Terraced housing and every door open. All the kids are ‘playing out’ until after dark and the calls from all the Mothers ring out down our street. Tea time.* Home we all trot, muddied and bloodied knees and smiles a mile wide. Food’s on the table and after grace we tuck in. Not much conversation round our table. Words are silently spoken with eyes only.
The corner shop has everything Mum needs to feed a young family. One stop and friendly. More time chatting than shopping. I can go in and out of houses as I please. It’s everyone’s street. Neighbours can clip me round the ear as can the local copper. Grey skies and rain predominate the weather, as we imagine scoring a cup final goal with a leather ball.
All year round April
showers make me smile these days
Cut me I bleed Manc**
Submission for dVerse Haibun Monday prompt.
*Tea Time in the North of England was the evening meal.
**Manc is short for Mancunian
I liked the silence, speaking with the eyes.
I love the time when every door was open… kids would come and go (at least I did).. and it was wonderful
Coronation Street is my favourite – I’m off to watch the second one this evening. it’s all here in your haibun, which I love, Paul!
This reminds me of the streets in Leeds where I I went to school.
I love that it was everybody’s street. Boy, things have changed!
Oh, dear, Paul. You’re from the wrong side of the Pennines.
I was a nice middle class girl, in relative suburbia, but we still played out in the street, or gardens, or the waste ground all the time. It was always sunny, then, except when it snowed…
Oh for that time when children were safe to carry their games up and down the street. Seems so long ago. Nice memories!
Oh that such times could return…when children were free and we were our brother’s keeper. Thank you for sharing this memory.
Your story reminded me of the TV show Little Rascals. The picture was great!
It really does take a village…
Thanks for opening the door to your hometown. I think my childhood was similar as our parents trusted all of the neighbours. Playtime outside….a concept that some can’t even relate to with all their high tech gadgets these days.
My childhood was very similar to yours. I miss those days of wandering in and out of friend’s homes, and playing outside until dinner.
“It’s everyone’s street. “…The whole world seems like an extended family in the line. Wonderful.
It seems we all knew those childhoods, who grew up in the middle of the last century, always out and about, all the children of the neighborhood welcome everywhere. How did we get from there to here? (K)
Loved this. Those corner shops don’t exist anymore. It’s all “express” this or “mini” that. I can’t say that I know the name of a single person in our local Co-op. More the pity.
I’ve seen these neighbor goods in movies and books only and I love it! Great way for kids to grow up.
love the “everyone’s street”, it pulls together the cornerstore gatherings, the safe freedom of the kids visiting each other’s homes, playing in the streets. nostalgia. i remember those days when we could play in the streets — I don’t see many kids playing these days — kinda sad.
Yes, we would play until after dark and then hear the calls of ‘dinnertime!’ And that was amidst blocks of flats – so perhaps it’s a certain neighbourhood, city or class that has these memories.
i like how the families on your street looked out for each other and the kids had a welcome in every home, a time so treasured for the fun and meals together. funny how those simple meal times stay strong in our hearts and minds.
Ah, the good old days when door were left open. I remember those last calls to come inside. Different times. I really liked this. It took me back. Love that photo too..