jack Linley
I was born in 1931 in Crossgates, 29 Manston Lane facing the church. I went to Manston School. I remember when I was 8 years old, the war breaking out and people were coming round shouting “We’re at war with Germany!”; there was special papers coming out. And of course I was worried because of my father. I thought he was still on reserve. He was working at Barnbow so he didn’t have to go. I thought to myself after that he must have been on reserve for quite a while because it was well after the First World War. He always used to say to me “I’m taking you to Scarborough on my reserve money”, just me and my dad. Money was scarce in them days. My sisters never went, just me. My friends were always asking me what it was like to see the sea because they had never been as they couldn’t afford to go anywhere. I said “I had fish and chips, a bar of chocolate”. “It must be marvellous” they said. We used to go from Crossgates station
During the war, rationing came on and we used to help the farmers. I used to go round collecting pig swill. But there wasn’t a lot of food to be wasted. We used to go round to the local shops asking if there was any stale bread, cabbage leaves, potato peelings. I think it was Ibbitson’s Farm Seacroft Village. At Christmas time when he slaughtered the pigs, we used to help him. And being a young lad, I was very interested. He used to do it with a pole axe; it’s like a hatchet with a spike on the end. It’s gruesome. They used to tie them up so they couldn’t move, kill them, and then we used to put them in a bath of water. It was our job then to scrape all the hair off them. For helping the farmer, at Christmas time we got a big joint of pork, we had a feast!
The headmaster at my school Mr Chadwick, who was married to Mrs Chadwick, used to play violins and we used to have to listen to them and I used to dread that! We used to have our meals in the Village Hall. I had to pay for mine because we were a bit better off than most. It was 2s6d a week or something like that. I’m not 100% sure. I was 10/12 year old.
During the war, rationing came on and we used to help the farmers. I used to go round collecting pig swill. But there wasn’t a lot of food to be wasted. We used to go round to the local shops asking if there was any stale bread, cabbage leaves, potato peelings. I think it was Ibbitson’s Farm Seacroft Village. At Christmas time when he slaughtered the pigs, we used to help him. And being a young lad, I was very interested. He used to do it with a pole axe; it’s like a hatchet with a spike on the end. It’s gruesome. They used to tie them up so they couldn’t move, kill them, and then we used to put them in a bath of water. It was our job then to scrape all the hair off them. For helping the farmer, at Christmas time we got a big joint of pork, we had a feast!
The headmaster at my school Mr Chadwick, who was married to Mrs Chadwick, used to play violins and we used to have to listen to them and I used to dread that! We used to have our meals in the Village Hall. I had to pay for mine because we were a bit better off than most. It was 2s6d a week or something like that. I’m not 100% sure. I was 10/12 year old.
I was 14 years old when the war finished. We went on a camp with the headmaster and all the lads and one of the lads came up to me and said “The head master wants to see you in his tent”. I said “Okay”. The headmaster said to me, “Somebody told me your smoking?” I said “Smoking? No. Well I had a go but I didn’t like it. I’m sorry, sir”. He said “Oh, I was just wondering if you had any because I’ve run out!” I said “Well, No. I had a go off somebody else’s.” So he said “Well, will you go ask them” I said “I don’t think they have any.” So he said “Well go down to the village”. It was a mile and a half away and I had to go down to the village and get him some cigarettes. I stood there after waiting, thinking that he’d give me one but he didn’t.
I left Crossgates in 1939 and we moved to 19 Foundry Mill Crescent. They had just been built. I was working in the mines with my dad and we had a bathroom which was marvellous. I used to get in the bath in front of the fire and I’d get out of it and the water would be mucky. My dad didn’t get in then after me. Anyway when we got the bathroom, my dad didn’t want to know. He still wanted to use his bath in front of the fire which he did and I got baths upstairs. We had a coal fired back boiler to heat the water.
