Entries , alleys , jiggers

[Louis the fly]

Jim Brady's mention of bookies runners in Bootle's alleys brought back memories. Back entries , or jiggers as we called them. In the daytime they were our playground , young kids playing hide and seek , football and cricket. Later they were used for settling arguments. Housewives in aprons and head scarfs gossiping. A woman used to pull a cart selling Aunt Sally , a type of bleach. We knew all the jiggers well , the shortcuts and where you could jump over a fence into the main road if getting chased. Of a night the jiggers became where boy meets girl and couples stopping off after a night in the pub.
When we were young teenagers we went to a shed in a jigger for a haircut , the man was not a barber he was just making a few bob. His comb was full of hair and grease , your hair was covered in ash from the fag he always had in his mouth. We all wanted a Tony Curtis and DA , to get the hair to stay up you needed a large blob of Brylcream , some used margarine. My mates dad had a bottle of liquid paraffin his head looked like it had a coat of gloss black.
This shed was also the hangout of the local teddy boys , every night they got dressed up in their gear but did not have the money to go anywhere. I wanted to be a teddy boy but by the time I was old enough the fashion and music had changed.
Strange the things you think about sometimes.

[Jim Brady]

Yes Louis they were certainly our playground the back jigger.To get from one side to the other we could just jump across it but before that when you were not old enough you had to "belly it",jump grab the opposite wall with your arms and your stomach would hit the wall.We could run along them walls like tight rope walkers with people shouting and dogs barking.The outside loo with the lead overflow into the jigger was there to cut a piece off to make slugs for our cattys (catapults).We could have some laughs too,fill an empty sugar bag with sand and place it on the jigger floor and all hide up on the outside loo roof waiting for somebody to fall in the trap,it was funny to see the antics of them picking it up on the sly.A good source of income going down the back jigger rattling on the back gates collecting jam jars to take to the rag yard where we got a halfpenny for each one.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Keith Tindell]

Lead for the catty,s, we used it for fishing weights, i remember in the large outhouse of the place we lived in, (tied house), there were bare wires hanging out of the wall, lead cable, i got an old pair of dads pliers, and started hacking at the lead, there was a bloody great bang and a flash, chucked me across the room, obviously live wires, and that was how we moved into the house. I remember for the catty we used acorns, in the Autumn we had loads of Oak trees, endless supply, . Dangerous things we did as kids, make bow and arrows and lash a meat skewer to the end of the arrow, so that it would stick in trees, bloody lucky to be here, kt

[happy daze john in oz]

Here in Melbourne there are still some in the older parts of town.
But here they had a different purpose, it was where the 'night men' emptied the dunny.

[John Pruden]

born and bread in seaforth born over a shop on Crosby road our entrance was the entry at the back the bookies runner scared the shi.e out of me many a time plus the contraband passing through from the docks through entries jiggers and back alleys and sometimes a helping hand would bring rewards when I was a kid? jp

[Keith Tindell]

In the early 60s i was on a ship in Birkenhead, several days loading, and used the same pub near the docks daily, in fact most of the crew were there daily, in those days i liked a bet on the horses, on the first day there we were approached by a bookies runner, said he would be in every day if we wanted to put a bet on. When we went out to the toilet we were approached by another guy, who produced ID, and was a copper. He then said that this bookies runner was well known to be fleecing the seamen, he would just pocket the money, and if it was a winner, he would be scarce until the ship left. He asked us to put a bet on with him, which we did, and then he was whisked out of the door and away to the nick. Anyone who remembers the guy who used to come round each week and collect the football pools money ?, obviously there was the same risk there, that he could just pocket the money, and hope for the best, kt

[robpage]

Over 30 years ago when we lived in Southampton one of the local clubs used to have a Christmas Club where every week when you went in for your Friday night pint you would hand over money which would then come back to you at Christmas and the Collector would make a few pounds out of the interest that have been gathered on the money during the year so they actually didn't do too badly out of it until it came to pay out day 1 Christmas at the local club the Collector completely vanished off the face of the Earth with what was several thousand pounds of people savings and Rec the Christmas of over 100 people so I've always been wary of anybody collecting money for anything

I was talking to an old friend of the other week he was telling me that someone of his acquaintance had chosen the local air ambulance service as a funeral donation the person who collect the money paid all the checks in but there was a definite anomaly and no cash seem to have got handed over that's the problem with people you can't always trust the boogers

[Jim Brady]

Yes Louis a haircut in a backyard,meet one of you mates he would tell you I'm just going for a tanner snip to Jimmies,I think Jimmy was an ex seaman who learnt to cut hair at sea.You could put a football coupon on with the back entry bookie not like the pools coupon known as fixed odds or street coupon.My dad was very good on the street coupon and won on a regular basis.You could get paid out on a Sunday,my dad had money coming back and I was being sent for it,give Mickey Denn (runner)two half crowns out of the winnings said my dad,as I was going out of the back door my mother had different ideas,give Mickey Denn nothing she said you keep it thats all you will see of it.Sea Cadets uniform on and down to the docks I remember that day me and two mates went out on a Furness Withy tug and brought a ship in.When I got home there was murder over the two half crowns,my mother sticking up for me obviously.My father went to the local,not content with giving the two half crowns he got two pints up for Mickey and his brother Henry,did the lad give you that,no,me in trouble.

Regards.
Jim.B.

[Louis the fly]

It was thought of as a rough area but we could disappear from morning until dark or until we got hungry and our parents would not worry. Today there would be police and search teams out looking for the kids. Friday was payday for most men , Friday night was when my mum would be answering the knocks on the door. Rent man , tally man , insurance man , pay one miss one. About once a month a boy who helped the priest would be knocking saying the priest is coming. Rush around shoving newspapers and magazines under the cushions , my dad going into the parlour and closing the door , I don't know why he was scared of the priest but he wouldn't come out until he was gone.

[happy daze john in oz]

Known as Jiggers in some parts.
I wonder is that where the term 'jiggy, jiggy' came from
Knee tremblers up the back alley?