Channel 2 - Interviews
Interviews from Flame CCR live times and prerecorded "Chat Room" programmes. Part of programmes broadcast on Flame CCR (Christian and Community Radio) in Merseyside and worldwide via www.flameradio.org.
Channel 2 - Interviews
CHAT ROOM - Peggy Maskrey (Charles Thompson's Mission memories) 2015
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Peggy was born in 1920 in Birkenhead near Charles Thompson's Mission and still remembers as a child of 8 going to the Mission. In this programme Peggy talks to Rob Jeffs at the Mission about her early memories of life and of the Mission which was opened in 1892 and since then has been distributing food, clothes and toys to the local poor and needy. Nowadays they also provide furniture and medical services, plus on weekdays free hot food. As in the early days as recounted by Peggy, they still take the adults who come to the Mission on free outings and the children on a free holiday to Barstondale Camp. And amongst all of the happy volunteer workers you will find Peggy. In it all, the aim is to help anyone in need and tell them of the love of God.
And now it's time on Flame C C R to take a look behind the studio's green door to find out who is in today's chat room.
SPEAKER_01One more night without green. Till the morning comes, green dog. Green dog. What's that secret dog?
SPEAKER_00And now are you listening? The work of Charles Thompson's mission was founded in the late 19th century by Charles Thompson. It was started by him to try to alleviate the sad condition of the children who were in a state of poverty in those days. He loved boys and girls, and this love stemmed from his love of the Lord Jesus Christ. In helping anyone he could who was in need, he was seek to tell them of the Saviour. On the 9th of January 1892, he opened Charles Thompson's mission in Birkenhead. Coming people from all over the world, including different shops, businesses, and individuals, contributed to the work, either by monetary gifts or by donating food, clothes, and toys. This was distributed to the poor and needy. Following his death in 1903, Charles Thompson's daughter, Annie Thompson, continued with the work. Like her father, she was greatly loved and respected. And in 1953, she was awarded an OBE for her services to the people of Birkenhead. Peggy Musgrie was born in 1920 in Birkenhead near the mission and still remembers as a child of eight going to the mission. In this programme, Peggy talks to Rob Jess at the Charles Thompson's mission about her early memories. So it's over to Peggy and Rob.
SPEAKER_09Hiya, Peg.
SPEAKER_02Hiya, Rob.
SPEAKER_09Now, is that your real name, Peggy?
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_09No.
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_09What were you born as then?
SPEAKER_02I was given the name christened. Marjorie.
SPEAKER_09Marjorie.
SPEAKER_02So Marjorie Monaghan.
SPEAKER_09Right. So how did Peggy come in?
SPEAKER_02I had an uncle Tom who christened me Peggy when I was about two. And it stuck.
SPEAKER_09Did it? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I've been called Peggy.
SPEAKER_09Right.
SPEAKER_02Ever since. And if I meet anybody when I'm out shopping, and they say, hello Marge, how are you? I know it's a school friend.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, somebody.
SPEAKER_02Because I was always called Marjorie at school.
SPEAKER_09So where were you born?
SPEAKER_02In Park Street.
SPEAKER_09Right. In Park Street. Was that like a maternity hospital? In Park Street home?
SPEAKER_02In those days they all had the babies at home. Oh right, right. Not many went into hospital. No. They all had the the midwife.
SPEAKER_09Oh right. Well, a bit like on the telly. Call the midwife. Yeah, I suppose it is, yeah.
SPEAKER_02It is. Yeah, because years ago they all had the babies.
SPEAKER_09Right, so where did you live?
SPEAKER_02In Park Street.
SPEAKER_09So you lived in Park Street.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, all my life until I got married.
SPEAKER_09Oh, did you?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_09So uh what was your husband's name?
SPEAKER_02His name was Teddy Mascrey.
SPEAKER_09Right, where'd you meet him?
