The day my pay got pinched

George Morgan

1938

My father Les, died in 1938 when I was only 14-year-old. In those days you left school the first chance you got to get a job and bring some money into the household. On the day in question I'd been working for the Forestry Commission at Bowden Moor near Melrose in the Scottish Boarders.

I used to cycle from my home in Galashiels to Bowden Moor or, if the weather was bad with snow, I'd take the train to Melrose and walk all the way up the hill to the moor which is what I'd done that day. The work involved sawing into lengths trees that had been blown over, kneeling down in slush and snow. The Sawmill was built in a hollow and when the snow melted you were working in icy cold water half way up your legs. ... (continues)