Wigan Album

Gorgeous, Veronica! The Flight Lieutenant sends a wolf-whistle!

I remember those days well Veronica !

Sticky out skirts etc loved them.

So !…it would appear we’ve made the transition from sticky in yed to sticky hair and sticky out skirts then Veebs .

What’s going on here with this preoccupation regarding all things sticky I ask myself .

Nice photo though …any more stuck to the bottom of the biscuit tin I wonder ?

I knew this was you Veronica as soon as I saw the photo. Lovey.lt was very early 60s when we had our little " gang." Irene, I like your comment.x

This was around the time when Craig Douglas was singing
‘She was only sixteen, only sixteen with eyes that would glow -ow- -ow. She was too young to fall in love an’ I was too young to know…’
Eeeh I wish I could go back to then…
I don’t think wolf whistles are acceptable these days Irene, but they didn’t bother me at all… I just can’t remember when I last had one. Thank the Squadron Ldr anyway. The gang was a couple of years before this Edna.
The ‘sticky’ is referring to the sugar in the underskirt to stiffen the net to make one’s frock stick out Ozy, but you wouldn’t know about that. Plus the net skirt stuck to one’s behind when sitting down, most uncomfortable.. the things we did for fashion could make your eyes water.

Veronica, believe it or not I actually got a wolf-whistle a couple of months ago, (at nearly 70!!), off a workman near our Jamie's. followed by an "Alright, love?" to which I snapped "Yes, thankyou!" in my best Hyacinth Bouquet voice and a very stern face, then I couldn't stop laughing when I got round the corner! When I told Peter about it he asked if I'd had my sun-hat on, which I did, and he said, "Oh well that was why...it suits you, that hat"....So it was apparently the hat that got the whistle, not me!

Irene if that happened to me I would be looking round to see if there was
a young sylphlike girl behind me! I don’t think it would be a tattooed ‘salty sailor’ type girl with all their bits hanging out I must say. A nice compliment for you, perhaps the whistler was amazed at seeing a well dressed lady with no tattoos showing! I don’t know why these Wokes protest so much about whistlers. “Methinks the ladies protest too much”!

Veronica, I DID wonder if there was a young girl nearby but there was only me, and I had shapeless cargo pants and an old t-shirt on. It was a very hot day and he was probably just fed up working on such a day, and whistling provided a diversion, or perhaps he needs to go to Specsavers!

Ozy if you tried soaking your undercrackers in sugar and water then drying them near the Aga, you would have some idea of what it felt like wearing those stiff net skirts underneath the skirts.

That reminds me of one of Frank Skinner's quips when he said he was walking along the street and someone shouted from a car window ,
" Legend , Legend " . He turned round and King Arthur was standing behind him .

Irene- there’s me thinking of you walking down the street in your lovely fox fur and the hat with a feather in it! I must be mixing you up with our dear Laura…;o))

I can’t image the water being a problem Veebs , but I just can’t afford the sugar unfortunately , …..although I do still have half a packet of Hermesetas at the back of the shelter somewhere , that my weight conscious ex-missus left behind in her haste , when she ran off to Kenya with the man from Allied Carpets all those years ago ………
….do you suppose they would do the trick ?

You could always buy a a big bag of boiled fruit toffees and smash ‘um with one of those hammers - then melt ‘um down in a big pan. Make sure you don’t leave any sharp lumps Ozy they could get into places in your posterior that could do some damage. Good luck with that… I can see now some plumes of smoke ascending over the shelter.

Ozy , I for one , don’t believe , you live in a shelter of one single substance , but you have dug numerous tunnels from it , to steal various foods stuffs from ie farms and allotments close by . I believe your missus simply wanted some veg to save your marriage , but you could only provide road kills . By the time your tunnels where complete, she had scarpered with the Allied Carpets chap .
This is why women leave men , who don’t finish the bathroom tiling .

I may have chosen an inappropriate place to ask this question Veebs so I hope you’ll forgive me for asking , but have you ever wondered what happened to GW ?

Good old reliable GW .

No one reading this will understand what I’m rambling on about , but I do think about him quite frequently .

Good old Doubleyolk , …master mariner , chicken herder , and all round
‘ good egg ‘ , ( if you’ll pardon the pun ) .