My mum was a very good cook and I always remember we had a big stew pan at the side. As you walked into the house you could see it. It took up all the space. There was no double glazing or anything back then and it got really cold. But we all managed. I had three sisters. We had an orchard in the garden so we had plenty of fruit; we had fruit bushes and apple trees and all sorts. We never went short of anything and of course, it was all fields and facing where I live were the Hunger Hills. That’s from Manston across to Seacroft. There was a quarry there. They called it the Hunger Hills because of a big battle that happened over there centuries ago.
We moved to Seacroft. I remember people used to come to our door. My mum worked at Gammons, so she always got a bit more than everyone else, a bit more sugar, margarine or whatever. Mrs Ben had a family of 8 or 9 children and she was always knocking on our door asking if she could lend some butter or margarine or what have you. My mother was getting fed up of her so she told my dad about it and he said “I’ll cure her. She won’t want to come no more”.
So he was getting bathed at the front of the fire and a knock came at the door and he got out of the bath and answered it naked. She blessed herself and ran away. She Said “Jesus, Mary and Joseph” and then she ran a mile. She never came no more. Things like that happened in them days. My dad was a gentleman. He was a lovely man my dad. He never hit us, he never scolded us. Children in our days used to get caned at school and then scolded when they got home. But my dad wasn’t like that.
There were prisoners of war that used to work on the land. Most of them were Italian. We used to go run to the shop for them for cigarettes and things and we’d get a badge or something off then but I never kept them. We’d get stickers off of the Germans; they were here at Boggart Hill. They camped there. There was a German prisoners of war camp there. Well, of course, we were young, we didn’t bother like, they were just normal people to us. Quite a lot around here worked on the land.
The Woodpecker Pub was bombed, The Barnbow (a tank factory) was bombed. I used to walk around with my dad; he was a air warden and one day I was walking around with him and we heard a noise and we thought it was a bomb but it turned out to be part of a gun! What had happened was that they had fired it that much that the bar melted at the end and landed in our garden. We read about it in the paper afterwards what it was and my dad handed the paper in.
I remember when they delivered the Anderson Shelter and every so many houses had to have an Anderson Shelter. Me and my dad had to dig a big hole to put the Anderson Shelter in. No one would help us. We did it on our own. I can’t every remember anyone else helping us.
I left Crossgates in 1939 and we moved to 19 Foundry Mill Crescent. They had just been built. I was working in the mines with my dad and we had a bathroom which was marvellous. I used to get in the bath in front of the fire and I’d get out of it and the water would be mucky. My dad didn’t get in then after me. Anyway when we got the bathroom, my dad didn’t want to know. He still wanted to use his bath in front of the fire which he did and I got baths upstairs. We had a coal fired back boiler to heat the water.
My mum was a very good cook and I always remember we had a big stew pan at the side. As you walked into the house you could see it. It took up all the space. There was no double glazing or anything back then and it got really cold. But we all managed. I had three sisters. We had an orchard in the garden so we had plenty of fruit; we had fruit bushes and apple trees and all sorts. We never went short of anything and of course, it was all fields and facing where I live were the Hunger Hills. That’s from Manston across to Seacroft. There was a quarry there. They called it the Hunger Hills because of a big battle that happened over there centuries ago.
We moved to Seacroft. I remember people used to come to our door. My mum worked at Gammons, so she always got a bit more than everyone else, a bit more sugar, margarine or whatever. Mrs Ben had a family of 8 or 9 children and she was always knocking on our door asking if she could lend some butter or margarine or what have you. My mother was getting fed up of her so she told my dad about it and he said “I’ll cure her. She won’t want to come no more”.
So he was getting bathed at the front of the fire and a knock came at the door and he got out of the bath and answered it naked. She blessed herself and ran away. She Said “Jesus, Mary and Joseph” and then she ran a mile. She never came no more. Things like that happened in them days. My dad was a gentleman. He was a lovely man my dad. He never hit us, he never scolded us. Children in our days used to get caned at school and then scolded when they got home. But my dad wasn’t like that.
There were prisoners of war that used to work on the land. Most of them were Italian. We used to go run to the shop for them for cigarettes and things and we’d get a badge or something off then but I never kept them. We’d get stickers off of the Germans; they were here at Boggart Hill. They camped there. There was a German prisoners of war camp there. Well, of course, we were young, we didn’t bother like, they were just normal people to us. Quite a lot around here worked on the land.