SPEAKER_02I t Charles Thompson's mission. Isn't that brilliant? He was one of the boys.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And um as a child I came to the mission when I was about eight, and my mother brought me, and we sat up in the gallery. In those days you were able to run round the streets and not be afraid.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, so you played out in the streets, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I was able to come to the mission.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I used to come on um a Monday night. There was Band of Hope. And then on Thursday we had a Magic Clanton.
SPEAKER_09Right.
SPEAKER_02And there was a Mr. Lee from the tapestry works that used to bring his Magiclanton. It was all stilled.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Stilled um.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, like slides.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, slides.
SPEAKER_09Slides kind of thing, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And either Mrs. Jones or Mrs. Lowry used to read the story.
SPEAKER_09Did they? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I always remember it was always Pollyanna.
SPEAKER_09Oh, was he? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And in the meantime there was a chorus or a hymn. Ah, lovely. And then um the um Mr. Lee. Now the person telling the story would have a clicker.
SPEAKER_09Oh yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02For him to do the next picture.
SPEAKER_09Right, right.
SPEAKER_02And the boys used to get chewing gum and clickers.
SPEAKER_09So the fella doing the slides. So was he going mad with the slides, was he on after the other? And the story couldn't keep up, I suppose.
SPEAKER_02Because he was elderly, you know.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02He was he was getting on, you know.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But when he had the clicking, it was as you say.
SPEAKER_09Can I just ask you something and say, can I ask you your age? I know you shouldn't do that with a lady, but I know we have this relationship, but I know I can ask you that. Well, how old are you now?
SPEAKER_02I'm 95.
SPEAKER_09You're 95, so you're a spring chicken, aren't you?
SPEAKER_02I am.
SPEAKER_09Well the way you move round here, you are, I'm telling you. But okay, so what was the year then, do you think it was? What kind of year was it when you actually started coming to the mission as a child? I mean when you first came.
SPEAKER_02When I first came, I was eight.
SPEAKER_09You were eight, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then I started coming to all the children's meetings.
SPEAKER_09That's right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02You see. So what kind of year would that be, Peg? How far can we go back with that? Well, I was born 1920. Yeah. And then say I was eight. 1928.
SPEAKER_091928, won't it?
SPEAKER_021928.
SPEAKER_09That's amazing.
SPEAKER_02And then I've been coming all those years.
SPEAKER_09Lovely. Sorry to keep interrupting you, it's just as something comes to me. How many children were coming then, Peg?
SPEAKER_02There used to be about 500.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_02But Miss Thompson knew all her own children.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We used to get a lot of children around Christmas.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because of it was the only place in Baconhead that gave out a bun.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, we used to get a bun every time we came.
SPEAKER_09Oh right.
SPEAKER_02Now at Christmas there'd be about 500.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_02And we'd all be queued up in um Hemiford Street.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Outside the school.
SPEAKER_09Right. So it went round the corner, didn't it? Yeah, to be from Conway's stuff.
SPEAKER_02No. We used to queue up and be let in in the school yard.
SPEAKER_09Oh, right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And all the girls and the boys were put in tens.
SPEAKER_09Really?
SPEAKER_02And then the ten first, maybe ten girls would go first. And we go round the yard and into Hemiford Street and into the mission, up the steps.
SPEAKER_10Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Into the big hall. And we'd go round the forms.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And when we got to um the front, the girls would be given a doll. And the boys a parcel of the toys that had come in for boys.
SPEAKER_09Were the boys a parcel? Is it wrapped like a boy? Wrapped up with the boy, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Wrapped up, yes. And then we'd be given a bag of food. And there was an apple and an orange.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And a lovely pie, a meat pie. Oh, was there? And sweets.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And a mince pie.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_02And they were all given this bag of food. And of course, you know, in those days there was only the doll, wasn't there?
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, there wasn't um the money. And that's why Charles Thompson started the mission.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Because of the poverty.
SPEAKER_09That's right.
