Chapter 3 - Brussell Sprouts

At the age of fourteen years old I was encouraged by a school chum to become a boy scout. He himself had four brothers (and I can’t remember how many sisters, but probably three). All the brothers were involved in scouting in the First Grangetown group. His eldest brother, Leslie Howell, became scoutmaster for more than ten years. My pal was Douglas known as Duggie Howell to everyone. We had some great times every week at the regular meeting night in the scout hut and the annual summer camp which unfortunately because of the war was restricted to local campsites which was no further than we could bike ride to in less than a day and was usually at a place called Kirkdale near Kirby Moorside, Yorkshire. The weekend camps held throughout the summer started out as one-day ventures. We could walk there in a hour and a half from Grangetown including the climb up Wilton bank to the lake were we swam, canoed, cooked outdoors and played rounders. As the war drew to an end we were allowed to leave home on Saturdays and camp out overnight and come home after teatime on Sundays. During the walk home was through the village of Lazenby and I can recall finding hens eggs in the hedgerows which if you were lucky enough to find them on the way out it was something to add to the menu at the camp. There was one other troop namely the Third Grangetown that was attached to the local St. Mathews church. I think the Second G-Town group must have gone bankrupt, or lack of members caused their demise. I do not know anything about their existence.

After the war I became an assistant scoutmaster and we held camps in Scotland and at Ruthin Castle in Wales. We would go on the train and take our bikes, which enabled you to see more of the country. We took a boat across to the isle of Arran off the coast of Scotland and another boat back to the city of Ayr and slept in some farmer’s barn on the return journey. Most of the time it was hiking wherever we decided to go. Being an assistant scoutmaster was a bit of a joke since there was no scoutmaster. He had been promoted to district commissioner and they restructured the scout movement, which meant an official could only hold one position. However we managed quite well and as I had earned the King’s Scout badge in August 1945 plus gold all round cords was considered to have enough ability to carry it off, albeit illegally according to the scout law at the time.

Paragon cinema

Dad bought a piano (or what was left of it after the house it was in was bombed out) from one of his pals at the District Social Club in Grangetown for ten bob. Ten bob being half of a one-pound note was equal to two dollars. During the war four US dollars was equal to a pound. He paid some guy to rebuild it and add the new parts. Then another guy to French Polish it, which made it look wonderful after he was done. I think his initial outlay was a mere drop in the bucket compared to the final cost when it was finished. He decided that all his kids would have the chance to learn how to play. Me being the eldest, was first to go to Mrs. Collins who was the church organist at the St. Mathews previously mentioned. She also played the piano nightly at the Paragon cinema in accompaniment to the silent movies. I have other stories about the Paragon that should not appear in this article. Contact me for details!

I took lessons for more than four years, which was seriously jeopardized by my absence for twenty-seven months in the Royal Navy. We called the Royal Navy The Andrew! Andrew, being the patron saint of sailors, and also of Scotland. There were no pianos on any of the ships I was on or any others for that matter so my expertise suffered considerably. Brother John and cousin Bessie also took lessons from the same teacher for many years. I think John was given the piano when he married and moved into Cheetham Street. I do recall that it was equipped with brass candlesticks, which were removed when the re-finishing polish job was done. So that will give you a clue as to how old it was going back to the time when the player had to read the music by candlelight as there was of course no electricity and only one centrally mounted gas mantle which provided the lighting for the whole living area.