Calling all Barrow Boys (and Girls!)

Barrow for your luggage sir? Hard work on a Saturday . .

By Martin Philpot

Saturday morning in the holiday season in the mid-sixties was a real earner for a young lad if you were up to real graft. Crowds of holidaymakers ladened down with heavy suitcases would pour out of the main train and coach stations needing to find their way to the hotels and guesthouses along the seafront. On a good day, I could earn over ten pounds. . My record was eleven pounds five shillings (an important boast for many years). This was a massive amount considering that I also earned three pounds and ten shillings for 5 days work on Rosatti's tea stall!

I started at the age of 12 and the pattern of my day went something like this; Up at 6am , walked from my home near Tollhouse Road in Southtown to my uncle's Steve's on Stafford Road to borrow his barrow (I didn't have my own). By 7am I was at Vauxhall Station awaiting the early arrivals, weighing up the opposition with their barrows also at the ready. As the holiday makers arrived I would call out "barrow for your luggage?" and try and beat the others to custom. I was young and the older barrow boys were tough and aggressive towards me if they felt I was on 'their' patch. I had many a dust-up and you had to be wary - there was a definite pecking order!

There wasn't a rate for your service, you simply said "it's up to you sir" when asked "how much?" People were generally reasonable although I do remember Yorkshire folk or "Yorkies" were the meanest (certainly not the Scottish) and Londoners were the most generous.

A barrow with suitcases piled high pushed from Vauxhall or Beach coach station to a guesthouse in Camperdown is a tough call for a 12 year old and I would carry on all day back and forth until around 4pm - exhausted but loaded! Fish and chips on the way home!

This page was added by Martin Philpot on 06/05/2008.

Poor old (Martin Philpott), Vauxhall Station sounded a hard patch.

I on the other hand I had it easy It was Beach Station just up the road from where I use to live. I also had two older brothers who made me a go cart wide enough to take large suit cases.

Most holiday makers went to Nelson Road Central. I think the furthest one I had was on St.Peters Road corner of Blackfriars. They gave me 2/6 -22p new money. An average Saturday you could earn about ten shillings.

I soon found a better way. I went around some of the b&bs who my mum knew. She was a holiday landlady and found out when the summer visitors were going back home, so all I had to do was collect their cases and take to the station. Mostly it was beach station. I only got one for southtown station but they gave 5/- shillings about 60 pence new.

I was about ten years old at the time.Idont know how some people feel but my summers the sun always seemed to shine. Happy days.

I used to hire a barrow from Mr Harvey on the South Quay for 6 old pennies a day. Then onto vauxhaull station. This was in the late fifties.

I used to go round the coaches selling fruit on a barrow on sunday afternoons at Beach Coach Station in the mid 60s. My customers were glad of something for the journey home, and it was a good trade at the time.
As I was only 16, it was a quick way of making extra money.
I then went on to work on Yarmouth Market selling fruit and veg as i still am today.
John Dearn
on 23/11/2008

I started off when I was about ten or eleven and got into it because a couple of my new mates were doing it when I moved into Newtown and also I had a go-cart and bought a good map. I used to work from the Beach Coach Station, starting around 6a.m. and charge a shilling for a big case and sixpence for a smaller one. You'd try to catch customers as they stepped off the bus with 'Like a barra for your luggage mam or sir? Hopefully by the time you got round to the boot at the back they'd want you to take them. Sometimes there would be a bit of jostling and the driver would tell us off and we'd have to go to the back. The taxi drivers really didn't like us and one big bloke with a large moustache used to swear at us. All us barra boys got on pretty well and when you passed a mate on the other side of the road you'd ask them 'How you getten' on? I never remember having any problems with anyone else over the four seasons I worked the coach station. Sometimes if there was a lull we'd try the railway station down the Conge but I never really made much there.
Whilst I was taking them to their guest house or hotel I would tell them all about the shows and best places to go in Yarmouth - not to miss the chips on the market and the model village.
After the first year I came up with a new idea, when they asked me how much they owed me I said - well whatever you think. Usually they'd give me more than my old rate, one time I even got a ten bob note. If they didn't give me more I'd screw up my face a bit and look at the change in my hand. They'd then feel guilty and ask me what people usually pay and then I'd tell them my old rate. So I made half as much again - getting on for 5 or 6 pounds. Then in my second year I asked my dad if he'd help me build a barrow to fix to the back of my bike to cut the turn round time. I also started taking bookings when I dropped people off so I could pick them up one or two Saturdays later - profits went up again so I was getting well over a tenner most weeks. I bought my first transistor radio with an ear phone and I thought it was marvellous riding along listening to music. Bought my first tent and as I was in a fledgling band a new guitar and speakers which me and Tom built a cabinet for. It was great earning money and having that lovely feeling of a heavy bag of change in your pocket. About half-two as the coaches fizzled out I'd go home, have dinner and count out my earnings on the table. Being a barrow boy made a big difference to my life as it gave me loads of confidence, helped me realise the power of being friendly and determined and most importantly how thinking about things can help you change your life.

