Post by Matt James on Apr 16, 2009 14:47:09 GMT
MY TELEGRAM BOY DAYS AUGUST 1961 - 1965 written by Ted Knott.
Head office
Manchester Spring gardens-off Market street.
On Monday August 8th 1961 I started work as a Telegram boy (junior Postman) I was 15 years and three months old. I was instructed to report to the main GPO building at No 2 Spring Gardens in Manchester at 9am which was located off Market street.
On arrival I was led to Mr Hayes office he was known as 'GABBY' to all the lads who gave us an induction on how the job was carried out gave us a belt , Pouch & 'Sam Browne' belt which was attached to your waist belt went across your body and over your shoulder to the back we called it a cross strap but not many of us maintained that code of dress and until our uniforms arrived after measurement of course we had to wear an identity arm band we were then introduced us to our superiors known as PHGs (postman higher grade) they included Bill (cakey) Ellis,Tommy (sarge) Foster,Percy Tasker,Andy Duxbury,Arnold Whalley (uniform man),Tom Buckley(Major) from Brookside gardens in Benchill and Mr Cummings from Grosvenor road in Whalley Range, Cakey and Sarge were so disciplined because whenever they were behind the desk an inspection of your uniform took place,you were all lined up like soilders on parade Cakey in particular was a 'STICKLER' for shiny boots and badge Mr Tasker wasn't keen on 'SCRUFFY' messengers either however Tommy Buckley in stark contrast was lenient with us which made him more popular than he already was,we were never sent home if our dress didn't reach the criteria but we were warned about it in view of the next day and to be honest it was as much as anything a learning curve in tidiness and discipline sadly sometimes missing from todays society!
The messengers I knew all those years ago were Terry Broderick who lived just round the corner from me in Gostrey Ave Withington,John Collinson from Wythenshawe who we called Irum Holliday because he was a 'dead Ringer', for him,Paul Davis,Harry Dunlop,Freddie Spencer , Bernard Selby from 147 Clinton Ave Fallowfield ,Steve Clapworthy from 20 Alderney walk in Miles Platting who's elder brother worked at 117 Stockport road as a messenger,Steve later worked at the Newton Heath office on Oldham road, Sammy Jepson from Gorton,Tony Walker from Moston who's cousin was Stan Bowles ex City & QPR footballer,Terry Meehan from Sutton Estate Gorton,Barry Moulton from Sutton Estate Gorton,Derek Grimshaw from Salford,Pete Rothwell from Clayton,Keith Robinson from 247 Broom Lane Levenshulme,Peter Ashworth, from Russell street Ancoats/Beswick Dave Mcgovern, From Northern Moor Tony Russell, From Wythenshawe Dave Broadbent from Northenden Dave Worthington and Pete Cotterill ( Roscoe) there were others of course. We delivered telegrams in and around the town centre and also to the old streets of Hulme remembering it was before redevelopment of the area Renshaw Street,City Rd,Stretford Rd,Radnor Street,upper Jackson Street,Clopton Street,Duke Street,Greenheys Lane, Piggott Street,Webster Street,Hebden Street and Caton Street were just a few of hundreds I can remember.In the TOWN as we called it we delivered to companies,banks,hotels and shops such as The Midland,The Queens,The Waldorf,The Grand and the Deansgate Hotels as well as The Midland Bank on King Street,Martins Bank on Spring gardens and of course the famous Lewis's on the corner of Mosely Street and Market Street.I can recall having to deliver and collect important documents from the M/c weather centre situated inside the Royal Exchange buildings on Cross Street there were many others buisness's where our jobs took us not forgetting the memorable trips to the old CENTRAL station which is now the GMEX where until 1965 the legendary steam trains whistled their way to the Peak district, during the period where electrification was being installed on the M/c piccadilly to Euston line the 'PULLMAN' diesel or whatever train it was whilst sat in our messroom waiting for our next job we felt the ground shuddering along with the sound of a train on its way to Marple or perhaps St Pancras in London. There was also the Corn Exchange buildings just off Corporation street,not forgetting Victoria and Exchange stations and of course M/c Piccadilly station they were known then as Great Midland Railways (GMR) and the London Midland Scottish (LMS)the joke in later years was "THE LMS? AND YES IT WAS IN A MESS" it was because during these years Doctor Beeching axed many lines around the country which ultimately saw the closure of Central Station in hindsight Mr Beeching carried out a criminal act where if those branch lines were still in operation our