Gibby Memories, Old & New.

Let's play " Stations "

Late 40's early 50's

My two closest mates were Tommy Ferguson from 26 Poplar St. and Jim McEwan of 18 Mitchell st.it was around then we discovered, that there was a lot more to lassies than skipping ropes and peever, none of us had a girl-friend, we were three virgins, and hormones were galloping within us

The lads thought up a brilliant game that was called " Stations ", we approached my mother to see if we could have a party at our house, the only drink we were interested was Irn-Bru & Dandelion & Burdock, my mother made her Fairy Cakes, and Sandwiches, we laughed and joked, and took turns in winding up the Gram-a-phone, dancing and jiving to all the latest., my favourite was Earl Bostic and his Sax... Deep Purple...Brilliant

Mother and father went to bed so Tommy, Jim & I ran through the rules of " Stations " which were all the lads sat in a comfy chair, there was 7 lads & 6 lassies, we had it all worked out, one of the lads called the Station Master, had to go into the Scullery ( Kitchen ), all the lads being seated nice and cozy, a girl had to sit on his lap, now as it was my house I had one of the arm chairs, Tommy had the other armchair and Jim the end part of the settee, now the "Station Master" would turn off the lights, we all had a kiss and cuddle, three, four or five minutes later the " Station Maste " would call " All Change, move 3 to the right " or 4 back it changed every time, he couldn't see as he was only allowed to open his door slightly so we could hear him, the only problem was the Kitchen light switch was at the lobby Hallway ) door, so had to ask mothers permission to stand in the Lobby, we couldn't let her know what we were up to, so away we went again, every 20 minutes or so we changed " Station Masters ", this was fine till it was my turn, and standing out in that Lobby while all my mates were kissing & cuddling inside was not on, the rules were quickly changed for the next " Stations " equal number of lads & lassies, so this enabled the " Station Master " to have a lassie in the lobby

This was a great game for us lads, a kiss & cuddle with 6 or 7 different lasses, in some cases, the lads sitting down, had to hide their embarrassing situation and try to adjust their selves before the next girl sat on their lap, to make matters even more uncumfy, we would point, " Whit's That "

Back then, we were not as street wise as the lads & lassies are today, the nearest we got to seeing a pair of Titties, was if someone got hold of a book called " The Health & Efficiency Book " which was very seldom, we saw naked ladies then, not being funny but in the late 40's all the girls were flat chested, I remember one girl, her name was Nan Naples, came from Morton Terrace, she spoke posh, and I don't know to this day why or how she joining our Gibby Gang, but one day I noticed a Bra Strap, OMG..if she wears a Bra she must have something to put in them, Now my mind went to a plan for a game of " Stations ", but I could never get the two together, either Nan wasn't there or mother said No....so I tried my Billy Sinclair approach " Nan..Will you be my girl-friend "..." Get Lost "

3 Reasons we carried a knife

Mid-40's...3 reason's we carried a knife

Knife carrying today is an offence, but in the mid-40's every Gibshill lad carried a knife, a pocket knife or sometimes called a pen-knife, only the very rich carried a Swiss Army Knife, it was never used as a weapon, nobody was threatened with it, it was never used in a fight, but a Pocket Knife was a must to have

1. Was a game called knifey, now knifey was played anywhere a flat short grass piece of ground could be found, minimum of 4 players were needed, and up to ten, all stood in a circle, monies were place in a pot, usually a penny sometimes 3 pennies or thrupence as we knew it, once all had put their money in the game started winner taking all, the object of the game, was to hold the tip of the blade, and throw it to the ground, it had to make at least one 360 degree turn before sticking in the ground, some knife's hit the ground at an angel, but as long as the handle was 2 fingers high off the floor, it was counted as a hit, those who never made it was out, then started a series of moves called by the leader, who was chosen before the game, holding the blade with the handle on your shoulder, and throw, then head & throw, then 5 of your fingers, each time the knife had to turn 360 degrees, your wrist, your elbow, your chin, all parts of the body was used, the winner took all the cash, this was a serious game, no arguments, no fights, some times 10 lads were involved

2.No TV, nothing to stay indoors for, so we had to make our own enjoyment, everybody hated us when we decided it was tie the doors together, lot's of woman left their washing lines out at night, so with our trusty Pen-knife we would cut the rope, and pick a down-stairs flats, of someone who maybe told the lads off for playing football, or making a noise, sometime during the week, as I said we cut the rope, and tie the knockers of the two down stairs flats together, not tight, but enough slack that just one house could just about see out, then knock the two doors and retreat to the back yard in the dark, this so called game couldn't be done in daylight, you would then hear at the top of their voices " You little Bastards " " I'm gonna tell your mother", and lot's lot's more, someone in the family had to climb out of the window to loosen the rope, we never tied the 2nd or 3rd floors, only the ground

