Back Then

Street names are often changed over the years and often there is a rational reason. But sometimes it is difficult to find. In Wapping there are two prewar blocks of flats on Greenbank. Willoughby house and Vancouver house and there was a road running between them from Greenbank to Wapping high Street named Red lion street.  This road is now called Reardons Path. Of course it is not a path it is still a vehicular road. And even more strangely there was already a Reardons Path,still there, which is actually a path. It runs from Greenbank to Watt Street. All very strange. Just as odd as the local council replacing tarmac covered roads with ancient cobbles.  This all in the name of progress or am I being cynical in thinking it is more to do with a sop to property developers. The cobbles of course did not bring the old dockside atmosphere back: a bit difficult with land rovers and porsches being parked on them. In Red Lion street there was old  warehousing  being develope...

When I was a lad every boy that I knew owned a penknife or pocketknife.  Essential equipment for boys activities. Not for the original use which gave the penknife it's name,of course, sharpening quill pens,but necessary for pencils. There were few pencil sharpeners about then. And then there were all those other uses. Making Bows and arrows. Removing broken football studs Whittling tree branches Carving bones into strange shapes Hoof cleaners if you ever came across a lame horse and were game enough to give it a try. Making Boy scout woggles from broken belts or other odd bits of leather The list was endless. Swiss army knives were just making an appearance and were objects of envy. It's a shame that these innocent activities have given way to being offensive weapons in the hands of children.