traffic congestion in and around Manchester would have been considerably eased fortunately some of the old cuttings have been converted into walkways but many have been neglected and left overgrown with trees and bushes,the old cutting from Firswood down through Chorlton past Hough end fields on to Didsbury clearly show the neglect which by the way are more evident on the line branching off at Mauldeth road West in Chorlton which used to take the trains to Guide Bridge via Fallowfield,Levenshulme south and Gorton.Before beginning our shifts our pouches were searched our uniforms inspected and we then awaited instructions,we all took our turn on delivery advice which did induce a bit of 'SCIVING' on our return like hiding behind corners waiting for your mates to go in first then you would be out after them unfortunately sometimes it worked against you because you would end up with the worst job.The deliveries to Hulme for example would mean a push bike was needed they were big,red with white metal mudguards.There were other duties that were internal such as the returned letter branch (RLB) where you affectively was a brew boy and a 'GOAFER' (ERRAND BOY) there was also an office on Mosely street called CABLE & WIRELESS where they had a workforce of about six lads plus of course the PHG and telegraphists to be honest I never knew the actual difference between the working schedule I assume the Cable & Wireless 'GRAMS' were from overseas,messengers were also evident at places in town such as 55 Portland street,25 Church street and Blackfriars house in Chapel street in Salford 3 near the bus station where in those days all you seen was the green Salford buses. We had a rota system such as 6am-2pm 845am-4-30pm (monday to Saturday) 1230noon-8pm (monday to Friday) on finishing duty your pouches were inspected and off you went for home! Our uniforms were black with a red stripe running down the outside of your legs you had to display a metal badge on your right lapel showing your Number mine was 2648.If you infringed GPO rules and regulations or was insubordinate you were disciplined by recieving a formal written warning which we named it a 'SKIN' if you were given so many you were hauled before the Superintendant which usually ended with dismissal from the service the 'BIG' boss was a Mr Pimlott who lived on Parrswood road near to Fog Lane park and I must admit he was a disciplinarian but one one occassion he was very fair with me- YES I kept my job! At break times we used a canteen on the top floor where a lift from the basement took us up four floors to it.They were hot meals and a good selection too of pie,pudding chips and peas,gravy if you wished, fish,chips & peas,chicken,pepsi cola,lemonade or orange if you wanted as well coffee or tea them days were boring but then again as employees under the age of 18 the GPO gave us vouchers to obtain free meals some lads never bothered having a meal they brought 'butties' and sold their allocation of vouchers to some of the other lads at a price obviously cheaper than the than the actual price- they were commonly known as 'CHEAPSKATES' to the rest of us! After a meal we had a games room in the basement where you could either have a game of snooker or a game of table tennis,next door was the uniform and bike room where Arnold Whalley worked reparing bikes and keeping the uniform stock up to date Arnold transferred to a higher pot around 1964 and Jim Hall took over the duties. Sadly the fine old Victorian building was demolished around 1970 which at the time in hindsight of course was criminal.Occasionally I was sent out to other offices known as Sub or district such as Newton Heath where I once worked a Saturday and what a slog that was being on my own pedalling a GPO bike round the East side of Manchester,also Ardwick (known as 117 Stockport Rd) Didsbury and Wythenshawe all on a push bike it was a hard slog which caused a lot of saddle sore I can tell you.As time passed on lads such as Harry Waterhouse from 275 Parrswood road Didsbury,Ken Dodd (not the famous one) Ray Westmorland from Benchill,Mike Hickey from Miles platting who also ended at Newton Heath with Messrs Spencer and Clapworthy ,then there was Graham Barnes from Gorton,and Pete Midgely from Salford,on 19th August I recieved my first ever pay packet and in it was the princely sum of two pounds four shillings and nine pence of which two pounds went to my mother.Eventually I applied for motor cycle duties and spent two weeks training from Dantzic street in Collyhurst and on Friday August 22nd 1962 I passed the bike riding test, for a week or two I worked at 117 Stockport rd and Wythenshawe filling in for sickness or holidays where at 117 