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The 'Bombs to Butterflies' Interviews
Interviewee: Wesley Scarrott
Interviewers: Margaret Lawson
Date of Interview: 25.02.02
Do you remember the Depot Site at all before the War?
Yes, but not all that well. I now ask you to recall that the children of the day were rather territorial in the village and those of us that lived on the eastern side that is Flawford Lane, Flawforth Avenue tended to play in that area. In the Flawforth old Church Yard or Nine Stiles whilst the children that lived in the centre of the village Asher Lane tended to go to the Fairham Brook and the Gotham Walls. But I do recall one particular incident that was a Sunday School Party. Normally the Sunday School Parties went to Skegness or Mablethorpe but in 1939 with the national crisis it was decided not to go away but we had a Sunday School Party over the fields. As far as I can recall we went up the twitchell leading from Kirk Lane to the Playing Fields at the commencement of the Ruddington – Bradmore footpath. We crossed over into the first field in which I recall there was a small clump of Elm trees which is now called Elms Close and Elms Gardens and in the field further on and I can’t remember which field it is, even looking at the map. We had the party.
What did you do?
We had a bean feast that was important to the lads and we had drinks lemonade and orange juice, sticky buns no doubt provided by Horspools. We had games and there were races and there were organised games like rounders. Football did not seem to be very popular in those days but the lads played cricket.
Everyone had a good time.
Everyone had a good time. The weather was fine as well.
Good, that made a difference. Do you remember Gibby’s Dyke did you ever go down there?
Where it came out at the western end of Western Fields near Fifty Steps Bridge. My Father used to go down to watch cricket. I went down to watch the trains but occasionally I used to take a spike and a jam jar and the dyke was relatively clear I can remember and catching tiddlers which I reminded you of earlier on that they died.
Yes. So do you remember war being declared?
I was at Chapel at the time just about the time when the children used to go out before the sermon and just before the sermon one of the elders got up and had obviously been listening to the radio somewhere and announced that war had been declared. Children to our great joy were sent home from morning Sunday School.
What effect did the outbreak of war have on the village?
The village as a whole I think I was too young to appreciate really but certainly as a child one saw it as a big adventure. One could not grow up quick enough to join one of the armed forces and I think a lot of the young men perhaps felt the same way but a lot of the older ones whose memories of 14-18 who had been through it were very concerned.
Yes I am sure they were. Do you remember anything at all about the building of the Depot?
The thing that stands out more than anything in my memory is the continue stream of Mowlams trucks using Flawforth Lane. I tried to work out why they had come from that direction. I wondered whether they had been carting gravel from the gravel pits in the east of the county. Could have been ash from the Leicestershire coal fields I think that was to the west of Leicestershire and I thought they might have come a different way I thought they might have come up the Fosse Way and cut through. But it seemed to be a continual stream which led me to a couple of personal tragedies as a boy. My Father was a cat person and I followed suit and as long as I can remember we had a cat and unfortunately one died in 1940 and Father bought a new one a little ginger kitten from the Central Market, Huntingdon Street. For the older members will recall there used to be a pet store facing the Palais De Dance. We bought it from there and we didn’t have cat baskets. On the bus tucked inside his raincoat. It was a little ginger kitten and being patriotic at the time I called it Chesopeak? after an American aircraft it was shortened to Chessy. I don’t know why it was called Chesapeake. But unfortunately Chessy did not last very long because of the Mowlam’s lorries. There was a field opposite full of birds, mice and other catchable things. Chessy used to go across but one time did not make it. She was then replaced by another ginger kitten I don’t know where that one came from and that one was called Douglas Boston again after another American aircraft and it was shortened to Dougie. Dougie went the same way in only a matter of weeks. When they went missing at night I prayed really hard that they would turn up but I knew at the back of my mind that that had happened. It was not until the following day that I found out that they had died. It was very very sad and that is basically all I can and the impression I can remember. But coming back to the territorial side we went over to Ninestiles.
Did you go down to the Fiftysteps Ball when the war was on?
Yes. The cricket continued down there. Rather strange that Ruddington Cricket Club played down there and Cooper and Roe Cricket Club played upon the Ruddington Parish Council ground until later years that Ruddington Cricket Club moved up there. But yes we used to go down there and friends and once the Depot was operating we used to stand on the bridge and drop pebbles on the loaded bombs they were only pebbles because there were no big bricks around. We used to drop pebbles onto the loaded bombs.
Were they on open trucks?
They were on open flat trucks that was certainly going in, when they came out I cannot recall. But certainly going in.
So these were the empty cases.