Having been brought up in Yarmouth from 1945 to 1952 you have rekindled some wonderful memories of those tough but great days.

I never did the barrow boy stint, but made my pocket money at the quay - racing seagulls to pick up herring the Scottish Trawlers dropped as they unloaded their catches. I then rushed home next door to BHS in Deneside (now sadly gone) washed them and sold them to local boarding houses for 2 old pennies each. I earned enough to pay for my trips to the Empire, Regent & Aquarium Cinemas. I loved the movies and still do!

Interesting to see some of the names of the barrow boys I remember and am sure I went to Great Yarmouth Tech High with one of them (Ronald Hughes)

Thanks for the memories

Edward Sheldrick

My dad was a taxi driver at the time and he told me this was the way to earn my pocket money. He then helped me build a trailer for my bike, so I could get back quicker. It was made from an old bed frame (angle iron), flat wood suface with two bicycle wheels. (It was) hooked up to a bracket to my seat support. I charged a shilling a case. It was a big trailer and one day I met my match. I picked these Scots from the bus station wanted to go to the Seashore Camp. Ok I said, there was 6 of them and they had 10 cases. My poor trailer, and me had a hard time dragging that lot. They were very good and gave me a pound. I then treated myself with a bottle of Lucozade. The day was young. I didn't ask for the return.

I also started early as a 'barra boy' - early in age (6yrs old) with my brother (10 yrs old) and at stupid o'clock in the morning, to try and catch the early birds. You would quite often catch people on their way back to Beach coach station at that time. I was a 'barra boy' on and off for the next 6 years and got to know the roads and hotels almost as good as the taxi drivers (who loathed our presence there). It was a long day and a bit of a slog, especially if you were unlucky enough to get a job to Vauxhall camp or Nelson Road South/Queens Rd. Best jobs were the short haul ones to the Paget Road, Nelson Road Central, Apsley Rd areas, so you could rush back for the next coach arrival. I always remember there being a good camaraderie amongst the 'barra boys' and we would quite often sell, swap or give away our return bookings, if we could not cover them. My dad made my 'barra' and very well balanced one at that. Quite often saw other 'barra' boys fighting with theirs, because the wheels were either too far forward, making it heavy on your hands, or too far back, so they couldn't pull the handles down to raise the 'barra' . Remember a guy called Steven Driver who seemed to have the Rolls Royce of 'barras' - carpeted on top, so as not to scratch the cases and a waterproof cover stowed away in a lockable box underneath, in case of inclement weather. Maybe that's why he was earning £30-£40 a day, while the rest of us were earning £10-£20. Also remember being paid commission by some of the guest house owners for anybody we took to their guest house who hadn't booked accommodation before arriving. Treated ourselves to chips, a Coke and a couple of games in the amusement arcades on the way home and a blow out in Norwich at the end of the summer 'barra boy' season.

What a wonderful afternoon I've had reading all these old recollections. I worked some summer holidays with my pal Martin Jones from Gorleston station up the slope to all the many guest houses and hotels nearby. It was always worth our while and the holidaymakers were always generous with their payments to us, which we used to obtain by being polite and knowledgeable about where to go and what was on etc.. It seemed in those days in the '50's I was always making a bob or two doing things. I also had a trailer on an errand bike which I used to cycle all round town for Chatters the greengrocers and fruiterers on Bell's Road. What with that and then making rolls and drinks at Alfredo's in Regent Road and also earning money as a Choirboy at St. Andrew's on a Saturday,when my folk took me on our holidays, I was never short of spending money! I now live in Kent, but I remember my youth there so well and what a wonderful place it was to grow up in.

