LODGERS
After the war many people were forced to relocate to obtain work. The local council kept a list of names and addresses of those willing to offer accommodation to those who were relocating to work for Bebington Council so my mother bought a second hand double put-you-up and converted our front sitting room into a bed-sit, to take in lodgers sent by the council. There was a Mr. Davies, who was in the process of moving his family from Plymouth. When he eventually bought his own house it wouldn't accommodate a lovely mahogany round dining table which tilted on its plinth for storage so he left it with Mum for me to do my home-work on and to bring me luck with the 11 plus exam for grammar school. The table has come back home to Devon: I still have it. Gordon was a young man coming to work in the local library. Mum enjoyed having him as they were able to talk about books and listen to classical music together. He was also very amusing, but every week she would have to ask him for his rent money, which was not always forthcoming. He was being given breakfasts and evening meals which she could not afford to provide without his contribution. I believe, at one point, Mum took the contents of the larder to a neighbour for safe keeping, refusing to feed him until he paid up. Despite him being good company culturally, Gordon was eventually asked to leave.