{"id":8248,"date":"2025-01-15T14:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T14:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/?page_id=8248"},"modified":"2025-06-25T10:58:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T09:58:53","slug":"a-1960s-walk-to-school","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/index.php\/a-1960s-walk-to-school\/","title":{"rendered":"A 1960&#8217;s walk to Primary school"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"8248\" class=\"elementor elementor-8248\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-1e7341e7 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"1e7341e7\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6dd1e88e\" data-id=\"6dd1e88e\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-971da37 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"971da37\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7158c73 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7158c73\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">A 1960's walk to Primary School<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9862133 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9862133\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>The 200m Tannery dash!<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-d0bdee8 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"d0bdee8\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-22dff12\" data-id=\"22dff12\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-77f9b57 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"77f9b57\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My mum and dad couldn&#8217;t afford a car so the 1 mile walk to St Stephens school in Warrington was an integral part of our daily routine, and as part of that journey we had to pass Orford tannery. For those that don\u2019t know, a tannery is where animal skins are \u201ctanned\u201d into leather. Orford Tannery was a Georgian\/Victorian\/Dickensian edifice that produced sole leather and \u201ctanners rough strap butts\u201d (basic leather straps that can be used for belts etc.,) as its specialities. From the age of 5 onwards I made the journey with similar aged \u201cschool buddies\u201d from the adjoining streets\/roads, (<em>I can\u2019t imagine this would be allowed in today\u2019s more protective climate, but this was the 1960\u2019s &#8230; a time of innocence?). <\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-18464b6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image-gallery\" data-id=\"18464b6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image-gallery.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image-gallery\">\n\t\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-8248 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-medium'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a data-elementor-open-lightbox=\"yes\" data-elementor-lightbox-slideshow=\"18464b6\" data-e-action-hash=\"#elementor-action%3Aaction%3Dlightbox%26settings%3DeyJpZCI6ODI1OCwidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6XC9cL215Z2FyZGVudGFsa3N0b21lLmNvbVwvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNVwvMDFcL01hcC1vZi10YW5uZXJ5LXNjYWxlZC5qcGVnIiwic2xpZGVzaG93IjoiMTg0NjRiNiJ9\" href='https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Map-of-tannery-scaled.jpeg'><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"247\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Map-of-tannery-247x300.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Map-of-tannery-247x300.jpeg 247w, https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Map-of-tannery-842x1024.jpeg 842w, https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Map-of-tannery-768x934.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Map-of-tannery-1262x1536.jpeg 1262w, https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Map-of-tannery-1683x2048.jpeg 1683w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 247px) 100vw, 247px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a data-elementor-open-lightbox=\"yes\" data-elementor-lightbox-slideshow=\"18464b6\" data-e-action-hash=\"#elementor-action%3Aaction%3Dlightbox%26settings%3DeyJpZCI6ODI1MywidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6XC9cL215Z2FyZGVudGFsa3N0b21lLmNvbVwvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNVwvMDFcL29yZm9yZF90YW5uZXJ5X2Zyb21fc3RfbWFyZ2FyZXRzLmpwZyIsInNsaWRlc2hvdyI6IjE4NDY0YjYifQ%3D%3D\" href='https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/orford_tannery_from_st_margarets.jpg'><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"124\" src=\"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/orford_tannery_from_st_margarets-300x124.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8253\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/orford_tannery_from_st_margarets-300x124.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/orford_tannery_from_st_margarets-768x317.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/orford_tannery_from_st_margarets.jpg 780w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8253'>\n\t\t\t\tA distant view of the tannery from a local church tower\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4440947 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4440947\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tannery was a collection of stained, smoke scarred, stuck with blood buildings. It oozed thick, unctuous odours; smells and vapours that contorted the face, pulled the nostrils apart, wedged them open, and insinuated dread, fear, and primordial horror into the na\u00efve olfactory senses of our incomplete bodies. \u00a0In the winter this wasn&#8217;t a problem, the cold air deadened the dead, but in the summer, the languid passive aggressive heat, slow-cooked the edifice. Passing the Tannery en-route to school, avoiding the malignant stench, necessitated a two-hundred-yard sprint along a rough track that ran parallel to the factory. It was invariably accompanied by attempts to trip each other, with the aim of leaving one of our merry troupe squirming, laughing and puking, held in the miasma of long dead animals.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On those days when the wind direction and air temperature allowed a more leisurely stroll past the tannery, we would often pause and look beyond the weatherworn \u201cTrespassers will be prosecuted&#8221; sign into the forbidden, mysterious tannery scrubland. \u00a0 Through the barbed wire fence we could see the lime pits&#8230;. solid black pustulated ponds that generated many a scare story for us as kids; fabricated, excited child, bravado laden stories of bodies being thrown in, left to sink and dissolve; stories of narrow escapes, of being pulled from the pits before disappearing without a trace. Occasionally, we would be able to launch hefty lumps of rock over the fence and into the nearest pit. The rocks would hit with a resonant &#8220;perdunch&#8221;, rest for a moment on the rippleless, tar-like surface before slowly descending. They didn&#8217;t sink, they were eaten by the pit, the thick, black, viscous lime jaws savouring its latest inductees.\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More often than not, our activities were curtailed by the muffled, smoke choked, garbled ranting of the caretaker who we nicknamed &#8220;Peggy&#8221;. We knew little of him other than that he was, to us, incredibly old (in reality, probably mid to late 60&#8217;s), he had &#8220;fag&#8221; on the go constantly, a club foot (possibly due to childhood polio), and he walked with a profound limp. This combination meant he was not the most agile of caretakers, wheezing his way round the perimeter fence with a &#8220;Capstan full strength&#8221; or &#8220;No6 untipped&#8221; plume of smoke in his wake, uttering guttural and threatening noises directed at potential (and hypothetical) ingressors. Once &#8220;discovered&#8221; we would switch our primary school limbs into &#8220;run mode&#8221;, let fly a volley of abuse, each member of our gang trying to outdo the other in terms of the quality and offensiveness of our tirade, and then scarper &#8230; making our way either on to school or home.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6c801fc elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6c801fc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Just past the Tannery, on the corner of Tanners Lane was a sweet shop!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3097dfc elementor-align-right elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"3097dfc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/index.php\/the-sweet-shop\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Visit the Sweet Shop<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-da1a572 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"da1a572\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6177462 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6177462\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e2d1a14\" data-id=\"e2d1a14\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3d5ecb7 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"3d5ecb7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/index.php\/other-writings\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Back to scribblings<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 1960&#8217;s walk to Primary School The 200m Tannery dash! My mum and dad couldn&#8217;t afford a car so the 1 mile walk to St Stephens school in Warrington was an integral part of our daily routine, and as part of that journey we had to pass Orford tannery. For those that don\u2019t know, a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8248","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8248"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8545,"href":"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8248\/revisions\/8545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygardentalkstome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}