SPEAKER_02He was going round seeing all the children with bare feet.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02All sitting, you know, in the streets. Yeah. And then he was given Charles Thompson's mission.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And all the children used to flock there.
SPEAKER_09That was in 1892, wasn't it? Yeah. When the mission first opened. Yes. I believe he went to see Lord Levyhume because he he'd had different places, hadn't he? He even had an old roller skating ring, didn't he, at one stage. And then Tom O's came on the market. That's right.
SPEAKER_02And all the business all the businessmen all but uh but uh gave um so much donations.
SPEAKER_09That's right. There was a share and bought it. Yeah, one pound share they would buy, wouldn't they? Yeah, yeah. And that's how the money was raised.
SPEAKER_02And then that was given to Charles Thompson.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then um he used to go round all the big shops and ask them if there was anything over in the way of bread or cakes. Would they send it to the mission?
SPEAKER_09Wow.
SPEAKER_02And then he would give it out. Wow.
SPEAKER_09Now nothing changes, does it? Because Bernie's in charge these days and he's doing he gets he receives bread now for supermarkets, doesn't he?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_09And gives it out.
SPEAKER_02Sorry, but in those days it was poverty. It was real poverty.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah. There was nothing was there, really.
SPEAKER_02And then there was a a milkman named Mr. Dungeon. Oh yeah. And he had a milk shop in Grange Road West.
SPEAKER_09Really?
SPEAKER_02And he used to send all the milk that he had over.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Opposite the mission there used to be flats.
SPEAKER_09Oh right, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And someone from the mission, one of the boys, would go and they'd shout, There's milk at the mission. And they'd all flock with their jam jars. And and um, you know, drugs.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Anything that would hold milk.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And when I came home from school, I knew if there was a rice pudding in the oven, there was milk at the mission.
SPEAKER_09Oh wow, isn't that brilliant? Yeah. Oh yeah. Was it true, Peg, that it was just basically all streets and houses round here? It was. I mean it's changed now, hasn't it? Oh yes. The big shops.
SPEAKER_02Well the big flats used to be opposite the mission.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And of course, um, they all came from the flats to the mission. Yeah. And that's why there were so many children. But you see, it's not the child there's not the poverty now.
SPEAKER_09No, it's not exactly the same, is there? There's difficulties in that, but it it's not like it was in their minds.
SPEAKER_02Oh no, there was poverty.
SPEAKER_09Talking about Charles Thompson's mission, it he he was a deeply committed Christian, wasn't he? And when he came and he saw the situation, that's why eventually God enabled him to open the mission up. Yeah. Well, when he went to be with the Lord, was it 1903?
SPEAKER_02Oh 1903.
SPEAKER_091903, yeah. His daughter Annie took over.
SPEAKER_02She took over.
SPEAKER_09Now I never got to meet her.
SPEAKER_08A big influence on my life was Thompson.
SPEAKER_02And of course, as I grew older, you see, um, like in the summer, all the um contractors used to lend their wagons.
SPEAKER_09Did they?
SPEAKER_02And their drivers.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And we'd go to um New Brighton.
SPEAKER_09Yeah. Or we'd go to Like a day trip, you mean?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, on a Saturday. Oh. And we'd go to um Thursdays and Hills and Barnston.
SPEAKER_09Oh, lovely.
SPEAKER_02And I always remember at Barnston, they had a big slide.
SPEAKER_09That's right. I never knew it.
SPEAKER_02And you know, you're down Barnston Dip, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_09Right through the dip, did you believe?
SPEAKER_02Right through the dip.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_02And of course, you had a mat.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And you'd have to walk up uh it to a child. It was about a mile to get back if you wanted another ride. Because it was that high up and that big, wasn't it? It was.
SPEAKER_09I saw a photograph of it once, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And um you'd take your mat, and if you wanted another slide, you'd have to, you know.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then you'd walk up this and it was all hills, you know.