I was a Barrow boy in the seventies when I was about 12 yrs old and "Barrowed" for 2 or 3 seasons.The money was quite good for a 12 yr old,depending on how clever and astute you were £30/40 were possible.
I used to go with a lad called David Cox & his brothers,we'd help each other out and share some money.There was a lot of rivalry,which some times led to trouble,especially with older lads,but you stood your ground, sometimes at the risk of your barrow being trashed.If it was you'd make another or repair it.
I used to cover the "Beach" & Vauxhall station, knowing the timetables.Thinking back it was quite funny vying for trade against the taxi drivers,who used to get well wound up,but the holiday makers used to enjoy the walk and you could point out a few sights etc. The Knowledge.
Good business was to get a booking to pick them up in 1 or 2 weeks, I used to carry a book for names and hotels.
It could sometimes be a good trek to the Pleasure Beach end, a chance you took,business is business even at 12.
It was an early start,used to be up 6.30-7.00 am.
But the pleasure came from counting your takings after the last coaches and holiday makers had arrived,sometimes I'd be there until I think about 4.00-4.30.
It's strange to walk past there now with all the housing on the site,but it brought back some good memories,sadly I have no photos of those good times.

I used to be a taxi driver and mostly worked the Beach Coach station.
I really do not know why some taxi drivers didnt like the "Barra Boys" I quite often used to give one of the boys money for bringing me a good job to Hemsby or Caister.
Another reason for apreciating the Barra Boys is they took all the short jobs, leaving the Taxi drivers the better fares.
Pity you do not see thes boys about any more. Its an honest way to earn their pocket money.

Further to my letter on 21/01/09, yes I was a barrow boy who had a dad as a taxi driver. They didn't want the short jobs and welcomed the longer ones - going to the seashore was a mistake! It was too long,and should have given it to a taxi, but you learn by your mistakes don t you. Jobs to Paget Rd etc were fine. While on the subject of taxi drivers, when I was much younger my dad would take me to work with him in the school holidays, as he worked Vauxhall Station. I would clean the car in between trains, and if he had a full load, I would stay behind and wait for him to come back. I remember such names as Bob Nichols, Ronnie Sparham, Frank Leggett, Billy Crane, and George Applegate, the most flamboyant guy you ever met, always a limo, and well dressed. He also, with his wife, ran the cafe on Vauxhall Station - a welcome cup of tea and roll while dad was gone. I remember him telling other drivers off for their language while I was there. Oh what memories, fantastic times!

I too was a barrow boy in the 1950s, I worked the Seashore caravan camp with my elder brother David. There was only 5 barrows allowed on the camp and you had to have an offical pass signed by the camp manager. We were one of the lucky ones as our mother Doris Hipgrave worked in the camp paper shop during the summer season and managed to get us our pass. We were not allowed to charge so we had to accept what the holiday makers were willing to give. The average was half a crown, but if you got a group of say 6 "Teddy Boys" that would be 6 cases on the barrow and they would all give you something so you could make upwards of a pound for 1 run, and whats more they would help to push the barrow. At the end of the day mother would let us keep a bit for sweets and comics and the rest we would invest in Premium Bonds. I still have the Bonds 50 years on and have never won a penny, I still live in hope. Tony Hipgrave 15/04/2010

Re item from E Sheldrake if you are the Sheldrake who went to the Priory boys school on priory plan you also had a brother ?I know one of you if you get this message please contact Mr C Stott at time & Tide about school reunion ok

Re item from E Sheldrake if you are the Sheldrake who went to the Priory boys school on Priory plane you also had a brother ? I know one of you if you get this message please contact Mr C Stott at Time & Tide about school reunion there at 10.30 on the 24th September. ok