I befriended lads such as Geoff Edge and Alan Winterbottom before commencing duties at 95 Lapwing Lane in West Didsbury known as Didsbury B.O. (branch office) there were workmates such as Ernie Mcgarva from Levenshulme, Ray Taylor from 47 Barlow Road Levenshulme,Alan Booth from Fordham street Longsight,Paul Seipen from Rusholme, Pete Walker from Parrswood Ave Didsbury,Vic Kite from Brunt street in Rusholme.Later Jeff Lancelott from Aston Ave Fallowfield , Bob Hunter from 324 Parrswood Road Didsbury Bernard Selby,Keith Robinson, Graham Barnes, Roy Bamford from Brompton road Moss-Side,Pete Harris from Wythenshawe who the last I saw of him was he was working as a counter clerk at a post office on Wellington street Gorton just before Xmas in 1972 then there was Harry Waterhouse,Terry Broderick and Ray Westmorland who also worked at the Lapwing Lane office.The counter/telegraphists I can remember were Dave Aston,Jean and Janice Mcdonald from Edgeley in Stockport,Margaret Nugent from Wythenshawe, Cyril Beswick from Woodhouse Park,Mr Tyrell the overseer,Tom Maloney (PHG) from 439 Chester Road Old Trafford,Mike Berry and Jean Livesey (I think) who was the senior telegraphist,apologies to people I haven't mentioned.The shift pattern was -1. 9am-4-30pm mon to Sat 2. 5-24pm Mon to Friday 3. 9 to3pm 11to 3pm mon to Sat 4. 11 to 8pm 9 to 3pm mon to sat 5. 1230 to 8pm mon to sat. A few of us were big Belle - Vue speedway fans and we even had our own track just off Nell Lane where a new estate now lies adjacent to the cemetery we all met on the field and had races and consequently when we got back to the office the little bantams were full of mud sometimes we had to bend back the leg shields back in shape our 'GAFFER' Tom Maloney used to go mad at us,honestly we got away with murder but it was part of the fun and certainly the process of growing up we were so fearless it is so frightening looking back - but still fun and what great days as well,coincidentally the lads at 117 used to scramble their bikes in Denton woods which was located between Haughton Green and Woodley in fact they practiced a more daring act than we did,they rode over a wooden plank bridged over the River Tame below NOW THAT WAS BEING CRAZY! after each shift we parked our bikes up in a lock up garage in the yard ready for the daily inspection next morning.Each bike had a number which I can vaguely remember T4902 (mine) T5313 -T5314 - T5326 T 5695 there was another but I cant remember the number,what frustrated me inparticular the most you could get out of the bikes were 35-40 mph and so to make them faster we used to take the 'head' off and decoke the piston,decoke the 'baffles' in the exhaust and lower the carburettor needle after breaking its seal of course all this was carried out at home during or after you had finished delivering or in the yard after Mr Maloney went home but it put an extra 5mph on the speed even then it was sheer frustration especially if you had a bike yourself that could do 60mph,his job almost every morning was to check each bike top up the battery and general safety checks he was very conciencious but thats how people worked in those days however he did sometimes give me the worst jobs where sometimes particularly on a Saturday which was the buisiest day with weddings up to 20 deliveries,at the start of every shift we had to check our bikes and fill in a log book giving the mileage and verifying it was ok and to fuel up we had to call in at Granville Road D.O. in Fallowfield and mix the oil with the petrol by means of filling the cap on the bike with two parts of oil to say 1 gallon of petrol because they were two stroke engines, the bikes were serviced or repaired at a GPO workshop in Fletcher street Stockport where mechanic Charlie Gray carried out the work,he was a cockney and I referred him as 'A FEW BALL BEARINGS SHORT OF A CLUTCH PLATE 'the reason being I was once nominated as our representative for entry into the 1964 motor cyclist of the year held in and around the Preston area and Charlie was responsible for the pre- maintenence of the machine before the event.It was a bit bizzare really because the bike I rode T4902 regularly was allocated as the reserve bike and T5695 the newest model was the one I had to compete with however during the road task which you had a map and certain instructions to follow broke down with clutch failure and I had to finish off the competition with my regular bike of course it cost me points but I felt much more comfortable but of a consequence I finished well down the field,I found out later off a Preston based GPO mechanic the clutch had some bearings missing from the clutch assembly which caused the clutch to