FAMILY FOTO 36 - THE WELSH GIRLS (undated photo)

The Welsh Girls

This photo was one which came into my possession from my Aunt's collection, and found when we had to clear her bungalow for her to go into a nursing home in 2010. 

I gave the house clearance team (i.e. the other family members), a clear instruction - "....anything that looks remotely like 'family history' keep to one side, and then we'll put it into a box with 'DO NOT THROW AWAY!' written across its sides in big red letters. This unknown photo was only one of many  lovely items I came across in that box which I had never seen before.

I'm assuming the photo would have been taken by my grandad, William John Welsh, on his Kodak 'box brownie' camera, which I remember being brought out on a few occasions. The location is not at all clear, but I'm assuming that it will be one of the parks in Toxteth - Princes Park, which was a short walk from where the family lived in Hughson Street - or perhaps Sefton Park, which was a little further away. I don't think it is anywhere near their home, for I don't recall ever seeing a green space such as this anywhere near Hughson Street, which was surrounded by terraced houses and large tenement and court property. No... it is clear to me that the photo was probably recording a Sunday day out for the family... one that many families would have taken at that time.

My Mum Joan is the child standing in the front of the group. Aged about three years old, she is dressed in her 'Sunday best' dress, with a hairband holding back her tousled auburn hair. As she was born in 1933, this would place the date around 1936/37. Betty, her elder sister, is standing behind her... and potentially aged between 11 and 12 years old.

My grandmother Elizabeth Welsh (or Lizzie as everyone tended to call her) is also dressed in her Sunday best dress, just like her girls. 

Lizzie was employed 'in service'... working as a maid in one of the larger houses in Toxteth or Aigburth for an affluent family. Her duties might include cleaning or cooking... the latter of which she was really good at as I recall, but I have little hope of finding out which. There is a photograph of her in her younger years, with a team of other girls in uniforms, which implies that her services would be hired from an agency. One of my regular genealogical searches is to see if I can find any such local agencies whose books might have been transcribed and placed online somewhere.... I certainly haven't found it yet, but I'll just keep on searching - just in case. 

    

(c) 2024. G.Seaman

EDMUND HIGHTON (1744-1805) - MILLER AT MOUNT SION (ZION)

 

(Photo: St James Cemetary)

A depiction of one of the two mills situated at Mount Sion (or Zion), Toxteth, Liverpool in the late 1700's. St.James' Mount (it's more common name), was also known as 'Quarry Hill' at one time as a large quarry was built and mined there.

My sixth great-grandfather, Edmund Highton (b.1744 - d.1805) was of the Church of England faith, and worked as a miller on the site when he was 35 years old. This had been recorded within the baptism data for the christening of his daughter, Ann Highton (b.1770 - d.1847), my fifth great-grandmother. 

Edmund married his wife, Ann Barton (b.1749 - d. n/k), in Liverpool on the 5 November 1765. They went on have at least four children that we know of so far (Jane (b.1767), Thomas (b.1769), Ann (b.1770) and Mary (b.1773).

Edmund's occupation of miller was still recorded as such in 1805, when he was 61 at the time of his death. He was buried on 12 February 1805 in St James' Cemetary... the site of his workplace throughout his life.

(Photo: St James Cemetary)

The site was later developed as St James' cemetary and was chosen to be the site of the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, the fifth largest cathedral in the World.

The quarry access tunnel can still be seen in situ within the graveyard below the cathedral itself, and the windmill depicted above would have been on the site of where the current Oratory building now stands.

(Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, St James' Mount)

(Photo: Graham Seaman)

(Text Source: Seaman Family History / St James Mount by Reginald Threlfall Bailey M.B.E) 

 

William John Welsh - Grandad's Birthday - 6 June 2019

Graham with his grandad William John (aka Jack Welsh)

...another photo of Graham with his Grandad William John Welsh (b.1897 d.1965)

Remembering my grandad, William John Welsh, who would have been 122 years old had he still been with us today. 

Happy birthday Grandad - missing you. x. 

#familyhistory #seamanfamilyhistory

FRIDAY FOTO 34 - MAL ERLIS & KING BILLY - THE ORANGE LODGE

This photograph shows Marion Erlis, centre-right, taking up her role as Queen Mary in one of the annual parades organised by the Orange Lodge in Toxteth.

Her 'husband' - William of Orange (or 'King Billy' as he was known) - is standing to her right holding up his sword.