SPEAKER_09It would be, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then if it was raining, we'd have our tea, and then they'd put all the tables away.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And we'd all be in twos, and we'd be singing, Here We Are Again, happy as can be. You know, and we'd play them now, all going round, all singing when it was raining. And then we'd come back, get on the lorry, and we'd come down Grange Road, all singing choruses. And there used to be a big notice on the on the lorries, Charles Thompson's poor children's mission.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, then later on the pole was taken out. Oh right. And it was just Charles Thompson's mission.
SPEAKER_09Oh right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know. And that I remember that as a child.
SPEAKER_09Well, along with those day trips, the mission always did a free camp, a free holiday. Yes, we used to find it for the boys and girls. Yes. So where was the.
SPEAKER_02And there used to be Merseyside Holiday Camp.
SPEAKER_09Right.
SPEAKER_02In Dizarth.
SPEAKER_09Oh wow.
SPEAKER_02And we used to go from Woodside on the train.
SPEAKER_09Yeah. Would they pick the children up here on Lodries again?
SPEAKER_02No, no. When I was a child, we all mess at Woodside.
SPEAKER_09Oh, you had to go to Woodside, right?
SPEAKER_02With all our clothes and things in the pillowcase. And we get on the train.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And when we got to Prestaton, we'd get off that train and we'd go on a little train called the Coffee Pot. Oh, I never knew that. No. Never knew that. And this coffee pot used to run at the bottom of the mountain. Did it? By the camp. Yeah. And we'd all get off and we'd walk down the lane and we'd all be in twos. And um have these bags that you know. The pillarcase was used to put all your clothes and sleep on the pillarcase.
SPEAKER_09Right.
SPEAKER_02We'd get into the camp and we'd queue up with a palace.
SPEAKER_09Yeah. What's a pallias?
SPEAKER_02It's like a big sack.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And it was filled with straw. Oh, right. And that was your bed. Was he? And you know, you were saying, I hope they put a lot of straw in. Because it was springs on the bed, you know. And of course, if there wasn't a lot of straw, you'd feel themselves.
SPEAKER_09Oh, but you would, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And we'd be in little huts. And um before we got to camp, they used to be um a captain of the of the hut.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And she picked the girls that she wanted in their bunk.
SPEAKER_10Oh, I see.
SPEAKER_02You know. Yeah. And we have to keep the bunks clean. Yeah. You know.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And we used to have bunk inspection after breakfast every morning. Yeah. And we just have to queue up outside, you know. We'd all clean the bunk to get the most points because we get ten out of ten or not, it depends, you know. And then at the end of the camp week, we'd all get prizes. Always, you know. Oh, that's good. And uh for the best bunk and things like that, you know.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And it was happy days, and we'd all go up the mountain on a Sunday night, yeah. And we'd all be sitting on top of the mountain, all singing choruses.
SPEAKER_06That's great.
SPEAKER_02And it was lovely, you know.
SPEAKER_06Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
SPEAKER_07Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus thought, yes, he does. Yes, Jesus thought he loves me. The Bible tells me so. Yes, it does.
SPEAKER_09Something's just come to me now. Didn't it have a swimming pool as well?
SPEAKER_02They did. That's when I learned to swim. Was it a camp?
SPEAKER_09Yeah. Isn't that brilliant, eh?
SPEAKER_02Well then as I grew older, Miss Thompson, she knew a lot of the ladies, lovely ladies, you know. They all lived in um Caldy.
SPEAKER_08Oh yes, and Oxford she knew, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And all in um Prenton and Oxton, they're all the nice you know.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And um when I was fifteen, she said to me, Peggy, would you like to go to uh camp to work? And um I said, Oh yes, I think I I'll ask my mother. Yeah you'd always asked your mother, yeah, you know, if ever uh you'd always went to your mother, yeah. Maybe your dad. No. Oh's your mother. Yeah. I'll ask my mother. Anyway, um went home and I said, Miss Thompson's asked me to go and work in camp. I was fifteen and um my mother said, Do you want to go? I said, Yes, I'd like to go. It was ten shillings a week. I see at camp. But we got tips at the end of the week.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02The people you that you, you know, uh brought the children.
