My grey smoky world

I was born into a grey smoky world
Much like the coal in the lounge room fire
Father, uncles, grandfathers smoked away
And some of my aunties dared to as well
They all puffed along as life was so grey

As soon I was aware I looked around
Britain was a very grey place indeed
Smoke belched from nearly every chimney
In wartime bombed buildings did so too 
Caused fog in town making it hard to see

Then when a teen tried my first cigarette
Under the bushes with my friend at school
For a lark hoping we wouldn't be seen
But we were so we both got our hands caned 
Which put me off smoking as a teen

With freedom from school and a job as well
Got me tasting every fag in the land
But girlfriend didn't care for smoky kisses
Soon after deciding she was the one
Tossed the habit and made her my missus

Image found at www.smile-onnews.com

Please note this poem just has a little truth in it 

Schooldays remembered

Young Ted was a rebel
And always up to not much
Hiding in the corners 
To keep from teachers touch

When on the sportsfield
He'd find a shady bower
Open up his fag pack
To wile away that hour

I'd join him once or twice
To share a cigarette too
Were the the plucky twosome
But got the cane, Boo Hoo!

Image found at www.dazeddigital.com

Nutty Slack

Everything seemed to be rationed in Britain during the Second World War and even more so afterwards for the country was nearly bankrupt after the previous six years fighting.

Even coal was too as it was the main heat source for millions of people to warm their homes with open fires in the living rooms whilst at night you sought comfort in bed with a warm hot water bottle.

Coal was needed in many industries and only so much could be allocated for home use except for the variety named “Nutty slack” which was small nuggets of poor quality coal and useless coal dust.

So in our house our open fires were fueled with this very smoky fuel that was a pain to get alight and subject to the vagaries of the weather if an errant breeze over the chimney caused a downdraft and puff a cloud of smoke into the living room caused everyone to cough and choke.

The remedy was to hold a sheet of newspaper in front of the fire to prevent that happening and for the embers to suck air from the room to maintain ignition and encourage the coals to burn.

Often to add to the fun the paper would catch fire too causing my father to drop it quickly and stamp on it to put it out while we hid behind a chair!

Image found at www.shutterstock.com.