ONTO A WINNER WORKING FOR WINNIE

Winnie Cammack is the subject of an affectionate tribute in the current edition of the Scunthorpe Telegraph's Nostalgia magazine, now on sale for 75p. And former Brigg artist/illustrator Stephen Hill has added a super colour picture of her at work to go with the feature.
Winnie was the long-serving manageress of Richardson's, the newsagent's shop in Wrawby Street (adjoining Cross Street). In the late 1960s she also gained the added distinction of becoming my first boss. Her paperboys (and girls) found her to be a very fair-minded and understanding superior.
My round was a long one - beginning in Glebe Road (not far from Bowen's shop) and continuing along Hawthorn Avenue, Preston Drive, East Parade, Central Square, Woodbine Avenue and down Wrawby Road, almost to Wrawby itself.
It included negotiating the sweeping and lengthy drive up to St Helen's - the large house standing well back from the road and being famed to Glebe Road pupils for its conker trees. This was the home of the man we called Colonel Bletcher.
I also delivered to the detached property of Dr John Foxton and his magistrate wife, Thora, who were the only ones on my round to take the upmarket, glossy magazine Illustrated London News.
Leaving aside the few addresses along Wrawby Road, most of the households to which I delivered were very much working class, taking morning papers like the Sun (in its original post-Herald format) and the Daily Mirror, Express, Mail and a few Daily Telegraphs and Yorkshire Posts.
Friday, of course, saw the paper bag weighed down by copies of local weeklies the Lincolnshire Times and the Brigg Star.
We understood Richardson's paid us more than rivals like Jack Clark (Grammar School Road) and Smith's (Wrawby Street, where Scalini's is now) whose rival delivery boys we sometimes saw on our rounds.
Mothers would make a weekly visit (usually Thursday, shopping day) to see Winnie and 'pay the papers' in a shop that also sold items as diverse as wallpaper and toys.
During our first week or two on a new round, Winnie would mark the addresses in pencil on the top of the papers; after that you were reckoned to be trained and had to remember which letterbox to put them through.
Any mistakes would result in people either ringing the shop or calling in personally to complain. So, unless it was raining, it was best practice to fold the paper carefully and push it three-quarters of the way through the letterbox. Then, if you realised a mistake had been made, it might be possible to return and fish out the wrong 'national' paper.
Brigg folk 40 years ago tended to have their daily (and in many cases evening) papers delivered to the door - despite having to pay a delivery charge. There was no option to walk, or drive, down to Tesco to buy one, as many people do today.
Of the paid part-time work available to Brigg youngsters in the late 1960s/early 1970s doing a paper round for Richardson's was a prized occupation, and not one given up without a great deal of thought.
Copies of Nostalgia magazine containing the super Winnie Cammack feature and illustration, plus much more on Brigg, are still available in local shops. However, it you are a Brigg 'ex-pat' living outside the Scunthorpe Telegraph's circulation area and wish to buy one, call 01724 273273 for details. They should be able to arrange for one to be posted to you. February's Nostalgia also carries a fascinating picture showing a searchlight being demonstrated in the 1940s in the Market Place, plus pictures of various war-time groups on parade in the town centre.