Wartime on Coronation Street

by Maggie Sullivan

  At these words, the ones Elsie had told her to say, Ena tutted and harrumphed and rolled her eyes heavenwards, muttering crossly to herself for the rest of the day, but she gave Vera no further argument.

  Vera couldn’t wait to tell Elsie how much her advice had helped, because after that conversation her mother had agreed to let her go and the next time she saw Elsie passing by, pushing little Dennis along in his pram while toddler Linda tottered alongside, she stopped her in the street to thank her.

  ‘I’m delighted to have been of service,’ Elsie said with a laugh. ‘Do you know, I bet that underneath your mam’s really dead proud of you, even if she doesn’t say so. And remember, if she ever comes at you again, you can tell her that being a land girl is as good as being a soldier any day of the week, only not half so dangerous. Oh, but here she comes,’ and before Vera could say anything Elsie had called across Coronation Street to where Ena was carrying a large bag of shopping.

  ‘Oh, she’s a good girl is your Vera, don’t you agree?’ Elsie called out. ‘Glad you’ve finally had sense enough to see that. It’s great news that you’ve let her go and join the Land Army. It’ll do her the world of good. I bet you they’ll both do all right there, her and Lily.’

  Ena stopped and put her heavy bag down on the pavement as she turned to glare at Elsie. ‘I don’t need your approval, thank you very much, and how come you’re knowing so much of our family business, Mrs Nosey Parker? Have you not got enough of your own?’ Ena all but exploded.

  ‘I believe in helping out neighbours whenever possible, that’s all,’ Elsie said, ‘which you might be able to see for yourself if you’d only take the time to look.’

  Ena snatched up her shopping bag and marched off but the look on her face was so fierce Vera was afraid that she might have changed her mind.

  ‘Don’t worry about it, she’ll soon come around,’ Elsie assured Vera. ‘She’s more upset that I know something about what goes on at the Mission than the fact of you signing up. And if there’s any more to it than that, then I promise you she’ll really have me to deal with.’

  When Vera got home Ena turned on her again, much as Vera had expected, screaming, ‘How dare you tell that woman about our private business! She knows more than I do about what goes on in this house.’ But to Vera’s relief there was a knock at the front door before Ena got too far into her stride and Vera opened the door to their neighbour, Albert Tatlock, who often dropped in for a quick cup of tea while he was doing his ARP rounds. For once, she was glad that he had something to say because Ena usually listened to him.

  ‘I think it’s just the thing your Vera should be doing right now,’ Albert said. ‘You’ve got to let her go sometime, Ena, and going off down south to help the country seems like a good thing to be doing.’

  ‘She’ll be going with Lily Longhurst,’ Ena said hesitantly, ‘you know, Martha’s lass.’

  ‘Well, there you are then, she won’t be alone, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of folk around supervising them.’

  After that, Ena had acted as if the Land Army had been all her idea.

  Vera looked over to Lily gratefully as she felt the touch of her hand and she thought once again how glad she was that they were travelling together. There was something comforting about Lily’s quiet air of confidence that somehow gave her confidence too. Although she had to admit that her friend had changed following her brief pregnancy scare and no longer looked quite so sure of herself. She had felt so ashamed by the way Johnny had treated her that she, too, had become desperate to leave Weatherfield. She knew there were bound to be rumours and she wanted to get as far away as possible, not only from her angry parents but from all the local gossips.

  The top section of the window had been locked permanently open and Vera sensed an acrid taste at the back of her throat and the smell of bad eggs. She got up again to have another look. A never-ending plume of dark grey smoke seemed to be belching out of the engine’s chimney. It was blowing back towards the passenger carriages as they slowly rounded the curve of the platform and the train began to pull out of London Road Station. Despite the pungent odour, Vera stood there for several minutes getting used to the rhythm of the metal on metal, wheels on tracks, and she began to breathe more easily.

  ‘I can’t believe we made it and we’re really here, on our way to London,’ she said as she finally sat down again.

  ‘Kent,’ Lily corrected. ‘Holden Manor where we’re going is in Kent. We’re only stopping in London long enough to change trains.’ She smiled at Vera.

