DOES anyone remember dandelion and burdock?

This was a pleasant drink sold in a glass bottle and produced by a firm called Corona.

Being a teenaged ‘Corona Man’ I have a certain expertise in these matters.

A recent article concerning holidays when I was of junior school age prompted several readers to ask how my holidays were spent in my teenage years.

The brief answer is working.

Money was needed for two reasons.

I wished to go every day to the Cheltenham Cricket Festival and there was also the matter of Cherchez la Femme.

One definition of fear is sitting in the back row of the cinema having forked out for two seats in the ‘two and nines’ and having no cash left.

What would happen if your female companion wanted an interval ice-cream?

You can now understand why I worked.

Fortunately there were opportunities.

I worked with dad in the woods and gardens at Trull near Tetbury.

I was a useful pair of hands on the other end of a cross-cut saw in the days before power saws came on the scene.

In addition there was chucking on of logs.

We delivered loads of firewood, carried on a trailer pulled by a Ferguson tractor.

An extra pair of hands was useful, loading and unloading.

Work in the garden involved cutting box hedges that surrounded both flower borders and vegetable beds.

Much more attractive the task of pollinating the peaches and nectarines grown in the large greenhouses.

This was done using a rabbit’s tail.

At Watermoor in Cirencester, near the railway line that was still in use, was the Corona depot.

Here the bottles were stored and then delivered to the town and surrounding villages.

Mum found me a job assisting the driver.

Lemonade, cherryade, ginger beer as well as dandelion and burdock were among the brands.

The Coln Valley route was the worst as the garden paths were longer and steeper.

This was the best paid job.

Such varied employment carried on until I caught the Tetbury Flyer at Culkerton, changing at Kemble.

For the first time in my life I stayed on the train beyond Swindon, heading for my Thameside University.

I had the luxury of a maximum grant. True wealth indeed.

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