We had a few laughs together back in the day didn’t we Veebs ? , me , thee , and yon inimitable
youth from Fingerpost ,
the one and only , never to be replicated, DTease .

Take a bow my mate .

I do hope that GW ‘s o.k. though .
…I like to picture him sitting on the beach in Portarlington reading this right now .

And if he is , then I’d just like to say this … “ get your idle backside back to Blighty ASAP cobber ,
don’t you realise there’s a crisis occurring here on Plague Island even as we speak ? “.… another bloody useless prime minister down the pan .

Sometimes if I’m having a leisurely breakfast of poached egg on toast, and it happens to have a double yolk I do briefly Ozy. He did say Hasta La Vista though just like Boris….who knows….

Dave , I can honestly state , “ hand in wallet “ that like Keith , I have never stolen a solitary thing in my entire life , …although , … and also , like Keith , I have been known to borrow certain items when the situation demanded .

Now with regards to the alleged tunnels within my humble abode …..
You’ve obviously never attempted to obtain planning permission for an extension to your Anderson shelter have you Dave ? …….
….….I thought not …….

To conclude :
The logic of glueing ceramic tiles to the walls of a bathroom has constantly eluded me . ..Especially when a thick coating of bitumen does the exact same , if not a better job at a fraction of the cost , … and if that doesn’t suit the wife then she can feel free to bugger off to bloody Swaziland ,….or wherever .

You may have perceived that my preference for utility overrides that of decoration Dave .
So…
Perhaps there may be someone out there with a degree in one of the defunct European languages that could suggest a suitable motto
that would best suit my outlook on life .

The prize of a £2 .00 Tesco voucher awaits the successful entrant .

I sincerely hope that Veronica will forgive me for running riot on her thread ,… but I hope I’m correct in assuming that we have been mates for some time now have we not Veebs ?

I don’t mind at all Ozy - you can write the story of your life and how you ended up in the posh Anderson Shelter with the Aga that was too big for the kitchen.

Lathe Biosas

Ozy

A touch of Latin with a nice ring to it. It may be too literal for the purists but it’s a long time since my Latin lesson days.
Imagine this stencilled onto the Allied carpet at the entrance to the Anderson shelter. A clue which will no doubt lead you to the English translation.
Domum Dulce Domum.

I only remember Amo Amas Amat Amamus Amatis Amant.....what a waste of time! I learned more Latin when I LEFT school than I did when I was there, as I worked in a chemists and some of the dosages on prescriptions used to be in Latin.

I just hope the chap from Allied Carpets left you with a free roll of tufted Axminster & Wilton as a thank you ……

I believe Ozy told him to get tufted, Veronica!

Ozy , I hope GW turns up at your shelter one day.
Have you checked the records of vessels lost at sea recently ? GW , maybe experiencing , the effects of Global Warming to an even greater level on the High Seas . Rogue waves hit without warning .
Keep posting Ozy You are a completely individual voice , and a joy to read ! Take Care

Irene he may have rolled her up in the carpet like Cleopatra and said
“ ‘ere ‘er is Good Riddance!!”

I've really enjoyed all the banter on this photo, it's better than watching Del Boy.( Only fools & horses). Keep it up Ozy, Veronica and Irene.x

I remember it now as if it was yesterday. I caught the train to rendezvous at Wigan Pier to set sail. But various incidents took place - it wasn’t ‘meant to be or not to be’.
Some scumbags had thrown an old bunk bed on the train line between Hindley and Ince. We were stuck there for 24 hours without food or water - folk were going mad from hunger and thirst! By the time we were rescued the boat had sailed……
I was listening to Desert Island Discs one Sunday and was dumbfounded to hear a colony had taken over the Island! They were all wearing ‘red feathers and huly -huly skirts’. The captain was being carried around on one of them there sedan chairs. The description matched Gdub to a tee. He was dead drunk and incoherent as usual! The cheeky beggars ‘were living on coconuts and fish from the sea’. They all had a ‘gleam in their eyes’ due to the rum and eggs.
The BBC had to find another island for the programme. As far as I know he’s still there claiming ‘ Sanctuary’!
I believe you can get to the island by EasyJet but you would have to change ‘planes a few times. That’s all I know - you could be going on a fools errand as GDub was always good at shelling eggs and telling tall tales. He’s gone native I’m afraid just like Marlon Brando did in Mutiny on the Bounty.. sorry to have to impart this news Ozy.

