Chapter 5 - Tug

Some of the lazier types of people preferred to raid the allotments and steal anything not nailed down rather than do all the work it entailed to run one. So most of the owners had guard dogs on site, especially overnight to discourage this practice. One day there was a Staffordshire bull terrier pup arrived at Westcroft Road to serve this purpose. He was similar to the one Don Cherry of hockey fame has. All white and muscular and would fight anything on four legs. That is how “TUG” earned his living as well as keeping the rat population under control. The animals were fed twice a day, about 8 a.m. and again at 5 p.m. when Tug would be taken down to spend the night on guard. He seemed happy trotting alongside the bike with a bucket of mash on the handlebars going to feed the livestock, and clearing off any dog that dared to appear on the street in his path.

Sometimes I had to wait for him to arrive at the garden so he could finish his scrap with another dog that was stupid enough to challenge him. Dad always had a minimum of 2 dozen hens and as many as 50 rabbits on site and the eggs etc. would be bartered for sugar or butter and other food stuff on ration. The name of the area where the allotment was located was called Mushroom Grove and there were many edible mushrooms growing wild in the veggie garden so we often got mushrooms fried along with the eggs and bacon for breakfast. My girlfriend at the time (still the same one), Doreen was never fond of Tug, which I could not understand, he was such a handsome beast.

During wartime almost every man had an allotment to supplement food rations in the form of homegrown veggies, but not everyone had a shed to keep gardening tools inside, so having a shed was looked up to as a sign of some status. One fellow in Grangetown had two sheds and was known as “Freddy two sheds”. He was almost regarded as nobility and other men, as a joke, would doff their caps to him in the workingmen’s club. I have mentioned this story to Paul who found it amusing. He often calls me Two Sheds Ray, which is not really true. My garden shed is 12 feet wide and has two 4-foot wide doors giving the appearance of a pair of semi-detached sheds. Well Paul thinks that is close enough to deserve the title, Ha Ha.