The exact date the photograph was taken is unknown, but the parade's traditionally take place on or around the 12th July each year. Judging by Mal's apparent age, the year was potentially around the early 1950's. 

I personally recall the parades passing through Toxteth as being a grand spectacle, consisting of marching bands, decorated lorries used as floats, and members of the order marching in lines behind the Protestant King and Queen, all wearing the familiar orange sashes across their chests.

These were colourful, noisy, exciting events that we kids living in Toxteth would look forward to.

I remember well how my grandad, William John Welsh, would stand at the front door and listen out for the bands playing, then pick me up and run along to Park Street to watch the parade as it passed.

Looking at this photo brings back nice memories of both Mal and also the times when we were growing up in Toxteth.

   

FRIDAY FOTO 32 - TOXTETH, LIVERPOOL - WHERE I GREW UP

(Terraced houses in Hughson Street)

An official photo, taken around 1963 by the City Council, prior to the properties being purchased and subsequently demolished under a Compulsory Purchase Order.

Hughson Street in Toxteth, Liverpool was where I spent my formative years, up until the age of seven years old. 

Number 25 in the street had been the home of my grandparents, William and Elizabeth Welsh, prior to my birth. Following this, my parents, brother and I also lived in the same property, which only had two bedrooms - one front and one back - and a small back kitchen and front reception room on the ground floor. My aunt slept on a pull-out couch downstairs, while my grandparents had the front bedroom. My family, the four of us, all slept in the rear bedroom. 

There was no bathroom in the house, an outside WC being supplied instead which had been situated at the bottom of the back-yard. A large brick coal-shed also stood outside in the yard. This had formerly been built as a bomb shelter and used by our family during WW2 when German bombers attacked the city during the Liverpool Blitz of 1941. The gap between the two blocks of houses to the right of the photograph was where numbers 27 and 29 once stood. 27 took a direct hit from a bomb and 29 had to be demolished as it had been too badly damaged to repair. The subsequent 'bommie' which was created, (the bulldozed area of land where the houses had once stood), then became a play area for two generations of our family. 

This photograph brought back so many memories for me when I found it posted on one of the Liverpool Facebook pages, but it was to surprise me even further when I enlarged it and looked at the image more closely.

The front door of number 25, next to the bommie is open and there are children playing outside. The boy outside our home looks suspiciously like my brother Gary.  

Amazing to think that the official council photographer chose that particular moment to record the properties which were to be demolished in just a few years time, as well as recording my brother and his friends at play.     

FRIDAY FOTO 26 - WEBSTER FAMILY WEDDING

This is the kind of photograph we each have in every family album. The wedding of my cousin, Michael Webster, at St Gabriel's church in Toxteth in the late 1960's. And as with many of those photographs, there are faces I remember and can identify, but also faces which I cannot.

In the shadows at the rear, I can see my uncle Arthur Teese and also my Aunt Betty, mum's sister. I can't identify the man standing at the back on the far right, although his face appears to be familiar. 

Moving forward is my grandmother Elizabeth Welsh (nee Englebretsen), standing toward the centre of the photograph. As to the elderly lady standing to her left or the taller gentleman on her right, I have no clue as to who they are.

The smiling man on the right wearing the glasses is my uncle, Johnny Erlis, who used to drive the goods trains up and down the Dock Road in Liverpool. The lady in white on the left of the photograph is again familiar to me, but I have no evidence of her actual identity.

And then comes the group I'm most sure about.

My Auntie Ann - Hannah McAulay (nee Irvine) - is in her trademark 'ocelot' hat and coat and has her hand on the shoulder of my brother, Gary Seaman. The woman standing next to her in the trendy 60's hat and coat is my Mum Joan Seaman (nee Welsh), while my Father, Charles Seaman, is standing on the right. Finishing the list off is my younger cousin, Tracey McAulay, who is standing between my brother and myself.

The church and doorway are still there to this day, as evidenced in the photograph from Google Streetmap below. Indeed the church doorway showed up on television relatively recently as a couple of scenes in the popular television biopic 'Cilla', starring Sheridan Smith, were filmed nearby on the steps in Yates Street. Knowing the area relatively well I recognised it at once.  

Hopefully, there will be a postscript and an update to this story at some point, as I intend to take the photo down to show my Mum when I visit her later today. I have all my fingers crossed that she will be able to identify a couple of the other people featured in the photograph. 

