A RETIRED father from Tameside has just published his first book about what it was like for him growing up in the borough.
Until moving to Stalybridge five years ago, 70-year-old John Hughes had lived in Mossley all his life.
His 98-page book entitled ‘Life Changes From The 1960s to The Present Day’ explores how the area has changed over the last 60 years.
“It’s based around Mossley but it could be any Tameside town,” John told the Correspondent.
“We had back-to-back terraced houses, coal fires, tin baths, black and white TVs, dustbins, outside toilets and cobbled streets – that was everywhere around here.
“Invariably, people who lived in a town worked in that town because there were lots of industries – like cotton mills with shops. There were no supermarkets, you had the local shops like butchers and greengrocers and you could take what you needed and pay when you got paid.
“There were building societies but no banks and you used to get paid in cash in a brown envelope. There used to be jars to pay each person such as delivering milk. In those days, everyone was poor but people shared.
“Everything is a lot different now, it’s almost unrecognisable from when I was young.”
A regular churchgoer, John worked in many industries – both shop floor and office work – until retiring in 2020. He is also a keen sports fan, umpiring cricket games for over 35 years, taking part in crown green bowling and watching Mossley and Manchester City play football, as well as attending Oldham rugby league matches.
Sharing what inspired him to write the book, John explained: “My dad passed away and then I retired just three weeks before Covid hit so everything came to a halt and I had nothing to do. So I thought about writing a few memories of what it was like when I was growing up.
“I got talking to people and they suggested turning the memories into a book, which might be nice for schools for children learning about local history and for people of a similar age to me to look back on.
“So gathering memories escalated into writing the book. It’s taken me about three years to write, on and off. I started during Covid, then left it for a bit but then I would speak to someone who would tell a story which I thought might be good to include in the book.
“A few people have helped me with ideas and Emmaus Mossley kindly supplied a lot of photographs to include, so I have mentioned them in the book and given them a copy as a thank you.”
John, who is married to wife Linda and has a daughter Rebecca, gave us a glimpse of some of the things that get a mention in the book.
“I was brought up in the Methodist Church because my grandad was a local preacher and the local Methodist minister,” he told us.
“I used to go to the Sunday service. In Mossley, they still have the Whit Friday walks and the Brass Band Contests which we used to get involved in and they get a mention in the book.
“In the sports section, I also talk about when Mossley reached the FA Trophy final in 1980 and the police had to look after Mossley and Stalybridge because 90 per cent of people had gone to Wembley! There were 38,000 people there for a non-league final which was remarkable.”
John is thinking of getting in touch with local schools and libraries to see whether they will be interested in the book.
He would like to thank Jeremy Scholes for proofreading the book and Matt Gough from Myzizi Design and Print in Stalybridge for publishing.
The book is available to buy in paperback and Kindle format on Amazon now, or you can order a copy by emailing John at rj.hughes02@gmail.com
