Stoke and Staffordshire

Four in a Bed: A Mixed Children's Ward in Burslem

Mum and Dad made me up a makeshift bed downstairs....

Visiting the South Staffs Battalion HQ at Litchfield

Not very long ago I arranged to visit the Battalion HQ of the South Staffs Regiment which my brother Jack...

Dancing Days

My husband was 14 years of age when he was taken from his village school in Poland to go and work in...

Nits!

I can remember my mum saying that the boy had got nits!.. I now realise the boy would have been an evacuee...

Just Passing Through

They would stay in our church hall in Hamil Road, Burslem for one night. The church needed people to spend...

Smoke Bomb Factory

The factory made smoke bombs and ammunition....

Father's Presents: Lead Soldiers and a Doll

I remember some bombing around Trentham and Tittensor, the land in between. I also remember making coffee...

Posh Lady's Box

One day I went to get the shopping and at the same time a posh lady was there too... I asked the...

Hednesford

In Feb 42 I started at the Post Office at Hednesford as a boy messenger. Some telegrams were reporting the...

Queueing for Queues

One day a lady called Mrs barrows joined a queue in Burslem near to Nile Street - turned out to be the...

Food was short: Evacuated to Newcastle-under-Lyme

My sister, Pauline, and I were evacuted to Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1943... I remember searching dustbins...

School Life

My baby sister had to have one too but it had a pump to help her breathe through it. she hated it...

Night-Shift Work at 15 Years-Old

I started work in George Wade,Manchester Pottery for 6 nights a week 8pm to 8am for £2 per week when I...

Lucky Find

Staffs County Council libraries, on behalf of the author, have submitted this story. My mother used it to...

Memories of Grandma: In Burslem

Whatever meat was left over was put into the lobby along with potatoes, carrots, onions, swede, turnip etc....

Offally nice!

Chitterlings Hodge Udder Tripe of course wa often on the menu. Savoury duck was a huge favourite - it was...

Sleeping with a Bomb

After one such bomber raid and being out on ambulance duty she returned home and went to bed. On waking in...

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Some of the land was given to a nearby farmer who in turn gave us potatoes and sometimes even a leg of...

We've Won!

One of my best memories, though, was on one lovely hot summer's day - we had been to Longton Park for a...

Racial Divisions

British troops stationed at nearby Alton Towers used to spend their leisure time at the dances there......

Arsing Round Pubs

We always said that ARP stood for "Arsing Round Pubs"!!...

Munitions

Later, I went to Rolls Royce making jet engines, I lived where Mitchell lived in stoke on Trent... I met my...

Under the Kitchen Table

Staffordshire County Council libraries, on behalf of the author, have submitted this story. So instead of...

Stuck in the Harecastle Tunnel

I remember once during an air-raid we were stuck for more than two hours in the Harecastle Tunnel....

My Family

This picture was taken when Alan Woodward was on leave from the Royal Navy in 1942. His wife Irene is...

Scarlet Fever: Chell, Stoke-on-Trent

My Grandad fought in the war... My mother, his 5 year old daughter, was in hospital with scarlet fever and...