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Another way for us kids to earn money was to go round with a sugar box and collect horse manure. There were Carter Patterson’s horses, baker’s horses, milk horses — all sorts in those days and we used to go down Glebe Road, up Works Road, down Icknield Way, up Cromwell Green, Cromwell Road and do our own area.
But when we got along Works Road area, that was between us and Pixmore and so my brother or me used to go ahead and if there was a pile in the road we would stand there with the shovel, so if any of them came, we would defend the heap.
The barrow was a Tate and Lyle sugar box on pram wheels. We used to sell a barrowful for 8d, that was a bargain, we walked miles to get it, or 2d a pailful. We used to say, ‘Don’t run, you’ll shake it down.’ One person who used to have several buckets was Mr Thomson. I think he used to have several buckets off us every time, so he was all right.
There used to be a fair that came down Icknield Way, on the grounds down there, opposite where Shelvoke used to be.. Sometimes there would be a circus and there would be elephants. We would be ‘millionaires’ at the end of that time.
The picture shows the first horse-drawn omnibus in Station Place c 1911.
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