Figure 1.-.

By the time that we arrived at the coach station in Leeds everyone was in a bad mood (my Mum had told my brothers off for teasing me but they hadn't been smacked like I had and in front of those Scouts made it worse but Mum didn't bother too much about that given that I had punched my little brother first which she saw as bullying!). My Grandfather was waiting and he was in a bad mood as he had had difficulty finding out when the replacement coach would actually arrive and he told my Mum that she should have come by train and he'd have sent her the money. Grandmother of course was all of a fluster (as my Mum would say!) and insisted on Mum sitting down and having a cup of tea before anything and it was only after that that she had a good look at us and told us how we's grown and so forth. At this point my elder brother escaped with my Grandfather into the back room and I was left with my little brother, Mum and Gran while she (Gran) asked what we had been up to. My little brother was full of chat and made Gran laugh, but I was still in a bad mood and didn't say much. When Mum went on to tell her (half-jokingly) that I was getting a bit “above myself” Gran brought up the fact that “that's what you can expect living in London”. Finally once she was satisifed with the toothbrushing Mum took us into the bedroom to put on our pyjamas. Finally we went down to say goodnight to my Grandfather who to my chagrin was sitting by the fire talking away to my elder brother who was still fully dressed of course and looked like he was going to be allowed to stay up for a good while longer.

Coach Station

By the time that we arrived at the coach station in Leeds everyone was in a bad mood (my Mum had told my brothers off for teasing me but they hadn't been smacked like I had and in front of those Scouts made it worse but Mum didn't bother too much about that given that I had punched my little brother first which she saw as bullying!). My Grandfather was waiting and he was in a bad mood as he had had difficulty finding out when the replacement coach would actually arrive and he told my Mum that she should have come by train and he'd have sent her the money. My Mum repeated that she wanted to go by coach and it was an adventure for us boys (which was sort of true!) and he said that he had been worrying in the cold and my Grandmother would be worried sick back at home. I then got all defensive about my Mum and told him that trains broke down too (which was also true because it happened to us one year) but it did come out as quite rude and he went mad telling me to mind my manners and even Mum told me to apologise which I thought was really unfair as I had been trying to defend her! Anyhow it all calmed down after that and we got in the cold car to be driven to Gran. Finally the day was over and Mum decided that we needed an early night after the day's adventures.That's when I annoyed Mum yet again because I discovered that rather than the three of us sleeping upstairs in my uncle's old bed as had been the case up until then my Grandparents had put a bed in the back room for my elder brother and I was just going upstairs early with my younger brother. I said it wasn't fair and Mum replied as usual when we said that “I'll give you not fair in a minute, young man” and I knew that I was nearing troubleagain.

Our Granparents Home

Grandmother of course was all of a fluster (as my Mum would say!) and insisted on Mum sitting down and having a cup of tea before anything and it was only after that that she had a good look at us and told us how we's grown and so forth. At this point my elder brother escaped with my Grandfather into the back room and I was left with my little brother, Mum and Gran while she (Gran) asked what we had been up to. My little brother was full of chat and made Gran laugh, but I was still in a bad mood and didn't say much. When Mum went on to tell her (half-jokingly) that I was getting a bit “above myself” Gran brought up the fact that “that's what you can expect living in London” and then Mum got all defensive and said that she was dealing with it which started another mini-argument so that my Grandfather came in as peacemaker (having heard it start) and told me off again when Gran said that I was turning into a hooligan down in London to which Mum replied that she hadn't said that nor meant it! Grandad then just said that he would be watching me to make sure that I wasn't rude or misbehaved up there and that made me burst into tears because I hadn't even done anything! At least Mum comforted me then and told them that I was just tired and growing fast so Grandad retreated back to the back room and my elder brother who had been listening no doubt. I wasn't scared of my Grandfather but if he spoke sharply to you it was terrifying and that's what had got to me! He was really kind to all of us boys but he had been quite strict with my Mum and uncle so I had heard and sometimes when we were up there Mum said that she'd tell Grandad if we didn't behave and that did make us stop and think because we weren't sure what that meant for us! Our Grandfather would never hit us (and Mum wouldn't have allowed it anyhow) but he did used to have a strap for my uncle and at that age we never knew if it could come out for us! Mum liked keeping us guessing that way but, as I say, she wouldn't really have allowed him to hit us – but a sharp word from him was bad enough for me! I went and sat in a corer and read one of my Grandfather's books then (or pretended to because I was also listening to what Mum and Gran were saying about us). When Mum and Gran had their really private talks they went into the kitchen and then everyone was banned even my Grandfather!