  ‘I thought my mam was going to have a fit when she realized that I’d not only signed up but had handed in my notice at Earnshaw’s without asking her first,’ Vera said.

  ‘Well, you are over twenty-one so you didn’t really have to ask her permission,’ Lily said. Then she grinned. ‘And of course I didn’t tell them at the recruiting office that I wasn’t quite seventeen and a half yet.’

  Vera giggled. ‘But it didn’t seem to matter once we had the papers about all that medical stuff and we’d got the certificate things we needed.’

  ‘No, that’s true,’ Lily agreed. ‘But when my mam said she was washing her hands of it and was leaving it to my dad to sort out, I knew it would be all right. He hates official-sounding forms and doctors; he never wants anything to do with owt like that.’

  ‘Did you not think he might try to stop you then?’ Vera said.

  ‘Well, they’d found out that I was going out with Johnny Bradwell and I think they both felt so relieved that I wasn’t courting him any more that they were glad for me to leave town before the gossip about me going out with one of the Bradwells really got going, and they weren’t that mithered about where I was going. Besides, they’ve got too many things of their own to fight about,’ Lily said and Vera laughed.

  ‘In the end I think my mam was glad to see me go so’s I’d stop nagging about the engagement, though it was her fault for making us wait. She’s probably hoping I’ll forget about Bob.’

  ‘Well, I’d like to think we convinced all of them that they’re doing their duty by letting us go,’ Lily said. ‘That and all the other patriotic guff they tried to sell us at the recruitment centre.’

  Vera frowned. ‘Oh, but I think we really are doing something useful. We’re going to help feed the nation and that’s very important work.’ Then she giggled. ‘Mam almost changed her mind, you know, even when she’d said yes,’ Vera said.

  ‘No! How come? You didn’t tell me that.’

  ‘It was when she found out that Elsie Tanner knew all about it and she was hopping mad that I’d told Elsie what was going on.’

  ‘What made her change back again?’

  ‘Mr Tatlock put his two penn’orth in. He said he thought it were absolutely the right thing for me to be doing, as he’d said from the beginning, and after that she couldn’t say anything.’

  Vera laughed and glanced once more in the direction of the window. ‘I’m getting proper excited now, aren’t you? I can’t wait to see what Kent’s like. It’s going to be so good, I’m sure.’ She sighed. ‘Bob said he’ll write but I wonder if he will.’

  ‘Don’t worry.’ Lily smiled reassuringly at her. ‘Hey! Will you look at that?’ She was suddenly distracted. ‘Not only fields but cows too.’

  Vera followed her gaze. ‘I often wonder, don’t they get cold always standing still like that for hours?’ she said.

  ‘I don’t suppose they feel the cold,’ Lily said, ‘they do have nice warm coats.’ She giggled then she clapped her hands. ‘I can hardly believe that we’re on our way.’

  Vera didn’t know how far they’d gone when she fell asleep but when she opened her eyes she knew she had missed most of the journey for the train seemed to be pulling into a station and people from other compartments were heaving their suitcases down the corridor and making their way towards the doors. Lily stood on the seat and handed down the bags to Vera who was glad she’d decided to wear a large part of the new uniform sh
e’d been given when they finally signed all the forms, for it meant there was less to carry. Her suitcase was only small and, as they prepared to get off, she proudly took out her regulation mackintosh and slipped it on. She left it unbuttoned so that it folded back showing off her corduroy breeches and green knitted pullover. She had to cover up the green armlet with the red royal crown on it that she was so proud of but she hoped that when her coat swung open at least the Land Army badge could still be seen on her chest. She was also wearing her heavy brown shoes and the fawn, knee-length stockings, having decided to pack her rubber gumboots which would not have been easy to travel in. She thought she had better squash the dreadful brown felt hat down onto her newly bobbed hair, though – that was one piece of the uniform she didn’t like.

  ‘There, I’m ready. Will I do?’ Vera asked and she turned to check on Lily as the train came to a juddering halt. ‘I presume this is it,’ she said, peering out once more, ‘though why does it say Easton? I thought we were going to London.’

