Round the corner of the street, was the Co-op Butchers shop - all marble slabs and sawdust on the floor. Next to that was Lord's Fish and Chip Shop, where 4d and 6d portions of chips were sold with deep fried fish. Further on again was a Chandlers where paraffin - for use in hurricane lamps and heating stoves - was dispensed from a barrel in the middle of the shop - different standards of health and safety obviously prevailed ! Finally, at the end, was Mrs. Blanchard's shop - a general store selling food, sweets, ice-cream and soft drinks. I can remember one famous occasion returning home from a building site in Thingwall Road where they were still building the houses on the south side of the road, and where I had seen the workman feeding a mixture of tea leaves and condensed milk wrapped in greaseproof paper into the hot water in their billy-cans to make tea. I asked Mum whether I could have some, so I was despatched to Mrs. Blanchards to buy a tin of condensed milk and returned home triumphantly, only to be disillusioned when Mum made up the mixture and then added the hot water. What I wanted was my own sticky supply to go off and make tea with the workmen !

Deliveries were very much a custom of the time. The milk was delivered in a hand cart pushed round by the milkman. I remember one occasion when he slipped, broke several bottles, and cut himself badly on the glass. Other milkmen used two-wheeled horse-drawn carts with a metal step at the back. Milk came in bottles with a large neck in which was a wax disc about two inches across. In the centre was a smaller disc which could be poked out, and a finger inserted to pull out the disc before pouring the milk. These discs were then put to use by us children to make woollen balls. You placed two discs together, wound the wool through the inner holes and around the outside of the discs until it made a ball of the required size. Then you cut the wool along the circumference of the discs, tied wool tightly around the centre, between the two discs, removed those, and hey presto - you had a ball ! Coal was delivered in a horse-drawn cart with a weighing machine on the back. The one hundredweight bags were filled, weighe and carried in on the backs of the coalmen, who wore leather and metal protective back harnesses. The bags were then emptied into your coal place, raising quite a cloud of dust. Later in the 1930's they started to use coal lorries. Vegetables were also delivered on a horse-drawn cart and I can remember a large sack of potatoes and the Christmas Tree, Holly and Mistletoe being delivered at Christmas.The Baker also delivered, using a van and bringing the bread down to the house in a hamper for Mum to choose what she wanted. More unusual was the sandwich service provided by Coopers Store in Church Street in the centre of Liverpool. This was a very large grocery which stocked everything you could think of, and Mum used to ring up and place a weekly order which was delivered in a hamper. However, if you were having a party and ran short of sandwiches, they would make up a supply and deliver them. At the front of the store, they always ground coffee from the beans of your choice, so there was always this wonderful aroma of fresh coffee as you entered the store.