‘I’ve got a Little List’ (W S Gilbert)

In 1959, when I was almost 10 years old my mother had my baby brother – I already had two little sisters and as the oldest I became mother’s ‘helper.’

One of my tasks was doing the weekly shop.

First, I had to go to my father’s workplace and pick up five pounds from his pay packet (he got nine pounds a week) at 12 noon when he got paid.  Then, I walked along a foot-path on the side of the river Hamble for about one and a half miles to the nearest shop, I had two bags, carefully crafted by my father from a sail that was no longer usable – for a little girl they were heavy enough even when empty.

With those and a shopping list carefully written by my mother, I hurried to the shop that would shut at 1pm on the dot for the weekend.