  ‘This is London,’ Lily said patiently, ‘and it says Euston, not Easton, can’t you read? Come on, then, we’d best get going, we’ve not got long to find out how to get to Victoria Station where the Kent train goes from.’

  People were scurrying in all directions and everyone seemed to be in a hurry so that Vera had trouble keeping up with Lily. But she was glad to have someone to follow, and made sure she kept her friend in sight. She worried that if she lost Lily she would never find her way around the station on her own. The concourse smelled much the same as the one they’d left behind in Manchester and the atmosphere was murky and grimy so that it was difficult to tell whether it was day or night outside; with the steel girders and the high arched roof it looked similar to the Manchester station too. They found a bus that took them to Victoria and the Kent train, when they found it, was much smaller and more crowded with servicemen and a few servicewomen than the train from Manchester had been. Vera felt proud to be in uniform and wanted everyone to see it, hoping they would instantly know that she was a land girl in the same way as she was able to recognize sailors and airmen as well as the regular soldiers in their khaki uniforms.

  ‘How far is it once we’re on the train?’ Vera asked.

  Lily shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea,’ she said. ‘But it doesn’t really matter; someone should be there to meet us at the other end. All we have to do is to remember to get off at Holden, so no falling asleep this time.’

  Dusk was beginning to gather by the time they left the small train even though the station clock showed it was only seven o’clock. They had been on the go for most of the day and when they stepped outside and crossed the bridge, Vera felt as if they had been travelling for days. She dragged her suitcase up the metal stairs, thinking that one thing was very different – the scents. Here was almost a sweetness to the evening air.

  ‘It reminds me of a day when we went for a picnic in Heaton Park back home, once. I remember it because my dad said what I was smelling was the grass that had just been cut,’ Lily said.

  ‘Maybe it’s that; we do seem to be in the middle of a lot of fields,’ Vera said as they dragged their cases down the steps on the other side of the bridge. There were several other people who had got out at the same station and Vera noticed them as she peered over the handrail. She also saw the guard running along the platform they had just left, slamming the doors to the individual carriages behind him as he went. He stopped at the farthest end of the train away from the engine and turned back to wave his green flag at the engine driver. Then he blew one long blast of his whistle. Almost immediately the steaming engine began to pull the train out of the station and gradually picked up speed.

  ‘Miss Sharples!’ (pause) ‘Miss Longhurst!’ (pause) ‘Miss Grainger!’ Vera heard a male voice shouting out the names like he was reading from a school register.

  ‘Miss Longhurst and Miss Sharples are over here,’ Lily shouted in reply.

  ‘And I’m here too, I’m Miss Grainger,’ a young girl’s voice with a strange accent responded and then the male voice called back, ‘That sounds like it’s all three of yer at once, thank the Lord. Come and get yerselves shifted over ’ere and then we’ll be off.’ He was standing by the back of an open horse-drawn wagon covered with straw, with a banner across the back saying it was from the Holden Land Army Training Centre. He held the wagon steady while the three girls clambered awkwardly aboard.

  ‘I’m Jenny, by the way,’ the other girl addressed Lily and Vera as they settled back against the boarded sides of the wagon. ‘Jenny Grainger from Bow, a bit like in the old song.’ She sang a short phrase about someone called Burlington Bertie but it was something neither Lily nor Vera recognized. ‘And you are?’ She extended her hand.

  ‘I’m Lily Longhurst and this here is Vera Sharples. We’re both from Weatherfield,’ Lily said. They were trying to adjust into more comfortable positions on the wooden slats but they had to stop so that they could keep their balance as the horse jerked the carriage forward and began pulling it up an incline and out of the station lot.

  ‘Where’s that? Weatherfield, was it you said?’ Jenny asked. ‘From the sound of you I’d say it’s a long way north of here.’ She giggled.

  ‘Aye, I reckon it is,’ Lily said. ‘Nearest big city is Manchester.’