fail - HENCE the nickname I gave Charlie the cheeky cockney!!!!Our messroom was located from outside and when we were required Tom or whoever was on the desk pressed a button which activated a bell in the messroom and the next one out went to the desk where he signed a docket for the 'grams' he was given to deliver then it was jacket and reefer on leggings if it was raining,helmet on and off we roared down the little entry dividing our office with Williams supermarket next door, outside the office there wasn't traffic lights at the Lapwing Lane/Palatine junction or at the Fog Lane /Lapwing /Wimslow road junction like there are nowadays just an Halt sign. Sometimes I was called to 117 to cover sickness and at the Sharston office on Altrincham Road. Nowadays only 117 and the Sharston offices are still post offices mainly because they are District offices that provide every day mail deliveries,we also had an office cleaner I think she was called Ada and lived in Hurstbank ave off Fog Lane near to Kingsway in Burnage she was a very nice and sociable lady who always had time for a 'Natter' ,95 Lapwing Lane is now a Pizza Restraunt and the Newton Heath office on Oldham Road I think is now a house at its rear once stood the old Newton Heath Loco football ground in Ceylon street.At Didsbury our telegram deliveries covered areas within Rusholme,Levenshulme,Chorlton,Old Trafford,Withington,Fallowfield,Whalley Range,Old Trafford,Firswood,Burnage and East Didsbury.A few of us had our our machines as well I had a Triumph Tiger sports cub T20sl model,Ray Taylor a 350cc Matchless,Pete Walker an Vellocette shaft driven 350cc,Graham Barnes a BSA 500cc. At meal times we used the cake shop at the end of parade next to our office where we bought large apple pies with a rich coating of sugar on top tasty custard vanilla's coated in icing,meat and potato pies straight from the oven and sometimes it was crisps on a buttered barmcake, on the same parade of shops was Inman's who dealt with stationary items and to this day the Inmman family still keep the buisness going, the post office nowadays is at 99 Lapwing lane which is next door to the Williams Supermarket.if we were on the 9am - 4-30pm shift it was Dawson's fish and chip shop on Burton Road just before Burton road on the right heading towards Barlow moor road where we got meal vouchers off our bosses then it was pudding- chips-peas and gravy on the late shift 1230pm - 8pm shift we used the cake shop.Eventually we all left some of us transferred to senior postman duties at Newton street in town and some left the service altogether we lost touch altogether sadly Terry Broderick passed away in 2004 but I still see Mike Hickey from Miles Platting who I have a few drinks with at the Grove & Derby pubs in Clayton, how good it would be to get in contact again with some of the other GPO workmates after all these years.After doing 2 years of senior postman duties I left in September 1967 but the memories go on and on.
Ted Knott on his Bantam 125cc in 1963
Head office
Manchester Spring gardens-off Market street.
On Monday August 8th 1961 I started work as a Telegram boy (junior Postman) I was 15 years and three months old. I was instructed to report to the main GPO building at No 2 Spring Gardens in Manchester at 9am which was located off Market street.
On arrival I was led to Mr Hayes office he was known as 'GABBY' to all the lads who gave us an induction on how the job was carried out gave us a belt , Pouch & 'Sam Browne' belt which was attached to your waist belt went across your body and over your shoulder to the back we called it a cross strap but not many of us maintained that code of dress and until our uniforms arrived after measurement of course we had to wear an identity arm band we were then introduced us to our superiors known as PHGs (postman higher grade) they included Bill (cakey) Ellis,Tommy (sarge) Foster,Percy Tasker,Andy Duxbury,Arnold Whalley (uniform man),Tom Buckley(Major) from Brookside gardens in Benchill and Mr Cummings from Grosvenor road in Whalley Range, Cakey and Sarge were so disciplined because whenever they were behind the desk an inspection of your uniform took place,you were all lined up like soilders on parade Cakey in particular was a 'STICKLER' for shiny boots and badge Mr Tasker wasn't keen on 'SCRUFFY' messengers either however Tommy Buckley in stark contrast was lenient with us which made him more popular than he already was,we were never sent home if our dress didn't reach the criteria but we were warned about it in view of the next day and to be honest it was as much as anything a learning curve in tidiness and discipline sadly sometimes missing from todays society!