SPEAKER_10Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um used to give you a tip. Anyway, I went at 15. I came home and Miss Thompson said, Peggy, I want you to go and work for Mrs. and Mrs. So she found me a job. Yeah. Miss Thompson, she knew all the gentry.
SPEAKER_09Right, I'm with you now.
SPEAKER_02And they wanted somebody to c clean.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So Peggy would go and wherever Miss Thompson sent her.
SPEAKER_09Peggy went.
SPEAKER_02And then they came along and it was camp, the camp was opened.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Peggy, would you like to go to camp? So Peggy went to camp again. And um I went until 1939, and that's when war broke out. Oh right, yeah. I always remember it was on a Sunday morning, and um we were closing the camp. September was quiet, so the camp was closed. Yeah. But so many girls stayed behind to, you know, pack all the blankets and all pack everything away and things like that. And I was always one that stayed behind. Yeah. And um we were all sitting having a cup of tea, and Chamberlain came over the phone, the wireless, yeah, and said we were at war. And then I came home. And I was growing up then.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I was a teenager, yeah. And I was nineteen, and um Miss Thompson sent me to Mr. Dudgeon, who used to send the milk.
SPEAKER_09Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02She sent me to his house to work.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And um with being single, I had to either work in a factory or go into the forces.
SPEAKER_10Right.
SPEAKER_02Well, I didn't want to go in the forces, so I decided to go in the factory.
SPEAKER_09Right.
SPEAKER_02And I went to work in a factory in Liverpool.
unknownUh-huh.
SPEAKER_02And then this Mr. Judgent, because they were elderly, and he tried to keep me uh, you know.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But no, I had to go.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I went on munitions. And in the meantime, my husband, who was my boyfriend then, he was one of the mission boys. Yes. And we started courting, you know.
SPEAKER_09Right.
SPEAKER_02And then he was called up. He went in the airport.
SPEAKER_10Right.
SPEAKER_02And in the meantime, we were still coming to the mission.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02The mission was open.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Still doing all what Miss Thompson did.
SPEAKER_09Right.
SPEAKER_02And we had the services in the afternoons because we had the blackout.
SPEAKER_10Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And um people wouldn't come out at night. And um my husband, who was my boyfriend then, he went abroad. But before he went abroad, we got engaged and then um we used to write to one another, you know.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And he w he was in the Middle East. And um we always had a service on Sunday afternoon.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And um we didn't have many services in the week.
unknownNo.
SPEAKER_02Because all the children were sent away.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_02They were evacuated.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, the evacuation, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, the children were sent away. And um you wouldn't come out at night because of the blackout.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And when I was on nights, two to ten, yeah, one of my brothers or my dad used to meet me at the um central station to walk me home because of the blackout. Yeah. And it was late at night.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well then when the my boyfriend came home, it was 1944, he came Came home and we got married. And in the meantime, we were still coming to the mission and doing things. I was, you know, becoming a worker then.
SPEAKER_09That's right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because I was 19, 20. Yeah. And then um we uh got married and um I had a David, but Ted came and he was one of the mission boys, and at Christmas time he came and um helped because you know we all the boys helped.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And um there used to be four boys together. There was my husband and three other boys who were all at the mission doing things and helping.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02They used to um whitewash the yards.
SPEAKER_09Did they?
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because once a year, Miss Thompson, there used to be a ward in St. Catharines, yeah, that was all um people that weren't able to look after themselves.