Bathtime

Finally the day was over and Mum decided that we needed an early night after the day's adventures.That's when I annoyed Mum yet again because I discovered that rather than the three of us sleeping upstairs in my uncle's old bed as had been the case up until then my Grandparents had put a bed in the back room for my elder brother and I was just going upstairs early with my younger brother. I said it wasn't fair and Mum replied as usual when we said that “I'll give you not fair in a minute, young man” and I knew that I was nearing trouble again. The funny thing is that when Mum told us off when she was angry she reverted right back to her Yorkshire accent and that was even more true when she was back up there. In fact sometimes she could sound more frightening than my Grandfather if we had really upset her!G ran saved the day by taking me and my little brother up for our bath though while Mum unpacked our pyjamas and other clothes (which were kept in her room – her old bedroom from when she was a girl). I didn't like being bathed by Gran any longer either but Mum liked the idea of us having proper hot baths when up there as there was always plenty of hot water unlike at home. Gran always undressed us herself and took the opportunity to inspect our clothes to make sure that they were warm enough and so on – she couldn't wait to make sure that we were wearing her underwear which we were as it was Winter but a couple of times in the Summer she complained to Mum that we weren't wearing vests but that's another story!). At home we always used Wright's Coal Tar soap which didn't have much of a smell but Gran used Cousin's Imperial Leather soap which I hated the smell of and sometimes (at my little brothers request) put lavendar crytals into the bathwater which made it bluish (“like the sea” as my brother said) but I no longer wanted to smell of lavendar at bedtime! Anyhow finally Gran got done with us (my little brother mainly as he was playing and I took the opportunity to wash myself as best I could – Gran filled the bath nearly half full and we all used to go in together at Mum's insistence as she didn't want Gran running the bath three times!). This time my elder brother escaped that too.

The Infamous Yellow Tooth Brush

While Gran was drying us, Mum came in with the new toothbrush that she'd bought for us up there. That was aother thing that was now annoying me. At home we all had our own toothbrushes – mine was green (of course!), my elder brother's red and my little brother's blue – that was the colours if our teams when at primary school and we always knew whose was who. However at my Grandparents the toothbrush rack was taken up with my Grandfathers brushes (he needed two or three seperate ones) so Mum bought just one new one and made us boys share it. I didn't used to mind too much but, partly because my elder brother probably did have his own brush packed away this time, I did this time. Mum asked me to clean the bath which was fine but when I turned round and saw my little brother brushing with a yellow toothbrush (my least favourite colour!) I got annoyed and when he had done and Mum then started to put toothpaste on it for me to use I objected and asked why I couldn't have brought my own toothbrush. That was it for Mum - she put down the toothbrush, spun me round and gave me a good sharp smack on the bottom. She then turned me back round gave me the toothbrush and told me to “get brushing”!. I knew that I was in danger of a proper spanking then so I did as she ordered! Gran said that she could buy me a new toothbrush the next day but Mum cut her short and said that the one brush was fine and she didn't want to waste money and that I was just being silly and had better start behaving if I knew what was good for me!. Luckily I was brushing away furiously under Mum's gaze so I couldn't have said anything even if I had wanted to which saved my bacon.

Bedtime

Finally once she was satisifed with the toothbrushing Mum took us into the bedroom to put on our pyjamas. They were nice and warm as Mum had unpacked them and taken them downstairs to air them by the fire before bringing them back up.S he had also unpacked our plimpsoles. At home we didn't wear slippers but used our school plimpsoles and it was the same in Leeds. One year Gran had bought us slippers for Christmas but Mum didn't want to carry them back home and the next time we visited Gran couldn't find them. I was glad as even though I was tiny then I didn't want to wear slippers with Noddy on them! Finally we went down to say goodnight to my Grandfather who to my chagrin was sitting by the fire talking away to my elder brother who was still fully dressed of course and looked like he was going to be allowed to stay up for a good while longer. My Grandfather was in a good mood now and told me jokingly to have a good night's sleep and wake up in a better mood. He'd probably heard Mum smack me but that was all forgotten now. Mum and Gran then took me and my little brother up to bed where I planned to lay awake and listen for when my elder brother went to bed downstairs but after straining to hear what was going on downstairs for a few minutes I fell fast asleep so Mum had probabaly been right about me needing an early night. (Mum usually was.) Becuase there was only two of us in the bed there was more room so that was another good thing – and there wasn't the possibility any longer of my elder brother and I kicking each other through the night and then waking my little brother who used to call for Mum and she'd be up like a flash to deal with us. Once my Grandfather appeared when we were arguing over who had the most bedcover and that soon quietened us down!

Bill