For me, this is not just another photograph of an ordinary family wedding. I see it as an opportunity to possibly fill in some gaps in our family tree and maybe expand, even just a little, on the story of how we all grew up in Toxteth in Liverpool.   

FRIDAY FOTO 25 - MRS ERLIS & THE KIDS OF GASKELL STREET

The above photograph, specifically set up by the photographer, shows Frances Midwood Erlis (nee Walter), pictured in a street in Toxteth with a group of the local children. Frances is the older lady standing on the back row holding a small child, near to the centre of the window. Frances was born with the surname Walter in 1880 in Liverpool. She married her husband Thomas Erlis, on 5th August 1901 in St Gabriel's church, Toxteth Park. The couple went on to have 10 children together.

At least three of the youngsters pictured in the photo can be said to be members of the Erlis family, identified from other photographs we have of them in our possession. 

Someone has written on the base of the picture 'Kids of Gaskell Street'. Gaskell Street was situated between Park Road and Mill Street in Toxteth, just north of Essex Street. The couple's home was near Hughson Street where I lived with my own grandparents in my formative years (see map below).

There is no date on the photograph of the children itself, but we can estimate that it was taken at some point during the mid-1930's, just prior to the second world war breaking out in 1939. 

Following the outbreak of the war, the Erlis family were living at their home in number 12 Gaskell Street. This property was damaged after it sustained a direct hit from a German bomb on the 6th May 1941, and Mrs Erlis lost both her legs during the attack. She was to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair until she finally passed away in 1950.

Tragically, their daughter Lilian Midwood Erlis (b.1923) was killed during the same air-raid. She was just 18 years of age at the time. Lilian is pictured in the above photograph standing on the back row of the children, second girl from the left. 

Further details of Lilian's story can be found on a separate post <here>.  

FRIDAY FOTO 24 - BETTY & LIL IN HUGHSON STREET

A photo, taken on my Grandad's Kodak 'Brownie' camera, of my aunt Betty and cousin Lilian in Hughson Street, Toxteth.

Taken in the mid-1950's, it shows the two of them standing in the sunlight outside my Gran and Grandad's house at number 25. I lived in the house up until the age of seven and I remember both it, and the surrounding area, very well indeed.

To the left of the photo are the remains of a coal merchants property; the large 'court' properties which used to stand along here had now been demolished to make way for new housing to be constructed.

In the background stands a large warehouse on Northumberland Street. The docks were not very far away from Hughson Street, and this type of warehouse was a common sight around the local area. Some of the warehouses still remain to this day but are now being used for other purposes, such as up-market apartments, gyms, restaurants and nightclubs.

Just to the right of my cousin's head is Prophet Street, again featuring the same two-up, two-down houses similar to the ones we lived in on the right of the photo. This was where Lilian lived with her parents - John and Martha Erlis - in number 13, opposite the sweet shop on the corner of Prophet and Fernie Street.

Apart from the people, lots of good memories of growing up in that street come flooding back to me when I look at this photo. For example, I used to have races with my mates around the blocks of houses on my first two-wheeler bike. I also recall the sound of the horse and cart of the rag and bone man-- his voice calling 'any old cloth, any old iron!' as they trundled along the cobbled street at walking pace, a group of kids running along behind. 

I also remember playing with those gas pipes which entered the houses alongside the front door. They were bound in black cloth tape and sealed with a tar-like paint which used to melt in hot weather. We'd sit outside in the sunshine, pulling and twisting the tape into sticky shapes with our fingers. Nearly always receiving a telling off from the adults when they saw we had sticky tar all over our fingers and clothes!

These small memories of happy times were all triggered by looking at that photo.

Even the simplest photograph from a family album should be treasured, because behind each one of them is a story just waiting to be told...

FRIDAY FOTO 22 - ELIZABETH RICHARDSON - DAMAGED DURING AN AIR RAID

This is the one and only photograph of my g/g-grandmother, Elizabeth RICHARDSON, who had been born in Barony Parish, Glasgow in 1838.

Elizabeth was the daughter of David RICHARDSON, a shipwright by profession, and Victoria VERUE (also referred to at times in certain records by the surnames VALUE and VEVIESER).

The photograph, approximately six inches tall, has been coloured by hand and is mounted on a stiff cloth backing. 

According to information from my aunt who gave me the image some years ago, originally it had been much larger and was mounted in a dark wooden oval frame. She recalled it being a head and shoulders portrait which had hung on the wall of my grandmothers home in Hughson Street, Toxteth.