SPEAKER_09Oh, right, yeah. They had disabilities in that sense, didn't they? Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And Miss Thompson used to have them down at the mission for a day.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And it was always on a Saturday. And of course, all these boys used to help with these disabled people. Yeah. And they used to bring nurses and that, you know. And um they um used to have the tea, and Miss Thompson used to let let them go up on the platform and uh sing. And of course, the way they were, that they loved it. Yeah. And Miss Thompson encouraged them to come up. She knew them all by name because she used to go to the hospital once a week to visit these people. And um at Easter time we used to take a crowd of the children to the hospital on Good Friday. Yeah. And we'd take about a dozen children, and um they would um sing, we'd start at the top, go from ward to ward, and the children used to sing or say a piece of poetry.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And my husband used to give the men five wood binds. Right. And I used to give the ladies a packet of biscuits.
SPEAKER_09Right.
SPEAKER_02That was our job.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And we'd go from ward to ward doing this. And then um we come back to the mission, yeah, and there'd be tea laid out for the children. Yeah. The children would have their tea. Right. And um and then on um Sunday, Easter Sunday, you know, with all meat and and uh all sing and that for for Easter and that, you know.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And um then we we go to camp with the children.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh you know, it was all in um seasons commission.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We used to have Christmas, yeah. Easter.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, we do Christmas and get everything like we're doing now. Yes. After Christmas, we'd start getting ready for Easter.
SPEAKER_09Yes, right.
SPEAKER_02And then Easter wasn't as busy as Christmas.
SPEAKER_09No, no.
SPEAKER_02And uh all the children used to get an Easter egg.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, lovely.
SPEAKER_02And then the next would be Campa.
SPEAKER_09Right. W was the May Queen in between that?
SPEAKER_02In between that we used to have May Queens.
SPEAKER_09Could you tell us a little bit about May Queen then?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um one of the girls used to be chosen as uh the Queen.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And we used to have um a concert. It was a dancing school. Right. And the person who used to run this dancing school, um I can't think of her name, she used to announce the name of the girl. Right. Miss Thompson would whisper the name of the girl who was gonna be queen at the end of the concert.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02And of course, then we'd start practicing then for um the concert. And as a child, I was always in the chorus. I never was one for what didn't push myself. No, I mean. I didn't want to be doing things because I get too nervous.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then um the Queen one of the girls used to be chosen as uh the Queen.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We'd do a you know, a a lovely concert at the YMCA Hall in Grange Road.
SPEAKER_10Oh, when it was in the road.
SPEAKER_02Not the new one in West Own Lane, Grange Road. Right. And we'd all go and uh we'd all have nice clothes on.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We used to have to go in the small hall, and Mrs. Moore used to be old for the she was the dresser. Right. And she would pick dresses for us, you know. And she'd say, Peggy, I want you to come in the the hall. I've got a dress for you. For the you know, because we're all you see, we all had poor clothes and that. We weren't um posh or anything. So of course we had to be all nicely dressed for this concert. And then um my husband, he had a lovely tenor voice, and he used to sing halfway through the concert only a penny sir. And he'd all throw the pennies from it from the audience. Yeah, yeah. And there used to be a balcony, and someone would go round with a box to put the money.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And at the end of the year, it used to announce how much they'd collected at the end, you know. And then we the queen used to be crowned. And it was on um Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Right. And Thursday night it was the mayor and the mayoress. Right. The mayoress crowned the queen.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02On a Friday it used to be Sanderman and Allen. They were good, you know, they used to have the running the town.
SPEAKER_09Yes, they were like dignitaries, weren't they? Yeah. Yeah, to do with the council and things like that.
SPEAKER_02They were on the council.
SPEAKER_09Right.
SPEAKER_02But it you know, it's different now.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then on the Saturday night, it was somebody else that used to crown, and she used to get lovely presents, you know. She'd show us the presents she'd gotten.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And it was lovely, you know, the way um we used to have these May Queens.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And all the money that was collected used to pay for the children going to camp. My husband used to sing, you know, the only a penny. And of course he was dressed in rags, you know. And um they'd throw all these well more than pennies, you know.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02We used to have a pansy day.