3. In the 40's not only did we not have a TV, we didn't have a Fridge, nobody had a fridge that I knew, all our milk and butter, cold meat, etc was left out on the window ledge, now if you were daft enough you leave it out on the scullery window ledge, it made it easy for the boy's to climb up the waste pipes that ran down beside the scullery windows, and nick the bottles of milk, nothing else, that included the 2nd & 3rd floors, no one was safe, so tenants began to leave the milk out the back bedroom window ledge, or the front windows, I remember when I first took Cindy to Gibshill to meet the family, Cindy being helpful, was helping mother to make tea, " Where's the milk Mrs Sinclair " In our Fridge " was mothers reply, Cindy looked but couldn't find our fridge, till mother took her to the front room window, and showed her, now people thought their milk was safe, because it was away from the windows that didn't have the wastepipes running along side them, so our trusty Pocket Knife went to work on the clothes line, and a lasso was made, and the bottles of milk were lassoed and brought to ground, now me being the 2nd best goal-keeper in the world, Jimmy Cowan Morton's Goalkeeper being the 1st, it was my job to catch the milk bottles before they hit the floor, now the tenant's on the 3rd, floor were safe, we were not that clever, but the 2nd floor and the ground floor at the front was easy, we only took maybe one or two bottles a weeks, which we passed around and drank

" Gourock Rope Works "

Early 1950's " Gourock Rope Works "

I worked for Mitchell's Plumber's corner West Stewart St. & Nicholson St. I was store-boy, from 15 to 16 years old,then I was trandfered to the houseing department about 100 yards down the road next to Thornton's the Paint Shop,

The manager was a man called Hugh Ritchy, 3 tradesmaen or as we called them Journymen, fully qualified Plumber's, there was Norrie Brown, Dan Gillian, and Bobbie Miller, the 3 apprentices were myself, Ian Gorry and Ian MacGill, each journyman was responsible for their App. in becoming a plumber, we had night school 2 nights a week, 1 day at the James Watt Collage, God help us if we missed a day or night, when my mates went dancing mid-week, up the Shepherds Hall, I was at night School

We used to go into work at 7:50am for 8:00am start and were given our work for the day, now when the " Gourock Ropework Work " was given to Norrie Brown, who was responsible for me, I froze, the blood would drain from my face, and I would shake with fear, and I had every right to be frightened cause the story that was given to us youngsters as a warning, " Never be alone at the " Gourock Rope Works " the girls up there love to get hold of young apprentices, they drag you into a room, take your trousers down, put your "Willy" into the neck of a milk bottle, and make you excited, so when your " Willy " swelled it got stuck in the neck of the glass milk bottle, and as the presure was on your " Willy " it wouldn't go down, we were told, we had to go home with this milk bottle stuck to us, when home, we were told to bathe our feet in cold water, so our " Willy " would reduce, allowing us to get rid of the bottle, now what made matters even more terrifying, unknown to us was that the girls of both, Broomhill & the Port, rope works knew of this story, but never let on to us youngsters, but a group of 4/6 would point at you and laugh, " Your Next " I was terrified, it never happened to me, nor to the other two apprentices, nor anyone I know, but I was dumb enough to believe it at the time, and the girls at the works didn't help,

Now Mr Ritchie was given 1d,2d, or 3p tickets which were supposed to be given to us to go to these jobs all over Greenock & The Port, but we never got them, when we asked for them, he would say " Are you crippled, get to work, walk ", the walk to the Gourock Rope Works at Broomhill or the Port, by the time I got there, thinking what could be in store for me, by the time I got there I was a total wreck

You could always tell an apprentice plumber in those days, the journeyman's tool bag was made of canvas, about 30 inches long, you wrapped his tools in it, tied the petrol blow lamp to it, your water key, which was a T-Bar about 5 feet long, and was balanced on your left shoulder, never your right, always your left, we didn't use copper pipe then,so we always carried 5 feet of half inch lead pipe, the journeymen never carried nothing

When I became a Plumber and I had an Apprentice, guess what :- Now listen son, we are going to the " Gourock Rope Works " now, never be alone, these lassies that work here.......and so on

