ALAN WHALLEY'S WORLD

JEAN HILL clearly recalls sharpening her childhood teeth on military 'iron rations' - the sort of tough, sweet biscuits that used to be dished out to wartime soldiers.

For her mother was a supervisor at the Sutton factory where these jaw-breaking morsels were produced. "So I sampled quite a few," recalls Jean from Pollitt Crescent, Clock Face.

"And despite their hardness," she adds, "they were quite nice - especially while still warm off the conveyor belts."

When that Bright's bakery works in Baxters Lane closed down it was replaced by another food enterprise - the Stamina dog food factory. Needless to say, Jean Hill (nee Greenwood) didn't choose to sample their particular wares!

Baxters Lane has played a prominent part in Jean's life. She lived there for 37 years before saying a fond farewell in 1976.

And while her mother worked just up the lane at the biscuit works, her dad was employed just a stone's throw further, at the Baxters Lane engine sheds where he punched the clock over a span of 31 years, taking in the second world war.

Jean also has vivid recollections of the old premises in Baxters Lane where that legendary bleach called Sally White was made.

"It was sold in clear glass bottles with cork stoppers, no fancy screw-tops in those days. And it was so popular that I'd bet that every household in St Helens used the stuff."

In praise of this ancient page, Jean signs off: "It's lovely to have a walk down Memory Lane, bringing back half-forgotten echoes from the past."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.