SPEAKER_09Oh, I remember, yeah, I've seen them here. Yeah. The little paper ones with the paper. The little paper. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We used to have a pansi day.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And being a waiter, yeah, I used to have to get so many pansies. Right. Um, and of course I was working myself in Rob's in Grange Road. Yeah. And Robbs used to make the crown for the Queen. Oh, did they? And it used to be in the in the window in Grange Road. And I'd go and I'd look at this lovely crown. Yeah. And it used to be all lovely rosebuds and nets and that, you know. And every year they made the crown for the Queen. Oh, it's lovely, you know.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then I was saying about the pansy day. I used to take a couple of bags.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And on a Friday night, I'd go round the pubs.
SPEAKER_08Would you?
SPEAKER_02Now Miss Thompson knew that I came from the pubs.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02She'd have been, you know. Yeah, she'd have been hoping. But it was the only way of me getting. And you'd go in and you'd say to the um the person behind the bar, is it all right if I go through? It's Charles Thompson's mission. Oh yes, look, go through. Everybody knew Charles Thompson's mission. It was the only organisation in Bacon Head because there's no one else. And um sometimes you'd run out of pansies, but the boxes still go round. Yeah. Because they were all old Charles Thompson's mission. Children sitting in the pubs.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know. And then um my husband used to um come on the Saturday, and the other three boys used to come and open these boxes and count the money, and that's what he did.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And um that was stopped. The the Pansy Day was stopped, you know. That all that money used to go for camp. And that's how we got to pay for camp.
SPEAKER_09So when I and Joyce came as the superintendent, Annie had gone home to be with the Lord, hadn't she? I think it was 1965, was it? 63. 63. 63. And was it Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Lowry took over? Took over. Yeah, were you still coming then?
SPEAKER_02I was still coming.
SPEAKER_09I came right through. Did you really? Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I've always made the tea.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02All evening when they came, you know, I always made the tea.
SPEAKER_09The amazing thing for me is you see, this Peggy Maskry was here when I came as a young fella to 40. And now I've been retired five years and I'm 70 in January. And guess who's still here? Peggy Maskry. Yeah. It's amazing, really, isn't it? It is. It isn't it, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Only because God's given me the strength to do it. And he's still given me the strength.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I've only got uh thank God for giving me all the strength that he gives me.
SPEAKER_09And it's a privilege, isn't it, to have served him here.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_09You know, in whatever capacity. Because there's always been lots of volunteers and and and people to give a hand and what have you. Yeah, yeah. But uh you've been here the longest. And you're still here on the end of a mop or a brush.
SPEAKER_02They're carrying me out.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, with the brush in your hand as well, yeah, I'm quite sure.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_09So has it changed much? Because I remember it was difficult for folks to accept maybe a few changes I was bringing in. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, you didn't make many.
SPEAKER_09No. Well, we always tried to keep it as the mission, didn't we?
SPEAKER_02The point was the government was given more two cup two families then.
SPEAKER_09Yes.
SPEAKER_02So the course they didn't want Charles Thompson's mission then. No. There was no need for but the there wasn't any poor children.
SPEAKER_09No.
SPEAKER_02But there was neglected.
SPEAKER_09That's right. They were poor in we always said, didn't we? They were poor in another way. Yeah. In a different way. Families had changed. Yeah. A lot of breakdown in families and things like that.
SPEAKER_02It was family allowance.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, of course.
SPEAKER_02You got a family allowance.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But it was not used the way it should have been used.
SPEAKER_09You know. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It went on either smokes or drink or something like that.
SPEAKER_09And I mean that's what we come across just the same today, really, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. We talk about poor children, and there is there is a type of poverty around. We've got food banks and everything out. Oh, yes. And that kind of thing, you know. Yes. But generally it's people can't manage for whatever reason, you know. So you've seen loads of changes in the phone. Yes, I have. No, I mean it changed in my day. Yes. You know, with those who had a lot of uh problems with abuse of substances and what have you. But the numbers aren't the same children-wise, are they? Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_10No.
