I Remember When With Milton Rendell

Do you remember when, as a kid, your parents were involved in a local sporting club? My parents were involved in the Swan Bowling Club in Guildford, where both Dad and Mum bowled, as did my Pop, an aunt, and an uncle before them. My sisters and I probably spent a good chunk of our childhoods at the club, as most kids do with their parents, as it was part of their social engagement. For most kids, friendships were developed, some lasting a lifetime, others just a summer. We lived close enough to go home when I wanted, but as a youngster, I spent a good amount of time running around the grounds of the club and had a buddy named Donna; her Dad was Bob Mills and his wife Betty, and they were mates of Mum and Dad. During school holidays, Donna invited me to work alongside her and her dad delivering meat to local butchers. Let me tell you, we wouldn’t meet today’s health standards with two twelve-year-olds playing around in the offal tub. There was a huge half-cut drum he used to keep the hearts in, which was full of blood, and we would get them out for him to give to the butchers, as well as other types of offal like kidneys, brains, and more. Yes, offal was a common diet for many, including my parents; they loved sheep’s brains in white sauce, tripe, kidneys, and hearts - all by-products of my parents growing up in a war era where you ate everything you could. I certainly had to try them all, and to be honest, it wasn’t fun. Imagine today’s kids sitting down to some nice brains and veggies; you have enough trouble trying to get them to eat the veggies as it is. I can remember it was in the middle of summer and there was no air-conditioning in the truck, and to be honest, I can't remember the back of the truck where the meat was being kept being all that cool either, later in the day. How things have changed!