The messengers I knew all those years ago were Terry Broderick who lived just round the corner from me in Gostrey Ave Withington,John Collinson from Wythenshawe who we called Irum Holliday because he was a 'dead Ringer', for him,Paul Davis,Harry Dunlop,Freddie Spencer , Bernard Selby from 147 Clinton Ave Fallowfield ,Steve Clapworthy from 20 Alderney walk in Miles Platting who's elder brother worked at 117 Stockport road as a messenger,Steve later worked at the Newton Heath office on Oldham road, Sammy Jepson from Gorton,Tony Walker from Moston who's cousin was Stan Bowles ex City & QPR footballer,Terry Meehan from Sutton Estate Gorton,Barry Moulton from Sutton Estate Gorton,Derek Grimshaw from Salford,Pete Rothwell from Clayton,Keith Robinson from 247 Broom Lane Levenshulme,Peter Ashworth, from Russell street Ancoats/Beswick Dave Mcgovern, From Northern Moor Tony Russell, From Wythenshawe Dave Broadbent from Northenden Dave Worthington and Pete Cotterill ( Roscoe) there were others of course. We delivered telegrams in and around the town centre and also to the old streets of Hulme remembering it was before redevelopment of the area Renshaw Street,City Rd,Stretford Rd,Radnor Street,upper Jackson Street,Clopton Street,Duke Street,Greenheys Lane, Piggott Street,Webster Street,Hebden Street and Caton Street were just a few of hundreds I can remember.In the TOWN as we called it we delivered to companies,banks,hotels and shops such as The Midland,The Queens,The Waldorf,The Grand and the Deansgate Hotels as well as The Midland Bank on King Street,Martins Bank on Spring gardens and of course the famous Lewis's on the corner of Mosely Street and Market Street.I can recall having to deliver and collect important documents from the M/c weather centre situated inside the Royal Exchange buildings on Cross Street there were many others buisness's where our jobs took us not forgetting the memorable trips to the old CENTRAL station which is now the GMEX where until 1965 the legendary steam trains whistled their way to the Peak district, during the period where electrification was being installed on the M/c piccadilly to Euston line the 'PULLMAN' diesel or whatever train it was whilst sat in our messroom waiting for our next job we felt the ground shuddering along with the sound of a train on its way to Marple or perhaps St Pancras in London. There was also the Corn Exchange buildings just off Corporation street,not forgetting Victoria and Exchange stations and of course M/c Piccadilly station they were known then as Great Midland Railways (GMR) and the London Midland Scottish (LMS)the joke in later years was "THE LMS? AND YES IT WAS IN A MESS" it was because during these years Doctor Beeching axed many lines around the country which ultimately saw the closure of Central Station in hindsight Mr Beeching carried out a criminal act where if those branch lines were still in operation our traffic congestion in and around Manchester would have been considerably eased fortunately some of the old cuttings have been converted into walkways but many have been neglected and left overgrown with trees and bushes,the old cutting from Firswood down through Chorlton past Hough end fields on to Didsbury clearly show the neglect which by the way are more evident on the line branching off at Mauldeth road West in Chorlton which used to take the trains to Guide Bridge via Fallowfield,Levenshulme south and Gorton.Before beginning our shifts our pouches were searched our uniforms inspected and we then awaited instructions,we all took our turn on delivery advice which did induce a bit of 'SCIVING' on our return like hiding behind corners waiting for your mates to go in first then you would be out after them unfortunately sometimes it worked against you because you would end up with the worst job.The deliveries to Hulme for example would mean a push bike was needed they were big,red with white metal mudguards.There were other duties that were internal such as the returned letter branch (RLB) where you affectively was a brew boy and a 'GOAFER' (ERRAND BOY) there was also an office on Mosely street called CABLE & WIRELESS where they had a workforce of about six lads plus of course the PHG and telegraphists to be honest I never knew the actual difference between the working schedule I assume the Cable & Wireless 'GRAMS' were from overseas,messengers were also evident at places in town such as 55 Portland street,25 Church street and Blackfriars house in Chapel street in Salford 3 near the bus station where in those days all you seen was the green Salford buses. We had a rota system such as 6am-2pm 845am-4-30pm (monday to Saturday) 1230noon-8pm (monday to Friday) on finishing duty your pouches were inspected and off you went for home! Our uniforms were black with a red stripe running down the outside of your legs you had to display a metal badge on your right lapel showing your Number mine was 2648.If you infringed GPO rules and regulations or was insubordinate you were disciplined by recieving a formal written warning which we named it a 'SKIN' if you were given so many you were