Artistic Gallery

Fondly I remember Huthwaite
Fifties’ golden childhood when
I would wander with my good mates
Irvin, Ralph, Bri’, Stan and Glen
Home-made privet bows and arrows
Indians hunting crows and sparrows
Damming brooks and making havoc
"Look all round and mind the traffic"
Home to mam and bread and dripping
Safe and sound and warm again

Saturday, front row, the Lyric
One and thrupence, Pearl and Dean
Cowboys fighting battles pyrrhic
From behind us yells and screams
Out into the blazing daylight
Checking arms and legs for fleabites
Buy a Jubbly, tastes like heaven
Scrape together one and seven
… game of tennis, bust a racket
Get thrown off the putting green

1960s dawned a new age
All still friends, but different schools
Slow to change and turn a new page
Different games with different rules
On the rec’ for summer cricket
Old oil drum as single wicket
Bright red compo new from Woolies
Watching out for teenage bullies
Played till dark and home and hungry
"Where’s tha bin, tha bloody fool?"

Ten Park Drive from Mrs Miller’s
Fags for dad and mints for mam
Nellie Shooter’s snap tin fillers
Kraft cheese spread and two large spam
Ben Smith’s for a haircut belter
Spaanderman’s for Alka Seltzer
"Summat fo’ tha mother’s bunion
… and some chips and pickled onion"
Slowly home with shopping laden
Dribbling a Tizer can

Teenage came and saw us scatter
Scooters, cars and Cleethorpes rain
Learning how to court and flatter
Flirt and handle heartbreak pain
Stags on Sat’dy, then to ’t Palais
Snogging up a freezing alley
Letter from a girl called Pippa
Says she’s booked the church and vicar
Tell me mam, she belts me earhole
Says "yer dad’ll go insane"

False alarm from Pippa siren
Stay in Huthwaite, laying low
Pile of school books, Keats and Byron
Dad asks "what’s an Allan Poe?"
Huthwaite places, Huthwaite people
Men were tough, and women lethal
Fifties, sixties generation
Spread around our rainbow nation
Crafted on a north Notts anvil
When you meet one, you will know