A story from Mike Felton

                                                                                                 SIPPERS and TASTERS

Daily life at number 4 Johnson Close revolved around the four meals of the day. Breakfast ; dinner ( never “lunch”);tea and supper. Its worth remembering that rationing , brought in during the war was still in place when the town welcomed its first settlers .Sugar and sweets came off the ration in 1953..meat and bacon in 1954. We children were dosed with daily spoonfulls of orange juice and cod liver oil. The orange wasn’t bad but the Cod liver oil was greeted with little enthuisiasm.

I suppose that Sunday dinner was the most important meal of the week. Dad always started with a solitary Yorkshire pudding and gravy. He had a very flexible knife that he used with great skill to scoop up the gravy. The roast was usually beef or pork. Chicken was a rare visitor to the table as it was so expensive. The dripping from the joint made fantastic sandwiches.  Rice pudding followed ..or  Yorkshire pudding with milk and sugar. Grandma Felton would arrive for her Sunday tea . She caught the bus from Rothalls garage in Horden. We would have tinned fruit with Carnation Cream as a starter  at teatime  followed by sandwiches. The adults played cards before she returned to Horden . We did not have a fruit bowl however I can remember eating banana sandwiches. This was an economical use of one banana. It would make half a dozen sandwiches. Dad  sometimes made his version of stotty cakes but all of the cooking was down to mam. She visited Yoden Road shops daily. I can recall being sat on the rack for shopping bags at the butchers and gazing through the see through lids of the boxes of biscuits on display .We didn’t have a fridge until my early teens. Perishable foods were kept on the cold slab in the pantry. Milk was delivered to the doorstep each morning. Monday was “ fry up” day. Always with fresh Yorkshire puddings. Tuesday was egg and chips. Every home had a much used chip pan. Very dangerous in use but the chips were first rate.  Mid week would be a pie crust . Baked with an upside down cup holding up the pastry lid. Corned beef pie always went down well. I watched my mam preparing meals. She never seemed to measure anything. Mince and onions was popular. Either with mashed potatoes or  on a huge slab of buttered toast.  The fish and chip shop sold fresh fish on Fridays and on Saturdays we had rabbit or Savoury Duck. From the Bero Cook Book mam made Coconut Haystacks and fly cake. 

Midweek would see the arrival of a butchers van and a bakers van. The butcher stocked Polony  the baker sold Russian cake. When dads garden and allotment were up and running most of our vegetables were home grown. Mam would often give us a stick of rhubarb and a small twist of sugar to eat as we played out. Occasionally a sugar sandwich or bread and condensed milk.

We did have the odd treat. Home made toffee and cinder toffee. The pop man ( either Wood and Watsons or Fentimans)  delivered to your door such delights as Tizer, Jusoda, Ice cream Soda and Ginger beer. The stoppers had an orange rubber band .( These were much treasured as you could make a little gun with them. All you needed was a wooden cloths peg and a hair clip. They fired spent matches.) 

Because of the ration we did not develop a sweet tooth. On my fifth birthday we were treated to some ice cream. The ice cream man, I think this was Mr. Jobs who came on a bicycle with an insulated box  attached to the front . You took a bowl and bought the deep yellow ice cream by the slice. I had never tasted anything that sweet before. I think I was a bit ill.!

When I was considered old enough to go up to the shops (on messages) I could make a few pence by returning glass bottles as a deposit was charged on purchase. A bag of chips could be swapped for a pile of newspapers at the fish shop.

Families in the Fifties continued with much of the “make do and mend “ attitude from the war. Mam and my grandma and aunt from Horden continued to make their own pickles and chutneys, brawn , pressed cheek jams and marmalades. I was a 16 year old before I tasted Branston Pickle.

Mushrooms were tracked down by an uncle who was born on a farm. He had a secret spot at the bottom of the pony field . this was were pit ponies were rested . ( between what became  the British Legion and to the left as you walked down Ellisons Bank.) We ate supper using the window ledge as a seat. Porridge…drunk from a cup ,or occasionally Sugar Puffs, or a Farleys rusk if a baby was about. One summers evening as we were having our supper, there was an almighty bang and the whole window shook behind us. An RAF plane had hit the sound barrier.

Mike Felton   March 2025