Unfortunately, during WW2, the terraced house next door took a direct hit from a German bomb during an air raid. Luckily our family remained safe, tucked away in the brick and concrete air raid shelter which had been built in the rear yard of their house. But their home itself did not escape unscathed. Its windows were blown out and the photograph and its frame were blown off the wall by the blast. Other possessions of my grandparents were either damaged or looted from their home after they had been forced to move out while the house was being repaired.

Years afterwards, my aunt cut away the damaged parts of the image-- trimming the photo down to its current size with a pair of dressmakers pinking shears-- leaving it decorated with a serrated edge.

Of course, I would have loved to have seen the full portrait of my great-grandmother in all its glory, but considering what had happened to it following the air raid, I consider myself extremely lucky that we have any of it left at all.          

FRIDAY FOTO 12 - ELIZABETH ENGLEBRETSEN (nee DOUGLAS)

(Elizabeth Douglas b.1873 d.1928)

Elizabeth Douglas was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Douglas, 

who was my maternal great-grandmother.

She was born in Glasgow, Scotland on the 16 May 1873 and was one of three sisters who came with their father to Liverpool from Scotland.

It is believed that she had met my Norwegian great-grandfather while living in Glasgow. 

Peder Gerhard Ingebretsen, (...his Anglicised name Peter Gerard Englebretsen), worked as a mariner on ships which carried goods into and out of the ports of Britain. The exact circumstances of their meeting is not known, but it is believed that the couple met and started a relationship while Peder was on shore leave from the ship.

Elizabeth's mother passed away, and her father brought the family to Liverpool. 

On 1 November 1890 Elizabeth and Peder were married in Holy Trinity Church, Toxteth, Liverpool. The couple went on to have at least eight children. Three daughters survived - Hannah, Elizabeth and Martha. 

Elizabeth Douglas died in Sefton General Hospital, Liverpool in 1928. 

She died of mitral stenosis - a valvular defect in her heart which led to heart failure.  

FRIDAY FOTO 11 - BETTY WELSH IN TOXTETH STREET, L8

(Toxteth Street, Liverpool 8)

Betty Welsh (right) and her friend Ruby out for a stroll in the sunshine. 

There is no date on the photo, but the presence of bunting and age of my aunt 

(around 19 years of age) seems to indicate that this was around the time of the 

VE day celebrations in May 1945. 

The location of the photo is believed to be Toxteth Street, 

which ran between Park Street and Harlow Street, Liverpool 8.

FRIDAY FOTO 10 - THE ERLIS FAMILY, LIVERPOOL

A family photograph of the ERLIS family of Toxteth.

Thomas & Frances Midwood Erlis are pictured sitting outside their home, the outside of which has been decorated to celebrate a royal event - 

possibly the Silver Jubilee of George V of 1935. 

It was a normal, happy family moment caught by the camera. 

But along with many other families who lived in Liverpool at the time, the Erlis' were to suffer tragedy during the Second World War.

On the 6 May 1941 the family home at 12 Gaskell Street, Toxteth took a direct hit during a German air raid.

Their daughter Lilian, seen here standing proudly next to her Mum, was killed as a result of the bombing. She is officially listed among the war dead of Liverpool for 1941. A separate post about Lilian can be found <here>.

But the mother of the family was also badly injured. Frances tragically lost both her legs during the incident, and was forced to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair - a fact remembered by my own mother.

(photo courtesy of Lilian Wilson and Marion Wilkinson)

FRIDAY FOTO 7 - ELIZABETH WELSH (nee ENGLEBRETSEN)

 

Two photographs of my grandmother, Elizabeth Welsh (nee Englebretsen).

The first photo shows her photographed in a professional studio in Liverpool. It is estimated that she was around nineteen years of age when the photo was taken, which-- with Elizabeth's year of birth being 1895 --would put the date to be around 1914.

In the second photo, my grandmother is pictured standing on the steps of one of the large houses she used to serve. It is believed that she worked with an agency who provided service staff to families - for example, cooks, maids, cleaners, housekeepers etc. My aunt also informed me that she had been directly employed to at least one family as a general maid.

The houses were said to be those in the Princes Park area of Liverpool, which at the time were owned by prosperous businessmen and their families.

I'd love to be able to trace the property itself and see whether it is still there.

