Binder2

Mum Was Gutted!
(Sheila) I was in the kitchen. Suddenly I heard what the rain and, although it didn’t seem to be
overcast and cloudy, I could hear a gush of water pounding the ground. I shouted hysterically “is
it raining, quick bring the washing in!” Due to English unpredictable weather that’s what all
mothers yelled out in those days, this was long before clothes driers were invented. Coz writes
here the other side of the story about what happened on this occasion.
“I was part of a gang, made up from brothers and sisters most of whome were our neighbours.
There were my three brothers Leonard, Martin and Raymond. Then Neil and Jane Collins, their
cousins Russell Barbara and Beverly Weisberg. As well as Arron and Debbie Levy and Steven
Mervin. No one else would have all of us in there homes except our Mum. So we were playing
“bounce the tennis ball” on and off the small, slanted roof above the front door. It was a sort of
makeshift basketball game we made up whereby we would throw the ball on to the roof, let it
bounce and then you called out someone’s name and that person had to catch it from whichever
angle it bounced off the roof. Len’s name was called, the ball bounced and landed in the rainwater
gutter. He jumped up, and grabbed the gutter, like a basketball hoop, however the gutter ripped off
leaving him dangling precariously in the air on the piece of broken gutter. To add to his misery, all
the filthy stinky water full of dead leaves and muddy gunge which had accumulated for years,
gushed out and showered him! That was the “rain” that mum heard
The Gutter – Corinne giving instructions to
Barbara up the ladder and Ray seeing the
funny side. Because he knows Len is in
trouble again!
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