George's Notes
Can you remember those boiling hot days in summer when there wasn’t a breath of wind and the milk kits in the farmer’s float were draped in white cotton sheeting in an effort to keep his milk fresh and sweet? No electrically operated refrigerators for butchers in those days, and what a headache he had in trying to preserve his cuts of meat in a presentable appearance.
Out on the streets, the sun would be beating down on the pavement and the tar melting and oozing up from the paving setts whilst youngsters used to go round popping the tar bubbles. Then along would come a distraction which caused the drivers to jump down off their carts and hold their horses’ heads until the distraction passed. It was the spraying tram whose appearance we always delighted in because it gave us the opportunity to take off our clogs and stockings and skip about in the spray. The type of tram used for this purpose was usually a single-decker with the seats removed and the whole of the interior taken up by having a huge water tank fitted.
George Mainwaring
