SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

here's a picture from leodis of a row of tusky pickers circa 1960 you can see the mill chimneys of morley in the background    

Trojan wrote: carrotol wrote: But why Tusky? Who knows?Why Kayli? Why spice for sweets? Why growlers for pork pies? Why chumps for stuff you put on the bonfire? Why Tusky?I guess Ruhbarb stalks, "Tusky" was thought to resemble elephant tusks by those like us who had never seen an elephant.Why Kayli?Might have been a mixture of Citric acid and mild Alkali crystals which fizzed in the mouth. I'm not sure what the actual Bona-Fide Kayli was. We called "Sherbert Dabs" "Kayli" but I also seem to recall some yellow powder weighed out and sold looseAl-Kali was Arabic for "The Ashes", pot ashes from a wood fire which were alkaline (Hence : "Potassium") and used in making soap."Kalied" was also used by my father to indicate "Ruined". or "turned to ashes". When one of his workmates died he said the chances of his son, who previously had been doing well at school now getting into Grammar School were "Kalied".Why spice for sweets?The first sweets were dried fruits and nuts flavoured with spices.Why Growlers?Because they cause Burping and Dyspepsia on account of large amounts of Pork Fat they contain.Why Chumps ?A chump is a thick headed person. In this context seems to be a description of the shape, like a chump chop, or a branch pulled off a tree with a lump on one end.OTOH, All this may be completely wrong.

I remember kayli as being layers of multi-coloured sugar crystals in a sweet jar. It was served in paper cones and turned your mouth and finger bright yellow! To be kaylied was to be vewy, vewy dwunk. PS Is kayli a contender for the slang & dialect thread?

Brandy wrote: here's a picture from leodis of a row of tusky pickers circa 1960 you can see the mill chimneys of morley in the background     This is the area I posted about earlier where we used to nick "tusky" The mill on the right is Valley Mills, just off the photo to the left is the Bradford Wakefield GNR line. The whole are was built over in the mid sixties by the Glen council estate.

rikj wrote: Rhubarb used to be grown on a large scale in Kirkstall and wild rhubarb can still be seen around the banks of the Aire near the Bridge Inn. Presumably escaped from the sheds. These rhubarb fields are mentioned in Jake Thackray's song "The Kirkstall Road Girl" as in: "No more lampost deals, no more rendezvous in the rhubarb fields" (the song's about a prostitute who's gone up in the world)

Trojan wrote: Brandy wrote: here's a picture from leodis of a row of tusky pickers circa 1960 you can see the mill chimneys of morley in the background     This is the area I posted about earlier where we used to nick "tusky" The mill on the right is Valley Mills, just off the photo to the left is the Bradford Wakefield GNR line. The whole are was built over in the mid sixties by the Glen council estate. i tried to post it last night Trojan but all i got was a server error but when i logged on earlier i could see multiple posts from myself and the picture has turned up too now

[quotenick="Brandy"][quotenick="Trojan"] Brandy wrote: i tried to post it last night Trojan but all i got was a server error but when i logged on earlier i could see multiple posts from myself and the picture has turned up too now It's brill. Nothing like a good wallow in the past. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be!

Do I remember that our (deceased) First Lady of cycling, Beryl Burton from Morley was involved in the Rhubarb business too?

My house is about where that photo is on TopcliffeLane, I remember the Rhubarb sheds on Tingley Common near where Carcraft is now, they were knocked down about 10-15 years ago. I think the term 'Rhubarb Triangle' is a bit generic as it covers such a wide area, the whole of West Yorkshire could be considered as the Rhubarb Triangle as it was grown in many different areas, I do know that there were trains which used to arrive at Tingley and take the rhubarb down to london - As you can see from the photo in the background, coaches of workers would turn up and pick the rhubarb ready for transportation.    

edgey2001 wrote: My house is about where that photo is on TopcliffeLane, I remember the Rhubarb sheds on Tingley Common near where Carcraft is now, they were knocked down about 10-15 years ago. I think the term 'Rhubarb Triangle' is a bit generic as it covers such a wide area, the whole of West Yorkshire could be considered as the Rhubarb Triangle as it was grown in many different areas, I do know that there were trains which used to arrive at Tingley and take the rhubarb down to london - As you can see from the photo in the background, coaches of workers would turn up and pick the rhubarb ready for transportation.     The picture is the other side of the railway line from the earlier picture. The large structure in the background is Tingley Gasworks, which at one point was the largest gasworks in the country. This was in the era when gas was produced from coal. There had been a pit at Tingley - Topcliffe - I think that the gasworks may have occupied the site of the pit.