The Daveys - Part 5. Rascal and a little about our Grandparents.

After the move up to Manchester, our family got bigger again - by one - but it wasn't a little brother or a little sister. It was the craziest, most loyal and awesome dog of the 1980s. 

I'm not sure why we decided to get a dog but one weekend, dad, us three kids and  Aunty Catherine (Dad's younger sister) piled in the car and went out to buy a dog. I do have a vague recollection of getting to the dog shop (Not sure where we actually bought him from) (Chris -  Manchester Dogs Home) ( and seeing two little Jack Russell terrier puppies. One of them was so cute and cuddly that just about every other family would have taken him. But we were interested in the crazy little puppy. The one who wouldn't sit still and wagged his tiny little docked tail as fast as he could. 

He probably picked us rather than us picking him. It was just meant to be. 

On the way home, we talked about names and I am sure I came up with the name Rascal, but I may be wrong. I also remember that Catherine held Rascal on her knee and from then on, Catherine was absolutely adored by him and I am sure the feelings went both ways. 

One of the cool little things we know about Rascal was that he was born on Feb 14th, Valentine's day and if you looked at him, he had a black heart on his side. It was pretty cool. 

Here is how he looked on the day we got him. You can see the heart on his side in the first photo.

With Catherine

All of us 3 kids loved Rascal from the start. We would probably all say that we were his favourite, but to be honest - Rascal was dad's dog. There are so many photos of Rascal and dad and in all of them, dad looks happy and peaceful. I genuinely think that dad got the same joy from raising Rascal as he did doing his gardening and he certainly got a lot of peace and satisfaction from them both.

Rascal though didn't really have any favourites (apart from Catherine) He was genuinely just one of the family. He was involved in everything: days out, us kids playing, shopping, and drinking tea. (Chris I’d say mum was his favourite. She was the only one he would drop everything to go to.)

When we were young kids and evenings were often spent in front of the telly,  we would easily drink a couple of cups of tea each every night and once the dregs of the tea were all that was left, Rassie would go around everyone's cup and slurp out whatever was left. It was only when I grew up and he was long gone that I remembered he also spent ages every night licking dads feet. So he would lick dads feet and then drink from everyone's teacup. Someone would then take the teacups and make another cup of tea. So now we were all drinking tea with the extra taste of dads feet and dog tongue. I can not get this out of my mind now! 

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As I said Rascal would also help with the shopping - carrying stuff from the car to the house as we unpacked, His favourites were the red Fig Rolls packets. He would also eat from bowls, plates and even cake mixers. It's no wonder he ended up a bit overweight in his old age, and it's a miracle we didn't all get ill (Although we did have worms as kids, so that was probably something to do with the dog! But we didn't really care. He really was just one of the family. 

Helping with the shopping

Cake mix

Lazing on someone's bed

  

There were so many good days out when Rascal took over and ran the day - we would follow him anywhere. He was just a small dog, but he really could seize all the attention in most situations. On trips to the park, the beach or walking along the canal, one or more of us would always be playing or messing about with him and we all loved it as did he!

The famous day he jumped into the lake at Dunham park

In the sea!

There are lots of photos of Rascal and in all of them, he is either eating, sleeping or being petted by one of us kids. Here he is with Chris and another with me - Both times being held almost like a baby. 

The third photo is of the family on holiday and as usual, Rascal takes centre stage!

(Chris - He followed mum into the sea)

Here is a funny photo, taken with Baby Michael. Rascal was probably about 10 years old by then but he still wanted to 'play' with Michael!(If you get what I mean!) (Gareth - He wasn’t trying to shag him he just loved the baby bouncer. Rassie was very protective of the first baby he’d come across and would not let anyone near him if he thought they may be a threat.)

This is one of my favourite photos of Rassie. It shows him sitting in the back of dads old Hillman Hunter, with the tailgate up. Just mellowing out on an old blanket, watching the world go by. He looks so happy!