#familyhistory #genealogy #englebretsen    

FRIDAY FOTO 6 - MARTHA ERLIS (nee ENGLEBRETSEN)

Martha ENGLEBRETSEN (married name, ERLIS), and her daughter Marion.

Martha (b.1912) was the youngest daughter of my Norwegian great-grandfather, Peder Gerhard INGEBRETSEN and his wife Elizabeth DOUGLAS. 

Like her two surviving sisters, Hannah and Elizabeth (my grandmother), she was named ENGLEBRETSEN at birth, as this was the Anglicised version of the surname which her father adopted in this country.

Martha and her husband, John Frederick ERLIS (b.1913), lived in Prophet Street in Toxteth, Liverpool 8 with their family - daughters Marion and Lilian.

We only lived around the corner in Hughson Street and I remember the family fondly, our two families growing up, remaining close and sharing many happy times. 

FRIDAY FOTO 2 - THE ENGLEBRETSEN SISTERS

Hannah, Martha & Elizabeth Englebretsen

Pictured in the back garden at the new house in Lordens Road, Huyton, the three Englebretsen sisters - Hannah, Martha and my grandmother, Elizabeth.

The photo is not dated, but we estimate that it was taken shortly after WW2 ended when Hannah, her husband Charles Irvine and their family were living in a property built in Huyton - in what were then the suburbs of Liverpool.

A couple of other photographs from this day exist in the family archive, and there is no doubt that the family were enjoying a party - there is a wind-up gramophone pictured on one, another shows some of the family dancing in the garden. Unfortunately, the reason for the 'do' hasn't been recorded. 

However, my mother fondly recalls visits up to the house with her parents when they lived in Toxteth. At the time, the young teenage girl used to feel that Huyton was 'out in the country', being situated on the edge of the main city conurbation at that time. The area was surrounded by greenery and visitors from Toxteth needed to catch two trams or buses to get up there. It was a house she remembers fondly and with love.

The house was home to succeeding generations of Hannah's and her daughter's family, until relatively recently when my aunt (also named Hannah) passed away.

The house was then sold to a local family, who will hopefully find as much love there as they all did. 

FRIDAY FOTO 1 - JOAN SEAMAN AND THE BOYS IN HUGHSON STREET

Mum Joan SEAMAN around 1959/1960, with Gary on her knee and Graham holding the lorry. Pictured in a rare colour photo of the time, sitting on the couch in her parents rented home in Hughson Street, Toxteth, Liverpool 8. The house was a small two-up, two-down terraced house in which we were all living at the time. 

My Gran and Grandad slept in the main bedroom at the front of the house, while Mum, Dad, Gary and myself slept in the smaller back bedroom. My brother and I would eventually sleep in bunk beds - Gary on the bottom, me on the top. My Aunt then slept downstairs in the front parlour room on a fold up sofa bed. 

As if all this was a bit basic, there was also no bathroom in the property. We had to get washed in the back kitchen, after it had been warmed up from the heat of the stove-- or had to take a stand-up bath in front of the fire in an old tin bath. When not in use the bath would usually hang up on the wall outside the kitchen in the backyard.

Finally, there were no indoor toilet facilities in the property. If we needed the loo we would have to go down to the bottom of the yard and do our business in the outside toilet. There was no heating or lighting in the cold brick-built shed. We would need to go down there during the snow in winter or with an umbrella when it was raining. 

Not good. Oh...and don't forget your torch whatever you do!     

PEDER & ELIZABETH ENGLEBRETSEN - WEDDING PHOTO?

One of two possible photos which could have been taken to record the wedding of my great-grandparents, Peder Ingebretsen (Englebretsen) and Elizabeth Douglas.

The couple were married in Liverpool, England on the 1st November 1890, at Holy Trinity Church in Toxteth.

Peder's actual Norwegian surname of Ingebretsen had been 'Anglo-fied' by this time to Englebretsen, the name which then carried on down to their three surviving daughters - Hannah, Elizabeth and Martha. 

95a SMITHDOWN ROAD - BIRTHPLACE OF CHARLES SEAMAN

One Sunday morning, a few years back, I decided to go and take a look along Smithdown Road, Liverpool to try and see if I could locate the place where my Dad had been born.

On arriving and parking the car across the road, I found this sight before me.

95A, the flat where my grand-mother gave birth to him, is the one with the missing front wall. 

