 |  | | | Cover of "When I was a Boy", by Cliff Willetts | |
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Cliff Willetts (1896-1980), O.B.E., is remembered in Cradley for many things, notably being Superintendent of the Two Gates Ragged School for over 50 years but also his writings about Cradley. Perhaps the most well known of these is the autobiographical "When I was a Boy", a story of growing up in Cradley in the early 1900's.
"When I was a Boy" takes us back to a time when there were just 761 dwellings in Cradley, none of which had running water or a bathroom. Water was obtained from wells and pumps - many of which were contaminated. Carpets were unknown in Cradley working class homes.
Cliff describes the rows of terraced houses: Kan Kan Row, Long Row, Bloomer's Row, Edward's Row, Homer's Row, Ladies' Row and Ginger Bread Row; the Anvil Yard; the chain shops; the "brewus" where washing, baking and brewing beer were done.
Cliff's book is a vivid chronicle of everyday life in Cradley in those early years of the 20th century. He tells stories of the first motor car and the first "living pictures" he saw; of the Black Country dialect, "our inheritance"; of Colley Gate cricket club and the unbeatable Cradley St. Peter's football team; of hop picking and the ritual of donkey rides over the Clent Hills. Boats were kept at the Police Station in Colley Lane to rescue people when the river Stour flooded.
Cliff records that to have a piece of toast for breakfast depended on whether there was enough fire in the grate and how "We had more dinner times than dinners!"; and that life in Cradley would not have been complete without groaty pudding.
This small book is big on people; Benny the fiddler; the hurdy-gurdy man; the night soil men; the lamp lighter; Tom Edmonds, the school attendance officer, who was also the caretaker of Colley Lane School and a former income tax collector; the much loved, plain speaking Doctor Belbin, whose first medicine was to open the windows if they were closed on a home visit. Many others are named, and their deeds described, in this book.
In "Cradley People Remembered" elsewhere on Cradley Links we have quoted from "When I was a boy" to illustrate biographies of Joey Stevens and Sally Jones. Cliff knew these people well, and so was able to use such words as "an outstanding personality...[whose name] deserves an immortal shrine" and "a genius in her own right."
"When I was a Boy" is real Cradley history.
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