I started luggaging in 1948 when I was 9 years old, I made my barrow with old timber and pram wheels, and living in Audley street I didn´t have far to go to work at Beach Station. In those days there were several of us kids living in the streets behind the Garibaldi earning a few bob on a Saturday, Kenny Aldridge and Noel Robinson were a couple of my mates that come to mind, we used to get chased off at times by the old men (they seemed old to me then, but maybe they weren´t) any how they used to hire wheelbarrows from Meadows on south market road for a shilling a day, and I think they had to buy a permit from the Town Hall so they wern´t too happy with us nicking their punters . We used to earn about 5 pound on a saturday in the peak weeks which I think was more than my dad earned in a week. but it averaged about 25 pounds for the whole summer. When I was 11 years old I worked for Teddy Spurgeon delivering newspapers so my Saturdays luggaging was between 8-30 to 3-30 about 5 hours less. Then when I was 13 I got a job working for Cole who had the forecourt of the old Granville Hotel on the corner of Regent Road and Apsley Road selling comic cards and straw hats, so the luggaging stopped but I kept the paper round on. In my spare time I used to get down the "Lucy", the Jubilee Billiard Hall, and misspent my youth, but thats another story.

Really enjoyed reading about the boys going luggaging. Lots of the boys I grew up with down Newtown, being close to Beach Station, would do this for pocket money. The comments by Tony Hipgrave and John Dearn rang a bell, we were at the North Denes school together in the 50s. A good time to be growing up.

How this page turns the old memory back. I used to earn my pocket money Saturdays during the summer with my barrow which my dad made for me. Living in Runham Vauxhall I worked from over the road from our house. I worked from 6.30 till there were no more customers. I remember Philip Winterburn we used to sit together at the old tech school sometimes and play in the streets around the school at lunchtime. The usual mob used to be Gordon Nichols, Brian Boon, Nevil Westgate, Scrooge Scruby. I have been in Australia 40 years. I married an Aussie girl and we have two children,  twins David and Judith. Anyone who remembers me and would care to get in touch can reach me at erniedavidrix@gmail.com

Living in Great Yarmouth in the 60s and 70s, young lads would make (or get their dads to make) barrows to go “ luggaging”. This was done on Saturdays throughout the summer, and youngsters would eagerly wait for the next coach to arrive at “Beach Coach Station”. I was one of these lads, and have put down a few words to describe the experience .

Beach Coach Station, that’s the place, Full of people, cars and haste, “A barrow for your luggage sir” Blanking moments-they confer. Then, on the barrow, the luggage goes, Overloaded, and it shows, Give the customer a smile, The destination - half a mile. What reward then for this job? It’s got to be at least Two bob! Then we get to their hotel, The luggage safe, and all is well, “How much have I got to pay?” This, the customer would say. Quite exhausted, feeling blue, I’d reply, “It’s up to you” After receiving a smile of frown, They sometimes gave me half-a-crown! This truly was the bit I like, Some more towards my Chopper Bike! The final words they all would say- “Pick us up next Saturday!!!”

I used to go barra-ing on a Saturday morning in the late 70’s and early 80’s. I have fond memories of getting up at around 05:00 leaving Alderson road and heading off down Kitchener road to the beach Coach Station. There used to be around 30 barra boys each weekend at the coach station. All with different shape and size barra's. Some of the guys would bring a friend or their younger brother to help out. A coach would arrive and we barra boys would swoop around it and call out "do you wanna barra sir (mam)". I remember it always being bleeding hot as we young lads sometimes tried to move move then our barra wheels could handle (but we'd manage)... I too made my barra out of old scrap wood and a set of pram wheels which I scrounged from Caister tip. On a good day I would make a about a fiver, and back then being around 10 years old it felt like a fortune. Then on Sunday I would head off down the seafront and blow it all on fast-food and in the amusements arcades. It's a shame no one ever brought a camera with them, it would have been great to see images of the Yarmouth barra boys in action... Thinking about it, those days were priceless and will always be dear to my heart.