Not only had I found the property where he had been born, but I could actually see into the rooms themselves!

The location didn't last long after this, for the area was scheduled for redevelopment and the property was demolished. I think only a few weeks afterwards!

I can't help but think that someone was behind my decision to go out with the camera on that day.

It had been my last opportunity... and I'm so glad that I took it. 

FAMILY HISTORY - ELIZABETH ENGLEBRETSEN IN SERVICE

The above photo shows my gran, Elizabeth ENGLEBRETSEN, on the right of the picture. This was taken when she was a teenager, aged about 16 years old, long before she married my grandfather William John WELSH in 1925.

This was taken when she worked 'in service', helping to look after one of the families who lived in the large mansion houses around Toxteth in Liverpool during the early part of the last century.

She obtained work through a local agency, and this is said to be a copy of a formal advertising photograph, used by the agency to advertise its services.

None of the other girls are immediately recognisable from within our own family, but they must belong to somebody. 

I wonder if anybody can put a name to one of the faces?  

CHARTER TO JERICHO LANE

The other day I was driving back home from town and I passed the playing field in the photograph below. Seeing it in this light, on such a bright sunny day, brought back fond memories for me, for this was the place I was brought to by the school to play football. 

Playing field - Jericho Lane (c) G.Seaman

My first school was Upper Park Street in Toxteth, which I attended until I was around seven years old. At the time our family was living with my grandparents in their rented house in Hughson Street, Toxteth in Liverpool 8. The school was an old building which dated back to Victorian times and stood in an ordinary inner city street off Park Road. It had a concrete playground where P.E. lessons occasionally took place, but apart from the odd bomb-site (or ‘bommie’ as we called them), there were certainly no wide open spaces available in the area for undertaking team sports such as football. And that is where the playing field, featured in the photo above comes into the story.

Upper Park Street School - (Best Memories of Park Road - Facebook)


As the crow flies the playing fields are actually only around two miles away from the school itself. By car it is not very far at all. Travel south along Park Road, turning right into Aigburth Road to then follow on straight down to the junction with Jericho Lane itself.

Former MPTE buses (photo Merseyside Transport Trust - Facebook)

Every week the excitement would build in our class as we knew that the bus would be coming to take us out there. I recall being in the playground over lunch. As the afternoon bell drew near, as if by magic the vehicle would suddenly appear in the road outside - a huge, green and shining double decker! Once lunch was over, the teachers would make us line up in the playground with our PE kit bags over our shoulders or held within sweaty palms; each one of us jostling for position, eager to get onto the vehicle as quickly as possible and grab the prime seats.

Parking bay - Jericho Lane (c) G.Seaman


My mates and I had a simple but brilliant plan, and that was to sit on one of the two long seats nearest to the rear platform. We did this so that we would then be the first group allowed onto the exit platform of the vehicle, each one of us primed and ready to jump off when the bus finally slowed down as it arrived at its stop outside the changing rooms in Jericho Lane. Boys being boys, we had to push the boundaries, so we dared each other to jump off before the bus had actually stopped. More often than not the teacher would stand across the platform, holding us back behind the safety chain until the brakes had been fully applied by the driver. But every now and again we would be able to edge closer while holding onto the handrail, our excitement building as we felt the breeze on our faces as the bus started to slow, getting ready to step off as soon as the teacher pulled the chain back from in front of us.    

Parking bay and field (c) G.Seaman


By the time the bus had finally stopped, as many of us as possible would have jumped off onto the pavement and hopefully lived to tell the tale… if we were lucky. If we were not so lucky, we’d be held back and receive a stern telling off from the teacher!

Changing rooms Jericho Lane (c) G.Seaman


The rest of the days' proceedings would be mostly irrelevant and completely forgettable, as I was generally hopeless at football. Consequently I spent the majority of my time on the field standing between two sticks while a gang of bigger lads fired a heavy leather football at me. This generally wasn’t good and it never ended well. I always seemed to come off worse and get blamed every time the opposition scored a goal. Needless to say I was always glad when we were back on the bus and heading home - tired, hungry and ready for our dinner.

And now? All these years afterwards?

I could never have imagined that I would be standing here in the sunshine, thinking back to those times which I remember as if they were only yesterday. When I was eight years old - feeling cold and shivering like a jelly - trying to play football in a snow-covered field with the rest of my mates from school, and failing miserably.

Maybe, just maybe, this could possibly be the reason why I now don’t like football?