Friday, December 17, 2010

'NUTTY SLACK'

Just spotted Mastin's coal lorry delivering some bags to an address in Bigby Road. Yes, there are still some Brigg households with old-fashioned coal fires. Boyhood memories abound of the Brocklesby and Son lorry making deliveries to our council house and proprietor Joe dropping by for his payment - in cash, of course - after his men had topped up the bunker.
Meanwhile, down St Helen's Road, a Bobcat machine is clearing snow and ice off the highway. We aren't sure whether the snow-clearing team has been sent by North Lincolnshire Council or whether it's bit of private enterprise. The same thing's been going on in Central Square, King's Avenue and Burgess Road.

4 comments:

Ken Harrison said...

A Bobcat - someone's had their Christmas pressie early!!!

Ken Harrison said...

The first house that I lived in had a coal cellar and sacks delivered by the Co-op's horse and cart. Sacks were emptied down the coal-hole; on completion, the grid was replaced.
The mountain of coal presented a great adventure playground - my game was to climb up it, thro the coal-hole and return down the cellar steps - and repeat.
It was okay until me Granny Turner fell down the exposed coal-hole after returning from the shops. She went feet first - waist and above sticking out of the coal-hole. Apart from her dignity, she wasn't hurt.

My Uncle Ken and Aunty Babs who lived in a distict called Roby, next to another district called Knotty Ash, had their coal delivered by the Dodd family business - the Dodd family included a 'Dad' Dodd, a son and another son called Ken -funny looking guy with buck teeth and fizzy hair!

When we moved to another house (at age of 7), the coal went into a bunker just inside the side entrance.
My Mum use to say that knutty slack was ofen used as an excuse for the coalmen to deliver a bag of coal dust.
On one occasion, my Mum tackled a coalman who had just delivered a black, cone-like, dusty heap.
She stood, with kitchen knife in hand between the only escape route and the coalman and told him in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to keep his knutty slacks, he'd better deliver a decent bag.

Wimmen and mums were like that in those days - no-nonsense Amazons with a heart of gold

Ken Harrison said...

ps......in me early days, coal, bread and milk use to be delivered house to house by horse and cart.

One consequence of this was once the drays had moved further down the road, old ladies use to rush out with their coal shovels and scrape up any horse's droppings for their roses.
If two old ladies arrived at the same dropping point at the same time - there were lots of arguments, shovel-waving and pushing about the question of 'ownership'!

One didn't need a telly for entertainment.

Ken Harrison said...

Can anyone tell me why I have repeatedly spelt 'nutty' with a 'k'?
I will have to see a sykiotrist as I must be fysically and emotionally unphit!

English is a funny business - different letter blends give the same sound....sometimes the same letter combinations present completely different sounds. Like:

Though - rhymes with so
Through - homophone with threw
Cough, Gough - rhyme with off
Tough, enough - rhyme with buff
Borough and its compounds, thorough - a short schwa
Hiccough - rhymes with up. (but can be spelt "hiccup").
Bough - rhymes with cow (but wot about Frank Bough the TV sports presenter?
Ought, nought, fought, bought - rhyme with caught, taut, court, sort
Lough - homophone with loch.

Blinking confusing, ain't it!
No wonder I failed me '0'-level!