The continuing story of the house Joe and Mary Ann Scott lived in for over 50 years and the families that have lived here since.*
Now in a house which is almost a century old you can be pretty sure that the odd cat and dog would have taken up residence.
When we moved in we brought a baby black Labrador which we called Bagel and he become so much a feature of the house that for many years it defined who I was.
The dog walkers on the Rec would refer to me as Bagel’s and all my sons learned to walk holding on to him.
We had already inherited one stray cat which we called Tamla Motown and took into two more who were called Harvey Moon and Henry Harris.
Tamla had been found at the back of Stephenson’s the hairdresser’s on Wilbraham Road, Harvey turned up on the doorstep and Henry was a victim of some poor behaviour on the part of a gang of lads who had left him in a plastic bag on the Rec.
Their names of course have their own stories.
Tamla speaks for itself, Harvey came from a gentle TV show of the time and Henry was named after a Labour Party canvasser who travelled all the way on the bus from Crumpsall to help in elections.
And along the way if but for short periods there were gerbils, rabbits a guinea pig and very briefly one goldfish.
None of which is surprising really.
Most family homes will pick up the odd pet at some point.
What for our house is remarkable is that we were by no means the first to share the place with assorted animals.
Joe and Mary Ann had their fair share some of which still turn up in the garden when I dig deep enough, a tradition we followed with all three cats.
But they went further and left the house to the PDSA who in the fullness of time sold it to John Mike and Lois.
The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals was established in 1917 offering free care and treatment for sick animals in the Whitechapel area of London and spread across the country with the first horse drawn mobile clinic starting in 1924.
Now I grant you in all the twists and turns of the history of the house the story of its pets may seem trivial and yet it is as much a part of what went on as anything else.
We may not be able to boast a snake or a goat but between our varied collection and that of Joe and Mary Ann's we have pretty much filled most of its time with the noise of animals.
Pictures, Bagel and Tamla, circa 1983, Harvey 1988 and two unnamed gerbils 1990, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
*The story of a house,
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20story%20of%20a%20house
When we moved in we brought a baby black Labrador which we called Bagel and he become so much a feature of the house that for many years it defined who I was.
The dog walkers on the Rec would refer to me as Bagel’s and all my sons learned to walk holding on to him.
We had already inherited one stray cat which we called Tamla Motown and took into two more who were called Harvey Moon and Henry Harris.
Tamla had been found at the back of Stephenson’s the hairdresser’s on Wilbraham Road, Harvey turned up on the doorstep and Henry was a victim of some poor behaviour on the part of a gang of lads who had left him in a plastic bag on the Rec.
Their names of course have their own stories.
Tamla speaks for itself, Harvey came from a gentle TV show of the time and Henry was named after a Labour Party canvasser who travelled all the way on the bus from Crumpsall to help in elections.
None of which is surprising really.
Most family homes will pick up the odd pet at some point.
What for our house is remarkable is that we were by no means the first to share the place with assorted animals.
Joe and Mary Ann had their fair share some of which still turn up in the garden when I dig deep enough, a tradition we followed with all three cats.
But they went further and left the house to the PDSA who in the fullness of time sold it to John Mike and Lois.
The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals was established in 1917 offering free care and treatment for sick animals in the Whitechapel area of London and spread across the country with the first horse drawn mobile clinic starting in 1924.
We may not be able to boast a snake or a goat but between our varied collection and that of Joe and Mary Ann's we have pretty much filled most of its time with the noise of animals.
Pictures, Bagel and Tamla, circa 1983, Harvey 1988 and two unnamed gerbils 1990, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
*The story of a house,
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20story%20of%20a%20house
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