COMMUNITY LEGEND CELEBRATES HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY
TONY Delahoy celebrates his 100th birthday today. The popular Silverknowes man plans to spend the milestone occasion quietly with family, but daughter Barbara has asked me to pass on Tony’s best wishes to his many friends, acquaintances and old comrades across North Edinburgh and beyond.
Durng lockdown Tony used his time at home productively, producing Things Remembered, a memoir of his life. I was very touched but absolutely delighted when he hand -delivered a copy to me, and I fondly remember that brief visit to my doorstep – one of the brightest moments of a very dark time.
Tony explains in the introduction: ‘We all have memories that are important or significant in our lives. At the time of writing this account I have reached the age of 98 and the years since my birth in 1923 have seen great change.
‘Thinking about some of the changes and events that I have witnessed during my life, I felt it might be interesting to share them with others who might also find them interesting or informative.
‘I have recorded some memories from my childhood, school years and early work experiences. Also, the outbreak of the Second World War, when I was just 16, and of course my call up and war service. I end this account with my return to civilian and family life and the immediate post war period.
‘This is not exhaustive or by any means complete, but is a record of some events and occurrences that I felt worthy of setting down.’
I’m honoured to share just a few of Tony’s memories today, and will post more over the coming weeks:
OUR HOUSE AND LOCALITY
i was born at 12 Holmshaw Road, Lower Sydenham, London SE 26 on 13th January 1923. Number 12 was a mid terraced-house; it had three rooms and a scullery downstairs and three bedrooms upstairs.
The rooms were gas lit and there was just one main water tap in the scullery. The front room downstairs was the ‘best’ room and was not used a lot, except at Christmas time when a coal fire was lit.
We lived there, next door to my mother’s family, the Goddards at number 10, until September 1940, when at the age of 17 the houses at numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 were bombed and destroyed …
SCHOOL
Our school, Haseltine Road Elementary, which is still in use, was very close to our house, a couple of hundred yards away and within hearing distance of the warning bell that was rung at 8.45am, the school starting at 9am.
The school bell was in a tower and was rung by the Schoolkeeper on the ground floor by pulling a rope.
Class sizes were very large, up to 50, boys only. The classroom floor was stepped up front-to-back to accomodate the iron-framed desks at which the children sat.
The desks had a folding wooden top, with a groove along the top for pen and pencil and an inkwell set in the top right corner.
WORK
Having had early mornig jobs from the age of 10 – delivering papers and helping the local milk roundsman evey day of the week – work was second nature and mostly enjoyable.
At the end of term in December 1935 thoughts turned to getting a full-time job, having been asked by the school if I would like to carry on my schooling at the Central school.
I asked my Mother, was said it was up to me, but I knew that a school uniform would have to be bought and I knew that it would be impossible to do.
Also, I was so used to work and my earnings would help Mum – incidentally, any money earned on my paper or milk rounds was always handed over to Mum; that was the norm and she would in turn give back some money to you.
I believe it was something like a wage of three shillings and sixpence handed over and one shilling and sixpence (1/6d) handed back.
Although the school did not help to find jobs there was one on offer from a shop in Sydenham for a window dresser, but it did not appeal to me at all having had years of outside jobs. I really wanted to work in the milk delivery trade with the Co-operative Society. I applied to the Co-op and was still waiting on a reply when I left school, so I had to apply for a job at one of the two local factories.
This was a metal working factory, Aerograph, and I was taken on and put in the inspection department checking threads on nuts and bolts.
I was only there for one week, for which I got paid twelve shillings and sevenpence (12/7d). I had by then heard from the Co-op asking me to attend for an interview and test.
The test was English and Arithmetic and a couple of other tests. I passed and eventually got a letter to report to the Catford Milk Depot. I was permanently allocated to a large round. A round was an area covered by one roundsman, serving approximately 500 customers. Transport of the milk was of course by horse and cart. My roundsman Johnny was a good chap and trained me very well.
Tomororow: WAR, HELEN, CALL-UP and MARRIAGE
HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY, TONY!
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