Pps. GDub was a man who would do anything for an egg flip with rum in it.
Not only that I had ambitions of being the Ship’s Usherette in the cinema. I was bringing the films with me. Naturally ‘ Mutiny on The Bounty’, Moby Dick , Jaws, Das Boot, The Sinking of The Bismark and as a treat Carry On Up The Kyber. My whole career was ruined. Instead of a torch I had a lamp like Florence Nightingale instead, that would have come in handy when the ship’s crew caught Covid. Everything went up in smoke!

Don’t give me that old codswallop about “ bunk beds on the track “ Veebs .

Where did you get that one from anyway ?…
…The Network Rail Manual of Excuses for Train Delays and Cancellations volume three ?

We all know the truth .

You were harkenin’t wireless and ironin’t carpet on that fateful morning .

Admit it !

See here Ozy - I went I tell you ( albeit a day late.) I was in disguise as that old woman chained to the wall all dressed in black. Some little lads spied me and dragged me over the cobbles - I thought they were going to drown me! Good job a Bobbie was passing dawdling about. He chased ‘um off. Meanwhile I’m minus an eye, but I’ve had a lovely glass eye fitted a verdant shade of green. It’s not the same colour mind as the other but it’s quite nice.
“ All’s well that ends well” as our Billy used fot say. So that’s that…

And thinking about it now , I’m inclined to suspect that t’other mon…midshipman over
easy , was more than likely recovering from an overdose of amber liquid
quaffed at a lock-in at
The Moorgate the previous evening .

Ha ! … try denying that !

Crackle ! Crackle !…..

… “ The 0940 Aventi West Coast train for Glasgow Central , due to arrive at platform four ,
has been cancelled , due to a reason that we will divulge the very moment that the fat controller can come up with one ,… we apologise for the inconvenience this may cause..….meanwhile , have a nice day “.
…….( pause )…….
“ do you think the daft buggers will fall for that one Cedric ? “……..

“ for Christ’s sake Jeremy , switch the bloody Tannoy off “…..

……….“ OOPS “………

Crackle ! Crackle !….

This thread started off by showing a bonny lass wearing her lovely frock - what happened?

Yes you’re right Linma , it all went off piste or track. I posted the photo for the fashion aspect and the fishpond, greenhouses etc of Haigh Hall. But it seems that was a bit boring …. , Never mind better luck next time…

People like thee and me Veronica who appreciate such nice things have got class and style. Keep finding those photos.

Linma you talk about class and style, but wasn't it you a few months back who asked which is the best chippy in Wigan then went in and ordered Fish Chips & Curry sauce,

As I recall it, madam Veronica, you bottled out just before GW set sail for Tittibong from Wigan Pier.
The poor captain had to leave short handed and that was a problem because he had partaken of a few tinctures whilst awaiting your appearance.
He woke up next day with his ship overrun with half a dozen Liverpool ladies of the night who informed him that, the previous evening, while somewhat comatose from an excess of tinctures, he had hired them to crew his vessel to Tittibong.

To be continued…

You must appreciate chaps I did the honourable thing by turning up on the Monday ( in disguise minus an eye.) This scuppered my ambition of being the ship’s Usherette. It would have meant me wearing dark glasses and using a white stick! Instead of me ushering the crew to their seats they would have been ushering me!! Pity that because I found some more films in the attic…. “ The Cruel Sea”, … “ The Sea Shall Not Have Them”, “The Waves Above Us”and “Esther Costello” all about a blind woman. For another treat “ Pal Joey”. Believe me or not I was really looking forward to sailing to
Tittibong but it’s no use if I have only got one eye!

I know quite a few people who have class and style, but they still eat fish chips and curry sauce.

Due to visit dentist in Wigan next week and fish and chips for dinner Wigan Mick with curry sauce or, for a change, mushy peas.

Enjoy the fish and chips Linma , I hope the chippy is still open for you. Hopefully you won’t have to have any teeth out because it will be a case of rinsing with salt water.. ;o))

I prefer tripe from the market