[ad_1]
A daughter has paid tribute to her beloved parents that were well-known in their community for helping keep it alive.
Caroline Patrick McGrath has shared the heartwarming story of her father, Raymond Lenard Wood and mother, Pauline Dorothy Wood, who are both well-known in the Blackpool village of Bispham. However, they spent their formative years away from Lancashire.
Raymond was born on 25 September 1927 in Coventry and much of his childhood was spent living through the Second World War. Pauline was also from Coventry, but lived on the outskirts of the city centre and was “fortunate enough” to have an air raid shelter in their garden.
READ MORE:
On 14 November 1940, around 198 tonnes of bombs blitzed Coventry over 17 raids, destroyed in excess of 43,000 houses. Caroline explained that her father and his parents were “buried under bricks” for over 24 hours as the bombing continued.
Miraculously, Caroline’s family all escaped with their lives, unlike their neighbours who all perished. Buried the deepest, Raymond was eventually freed after workers tried tirelessly to set him free, but he did lose his two front teeth and suffered with various chest ailments for the rest of his life.
As soon as Raymond turned 18, he joined the Navy, but due to this chest condition, he was posted to Davenport Naval Hospital and fell in love with orthopaedic surgery, assisting with his first open hip reduction in 1947. Six years later, in 1947, Pauline and Raymond married and had their daughter, Caroline a few years later.
She told LancsLive: “In 1968 they moved to Blackpool in order to be nearer my grandmother as by now she was a widow. As an elderly lady, she still worked at the Tower and Winter Gardens, a real character with her long white hair always up in a bun and a gold front tooth, she was much thought after by all.”
Caroline’s grandmother looked after the catering needs of many famous faces at the time, including Ken Dodd, Tessie Oshea, Rod Hull, Emu, Jimmy Clitheroe, Les Dawson and Bruce Forsyth to name just a few. “I met them all,” Caroline added.
“Unfortunately as a very young child I had little appreciation when Grandma would take me with her for her lunchtime shift. It was only as a very young adult we would reminisce together, as she would tell me the behind the scenes secrets.”
As for her parents, Raymond and Pauline bought a shop in Bispham on Redbank Road, having sold their bungalow in Coventry. The shop was named after Caroline’s father and called, Ray Wood – “an old worldly shop” that sold groceries, cooked meats and homemade cakes.
Caroline continued: “That was in the days before supermarkets when people brought from the local store, before the days of health and safety and expiry dates, the days of if it smelt OK it was OK. Cheese collected from the wholesalers in a monster slab, then cut by the old wire system, the weight was down to the judgement of the cutter, although usually not too far removed from the customer’s wishes.
“Hanks of bacon were again collected from the wholesalers, many a time as a young child I recall my father coming in with a hank balanced over his shoulders, such was the size and weight. It was then cut into more manageable sizes for my mum to handle, cut to the customer’s requirement regarding the thickness of the meat, nothing pre-packed all freshly cut.”
Caroline recalls her mother’s confusion when the Health and Safety Executive was established in 1975 and she was forced to use colour-coded weighing scales, using separate ones for cheese and meat. Caroline said: “‘What’s all this rubbish all about’, she would say.
“‘It all goes down the gut the same way and come out the other end’. However, mum and dad dutifully complied despite the moans and groans.”
Whilst things were changing in their shop, Raymond became well-known in the Bispham community in Redbank Road, becoming good friends with the town mayor, Tommy Perceval. He also became friends with Ray Burt, Mr Moran the jewellers and a host of other names from “back in the day.”
He frequented Bispham Conservative Club and also did a lot of charity work behind the scenes. However, when a new supermarket was built in the area, it started to take its toll on small businesses like Caroline’s parent’s shop, but with Sunday trading laws and committed customers, Raymond and Pauline “would always accommodate and open in darkness if need be for them, nobody was turned away.”
The family lived in Redbank Road until 1988, when the couple retired to a private house on Bispham Road. Sadly, Raymond died in June 2020, a day before his 61st wedding anniversary, aged 93. Pauline said: “Mum passed at half six on 8 September 2022, also aged 93.
“Ironically the same day as the Queen. Whilst I was morning my mum’s passing the world being notified of the Queens death and so, the end of an era.”
READ NEXT
[ad_2]
Source link