The Woodpecker Pub was bombed, The Barnbow (a tank factory) was bombed. I used to walk around with my dad; he was a air warden and one day I was walking around with him and we heard a noise and we thought it was a bomb but it turned out to be part of a gun! What had happened was that they had fired it that much that the bar melted at the end and landed in our garden. We read about it in the paper afterwards what it was and my dad handed the paper in.
I remember when they delivered the Anderson Shelter and every so many houses had to have an Anderson Shelter. Me and my dad had to dig a big hole to put the Anderson Shelter in. No one would help us. We did it on our own. I can’t every remember anyone else helping us.
Me and my dad used to work for Darcy Wilson and in winter time the lake always used to freeze up and you could skate on Roundhay Park Lake. The cold winters nowadays are nothing like they were back then. We used to go skating at the pond at Darcy Wilson’s at the back of where The Lion and Lamb used to be.
When I left school I started off as an apprentice brick layer for a firm called Monkmans which was at the side of the picture house in town. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t enough money. My dad said “If you want any money you’ll have to come down pit”. So I went, and I always remember the Overman say to me “Who do you belong to?” They were all family concerned. I said “Well my dad’s Frank Linley” so he said “Well, go with your dad”. My dad was working on the coal face. I was terrified. It was very, very hard work. I was 15. I went from a pound a week to about £5/6 a week, which was a lot of money then. I left there because I was working all the night shifts with my dad and I wanted to be on days so I went to Temple Newsam down the Drift mine. I worked with a lad called Laughton whose dad had the Hope Inn on York Road. I always felt very guilty because everybody was in uniform and I was talking to my mate one day and I said “I’m thinking of joining up” He said “I’m joining up” so I said “Well, we’ve got to do it. We’ve got to do something”.
So I went and joined up. He did 22 years. I finished up with my reserve and TA. I did about 10 years. He finished up as Sergeant Major. I never saw him after. His dad told me he’d got rank at Army St Regimental as Sergeant Major. I made a Corporal but I was like “How did he do that?” Because he only had the same education as us. But the Army was good because if you took a real interest they’d help you. Which I should have done. I was too busy having a drink and having a good time.
Farouk was a British officer in the army and when he was in power everybody over there, all the soldiers, they liked you. All the soldiers got on very well, even then during the war. But when we went they got rid of Farouk. Nasser took over and they didn’t like us. They thought we were a bit naughty. They didn’t know how to make the bombs like they do now. It was all booby traps, piano wires and things like that across the road; so if you were on a motor bike or anything or in a jeep you’d get hurt. But we all had pieces of angle iron at the front of the bike or the jeep, just a piece of angle iron welded on so if there was anything like that it would just cut straight through it. You could hear them ping. The other thing they did was poison the water plant. So you never had fresh water. Water had to be treated.
I remember the Johnsons Feast. These relations of my mum’s lived in the caravans. They were all like glass and chandeliers inside. They were absolutely beautiful. They were all lit up inside. Keith Johnson owned the feast. My uncle used to attract people by dancing on the cake walk. And he’d have a few drinks as well. But he’d had too many one day and he fell and hit his lip. My mother said “It serves you right”. He was good at that. I think he used to go in the boxing ring. My dad couldn’t fight. He said ill get you ten bob lad and we’ll go for a drink. He’d go in and he’d be knocked out straight away. And my mother would play hell with him. He’d say “Well I’ve got ten shilling”. Ten shilling was a lot in them days. He was good at knocking coconuts down.