I can remember all the jostling for front rank position in the informal barrow rank, with the tougher boys at the front. There was a rich assortment of home made barrows, from those that were held together by hope and a bit of string, to 'proper' barrows made by dads with diy skills. My barrow was an old pram frame with slats of wood fixed across the top. Not an ideal load carrier, but I am sure the suitcases appreciated the sprung ride. It was hard work, so if you were lucky most of your work was short distance runs to Paget Road etc for which you would hope to get 2 shillings. When you dropped them off at their guest house, you would rush back to the coach station looking for new customers. Several short runs always paid better than one long run. I only once stated how much was due, following stern advice from a friend concerning the 'going rate', and felt extremely guilty afterwards. The run was from Beach Coach Station to Yarmouth Market Place. It was a lady with her two children. When she asked how much, I hesitantly stated 'two shillings and sixpence'. She looked a little shocked at this high price, and dipped in her purse, and gave me the money. I could see in her face that she thought me a little rogue, and I felt like one. I never stated how much I wanted after that. The best bit of the day was a little group of us would proudly go into a restaurant in Regent Road at the end of our working day, and treat ourselves to a bowl of soup with a bread roll. This is when we would compare notes on how much we had made and what journeys we had made. Great fun and it seemed like a fortune in those days. Gerald Rouse Barrow (pram) boy in the mid 1960s

I can remember doing "luggaging" from about 1951, mainly from Vauxhall Station, which was quite a walk from where I lived in Stafford Road, Southtown. I seemed to not do well at Southtown Station, so the walk to Vauxhall was worth the extra effort. I did this for a few summers and suffered quite a few uncomplimentary comments from the adult (old) licensed porters, who obviously felt threatened by these enterprising (cheeky) "boys with barrows". Most of my clients were lodging around the area of Nelson Road Central, quite a long walk from Vauxhall Station, most were fairly generous and appreciated being shown some of the town. I recall that it was nice little earner; my best effort was making 34 Shillings in a day, quite a tidy sum. Gordon Nicholls, Neville Westgate and Philip Winterburn were my classmates at the Technical High School. Philip had it made, living in Audley St, close to Beach Station, he obviously did well at this game.

I started as a barrow boy at Beach Coach Station when I was 10 and did about 5 summers until I finished around 1985. I used to walk from Vauxhall Terrace up Beaconsfield Road and then along Nelson Road - if I was lucky I would pick up a punter on the way. I would make about a tenner for a typical Saturday working from 8:00am-2:00pm, which was way better than my paper round which only paid £3. It was the 80s and I was hooked on arcade games, so a lot of it went into slots down the sea front, but I always used to save a bit and have been good at managing my finances ever since. There were quite a few lads down at the station and we would flock around the door and the back of the coach where the cases were unloaded, delivering the immortal line "need a barrow, sir, to carry your luggage?". My dad custom built my barrow for me from some old wood and metal - it looked very professional compared to some! I remember my very first customer when I was a ten year old actually got me to sit on the barrow with his case and pushed it himself as he wanted to run past a friend! My dad has some photos somewhere, I'll have to dig them out. Happy days anyway, but unthinkable now.

The memories came flooding back on reading the stories of bygone years. I also was a barrow boy in late fifties. My memory is not as sharp as many of the writings but they were happy days. My pitch was Vauxall station , and as mentioned it was very competitive. But the few quid we made during a hard day could keep us in luxury for the week. The returns were the icing on the cake. Yes there were mean people who wanted to get to their destination , maybe the other end of town, for just a few pence, but a pull of the face and a sad look usually meant they coughed up a couple of more pence. At the end of the day I would plod home to Priory Gardens full of exuberation with the feel of all those coins in my little bag, and if it was a really good day some ten shilling notes. Oh happy innocent days.

I was never a barrow girl,but lived at 29 Church Plain with my mother and father. Hilda & Billy Dawson. We used to take suit cases in until the holiday makers had found a place to stay. As a child I used to love it, the more cases the merrier there was an old chap who used to live next door to the antique shop (Fowkes) I used to go and check out how much luggage he had, and feel quite impressed when it turned out that we had more. By Jackie Putnam Re: Jacqueline Dawson. Greenacre School

I was never a barrow girl either but my brother was.  We used to live Priory Gardens and I remember Folkes antique shop and all the coaches parked on Church Plain.  Did you ever go to Priory School Jackie?