SPEAKER_09So we're thankful that things have got that bit better, really, for children. Well, we're more or less drawing to a close now, so you're still here.
SPEAKER_02I'm still here.
SPEAKER_09You're still here, you're still helping out.
SPEAKER_02Still helping out, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Still making the tea.
SPEAKER_09Still making the tea, yeah. And you looked after me well, didn't you?
SPEAKER_02I did.
SPEAKER_09I mean you really looked after me, kept me going.
SPEAKER_02That's why you'd adopted me.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I adopted you.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, you're my adopted mum and I'm your adopted uh my adopted son.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_09But it I mean it was sad for you too, wasn't it? Because it was. You know, you lost David, didn't you? Yes. You know, to come.
SPEAKER_02I lost my husband first.
SPEAKER_09Yes, yeah. And then David went.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. It was a big help during those days.
SPEAKER_09Lovely. Yes. Lovely. And I suppose really when David passed away, in that sense the mission was still here. It was. And people who loved you and cared for you through a very, very strong. Yes, I got the strength. I got the strength. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I prayed for strength and I got it.
SPEAKER_09And it's the only thing that's kept us going, really, except to be quite honest. I've always said the grace of God and the prayers of the Lord's people. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I pray and I thank God every night for the strength he's given me, you know, every day. Yeah. And still given me. And I always say, when I've got to pack up, God will tell me when I've got to pack up.
SPEAKER_09Spot on that. Yes. Absolutely true, isn't it? Now he's got it mapped out for us what he wants us to do. And uh but you're still doing it.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_09Still doing it.
SPEAKER_02Marjorie Monigan, I was born nineteen twenty. I had an uncle Tom who christened me Peggy when I was about two, and it stuck. So I've been called Peggy ever since.
SPEAKER_09You lived in Park Street.
SPEAKER_02I came to the mission when I was about eight, and my mother brought me.
SPEAKER_00So as a reminder to you, Charles Thompson's mission has been looking after people in need in Birkenhead since 1892. And praise God it's still there with God's love, care, and help. The work continues today with the centre manager being Bernie Frost. At a rescue and drop-in centre, it's their privilege to help so many who are in need. Bernie, along with his assistants John Pemberton and Debbie Withers, as many volunteers continue to receive into the mission clothes, food, furniture, and beds, and they deliver these needy items week by week. They even arrange food hampers for those in special need. Also on a daily basis, Monday to Friday, they provide free hot food in the mornings, soup and sandwiches in the afternoons, and endless cup of tea for the homeless or any needy person. Around seventy to eighty men and women come to the door each day for a hot meal or help. As in the early days recounted by Peggy, they still take adults who come to the mission on free outings, and the children on a free holiday to Barnesdale camp on Wurral. The mission also offers a range of medical services. They currently have a regular nurse from the NHS, a dentist once a week, and a mental health nurse. Alongside other groups, they also provide help and advice on dependency problems and housing. The need is still there, even in these days of plenty, and the aim is the same to help anyone in need and to tell them of the love of God. And I hope you enjoyed Peggy's interesting and lively story. For someone in her late nineties, she's amazing. Peggy Maskrey.
SPEAKER_05In the light of its glory and wave in the light of its glory and wave. So never we need a minute, so you can't get it.
unknownI told him I told him.
SPEAKER_05Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let me praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the big glory to Christ, oh God to the God, through Jesus, I give you my glory, praise the God, the precious soul, so we saw God, the life, who truly is glorious from Jesus, from God, praises, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the God make his voice, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the great God bring his voice, all God through Jesus the Son. And give him the glory, praise the God.
SPEAKER_00We've closed the chat room door, but please tune in next time to blame C CR on 1521 Medium Wave for more from Green Door Studios Chat Room. We hope you enjoyed this program, which is under the copyright of Burrow Christian Media Limited. Details of the Flame PCR broadcast and webcast are on our website, www.flameradio.org. Thank you for listening.