hauled before the Superintendant which usually ended with dismissal from the service the 'BIG' boss was a Mr Pimlott who lived on Parrswood road near to Fog Lane park and I must admit he was a disciplinarian but one one occassion he was very fair with me- YES I kept my job! At break times we used a canteen on the top floor where a lift from the basement took us up four floors to it.They were hot meals and a good selection too of pie,pudding chips and peas,gravy if you wished, fish,chips & peas,chicken,pepsi cola,lemonade or orange if you wanted as well coffee or tea them days were boring but then again as employees under the age of 18 the GPO gave us vouchers to obtain free meals some lads never bothered having a meal they brought 'butties' and sold their allocation of vouchers to some of the other lads at a price obviously cheaper than the than the actual price- they were commonly known as 'CHEAPSKATES' to the rest of us! After a meal we had a games room in the basement where you could either have a game of snooker or a game of table tennis,next door was the uniform and bike room where Arnold Whalley worked reparing bikes and keeping the uniform stock up to date Arnold transferred to a higher pot around 1964 and Jim Hall took over the duties. Sadly the fine old Victorian building was demolished around 1970 which at the time in hindsight of course was criminal.Occasionally I was sent out to other offices known as Sub or district such as Newton Heath where I once worked a Saturday and what a slog that was being on my own pedalling a GPO bike round the East side of Manchester,also Ardwick (known as 117 Stockport Rd) Didsbury and Wythenshawe all on a push bike it was a hard slog which caused a lot of saddle sore I can tell you.As time passed on lads such as Harry Waterhouse from 275 Parrswood road Didsbury,Ken Dodd (not the famous one) Ray Westmorland from Benchill,Mike Hickey from Miles platting who also ended at Newton Heath with Messrs Spencer and Clapworthy ,then there was Graham Barnes from Gorton,and Pete Midgely from Salford,on 19th August I recieved my first ever pay packet and in it was the princely sum of two pounds four shillings and nine pence of which two pounds went to my mother.Eventually I applied for motor cycle duties and spent two weeks training from Dantzic street in Collyhurst and on Friday August 22nd 1962 I passed the bike riding test, for a week or two I worked at 117 Stockport rd and Wythenshawe filling in for sickness or holidays where at 117 I befriended lads such as Geoff Edge and Alan Winterbottom before commencing duties at 95 Lapwing Lane in West Didsbury known as Didsbury B.O. (branch office) there were workmates such as Ernie Mcgarva from Levenshulme, Ray Taylor from 47 Barlow Road Levenshulme,Alan Booth from Fordham street Longsight,Paul Seipen from Rusholme, Pete Walker from Parrswood Ave Didsbury,Vic Kite from Brunt street in Rusholme.Later Jeff Lancelott from Aston Ave Fallowfield , Bob Hunter from 324 Parrswood Road Didsbury Bernard Selby,Keith Robinson, Graham Barnes, Roy Bamford from Brompton road Moss-Side,Pete Harris from Wythenshawe who the last I saw of him was he was working as a counter clerk at a post office on Wellington street Gorton just before Xmas in 1972 then there was Harry Waterhouse,Terry Broderick and Ray Westmorland who also worked at the Lapwing Lane office.The counter/telegraphists I can remember were Dave Aston,Jean and Janice Mcdonald from Edgeley in Stockport,Margaret Nugent from Wythenshawe, Cyril Beswick from Woodhouse Park,Mr Tyrell the overseer,Tom Maloney (PHG) from 439 Chester Road Old Trafford,Mike Berry and Jean Livesey (I think) who was the senior telegraphist,apologies to people I haven't mentioned.The shift pattern was -1. 9am-4-30pm mon to Sat 2. 5-24pm Mon to Friday 3. 9 to3pm 11to 3pm mon to Sat 4. 11 to 8pm 9 to 3pm mon to sat 5. 1230 to 8pm mon to sat. A few of us were big Belle - Vue speedway fans and we even had our own track just off Nell Lane where a new estate now lies adjacent to the cemetery we all met on the field and had races and consequently when we got back to the office the little bantams were full of mud sometimes we had to bend back the leg shields back in shape our 'GAFFER' Tom Maloney used to go mad at us,honestly we got away with murder but it was part of the fun and certainly the process of growing up we were so fearless it is so frightening looking back - but still fun and what great days as well,coincidentally the lads at 117 used to scramble their bikes in Denton woods which was located between Haughton Green and Woodley in fact they practiced a more daring act than we did,they rode over a wooden plank bridged over the River Tame below NOW THAT WAS BEING CRAZY! after each shift we parked our bikes up in a lock up garage in the yard ready for the daily inspection next morning.Each bike had a number which I can vaguely remember T4902 (mine) T5313 -T5314 - T5326 T 5695 there was another but I cant remember the number,what frustrated me inparticular the most you could get out of the bikes were 35-40 mph and so to make them faster we used to