I was a barrow boy once hated getting up early but you had to.  I worked alongside "Wiggy" Russ Thompson, Lee Ray and many more.  I had a well made barrow made by my dad who was a carpenter, but Russ Thompson (Buguny) had a fruit barrow, a large one and very hard to move but he got loads of work on his.  Ideal roads were Paget and Wellesley Road; we hated going to Salisbury Road and Beaconsfield as they were too far away from Beach Coach Station.  Taxi drivers hated us and we hated them (still hate them today) main reason for that I was walking my barrow with cases just past Regent Road at the lights when for some reason I lifted my right hand and then a blooming taxi headlight smashed into my right handle on my barrow.  Had I not moved my hand I would not have had a right hand today maybe no arm too, was not happy with the taxi driver and have not liked them since.  Anyway getting back to barrow boys it was a great laugh jostling at the back of the coaches plying for business.  Used to always laugh at being called "me duck" by the ladies from the north.  Cannot remember how much I used to make but my sis always moaned about the fact I was bringing home more on that Saturday than she made at Erie Resistorfor a week (god bless her).  I used to have to go home and pick up cases from people who stayed at my mum’s house; always made sure it was mid morning as that was the quietest periods before the lunch time rush, used to finish at 3pm.  In those days they were hundreds of coaches it’s so sad to see Yarmouth today as in those days Yarmouth was packed with holidaymakers all that has gone the boarding houses and guest house are mainly flats. 

Great days never to be repeated.........................

Roy (Jonesey) Jones

Boy this is spooky! I was jogging back from dropping of my daughter at school yesterday when from the depths of nowhere I had a flashback about luggaging. And via a set of sheer coincidences, I find myself here on a website exchanging memories with other barrow boys! I confess most of you have far better recollections that I. I was wracking my brains yesterday trying to remember what a typical 'fare' was or how much I made in a day but it's all too far back. I think it would have been a few pounds for the day and as others have said, probably as much as many of our parents made for a week's solid graft. I started working in the summer holidays at quite an early age (probably before I was legally old enough to do so) so dropped out of the luggaging game as Saturday was one of my days off. Stupidly so as I would probably have made more money just working on the Saturday and giving up the day job! Time has a habit or erasing the less pleasant memories leaving a rosy glow on the rest. But I do recall good times being had Roller Skating at the Wellington Pier in the winter, freezing my ****ocks off in the GY swimming pool in the height of summer, and also being a Barkers photographer on the seafront for many seasons. And having sneaked a thermometer into the pool on several occasions, I can categorically state that the temperature posted on the wall was consistently way above the reality. I think they measured the temperature of water in a puddle in direct sunlight on top of the 5m board and posted that on the wall.

I was a barrow boy in the 80's with mates: eastoe,ellis,ernie,vailo,few others I can't remember the names. I grew up in the Alderson Rd manner, with some good old mates, but it is funny I have some great memories from them days. Everything was so simple back in them days, as a kid making some times £8-10 quid on a Saturday made it worth while getting up at 5am. I felt like I was rich; you could buy so much with a tenner back then. It's funny how over many years being a barrow boy was passed down generations. I think I did it from the age of 10-13yrs old. I remember being so young and all the older boys pushing me out of the way but I still got some real good earners right up to the camp past the pleasure beach. They were long runs and if I picked up a load on the return.. wow! it was like winning the lottery! I remember earning so much money when i was around 11yrs old that I gave my three paper rounds up. I used to deliver to North Denes road and all them flats. Oh my God it was hard work! I used to run so I could finish early and get on my bmx or get up the rekka and play footy. But i never complained to anyone I just got on with it and I think back to them days and that was what everyone did. I remember everyone helping each other. I never remember any of my mates being selfish. I remember at the coach station where the ramp was having the derbys, sometimes at the end of the day some of us would run towards each other pushing our barrows smashing into other mates barrows to see who's barrow held up. Mind you I only did that when I was older because I was too scared of the older boys. Then at the end of the day I'd lock my barrow to a post, go for a punt up the seafront and see if I could make a few more bob and then go to the bmx cycle shops getting the latest bits for my bike..ha the good old days! I think when I finished doing the barrow boys stuff the summer when i turned 14 I started to work in the famous vettese ice cream parlour with boogie, houchy, dickens,hodsey, few others I cant remember their names. All gone now.. I'm going to post this link on my facebook, tag a few friends, see if i can't stir up some more memories.

Nothing to do with barrow boys but mention of Folkes Antiques shop which I passed everyday going to Priory School. I loved that shop and my father Cyril Hewines became friends with Mr Mrs Folkes (Ed I think) so we were able to "poke around" in the shop and I still have one or two things from there. This was in the 50's and 60's.

This is a great site for bringing back memories.