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I Remember all the Small Shops
By William Briggs

I remember all the small shops
Where folk had time to chat
No plastic then, just ready cash
I really miss all that

On Hyde Road Hornbys chippy
The best you ever had
Where Bill ate every Saturday
When he was just a lad

Then there was Sivoris caff
A friendly place to sit in
For milk shakes, tea and coffee
And their ice cream took some lickin,

Of all my memories of the town
And there are quite a few
The jewel in West Gortons crown
Has got to be Belle Vue

Memories of the Outside Bog
By William Briggs

All the houses in West Gorton had an outside bog

A lovely place to have a wee or even drop a log

With squares of cut up newspaper to polishoff the job

And sometimes when you finished, you would get lost in the fog

In wintertime it got so cold it made you sneeze and cough

The piss came out in icicles and had to be snapped off

The turds were frozen solid by the time they made the splash

We waited until desperate and then we made a dash

There wasn't any privacy and no locks on the door

That's how we learnt to whistle, and tap feet on the floor

Those times were hard and so were we, but happy that's for sure

In those days no one realised that everyone was poor

When I was fourteen, me dad got me a job
On the hoop la stall with a bloke called Rob
He taught me the patter. He taught me the gob
We called. "Three for a tanner, and seven for a bob.

Looking across from the hoop la stall
Was the wall of death, I could see it all
Bikes on rollers. Crowds enthral
See us ride them, on the wall

One of the speilers was Vicky Sherry
Built more solid than a Mersey ferry
The days were long but she made them merry
Made me wish I could lose my cherry

Tight pants, high boots, chest firm and proud
Shaking it all and attracting a crowd
Doing her best to reel in the mob
Three for a tanner, and seven for a bob