Login   |   Register   |   
Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Wigan Album

Billinge

26 Comments

Claremont Road, Billinge - c1957.
Claremont Road, Billinge - c1957.
Photo: Philip Gormley.
Views: 3,326
Item #: 30505
My photo in support of DTease's fascination with Frolics 'n' Balaclavas.
L to r: Myself, John, Brian, Terence.

Comment by: Veronica on 9th May 2018 at 13:23

A lovely picture Philip and I bet you all had rosy cheeks! All wearing balaclavas and wellies- I cannot understand why kids today don't wear them they were lovely and warm! I thoroughly enjoyed knitting them for my son and grandson!

Comment by: DTease on 9th May 2018 at 16:21

Bring back the Balaclava, that's what I say!

Comment by: Veronica on 9th May 2018 at 18:10

We'll get a Petition up Dtease - get a couple of stands in't town centre and look important - it's a change from 'Save a Donkey Week' !

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 9th May 2018 at 19:24

Hear, hear, shipmates - I'll bet that Veronica's son and grandson looked quite dandy in their knitted balaclavas, as well.
It was disappointing, though, when the gloves became waterlogged, but there had been battles to win - For'ard!

Comment by: DTease on 9th May 2018 at 21:44

Save your lads ears for less than a fiver! Cover his head with a woolly Balaclava!

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 10th May 2018 at 08:19

DTease took his teacher's dare, the project came with ease;
A lengthy tale of winterwear, which stops below the knees.

And when he chose to add some flair - amid the wild palaver
He said " This noise is just too much", then donned his balaclava.

Comment by: Veronica on 10th May 2018 at 09:46

In days of old when lads were bold and fought in balaclavas,
Into the breach once more, armed with balls of snow worked with frozen fingers,
Knees chapped, toes pinched encased in rubber wellies,
Noise of battle heavy with laughter, fought with valour and splendour,
'Till nightfall battle commenced, when energy spent, orders were to cease;
Mugs of cocoa all around - and thus descended peace!

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 10th May 2018 at 11:51

I like your verse, Veronica.

Comment by: Veronica on 10th May 2018 at 12:57

I don't know "from where" it came lad but it was there all the time! ;o))

Comment by: Poet on 10th May 2018 at 15:07

Some think an Homburg debonair!
Some don a bowler to make a stir!
Some claim the topper as the real showstopper.
A Fedora for some is all they adore.
But take of this photo just one glance,
And it's clear what's the height of elegance!
For there's nothing more stylish or grander or suaver,
Than a snotty nosed wooly wet balaclava.

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 10th May 2018 at 19:34

Nicely Poet, and you certainly know how to run-off a last line.

Comment by: DTease on 10th May 2018 at 20:55

Is there a Nobel Prize for Poetry? because I reckon there are a few contenders right here on wiganworld!

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 10th May 2018 at 21:49

I'm not sure if there's actually a Nobel prize for poetry or not DTease, I doubt it somehow, but I seem to recall that way back in the 60's, the inventor of the silent alarm clock ( who's name eludes me momentarily ), was awarded the Nobel peace prize. This information was given to me by one of Fred Rose's fitters, so it must be true. ( would someone from Howfen utter an untruth ?)....God forbid.

Comment by: DTease on 11th May 2018 at 00:46

His bl--dy alarm clock never gave me any peace when I was working Ozy. In fact there was many a morning when I would have happily clocked him had I known who he was!

Comment by: DTease on 11th May 2018 at 01:07

There is an old workman' saying that goes "Measure twice, cut once". In this case I should have read twice and commented once.

Comment by: Poet on 11th May 2018 at 08:08

Nobby Holme invented the silent doorbell Ozy. I wonder if this could be the same chap.

Comment by: John G on 11th May 2018 at 10:08

I got a school award two years on the bounce for silent reading, my form master said I was top of the class at it.

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 11th May 2018 at 11:16

When I first started work DTease, my mother had a terrible time trying to get me out of bed in a morning. She'd have to come up and down the stairs half a dozen times. One of my favourite tricks would be to put one leg out, bang on the floor a couple of times then get back in again....In order to put an end to all this nonsense, my father, being an inventive sort, mounted the mattress onto a frame with a pulley wheel and rollers attached to either end. A mechanical timing device, connected to a small electric motor , which in turn was connected to one of the pulley wheels by means of an old fan belt , allowed the mattress to rotate slowly through 360 degrees with me clinging on for dear life. Rather like one of those spits that they roast whole pigs on. He called it The Silentnight Tippaluxe. It proved quite effective for a time, until I came up with the idea of riveting a sleeping bag to the mattress then climbing in. I quite enjoyed the sensation of going round and round, with my nose just brushing the carpet. This battle of wills persisted for quite some time I recall, until one day, the electric motor burned out, just as the bed was passing the 200 degree mark on the upstroke. They decided to leave me there for the day.....Since then, I've never had a problem getting up to go to work. I'm sure there's a phrase that psychiatrists use for this kind of therapy, but I can't just bring it to mind at this moment.........all this is true by the way.

Regards. Oozy.

Comment by: DTease on 11th May 2018 at 12:04

Ozy, if your father could have speeded his invention up a bit he could have christened it "The Whizzer of Oz"

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 11th May 2018 at 13:34

Ozy.
I've just been reading-up on the causes of 'people's reluctance to get out of bed', and it now seems as though you had been suffering from anxiety, associated with Dysania.
I am, however, confident that your dad had known quite a bit more about sleeping patterns than he had previously made known.
His quiet confidence in Silentnight Tippaluxe's running-time, and his decision to have deployed the said rotating mattress, confirmed his grasp of the now much-talked-about treatment for Circadian Rhythm Phase Delay.
Come on, up 'tha' gets, there's a toast butty downstairs

Comment by: Veronica on 11th May 2018 at 13:54

Ozy Your dad must have worked on those films starring Wallace and Grommet! DTease that would have been a good title!

Comment by: GW. on 12th May 2018 at 11:48

My great great uncle Thadious W invented the silent foghorn first used on the Titanic as well as the noiseless bell for freight train crossings. The family are still waiting on the royalties.

Comment by: DTease on 12th May 2018 at 13:36

GW, the cheque for the royalties was on it's way but the Post Office van was hit by a train. Apparently the driver of the van never heard it coming!

Comment by: GW. on 12th May 2018 at 14:11

The White Star Line tried to tell my great great aunt Agatha a similar story DTease.

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 13th May 2018 at 13:20

Following the terrible tragedy that befell the SS Titanic, I find it quite surprising that no one came up with the idea of manufacturing inflatable icebergs. After all, the market is wide open, and one of those wouldn't have caused half as much damage....and it wouldn't have dripped water all over the shop either. They could also be used in hot climates as well, without fear of them melting. And with global warming becoming more of an issue, and the ice sheets retreating, the polar bears and penguins would have somewhere secure to live. Just think....The possibilities are practically limitless.

Comment by: Poet on 13th May 2018 at 17:16

I reckon there's enough plastic in the sea already Ozy.

Leave a comment?

* Enter the 5 digit code to the right of the input box. Don't worry if you make a mistake, you will get another chance. Your comments won't be lost.