rochdale....some memories...jumbled thoughts in no particular order

the other day i was in rochdale on business and found myself close to drake street ....which used to be the smart shopping street of the town...alas no more.....it looks forlorn...abandonned.....shuttered shops...it is a visual mess....the only highlight for me was....is it possible....yes....the san remo coffee bar where we used to while away chatting to girls.....it was close to the art school where i was a student on a foundation course.....64 to 66.....hours with one cup of coffee...chatting to the girls....the art school was just opposite...i was a student doing foundation art with people like tim wood...fiona ward...ann baldwin....david clough....robin chadwick.....ian bamford....vince bottomley et al..........since burnt down...this is another story.......back to the san remo.....i couldnt resist it i went in and had a coffee...it looked vaguely the same....here are a few shots.....

the wimpy bar used to be close by......another hang out....very brightly lit though ....we preferred dim and atmospheric........further up drake street was a cafe called.......?.......just before dennis hopes mens wear shop....its so long ago...we also used to meet the girls every day after school at the bottom of the walk....a small pedestrian street...eyeing each other up...and waiting for the bury girls grammar school bus to arrive.....got it....the medichi...i think i used to spell it like this....complete with jukebox...and dark.........being in rochdale has jogged my mmory of other times and places associated with around the same time.....silver street methodist chapel...a place where we went to dances on a saturday night id be about 15...16....the latest dance was the twist by chubby checker....the night usually went like this...all the lads on one side of the room and ...yes the girls on the other....lots of eyeing up and go on ask to dance stuff....at the end of the night probably 9...9 30 we would probably go to the chippy on spotland road........he had channel swimmers and gold bars........the last dance was always a slow one ( music played on a dansette) that was the last chance to get the girl youde fancied all night.....

..we walked home from here down by the river spod down what we always called 200 steps...i wonder if they are still there...close by silver street was clarkes lane where i went to primary school..one famous class mate being bet lynch of corrie fame....susan shotton was a swat...gillian firth was very pretty...but then i wasnt interested in girls.....barry cottam gave me my nickname ...charlie.......we where playing football on lenny barn with jeremy march..ian taylor...and one or 2 others...a coach went past owned by a company called charlie holts coaches....barry looked at the coach and then looked at me....bingo ...my new name...and it stuck...and stuck...and.....i was probably around 13 ish.........
its interesting how places trigger thoughts....as i walk around rochdale i think that someone in the street could be someone that i know....its my version of fantasy friends reunited...........i kind of like the idea of reaquainting myself to a long ago past..........names come into your head....old ladies that i used to do errands for on a saturday morning when i was about 10....mrs corney was a near neighbour....miss burrows had an old fashioned greengrocers...spuds were in sacks...when you opened the door ...a strange bell dinged...then she came into the shop...a big woman wrapped in a huge pinny and wearing clogs.....i bought penny ice lollies there....there were posters for skegness....scarborough etc on the walls....it was a .travel agents as well..............haircuts were at teds across the road an ex army barber....short back and sides...and i mean short back and sides........he left almost no hair at all and then asked if you wanted any tooti........brylcream......if you said yes...he deposited a huge dollop on your head....then is was rubbed it in...combed it......you had the appearance of someone with greasy plastered hair...when you went outside it felt cold...reason........no hair...fortunately my mother did not like teds idea of a haircut.....mine was left relatively long...........much like it is now......


the first house that i remember was 97 rooley moor road...a terraced house.......after the front door was hallway...on the right the sitting room...this was only used on special ocasions.....birthdays.....christmas...when you werer ill...i remember having my tonsils out and spending some time recouping in this very room...after i came out of rochdale infirmary...a present had been hidden...it was a toy pop gun rifle ..complete with a cork on a short peice of string..........the furniture comprised a three piece suite.......a dumb waiter full of nik naks........the room that we lived in had an old iron range that went almost to the ceiling...it had an oven...a place to heat the kettle..and a water boiler...this was for when we had a bath.....a zinc bath...that was kept in the cellar.......the kitchen then called a skullery was tiny....no hot tap....a door leading out the backyard.....where the outside loo was....last thing at night you made sure you went....during the night there was a chamber pot kept under the bed,,,,,,,,