Rascal had his one little box to sleep in in the kitchen, and he would use his nose to pull the sliding door open while we slept and escape into the house. So for years, we had a rolled-up newspaper that we would jam into the gap between the door and wall. This stopped the door from being moved and Rascal escaping. The last thing anyone said before bed, would be 'Is the paper in the door?'.

There are so many stories about Rascal it would be hard to remember them all. I hope Gareth and Chris have some to add. But the ones I remember most are when I used to take him for a walk and especially on Thursday evenings when I would take him to meet Mum and Nan from Bingo at St Hughes, just around the corner. We would walk into the Bingo hall, where around 100 ladies and a few men would be playing. Everyone knew us there and would watch as we wandered in through the crowds and sit down with mum and nan. Rascal and I would get loads of smiles and hellos from everyone and they all knew his name! He was so well known around the area it would have been difficult to ever lose him.

(Chris Little bastard would fuck off at every opportunity, we had to 'net' all the hedge because he would find the smallest hole and be gone, disappearing for hours in someone’s garden having a shit… )

On one walk to bingo, I remember a big alsatian dog getting too close to me and being a bit nasty. I know Rascal jumped at the dog that was 3 times his size and scared it off. I have memories of Rascal lunging at its throat and hanging on, but that might just be a story that I made up. (Gareth I think that was another time on a Saturday morning after shopping… Dad warned the guy (It may have been the same dog) but he just laughed. The dog broke free, leaned over Rassie and he just bit and hung on to his throat for about 100 yds (Back gate to Glastonbury Rd)

However, I do know that that little dog was so protective of me and my 2 brothers that he would have done exactly that. He was a tough little fellah and if he could have had a dog tattoo it would have said 'Come on then! Try it and you will lose. or something to that effect. 

Rascal was about 11 years old when I joined the army in 1987 and I remember coming home one weekend a couple of years later and being picked up by dad from Piccadilly train station. On the journey home, dad told me that Rascal had been put down earlier that week. He had been ill for quite a time - with some kind of dog cancer. He had had trouble walking properly and his eyesight wasn't what it was when he was younger. He had put on a lot of weight too - no doubt due to all the biscuits, cups of sugary tea, cake mix and other garbage he ate!  I don't think a day went by when he wasn't given a treat - probably at least one treat from everyone in the house, so no wonder he was a fatty! 

(Chris -  He was very ill overnight = mum stayed up cuddling him and at about 9;30 he had a massive heart attack and collapsed, me and dad took him to the vet and he was put down with his head in my hands on the vet's table. Mum wouldn’t come and instead stayed at home sobbing )

He was a wonderful little dog though and I remember sitting quietly on the way home feeling sad that I wouldn't see him again. I am pretty sure that everyone else in the family felt it too. 

As well as Rascal, we had lots of other things to keep us amused in Manchester. The garden was always in use as long as we lived at 90 Moss Vale Rd. There were many games of cricket, lots of digging, climbing the drainpipes and all the usual daft games that 3 boys get up to. There were also plenty of places to wander to that were close by - We had the Cornies - a few old fields with concrete walls (Chris  - it is actually part of the 100-mile fresh water tunnel from lake district to Manchester its where we get our drinking water from) around them that were at the end of Barton Clough School and sandwiched in between the motorway and Trafford Park. It was a great place to ride bikes. (I believe Chris hurt his leg falling off a motorbike in them when he was a teenager?) (Chris- no that was on the old line in Flixton not the cornies)There were lots of parks and play areas for kicking footballs around. and also a place that has now gone where at the edge of a farm there were some monkey puzzle trees that were great for climbing. The farmland there has now gone and been replaced with the Trafford Centre  - a huge shopping mall. (Chris However the monkey woods are still there as is the pond and this is now an activity centre where you climb the trees still (Trafford Treetop Adventures | Peak )  (rICK - This made me really happy - as I thought the trees were gone!