Kick the Can

Kick the Can

I was 10 years going on 11 years when my mind exploded and I discovered that girls did more that play skipping ropes & peever, there was one, no !! two girls I was in love with, one from 4 Irwin St, the only trouble was, she didn’t like me, so it went like this “ Will you be my girl-friend“ and she would reply “ Shove off “, there was another beautiful lass from 1 Smillie St, “ Will you be my girl friend “ Sure “ she said, so I was made up

Now about 10 to 15 of us would play Kick the Can, when it was dark, no good during daylight, all we needed was one empty can, no problem, everybody stand up against the wall, and one of us would choose, “ eeny, meeny, manny, mo, iccy, picky, Julio, ricky, umpum, pine, ease, and so on till the end Tea sugar and marmalade, tea sugar your out

So he was the searcher, the can was placed in the middle of the street between 2 & 4 Irwin Street, the object of the game, the can was tossed as far away as possible, every one ran to find a hiding spot. Whilst the searcher went to get the can and place it in the street, he would go and hunt for everyone, if he caught you, it was your turn to be searcher, everyone headed for the Middens, now a Midden was part of the houses, big enough for 2 dust- bins side by side, enough room either side and at the back, about 4 or 5 feet high, now these 2 dust bins served 6 houses, everyone had a fire, so there were ashes in plenty plus house hold rubbish, I told the story, when I had a drink or two

Mother…” Billy Sinclair, what are you doing in that midden “

Me…” I’m doing dirty things to wee Maggie from number 6 Mammy “

Mother…! “ That’s all right son, I thought you were smoking “

only trouble was my wee sister was repeating my story to someone in a pub in Dereham, and the woman's sister was standing beside her, only trouble was she named the lass, embarrassed, serves her rightYou could be in those Middens, for ages, and if you were with your girl friend, you didn’t want to be found, if all were occupied around Irwin, you might find a vacant one in Landsbury Street, I think that was where I learned to kiss. WOW, brilliant

Playing initials at Smillie Street Shops

We had no TV, Radio's so when we finished school, it was a quick bread & jam and out till dark, our parents never bothered or worried, there was no need, we were always in a group, Lads & Lassies, one of our favorite games was Initials, every one stood with backs against the shop windows of the Smillie Street Shops, and 6 big paces out was the caller, he would shout, R R...every one had to guess what film star that was, like Roy Rogers, if it was correct everyone chased the caller over to the wall of 3 Smillie St and back, who ever caught the caller then he or she took his or her place, I remember one night, and honestly it wasn't me, but the caller called J,A...every one guessed and failed, , so the caller would ask, " One step out for a hint ", if all agreed the caller would to a step further away from you, making it hard to catch him, " It's a Cowboy " every one guessed, nothing, another step " Is he a Goody or Baddy " we asked, " He's a Goody, another step, " Has he got a Black Hat or a White Hat ", ... "He's wears a White Hat "..... every one failed...." Who is it, we give up " ...It's Gene Autry

My Sisters Tanned Legs

Sisters Tanned Legs

We moved to Irwin St. from Poplar St, when I was 9/10 years old, new area, new friends to meet, and new school, Craigeknowes....I had 2 older sisters, Ray, would have been 17 yrs, and Jessie a few years older, now people used to ask, being the only boy if I was spoiled, they couldn't be further from the truth, I had many a slap from both of them, they made it my job to hunt for Sand-Stone at the big Quarry beside the Co-oP, it was a large Quarry, went from the entrance at the Co-op and nearly finished at the Timbers, plus there was no Football Park then, there was a small path on the right hand side that took us to the Lady Octavia Park, and up to the racers, ( Railway-line )

I had to dig and hunt for the Sand-Stone, which took me hours finding the right type, take it home and crush it into a fine powder, when my two sisters were going out dancing or out on a date, I had to mix up a paste, and the sisters put it on their legs, there was no such thing as tights, only nylons, so this paste when dried on the legs it looked great

Now believe it or now I was quite a painter then, have had a few paintings displayed at the Art Gallery, down by the Esplanade, so sisters knew I had a steady hand, so one at a time they would stand on a chair, and had to draw a straight line from just above the back of their knees down to the ankle, I had to use, what I remember was an Indelible pencil, you had to put it in your mouth to wet it then on to their legs, this took ages Wet & Draw, Wet & Draw, this pencil line was water proof,

I had to keep a store of crushed sand stone so when my sisters decided they wanted to go out, I had to have the mixture ready, and believe me, if my 2 sisters had no pretend nylons, Yes !!! I got a cuff round the ear