If this post was about the story of Port Sunlight then it would be a long post! I am of course talking about the book ‘The Story of Port Sunlight’ published by Lever Brothers in 1953. Our copy of this book was kept next to Dad’s set of ten encyclopedias in the bookcase next to his chair in the front room. No one could get to the bookcase when Dad was in his chair! I would always show this book to friends and say “that’s me Dad, right there!”
I think Dad started working for Levers when he left school. He then left to join the army, went over to India, married Mum and they came back to live with his mother in Port Sunlight and he went back to work for Levers again. He took early retirement (his own request) at the age of fifty and opened up a small business opposite Bebington Station which he ran for fifteen years before his final retirement at the age of sixty five. I had just started secondary school when Dad started this business and because of it, I had a lot of friends at school..... he opened up a sweet shop!
Both Mum & Dad worked in the shop and they both became very popular, everyone knew Harry & Nancy. Dad was popular with folk who couldn’t afford to buy a full packet of cigarettes... he used to sell individual ciggies!
I can still hear the sound of sweets, of all shapes and sizes, being poured from their jars into the weighing scales! The shop was very small with little storage space and so Dad, after a visit to the ‘Cash & Carry’, would keep all his boxes of crisps, chocolates & sweets etc., on the upstairs landing at The Ginnel, outside my bedroom!! My friends liked to visit me at home particularly when Dad wasn’t there... but his boxes were!
Both Mum & Dad worked in the shop and they both became very popular, everyone knew Harry & Nancy. Dad was popular with folk who couldn’t afford to buy a full packet of cigarettes... he used to sell individual ciggies!
I can still hear the sound of sweets, of all shapes and sizes, being poured from their jars into the weighing scales! The shop was very small with little storage space and so Dad, after a visit to the ‘Cash & Carry’, would keep all his boxes of crisps, chocolates & sweets etc., on the upstairs landing at The Ginnel, outside my bedroom!! My friends liked to visit me at home particularly when Dad wasn’t there... but his boxes were!
Before living in The Ginnel, Mum & Dad lived with Grandma at 14 Windy Bank, opposite the Lady Lever Art Gallery. It was to his mother at this address, that Dad would send his letters when he was in India. Those letters are gradually being sorted, copied and transcribed and will soon be finding their way onto this blog... watch this space... they are so interesting to read. A really big thank you to our McCormack cousins for finding them!
In the photo of Mum (looking lovely I must say) she is standing between Windy Bank (on her right) and the Art Gallery. In the background you can just see The Leverhulme Memorial. According to the date on their old rent book, Mum, Dad, Keith & Rob moved into 35 The Ginnel in September 1952. Mum finally moved out of The Ginnel in early 2012 to live in a nursing home. So, give or take a few months, she had lived there for sixty very happy years!
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| Mum outside the Lady Lever Art Gallery opposite Windy Bank  |
That’s thirteen shillings a week and no I haven’t been using a red pen on that book!
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ReplyDeleteThis post reminds me of my first visit to ‘the Ginnel’ (35 the Ginnel!). Just as David says, ‘the book’ was proudly brought out and I was encouraged to try and glean something of the history of Port Sunlight by taking a look at it. I was of course very ready to do so. Harry and Nancy and David all seemed really proud of the village. I could sense something quite patriarchal about the community which I think I might have found stifling, but on the other hand I felt that there was something appealing about the efforts made to keep the village attractive and tidy and its inhabitants well behaved! I have a vague idea that David and his young friend Leslie Ebrill were told to ‘Keep off the grass’ (they didn’t) and also told ‘I’ll tell your Dad’. The McCormack stories are now shared with those of who have married in. Of course it is more than stories that are shared. I was amazed at the warmth Nancy showed me even before we first met. Of course she was very happy thinking that David was happy (I don’t think she ever understood that sometimes people can be very happy on their own). But I have never known such open, unquestioning warmth on a first meeting. It was very interesting to see that in Nancy’s autograph book, she was advised by Molly (Ince) when just a teenager to be ‘unpretending’. It is remarkable and warming to know that after a lifetime of experience she did keep this quality.
Thank you David and Anne and Rob for making this wonderful archive. Your family has such a wealth of fascinating history and as the family grows, it is lovely to know that those stories Harry and Nancy shared will always be here for everyone. The famous generosity of Harry and friendliness of Nancy live on.
Gosh, so beautifully written Sarah...I've not felt like crying for a while 'til now. You've captured the essence of 'Port Sunlight' life thoroughly. Dad was proud of and loved the village, which was as much his home as the house he lived in. And as you say Mum was indeed loving and well loved in return. Reading all the stories here, seeing the photos and reliving so much is a massive tonic. Some things I'm finding out for the first time too! It's such an insight also into their lives before becoming parents! It makes me want to record all that's happened in my own family life to date, and organise all the photos....but time doesn't permit. But I believe this blog will run forever and so eventually it will include everyone and everything anyway!x
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