take the 'head' off and decoke the piston,decoke the 'baffles' in the exhaust and lower the carburettor needle after breaking its seal of course all this was carried out at home during or after you had finished delivering or in the yard after Mr Maloney went home but it put an extra 5mph on the speed even then it was sheer frustration especially if you had a bike yourself that could do 60mph,his job almost every morning was to check each bike top up the battery and general safety checks he was very conciencious but thats how people worked in those days however he did sometimes give me the worst jobs where sometimes particularly on a Saturday which was the buisiest day with weddings up to 20 deliveries,at the start of every shift we had to check our bikes and fill in a log book giving the mileage and verifying it was ok and to fuel up we had to call in at Granville Road D.O. in Fallowfield and mix the oil with the petrol by means of filling the cap on the bike with two parts of oil to say 1 gallon of petrol because they were two stroke engines, the bikes were serviced or repaired at a GPO workshop in Fletcher street Stockport where mechanic Charlie Gray carried out the work,he was a cockney and I referred him as 'A FEW BALL BEARINGS SHORT OF A CLUTCH PLATE 'the reason being I was once nominated as our representative for entry into the 1964 motor cyclist of the year held in and around the Preston area and Charlie was responsible for the pre- maintenence of the machine before the event.It was a bit bizzare really because the bike I rode T4902 regularly was allocated as the reserve bike and T5695 the newest model was the one I had to compete with however during the road task which you had a map and certain instructions to follow broke down with clutch failure and I had to finish off the competition with my regular bike of course it cost me points but I felt much more comfortable but of a consequence I finished well down the field,I found out later off a Preston based GPO mechanic the clutch had some bearings missing from the clutch assembly which caused the clutch to fail - HENCE the nickname I gave Charlie the cheeky cockney!!!!Our messroom was located from outside and when we were required Tom or whoever was on the desk pressed a button which activated a bell in the messroom and the next one out went to the desk where he signed a docket for the 'grams' he was given to deliver then it was jacket and reefer on leggings if it was raining,helmet on and off we roared down the little entry dividing our office with Williams supermarket next door, outside the office there wasn't traffic lights at the Lapwing Lane/Palatine junction or at the Fog Lane /Lapwing /Wimslow road junction like there are nowadays just an Halt sign. Sometimes I was called to 117 to cover sickness and at the Sharston office on Altrincham Road. Nowadays only 117 and the Sharston offices are still post offices mainly because they are District offices that provide every day mail deliveries,we also had an office cleaner I think she was called Ada and lived in Hurstbank ave off Fog Lane near to Kingsway in Burnage she was a very nice and sociable lady who always had time for a 'Natter' ,95 Lapwing Lane is now a Pizza Restraunt and the Newton Heath office on Oldham Road I think is now a house at its rear once stood the old Newton Heath Loco football ground in Ceylon street.At Didsbury our telegram deliveries covered areas within Rusholme,Levenshulme,Chorlton,Old Trafford,Withington,Fallowfield,Whalley Range,Old Trafford,Firswood,Burnage and East Didsbury.A few of us had our our machines as well I had a Triumph Tiger sports cub T20sl model,Ray Taylor a 350cc Matchless,Pete Walker an Vellocette shaft driven 350cc,Graham Barnes a BSA 500cc. At meal times we used the cake shop at the end of parade next to our office where we bought large apple pies with a rich coating of sugar on top tasty custard vanilla's coated in icing,meat and potato pies straight from the oven and sometimes it was crisps on a buttered barmcake, on the same parade of shops was Inman's who dealt with stationary items and to this day the Inmman family still keep the buisness going, the post office nowadays is at 99 Lapwing lane which is next door to the Williams Supermarket.if we were on the 9am - 4-30pm shift it was Dawson's fish and chip shop on Burton Road just before Burton road on the right heading towards Barlow moor road where we got meal vouchers off our bosses then it was pudding- chips-peas and gravy on the late shift 1230pm - 8pm shift we used the cake shop.Eventually we all left some of us transferred to senior postman duties at Newton street in town and some left the service altogether we lost touch altogether sadly Terry Broderick passed away in 2004 but I still see Mike Hickey from Miles Platting who I have a few drinks with at the Grove & Derby pubs in Clayton, how good it would be to get in contact again with some of the other GPO workmates after all these years.After doing 2 years of senior postman duties I left in September 1967 but the memories go on and on.
Ted Knott on his Bantam 125cc in 1963
