Mumps memories come flooding back

MEMORIES came flooding back for Mumpers who flocked to a reunion of residents. Joan Hague, landlady at the Whitehouse Inn, Henshaw Street, arranged for 70 residents who used to live in the surrounding terraced streets of old Mumps back in the 1950s to meet up again after years apart.

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MEMORIES came flooding back for Mumpers who flocked to a reunion of residents.

Joan Hague, landlady at the Whitehouse Inn, Henshaw Street, arranged for 70 residents who used to live in the surrounding terraced streets of old Mumps back in the 1950s to meet up again after years apart.

One of them, Shane Clegg (58), sparked the idea for the event when he noticed a famous 1963 Chronicle photograph on display at the pub.

It showed his brothers and friends playing a “back street test match” and it led to others in the pub asking of people featured in other photographs on display “where are they now?”

Among those to answer the question was Tony Curtis, who left the area in 1975. He travelled from Essex just to be at the nostalgic gathering.

Other former residents came from Cheshire and Liverpool to relive their younger days in Mumps.

Joan, who had already started a facebook page dedicated to the area, came up with the idea of staging the reunion.

She said: “It was absolutely brilliant, so emotional. Some of those people hadn’t seen each other for about 40 years.

“They were having a laugh and remembering stories, like how when they didn’t have coal at home they used to go to the railway station at Mumps until they got thrown out.

“I didn’t expect the turnout I got at all so I will be doing it again.”

Shane said: “I really enjoyed the reunion. We laughed at the things we did when we were kids. We never had any money but we sure had a great time — playing cricket, hopscotch, making bogeys with pram wheels.

“Life was great then — there was no danger.”