos, the Barbers Shop, which I think was in Ethelred Street. As I was the only girl, I had to have my hair cut there too and I remember being terrified when he sharpened his razor on the big leather strap. Ironic that I ended up marrying a barber! Our youngest brother Paul wasn't born until 1958 so isn't in this photo.
On the day Leslie was born in September 1954, I remember we got another surprise as well. Our dad bought us a television - one of the first in Tracey Street - I suppose he thought it would keep us out of the way of our mum. It's funny how, as kids, we were never told anything - certainly never told if there was another baby on the way - they just turned up and then our mum got thinner again until the next time...........even if we had suspected it (and I was far too naive for that) we would NEVER have dared ask our mum. The night before Paul was born, I was told I had to sleep in my Nanny O'Sheas bed, which was a trauma in itself because I was terrified of her wardrobe. It was a polished oak thing and I was sure there were ghosts hiding inside just waiting to come out when it got dark. I remember hearing a baby crying in the night but still didn't twig until my aunt, whom we called Charley's Mary, came in to get me in the morning. She was always such a smart lady and didn't flinch at all when she picked me up in soaking wet pyjamas as I had wet the bed, probably with fear about the wardrobe. She carried me in to the bedroom on the second floor, the "posh" bedroom which also became our "lounge" at Christmastime - I never knew why! I remember looking at this little bundle and saying something like "Where did that come from?" Five kids in a three-roomed flat - our dad should have bought the telly before 1954. More about Charley Rapley to come..........