  ‘Not like me then, bawn and bred wivin the sand o’ Bow Bells,’ Jenny said and she laughed as she exaggerated her cockney accent.

  Chapter 13

  ‘You’re late!’ They were greeted at the front door by an older woman who came out from behind a sort of reception desk and ushered them into the stone flagged hall. She was carrying a file with a large bulldog clip holding several sheets of paper in place and she was leafing through the written pages without really looking at any one of the new girls. ‘I’m Mrs Sykes,’ she said brusquely, still searching through her papers rather than looking at the girls.

  There were several suitcases and duffel bags piled on the floor near the desk.

  ‘Mr Megson will get your bags down from the wagon shortly and he’ll leave them in the hall here for you to collect later. You can take them upstairs to your room after you’ve eaten. Meanwhile, you’re just barely in time for supper so I suggest you get yourselves into the dining room before everything disappears; though what’s there is probably cold by now but that’s what happens when you don’t arrive on time. Bear that in mind, young ladies, as you are to be with us for the next four weeks.’

  She still didn’t look at them but wagged a finger in their direction as she shooed them through the first open door that led off the hallway. The food smells were not unappetizing and Lily suddenly realized how hungry she was. It was a long time since she had eaten the thin paste sandwich her mother had grudgingly packed for her.

  Lily hardly had time to take in her surroundings as she entered what had grandly been referred to as the dining room. There were six rustic wood tables, most with six occupants who were noisily eating and chatting at the same time. She, Vera and Jenny were directed to where made-up plates of food were being passed through a serving hatch at the far end of the room and Lily was given a plate on a small tray that was piled high with chunks of bread spread with a generous amount of what she assumed was margarine. The bread was a grey colour, although it looked as if it had been freshly baked, and when she broke off a piece and hastily stuffed it into her mouth when she hoped no one was watching, she found that it tasted delicious; it was not like any bread she had ever had at home and there were large quantities of it.

  They didn’t always have bread at home in Weatherfield, of course, since the war, and never anything chunky and freshly baked like this. She was also pleasantly surprised at the warm golden colour of the spread and she was assured that it was, in fact, butter. It was certainly very different from the dull lardy texture of the margarine ration they usually had at home. There was also a generous-sized portion of cheese on the plate beside the bread and something that looked like a large pickled onion. Then
she was given a bowl to hold while the server ladled some kind of orange-coloured broth into it that had probably once been hot. There was an apple on the tray beside the plate and a full glass of milk. Lily had never seen such a feast, certainly not since the war had begun.

  ‘It’s like being in a hotel,’ she whispered to Vera.

  Vera’s eyes opened wide. ‘Is this what people get to eat when they go away on their holidays?’ she asked. ‘Mam and I only ever went to Blackpool for the day, we never did stop over.’

  ‘You two may sit here.’ Mrs Sykes had been following them without the girls realizing and Lily jumped, spilling some of her precious soup. The older woman pointed to two empty places on a table laid for six and all but pushed Lily and Jenny down onto the bench. She pointed Vera to the empty place setting on the opposite side of the table. They all obediently sat down. The others on the table had finished their meal and stood up to clear away their trays as the three newcomers sat down.

  ‘We’ll see you girls later; we’re off to unpack,’ one of the girls called over her shoulder as they moved away. ‘Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll get to meet you all soon – we’re going to be together in this hellhole for a while yet,’ and she laughed derisively as she moved away.

  ‘What did she mean by hellhole?’ Vera said. ‘It seems all right to me.’

  Jenny nodded. ‘I know, I’ve not eaten so much in years,’ and she laughed.

  ‘Me neither,’ Lily agreed. ‘It beats home cooking in our house any day of the week.’

  ‘If it’s always as good as this, I’ll be well pleased,’ Vera said.

  When they’d finished eating they were about to follow everyone’s example and take their trays and dishes to pile them on a trolley with other dirty dishes. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get a turn on the cleaning-up roster,’ one of the girls whispered with a giggle as Mrs Sykes who seemed to be in charge came over to their table. She flicked through the sheets held in place by the bulldog clip once more.