Traffic Lights from the South

The crazy thing about this title is that there are no Traffic lights. This picture was taken in the late 1920 when the village had it's own Coppers. Enough coppers in fact to have one one on traffic duty. Cannot imagine he will have been that busy. Take a look at the van parked outside
what is now the Raj,wrong side of the Road Facing the wrong way as the Bobby peers west looking for a car from the Arnside direction. Could he do that today ? of course he could we have no Police at all these days,well not any that can get about without being in a car. It would seem that we where more open about things in those times, well maybe not but things that bother some people today did not seem to matter then. If you look closely on the left hand side of the picture there is,strapped to the wall a set of weighing scales. Now these scales may have been "New Fangled" at the time of the photograph and people would put their farthing in and for the first time perhaps found out that they where healthy. I guess people only worried when they started loosing weight. In today's weight obsessed society I cannot see a set of scales positioned for public use taking much money, unless they told you what you wanted to hear. The last set of Public scales I remember where in Rushtons old Chemist shop.So looking North whats changed?

I have to say"not a lot". I stood in the same place as the person who took the photo and things are very similar,obviously he had more time than me, but things look just the same,Ok there are a few of life's essentials Sky dishes etc visible but thankfully things remain as they where.. Being from the North east of the village this area did not play a big part in my early life, I remember being taken to Daffadys, who's shop was just beyond the scales for new shoes. Charming people who had a daughter who was at primary school at the same time as me,blowed if I can remember her name. Later of course this area was central to a young mans life at 13 you where allowed to become a member of Mil'thrups premier club "The Institute" where for an annual fee of a couple of bob you where allowed to sit quietly in the corner hardly daring to breathe and if you where exceptionally luck you would be allowed to have a game of snooker on the "Old" table. Never one for being able to keep still or for that matter quiet the institute soon lost it's appeal. A couple of years later me and my peers where again drawn to this area,this time to a place where people laughed, had fun and talked to us lads a place where sometimes the conversation made us blush and people of our parents age seemed normal. This was The Bulls Head. For a couple of years we had been knocking about (Yesterdays equivalent of hanging out) around the back door in particular when there was a dance on at the Memorial Hall, not daring to go in. Then one night a Lad who we knew said come on in,sit in yon corner and I'll git drinks in.Having previously only ever drunk the odd shandy made by the old fella (Heavy on the Lemonade there Dad) I was now faced with a massive glass of Beer and having tasted it was convinced that I was about to self administer poison. Come on lad tha's backwattering said our chum as I gulped down the evil brew. A'vin another? er no thank,better git off yam..As I walked home I could hardly believe that we had spent all that time hanging around waiting for the time to come and when it did it very nearly killed us Egggh. But as lads are we where still curious and back we went and in time we got the hang of the beer. As it turned out Vaux Beer was renown for being "badtekkin" the trick was a drop of lime in the glass and it

became palatable. I often wonder if Lager and Lime was a Milnthorpe invention.
As time passed from the late 60's to the early 70's we became regulars and during that period we also became legal drinkers.. The back bar had a glass panel and you could make out shapes through it, if a shape appeared that looked like a Bobby's helmet we would quickly slide our pints behind the curtain. In all the time I was an illegal I cannot remember ever being rumbled in the Bull. As I said the beer needed a make over to be able to drink it, but at 1/9d a pint what could you expect. The Bull like everywhere else had it's fair share of characters, and as young lads we would sit and listen to tales of war,Chickens,dogs and bits on the side. The first time I heard the term Bit on the side I was flummoxed ..During a conversation some one said that so an so had bit on the side, the talk then became muffled and I never got to grips with it. Some days later in walks this chap. After studying him for a while and seeing nothing obvious sticking out I said to my mate in a hushed voice "Where's this Bit on the Side then" he said "She lives up Firs Road" then the penny dropped. At this time the Bull was run by Mr &Mr Burchall who had decamped from Manchester to Mil'thrup although originally from Liverpool. He was a big bloke who held court in the Lounge bar while his wife sat regally at the end of the Bar, this was the time of the coach,when a day out in the lakes was a must for the car less masses of Lancashire and on the return from the 8 Lakes tour an hour stop over at the Bull earned the coach driver a free pint a bag of Crisps and possibly a 10 bob note. The Burchalls loved it, greeting the coach party dressed in their finest,him sporting a Dicky Bow and her dressed to kill. They had not been here that long when Mr Burchall passed away leaving a big gap in the fabric of the pub, not to mention the bed,he was a big bloke. Pints in the back bar where most pulled by one of the best Mr Eric Halliwell. Eric was a great chap who by day was "on the bins" and by night The Barman,Eric looked after us young lads and kept us safe and relatively sober, he also had the knack of dealing with difficult situations,and there where many without getting thumped his only down side was the bandit,what ever he earned he must have gambled away,he was never off it. Eric's other claim to fame was he was the Cinematographer at the Village Cinema another job that by all account needed all Eric's charm as the equipment regularly broke down which stirred up a bit of fuss among the audience. I remember going to the Cinema as a very young lad