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Ron Crawley age 73 yrs
While visiting Hertford for the reunion I went to visit the Museum to take a look at the exhibition of Goldings. Looking
around the Museum I bumped into a man, a local boy who had left Hertford, and had come to visit, well you know me I
strike up a conversation with anyone, and it happens that this fellow had lived in Hertford as a small boy, and came from
a very poor family, he lived at the bottom of the North Road opposite the Mayflower Hotel in a row of small cottages,
(all of which are no longer there ) across from The Sele Arms pub.
Across the road from were he lived was a post box were all the Goldings boys came to post there mail, by the side of the
box was a stamp machine.
This story happened in around 1943, and the boy who was name Ron was younger than the Goldings boys.
Ron discovered if he used a flat jack knife and pushed it into the slit were the stamps came out he could ease the stamps
out of the machine without paying anything, this he did just after the machine was filled each week or so, then all he had
to do was wait alongside the machine for the Goldings boys to come down to post their letters he would then sell the
1/2d stamps 4 for a penny and the 1d stamps for a 1/2d each, and in Ron’s words,
“Everyone was a winner the Goldings boys got their stamps half price, and I made a few pennies”.
A couple of weeks later when emptying the machine Ron heard a loud voice say “Ah so that’s how your doing it” It
was the local Bobby, and with that he was taken by the scruff of his neck, and taken home to his parents, but sadly a few
similar escapades later Ron was taken into care, and sent away to a Children’s home in Birmingham a couple of doors
down from a Barnardo’s boys home. Ron never returned to live in Hertford although he lives quite near, but in his later
years he now likes to come and visit.
I thought this a very interesting story as I was boy from the Midlands who was sent to Hertford into care and he was
from Hertford and sent to the Midlands into care.
Ron had lots of very interesting tales to tell and we spent quite a while chatting and exchanging stories.
6 10 2006
This isn’t really an old boys story of his time at Goldings, but I felt it was an interesting account of Ron’s association
with Goldings Boys. I have tried to relate the tale just as Ron told it to me, I hope I have succeeded.
I don’t know if Ron will ever see this page as he was not on computer but I would like to thank him for the permission
to print this little anecdote.
I wonder if there is a boy out there from this time early 40s who remembers this cheeky chap Ron Crawley.
Dave
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