YESTERDAYS CHILD. Chapter 2

[Maywalk]

CHAPTER TWO

THE TUPPENNY RUSH

This incident happened when I had been living back home with my family for about six months. It would be early 1938 the year before WW2 started.

My brother who was four years older than me and at the age of 12 had the responsibility of looking after me and making sure that I came to no harm.
Unfortunately he resented the fact that he had to look after a GIRL of all things and was afraid of being called a cissy by his mates.
He would very often get his home-made roller skates on and make me run at the side of him. I think he wanted to tire me out so that he could dump me in the house and leave me.
He sounded dreadful, but deep down I think he did care for me because he would NOT let anyone say anything about me or bully me.
He could bully me but no one else could. LOGICAL in his mind ???????

One Saturday morning he asked my mother if he could go to the tuppenny rush because Flash Gordon was on.
The tuppenny rush was the kid's cinema session on Saturday mornings. It was tuppence to get in.
I was fascinated by this bloke called Flash Gordon. I had heard a lot about him from my brothers mates but I had never seen him albeit from a nearly blind eye.

My mother told –Johnny- my brother that if he went he could take me but to look after me. He was not overly excited about this idea but consented to it so that he could get to see the episode of Flash Gordon and the Spider Woman.
I was rather excited at this prospect myself and I could not wait to meet Flash Gordon. I thought he was real. LOL
After being shoved and pushed to get in the flea house door as the kids kept calling the Grand Cinema we finally got in and I was overawed with the size of this big place.
It was quite dim in there but with straining my eye I could make out massive lights above the seats that had what looked like candles in the upturned shades.
Remember that my good eye was still covered up and the one I had to use was NOT a good one and I was trying to take in this vast building.

My brother took me right down to the front row of seats and said NOT to move or he would bash my brains in. He loved me really I think.
I had no intentions of moving anywhere because it had been explained to me that a big screen would come up on which I could see the famous Flash Gordon.
Johnny had said that he would be a few rows back with his mates and for me NOT to move and when it was time to go home he would come for me. I took him at his word and settled down to see this bloke they kept on about.
Suddenly the lights were being dimmed and a big cheer went up from the children who started stamping their feet and chanting 'Gordon' 'Gordon'.
All very bewildering to me, but exciting nevertheless. I too decided to start chanting Gordon's name.
I was enthralled with seeing this blonde haired Adonis called Flash Gordon but was rather scared of the Spider Woman and her long nails. I cowered down into the seat and it wasn't long before all the excitement had been too much for me before I fell off into a deep sleep.

When I woke up it was pitch dark. Not a sound to be heard and I was in that cinema all on my own. I had slept through the stampede evidently of the children as they all charged out. It was eerie but at the same time I was used to the darkness with being put in a broom cupboard if I had committed a small misdemeanour in the home so I just pretended that was where I was instead of a massive place that kept creaking.

My brother had completely forgotten all about me in his excitement of discussing how Flash got away from Spider Woman so he told my mother.

I MISSED IT with falling to sleep.
Suddenly the heavy doors flew open and my mother was marching down the aisles holding my brother by the ear. The janitor and another person holding oil lamps calling my name followed her.
That was the end of ever going to the tuppeny rush again.

As I grew older I realised that I WAS quite a burden to a 12 year old lad and I DON'T honestly think he left me there on purpose because he had been a great brother over the years although we never saw each other all that often.

Funnily enough Johnny became the Second-in –Command of the traffic Division in the Metropolitan Police.
When he died his funeral was escorted by police cyclists although he had been retired for some time from the force.
It was very moving.

.................................................
I have to point out here that the Spider Woman was not introduced to the Flash Gordon series until many years later.
From what I could gather the kids of long ago had seen one of the Flash Gordon films and a woman was in that particular film with very long fingernails and for the want of describing her the kids called her Spider Woman.
I very often wonder if the one who first introduced this character in the Flash Gordon films in later years had found out what a gang of London kids had called the Spider Woman of my brothers era and built the character of the new one round the name.

[Alex]

aah kid's saturday morning flicks , I remember it well particularly The Lone Ranger and Tonto.   England was certainly a different place back then.

[klondike]

We used to buy broken biscuits from Lipton's to either eat or throw off the balcony at those below depending on what sort they were.

[GrannyMac]

I wasn't allowed to go! 😢 But we dropped our two off in the 70s.