When I left school I started off as an apprentice brick layer for a firm called Monkmans which was at the side of the picture house in town. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t enough money. My dad said “If you want any money you’ll have to come down pit”. So I went, and I always remember the Overman say to me “Who do you belong to?” They were all family concerned. I said “Well my dad’s Frank Linley” so he said “Well, go with your dad”. My dad was working on the coal face. I was terrified. It was very, very hard work. I was 15. I went from a pound a week to about £5/6 a week, which was a lot of money then. I left there because I was working all the night shifts with my dad and I wanted to be on days so I went to Temple Newsam down the Drift mine. I worked with a lad called Laughton whose dad had the Hope Inn on York Road. I always felt very guilty because everybody was in uniform and I was talking to my mate one day and I said “I’m thinking of joining up” He said “I’m joining up” so I said “Well, we’ve got to do it. We’ve got to do something”.
So I went and joined up. He did 22 years. I finished up with my reserve and TA. I did about 10 years. He finished up as Sergeant Major. I never saw him after. His dad told me he’d got rank at Army St Regimental as Sergeant Major. I made a Corporal but I was like “How did he do that?” Because he only had the same education as us. But the Army was good because if you took a real interest they’d help you. Which I should have done. I was too busy having a drink and having a good time.
Farouk was a British officer in the army and when he was in power everybody over there, all the soldiers, they liked you. All the soldiers got on very well, even then during the war. But when we went they got rid of Farouk. Nasser took over and they didn’t like us. They thought we were a bit naughty. They didn’t know how to make the bombs like they do now. It was all booby traps, piano wires and things like that across the road; so if you were on a motor bike or anything or in a jeep you’d get hurt. But we all had pieces of angle iron at the front of the bike or the jeep, just a piece of angle iron welded on so if there was anything like that it would just cut straight through it. You could hear them ping. The other thing they did was poison the water plant. So you never had fresh water. Water had to be treated.
I remember the Johnsons Feast. These relations of my mum’s lived in the caravans. They were all like glass and chandeliers inside. They were absolutely beautiful. They were all lit up inside. Keith Johnson owned the feast. My uncle used to attract people by dancing on the cake walk. And he’d have a few drinks as well. But he’d had too many one day and he fell and hit his lip. My mother said “It serves you right”. He was good at that. I think he used to go in the boxing ring. My dad couldn’t fight. He said ill get you ten bob lad and we’ll go for a drink. He’d go in and he’d be knocked out straight away. And my mother would play hell with him. He’d say “Well I’ve got ten shilling”. Ten shilling was a lot in them days. He was good at knocking coconuts down.
My dad was in the Royal Horse Artillery so he had all the horse brasses and their own brasses to polish. We did eventually get them. By the time I had finished my saving we did get them and that’s when they sent me to Egypt on my own from Catterick; I don’t know why I was that important but I went by myself.
I went down to Goose Street in London; I was there for about 2 weeks. Which was nice. I always remember we went down to a holding station for all the troops and there was a lift and I put my kit bag in the lift and this sergeant said “Where are you going?” I said “I’m reporting here, sir”. He got my bag and threw it down the steps. “You don’t use that!” he said. “Follow your kit bag down there”. And it was like a spiral stair case. There was troops all waiting to go because there were conflicts all over. There was Korea, Malaya, and Egypt in the 1950s. There was all these conflicts but nobody knew about them. People thought the war had finished but it hadn’t. It was still going on. So everybody was waiting to go to the different destinations.
When I came out of the Army, I had £50 which I got for the end of 3 years service. I bought a house and I thought “I’ll never see £50 again.” The house cost £500. I put £50 deposit on. Argyle Terrace. That was a 2 bedroom back to back, with the toilet down the street. So we lived there for a few years. It was in a red area. When they had to come down I think I got £14 for it. For the ground. I rented a house then. It was Ebor Gardens, they had just built them. It was very very nice. There was under floor central heating and everything. You had to have a status, you had to have a decent wage to rent one because they were 30 shillings a week. Which average rents in them days were 7s.6d so these were twice as much. I went down to the housing and had to who them my mortgage payments, which was like a rent book. It was all wrote in pen. So I showed them and they said “Oh, yes. Go pick what you want” so I brought by children up there and then I thought I’ve got to buy my own property again. So I worked in the mines quite a bit then I was doing the development work. I didn’t intend stopping in the mines. I did some development work, got good money so I started on the chain again buying my own house and ended up in Rothwell with a new house. I could do most things myself like plastering. I bought it for £10,000 and within 6 months I got 17,500 for it.
