Figure 1.-.

Mum always started preparing for the trip some time ahead – which mainly meant deciding on which clothes we were to wear both for travelling and whilst up there. Because Gran in particular was always on at Mum to move back up to Yorkshire with us because she thought that London was some sort of bad influence on us Mum always made sure that we were dressed smartly and warned us to be on our best behaviour. This year in particular I was already in trouble with Mum over various things and the confrontation over the white socks in many ways brought things to a head which was not a bad thing looking back. As usual we were up early on the day we were to travel and it was extra early this time as we were to travel by coach [bus]. My elder brother had started at secondary school and Mum had had to buy his uniform so she was short of money and the coach was cheaper but she didn't tell Gran that. We always had a bath the morning before we left which was only normally true on a Sunday as otherwise we bathed at night and had a strip wash in the kitchen in the mornings before school and so on. Mum had already packed our clothes which we were to wear up in Leeds. As it was always so early when we travelled we weren't that hungry and Mum was always in a rush so we had toast and tea rather than our normal porridge and boiled eggs. After breakfast Mum left us to go back down and brush our teeth while she finished ironing our travelling clothes. Mum was always pretty strict about toothbrushing. Anyhow it was then that we found out what clothes Mum had selected for us to wear. I knew that the main item for me when we were going to Leeds would be the hated check shorts that my Grandmother had bought for me and posted down to London a year or so previously and there was no getting out of that! My elder brother escaped all of this as, as I say, he was trusted to get himself ready now but he was waiting to see the fun. Then what I saw as quite an ordeal started! At that age I normally dressed myself. The check shorts I had never voluntarily put on myself though. The first time that they had appeared on her ironing board (about a year or so earlier as I said) I was horrified and hoped that they were for my elder brother. We were going up to Leeds then and as usual Mum was in a hurry to catch the right train and when I simply refused to wear them and begged to be allowed to wear school shorts like my brothers she simply held them out near to the floor and told me to “step in quick sharp” or she would fetch the wooden spoon. I always felt miserable though and that year my elder brother was wearing a suit that my Grandfather had bought for him with slightly flared long trousers and was acting all “grown up” since he had started at secondary school.

Preliminaries

Mum always started preparing for the trip some time ahead – which mainly meant deciding on which clothes we were to wear both for travelling and whilst up there. Because Gran in particular was always on at Mum to move back up to Yorkshire with us because she thought that London was some sort of bad influence on us Mum always made sure that we were dressed smartly and warned us to be on our best behaviour. This year in particular I was already in trouble with Mum over various things and the confrontation over the white socks in many ways brought things to a head which was not a bad thing looking back.

The Coach

As usual we were up early on the day we were to travel and it was extra early this time as we were to travel by coach [bus]. My elder brother had started at secondary school and Mum had had to buy his uniform so she was short of money and the coach was cheaper but she didn't tell Gran that--she said she wanted to go by coach for a change for us!

Getting Ready

We always had a bath the morning before we left which was only normally true on a Sunday as otherwise we bathed at night and had a strip wash in the kitchen in the mornings before school and so on. Mum had already packed our clothes which we were to wear up in Leeds and that included our pyjamas so we slept in pants and vest with a jumper if we wanted. My elder brother was allowed to get himself ready as he had been doing since he started at secondary school and left the house earlier but Mum still supervised my little brother and me. After our bath Mum dressed us in clean pants and vest (the itchy Winter underwear that Gran always bought us supplies of!) and we wore a jumper again over them and our school plimpsoles to go up to the warm kichen and have a light breakfast.

Breakfast

As it was always so early when we travelled we weren't that hungry and Mum was always in a rush so we had toast and tea rather than our normal porridge and boiled eggs and Mum had made sandwiches the night before for us to eat on the coach or train once we were settled.

Toothbrushing

After breakfast Mum left us to go back down and brush our teeth while she finished ironing our travelling clothes. Mum was always pretty strict about toothbrushing and we always had breakfast in clean underwear with a jumper on top if necessary (which it wasn't really as the kitchen was always nice and warm) and then Mum took off the vest and jumper so that we could go down and brush without getting toothpaste all over our clean clothes! Once done we would come back up to have our teeth inspected and our hair brushed. If we hadn't brushed properly Mum sent us back down to redo them so it paid to brush thoroughly!

Getting Dressed

Anyhow it was then that we found out what clothes Mum had selected for us to wear. I knew that the main item for me when we were going to Leeds would be the hated check shorts that my Grandmother had bought for me and posted down to London a year or so previously and there was no getting out of that! My elder brother escaped all of this as, as I say, he was trusted to get himself ready now but he was waiting to see the fun. My Mum had our freshly ironed clothes all ready by her and first of all she handed us the socks to put on. I always wore a pair of our school kneesocks with the check shorts as they had green hoops around the tops and the shorts were of a green/black/white check (my cousin had a similar pair but they were brown/black/white which I would have hated even more as I didn't like brown clothes for some reason and at least green was my favourite colour!). My Mum helped my little brother with his socks (he too wore grey school-type socks but with blue hoops as, on top of our green-hooped official school socks, Mum bought socks with other coloured hoops (designed for different schools) as she liked to match up the colours with ties and jumpers and so forth when she was dressing us up to go out). Once our socks were straight and neatly gartered Mum put our vests back on and made sure that they were tucked in to our pants to keep us warm and then handed over my shirt (white) to me to put on together with a green solid tie while she put on my brothers shirt, tie and shorts for him (he wore standard grey school shorts normally for “best” and he had a white shirt too with a solid blue tie).

Beginning of the Ordeal

Then what I saw as quite an ordeal started! At that age I normally dressed myself – although Mum often had to partially redress me as she always checked that I had fastened the shirt buttons in order and so forth or that in my haste (to get off to school) I had remembered to zip up the fly of my shorts! The check shorts I had never voluntarily put on myself though. The first time that they had appeared on her ironing board (about a year or so earlier as I said) I was horrified and hoped that they were for my elder brother. We were going up to Leeds then and as usual Mum was in a hurry to catch the right train and when I simply refused to wear them and begged to be allowed to wear school shorts like my brothers she simply held them out near to the floor and told me to “step in quick sharp” or she would fetch the wooden spoon. I knew what that meant so I reluctantly stepped into them. Every time we went to Leeds it was the same – Mum didn't even hand me the shorts to put on but held them for me to step into and put them on herself. My brothers always enjoyed this and that made matters worse! Once she had pulled the shorts up and fastened them Mum set about attaching the belt that came with them. They didn't need a belt as they were a good fit by then (my cousin was the same size as me and Gran knew that if she took him to buy clothes they would fit me too which is how I ened up with more clothes bought by her than my brothers). However Mum liked the look of the belt and also she didn't like us wearing shorts with belt loops without a belt – for dressing up anyhow. Once Mum had threaded the belt through the loops – turning me round so I could see my brothers smirking! - she fastened it and then I felt well and truly trapped into those damned shorts! Because I knew that there was no way that Mum would relent on me wearing Gran's favourite shorts when we went up there I let her put them on me in silent protest and when she was done she always said “Good boy” and gave me a pat on the bottom to show that she was pleased that I hadn't caused a fuss.

My Brothers Suit

I always felt miserable though and that year my elder brother was wearing a suit that my Grandfather had bought for him with slightly flared long trousers and was acting all “grown up” since he had started at secondary school. I didn't want a suit (I would have hated it) nor even long trousers then but I just didn't want to wear those shorts – almost any other pair in the whole wide world would have done (excpet my cousin's nearly matching pair!).

Bill