I was born in 1954, in one of a row of cottages called the Beehive cottages, due to the Beehive pub that was at the end of the row.
The next house we lived in was also in a row that had the Dog and Partridge pub in the middle, my grandad worked at the brewery a bit further down the road as a cooper, they made the wooden beer barrels for Beverly's Beers, who were quite prominent in many Lancashire mill towns at the time.
There was also an Esso petrol station across the road from us, i used to spend a bit of time there when i was about ten years old, helping the mechanic by passing his tools to him, that was also around the time that Esso were promoting their petrol with the "Put a tiger in your tank" adverts on TV, for every gallon of petrol you bought, they gave you a Tiger tail, which you were supposed to fasten to your petrol cap, with the bit of string on the end of the tail, anyone else remember?
I don't remember many prices at the time but i do remember Mars bars were about three times the size they are now.
We also used to call in at the "Tuck shop" on the way to school and buy Lucky bags and sweet tobacco, liqourice sticks and toffee ciggarettes.
I can also remember the cards you got with bubble gum i think, the cards were of giant insects attacking people and the military, i think it had something to do with Mars invasion.
Me and my mates also used to buy the old Post office BSA Bantam motorbikes from the local scrapyard for £2, complete with the leg-shields and carrier on the back, all the Post office vehicles were painted red, so we used to remove the leg-shields and use the bikes in the feilds.
I left school in July 1969 and my dad got me a job in the local shoe factory, where he had worked for years, my first wage was £4.10s (four pounds and fifty pence in new money), i got a secondhand Honda 50cc for my 16th birthday, my mum bought it off the postman who lived up the road from us, for £15.
Summers always seemed to be proper summers back then, as did winters with massive snowdrifts for weeks on end, although we still had to walk to chool and work, no matter what the weather.
Anyone remember popping the tar bubbles by the side of the road, when it was so hot that the tar melted?, i used to get a right shouting at for coming home covered in the stuff...but they were happy days!
G ; )