So I moved in to a new one which was five years old. I put the power point in my old house. How I connected it into the electrics. I don’t know how I did that!
When I’d finished with the mines I worked as a prison officer in Armley. I worked at Skelton Power Station for a while, the power stations were changing to oil, I worked at Skelton Grange and we had to go to Drax Ferry Bridge. Well I wasn’t prepared to do that. So I went in the prison service. Out of 150 men I was the only one that got an application. I remember going down to the dole office and it was an ex police sergeant that was doing the recruiting for the prison and I could have signed on because I had finished at power station but I wouldn’t. I don’t know why but I wouldn’t. They were all shouting and swearing, scratching their head and I thought “No I’m not going there anymore. So I went to talk to him and I got the job. I worked there 24 years at Armley. I was there when they fetched Sutcliffe in. I remember him saying to me “You can look at me. I’m not an animal”. I said “I don’t want to look at you. You have no interest to me.” He wasn’t. He was just another prisoner. That was in the 1980s. When they fetched him in they thought it was like royalty because they were Governors, chief of police, his own cell was all ready for him. He had his own toilet.
I went down to Goose Street in London; I was there for about 2 weeks. Which was nice. I always remember we went down to a holding station for all the troops and there was a lift and I put my kit bag in the lift and this sergeant said “Where are you going?” I said “I’m reporting here, sir”. He got my bag and threw it down the steps. “You don’t use that!” he said. “Follow your kit bag down there”. And it was like a spiral stair case. There was troops all waiting to go because there were conflicts all over. There was Korea, Malaya, and Egypt in the 1950s. There was all these conflicts but nobody knew about them. People thought the war had finished but it hadn’t. It was still going on. So everybody was waiting to go to the different destinations.
When I came out of the Army, I had £50 which I got for the end of 3 years service. I bought a house and I thought “I’ll never see £50 again.” The house cost £500. I put £50 deposit on. Argyle Terrace. That was a 2 bedroom back to back, with the toilet down the street. So we lived there for a few years. It was in a red area. When they had to come down I think I got £14 for it. For the ground. I rented a house then. It was Ebor Gardens, they had just built them. It was very very nice. There was under floor central heating and everything. You had to have a status, you had to have a decent wage to rent one because they were 30 shillings a week. Which average rents in them days were 7s.6d so these were twice as much. I went down to the housing and had to who them my mortgage payments, which was like a rent book. It was all wrote in pen. So I showed them and they said “Oh, yes. Go pick what you want” so I brought by children up there and then I thought I’ve got to buy my own property again. So I worked in the mines quite a bit then I was doing the development work. I didn’t intend stopping in the mines. I did some development work, got good money so I started on the chain again buying my own house and ended up in Rothwell with a new house. I could do most things myself like plastering. I bought it for £10,000 and within 6 months I got 17,500 for it.
So I moved in to a new one which was five years old. I put the power point in my old house. How I connected it into the electrics. I don’t know how I did that!
When I’d finished with the mines I worked as a prison officer in Armley. I worked at Skelton Power Station for a while, the power stations were changing to oil, I worked at Skelton Grange and we had to go to Drax Ferry Bridge. Well I wasn’t prepared to do that. So I went in the prison service. Out of 150 men I was the only one that got an application. I remember going down to the dole office and it was an ex police sergeant that was doing the recruiting for the prison and I could have signed on because I had finished at power station but I wouldn’t. I don’t know why but I wouldn’t. They were all shouting and swearing, scratching their head and I thought “No I’m not going there anymore. So I went to talk to him and I got the job. I worked there 24 years at Armley. I was there when they fetched Sutcliffe in. I remember him saying to me “You can look at me. I’m not an animal”. I said “I don’t want to look at you. You have no interest to me.” He wasn’t. He was just another prisoner. That was in the 1980s. When they fetched him in they thought it was like royalty because they were Governors, chief of police, his own cell was all ready for him. He had his own toilet.