The Six O'Clock Alarm, Would never Ring...

When I was little, this was the Cooperative.

When I was little my mum would send me down with a little list of things to buy, and a number to remember in my head.

When I was little, the door was still in the same place - on the corner, but when you went inside it was huge. There were big shelves and counters. You asked the people behind the counter for things. "4 oz of gammon please". The floors were wooden and there was sawdust on the floor.

When you had finished, you went to the counter to pay and then said "the number". 5486. Remembered in two phrases. FiftyFour, EightySix. I would repeat that number all the way down the road, and hope that I had got it right.

It was also outside the cooperative I played on a home made "bogie cart", and while I was turning the wheels (there wasn't a steering wheel), my pal pushed it forwards and the wheel turned over my nail, and broke it off.

I looked at my finger, I looked at the blood. And I ran. And Screamed. And ran all the way home.