Charlie, Have you got a cauliflower?

My dad used to have a massive garden; he’d grow everything in it and we didn’t go short of vegetables and fruit.

We had a well and would water the garden from it. Everybody from the road used to say “Charlie, have you got a cauliflower or some cabbage.” He’d say “All right” and he’d give it to them.

We lived in a row. We didn’t go into one another’s houses but we were there for one another. If anything went wrong, they were there. And then they’d say “Charlie, can you mend me shoes?” and my dad would say “Yes, if you’ve got sixpence for the leather”. It was all very friendly.

I come from a big family. There were twelve of us; eight boys and four girls, but we didn’t go without anything, my dad saw to that. We couldn’t wish for better parents and they always found time to talk to us, no matter what it was. And if we were ill, it was always my dad who looked after us.

We used to go to Mr and Mrs Jones who kept poultry and we’d have new-laid eggs from them. Miss Smart and my friend’s mother used to say “Washday, can I have a big bowl of suds?” And then they’d come and say “Ruth”, (that’s mother) “have you got a cup of sugar I can borrow?” We never got it back! I used to hide some of the sugar on the top shelf of the pantry. When mother used to say “We’ve got no sugar”, I’d say “Oh yes we have” and get it down for her.

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Becky Barugh of the BBC Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Lilian Riedel and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

See more of Lilian and Gottfried's stories:

• Always the last one
• Seen from both sides
• Some mothers lads
• When you're young

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