When we were young dad would often take us out on weekends - To Tatton Park to Dunham Park where we would walk the dog or play in the small ponds. I do remember a 10-mile walk for Charity along the Bridgewater Canal when I was about 9 or 10 years old that was good fun. We got out a lot and even though we lived in a big city, the countryside wasn't far! It's only when I think back that I remember that mum didn't come along on a lot of these trips with dad. I guess that dad wanted mum to take a break sometimes and this was the opportunity she took. Dad would also take the 3 of us kids swimming at Urmston Pool on Saturday mornings. This was mums opportunity t have a lie in, I suppose, although I doubt she ever really had much rest. I still have weird memories of dad singing 'Brown Girl in the Ring by Boney M after every swimming session as we got changed in the changing rooms. I have no idea why he did this or why i remember it!

Mum worked so hard for us that I wish I would talk to her now and say thanks. Dad had a full-time job at the Ordnance Survey, but mum was the one who would be getting us kids ready for school and looking after us when we got home afterwards. Mum would also go to Gran's house every morning and have a brew with Gran and Grandad, before walking along Barton Road to the shops and getting shopping for us and Gran, before popping in on the way home again to drop it off. 

When the schools were closed she would take at least one or two of us kids with her and it was during one of these stops that Gran told mum she hadn't heard Grandad move yet this morning. Mum went upstairs to find Grandad, (her dad) dead in bed. I never really got to know Grandad and didn't really understand what was happening, so asked if I could look and mum said ok. So that morning was the first time I ever saw a dead body. I am sure mum took it hard, but it wasn't totally unexpected, to be honest. (I don't recall if Chris and Gareth were there too) Chris (Chris I was not sure on G) … (Gareth Na I wasn’t there seen enough of those badgers.)

Here are a couple of photos of Grandad with Gareth, Grandad with us 3 kids and a nice one of Gran and Nan enjoying a hot summer afternoon in the garden of 7 Norwich Road!

Mum had two jobs as well as looking after the house - doing all the cleaning (hoovering every day) and washing all our clothes in an antiquated old washing machine and spinner. (Incidentally, when I was in Costa RIca with Buffy we found an old washing machine and spinner and Buffy was amazed that I knew what it was and how to use it!) - Mum's jobs were as a school dinner lady when the school was open and school cleaner when the school was closed for holidays. (Chris No- she started off as a cleaner for a few years and then moved into the kitchens – stopping cleaning – probable when you were in 4^th year or so) Gareth - Don’t forget Nan worked there too for a couple of years) Funnily enough, we lived so close to the school that we didn't actually have school dinners there - We would come home and make ourselves dinner whilst mum worked at school serving dinner to all our classmates! I would come home aged 7 or 8 and cook myself baked beans on toast on the cooker and then go back to school after watching the lunchtime kids TV programmes!  When mum clean the school during the holidays we would often go to help, so I remember being aged about 9 or 10 and spending a few days of the summer holiday cleaning my own classroom!

Mum and dad did a great job with us kids though and the house was always clean - mum making sure of that and dad would do all the maintenance - fixing and decorating  - I have lost count of how many times dad would get the wallpaper table out and redo the wallpaper in the house - although if you look at some of the pictures, there was a different taste in decorations back in those days. Just look at this photo of Gareth with the awful wallpaper behind him!

One of the things that mum and dad really did well was the holidays. So in the next instalment, I will tell you all about a few of them and the caravan we used to holiday in....

More from Gareth..... 

A couple more photos for you…me and MY dog. 

I was always first up to do the paper round and I used to let him out.

He’d then come with me to Paynes Newsagent round the corner and do the round with me until I got back to ours.

I'd then drop him off and set off to finish my round on the other side of the Motorway towards Davyhulme Park then past our school out to Humphry Park before going through the Subway back to Paynes.

 It was only when I joined up in ‘84 and stopped doing that with him that he got fat and unhealthy.