I was brought up in
a village - Cowling in
West Yorkshire, and
started school at four
years old there. It was
a long way to walk from
my house – no buses to
school then ! 1939
marked the beginning of
the Second World War, my
pre-school days. My Aunt
Gladys May and her
husband Jack Emmott who
lived in Fold Lane had
no children of their
own, and they took an
evacuee called Peter
Whybrow, his sister was
called Pauline, I think
they came from Brighton.
Winters seemed harsh
then. I remember wearing
long brown woollen
stockings held up with
garters, and clogs made
by our village cobbler!
As I grew older – we had
“school milk” of course,
and school dinners which
were really good. Going
to a village school
meant you knew everyone,
and one of our teachers
Mrs. Winifred Scott was
the author J. B.
Priestley’s sister! I
learned to sew and knit
at primary school too,
hobbies carried on into
adult life.
The village green was
just across from our
house. There didn’t seem
to be many of us
children really. Some
Dads were in the forces,
but mine wasn’t, he held
a job which excluded
him, so he volunteered
to be one of our local
firemen. I expect we
children forgot there
was a war on as we
played on the green?
Marbles were collected
by all of us, beautiful
coloured things they
were – we girls had
whips and tops and we
decorated the tops with
coloured chalk, so that
in whirling they threw
off a good pattern.
Hopscotch was a
favourite game too. I
collected stamps in an
album. How did I earn
the money to buy them?
Perhaps peeling the
vegetables for our tea?
When the war ended I
remember buying Horlicks
tablets at the sweetie
shop. I was a pupil at
the Grammar School, an “
all girls school” in the
nearby town of Keighley.
It was a bus journey of
8 miles, and I revelled
in going on the bus on
Saturdays too, to “the
pictures”. My favourite
cinema was the Ritz! In
the foyer were big
glamour photos of real
stars – Lana Turner,
Rita Hayworth, Margaret
Lockwood, Phyllis
Calvert, Stewart
Grainger and James
Mason. Oh I loved the
cinema!
One of our local
“characters” was called
“Snuffy”. He was
“supposed” to run the
chemist’s shop in the
village, but it was so
untidy and filled with
just about everything,
from Cephos powders to
Ponds lipsticks. The
shop was so dusty and
absolutely crammed with
stuff. Snuffy had to
climb up ladders to
reach things, but he
generally had everything
in there.
Another character we
called “Jesus” because
of his beard, but we
were genuinely
frightened- us being
kids we thought he was a
mountain creature.
“Jesus” used to visit
Ada O’ Tibbs, another
village character.
Viscount Philip Snowden
a famous M.P. and
Chancellor of the
Exchequer was born in
Cowling. My own surname
then was Snowden, as was
quite a few other
children, but I never
thought he might be a
relative until recently,
so I’m researching it
now I’m in my 60’s!
So I had a wonderful
childhood in Cowling,
teenage years too. I
still pass through it on
my way to Keighley, and
look up onto the moor
from where “Jesus” came
down, and smile.
We had undivided
attention at our village
school, and I can
remember my school
friends all those years
ago with clarity. I hope
they do too! We were
privileged during the
war years, and had
evacuees amongst us. It
MUST have been a safe
place?
A GOOD PLACE TO GROW UP
IN?
By Patricia Tilley (nee
Snowden)
P.S.
A few names of people I
remember and some I went
to school with were:-
Jack Greenwood, Frank
Benson, Neil Brigg,
Lloyd Brigg, Gerald
Snowden, Clive Snowden,
Peter Hewitt, Tony
Jobling, John Benson,
Kenneth Tanswell, Roy
Airton, Norman Binns,
Cyril Dransfield, Steve
Wood, Dennis Gott, Tony
Winstanley, Avril Smith,
Marie Pearson, Phyllis
Hopkinson, June
Hardingham, June
Baldwin, Heather Brooks,
June Hargreaves, Yvonne
Jobling, Betty Hall,
Enid Spencer, Enid
Smith, Marjorie Sawley,
Joe Sawley, Mavis
Hodgson, Mavis Atkinson |