These were the empty cases, not that we would know that in those days. I am not sure why we threw pebbles at them but I suppose children do more dangerous things now days and throw pebbles at cars from motorway bridges
Yes. But you do remember seeing the trucks under the tarpaulin. There were a lot of trains weren’t there?
Yes. There always seemed to be trains on the move when we …. and the sidings always seemed to be full.
And were they very long trains?
er…
Did you ever count the trucks.
No I never counted them but I would say there were more than a dozen but they were chalked? Trains. I have a vague idea when they were going out they may have been covered with tarpaulin. I have got that in the back of my mind but I can’t.
Any other memories of the war Wesley. What about Clifton Pastures?
Clifton Pastures in the early days was used as a bombing range and battle aircraft and very old that were useless to modern warfare was being used. You could go down there and you could recover the whole bomb if you were lucky, they were smoke bombs in the main. We used to cycle over to Clifton and over the pastures and most of the farmers used to yell at us quite frequently.
And what about the other side of Flawford Lane what about ante parachute arrangements that were there.
Yes. In 1940 when there was the invasion scare large fields well large objects had to be placed in them to stop gliders landing over Nine stiles the largest field there they were placed in several carriages including a horse bus that used to be housed in Mr. Wilson’s barn on Charles Street.
Where the Village Motors?
Yes where the Village Motors. The horse bus itself was housed in the yard to Mr. Wilson’s house which later became Callon Tools I am not quite sure if it is there. If you noted there is an archway and it was housed just under there and we used to play in there as boys and we were quite disgusted when they took it away to open field.
There was no enemy action in Ruddington to the war but there were unexploded bombs?
As far as I can remember there were unexploded bombs. As far as I can recall they were more or less on the perimeter of the southern boundary but whether they were on the inside of the Depot or out.
I think they were out?
I have at the back of my mind either three or five. As far as I am aware they were all unexploded bombs as shortly after, one Thursday afternoon, the Bomb Disposal Squad came round to all the houses certainly on the southern side of the village suggesting we open our windows to explode these bombs. Having done that nothing just a kind of general “boom” there was no blast wave or anything. The bombs in those days were generally small to what we have now.
Just before we turn the machine off Wesley you mentioned a lovely word “Twitchell”.
Yes.
At the beginning of the footpath. Describe a twitchell to me.
A twitchell is a cut through or a gunnel or whatever you like to call it. I don’t know if twitchell is peculiar to this area I thought it was more north but it was the pathway leading from Kirk Lane to the pedestrian entrance to the playing fields also the beginning of the Ruddington/Bradmore foothpath. The line of the path lies immediately adjacent to the western edge of ? house . There was an equally large hedge on the other side it was only about six to eight foot wide where the telephone exchange is. There was an equally large the other side and with a dark gravel path and tall hedges either side it was rather frightening although in those days there was nothing to be frightened of. Not like now. But leading on from that and just recollecting the war years but later on in the war in about 1944 onwards an Army Cadet Unit was established in the village and there Headquarters hut was built on the south side of the hedge about where Carter Avenue stands now I would say.
Thank you for talking to me.
Just before we finish can I just add one thing about Nine Stiles and the carts and horse bus being but in 1944 just prior to D-Day the Americans had a practise parachute drop and there was no personnel drop but they dropped tons and tons of supplies and they all fell in the Nine Stiles area because as children as soon as we saw they coming down we were off over there.
What happened did they pick them up?
They came and picked them up, there were jeeps going all over picking them up before we could rifle the silk from the parachutes.
Right thank you. Now Wesley you have remembered something else to tell me.
Yes one post war event when we purchased our first house in Ruddington on Elms Park as it happened to be included in the Deeds was a clause concerning bomb blast from the Depot. Can’t remember the exact details of it. If I get to the Solicitors to get my Deeds out I will have a look and see. I can’t do that since I don’t live in that house any longer so forget that.
What else can you tell me?
There is such a lot to reminisce as a boy during the war years, joining the Army Cadets and the Home Guard stands out in vivid memory and there was a time pre D-Day when we lived on Flawforth Lane at the time we couldn’t cross the Loughborough Road coming into the village without showing our identity card to the troop movements along the Loughborough Road which was almost continuous and every time we crossed there was an armed sentry and we had to show our identity cards. At times the duties there were taken by the local Home Guard who took great fun in making you show your identity card even though they knew you. But in the early days when the Home Guard was first formed I can remember them doing exercises and they had things that looked like like the crackers one gets in Christmas crackers that go bang tied to the end of rifles and they go bang when you pull a piece of string. There are other memories.
Thanks.
Interviews > Interview with Wesley Scarrott