Popular Post jukel123 6,570 Posted June 6, 2023 Popular Post Report Share Posted June 6, 2023 (edited) I was reminded of the subject of this post on another thread, so I thought I would write this as as tribute to a very decent bloke. Jimmy Quiff was a docker and voluntary Salford lads club volunteer. I was privileged to be taught all sorts of things by him. He had an Elvis hairstyle and a perpetually brylcreemed quiff. He was a big noise on the docks as he was a shop steward. He had a terrific scar on the side of his face courtesy of a foreign seaman he had a disagreement with. He was a womaniser who loved a bevvy and a bet on the horses. He taught us boxing and took us to tournaments all over the Manchester /Salford area. He also moulded us into a really effective football team. We won loads of cups and leagues right into our late twenties and mid thirties. Best of all he took us camping every year to the Dane valley near Macclesfield. We ran wild,had a permanent bonfire, stole and ate chickens and guddled for trout. We ate a few , grilled on the fire, but to be honest they tasted shite. My favourite memory of Jimmy involved a big pond I had built near the side of the river. I used to trap brown trout under rocks and then transfer them to my home made pond. I would spend all day trapping , and rebuilding my pond. I wore wellies with no socks so my feet were permanently wet white and wrinkled. Anyway one morning this fly fishermen with all the gear turned up and I asked me what I was doing in a clipped, posh voice. I knew I was in trouble by the tone of his voice. Without warning he started shouting "who's in charge here?". He was a real captain Manwairing. Jimmy was behind a screen taking a dump, but he replied "I am, who wants to know?" The posh fella was getting redder and redder in the face and demanded Jimmy come out from behind the screen. Jimmy shouted, "You'll have to wait mate, I'm having a shit and then it'll take me ages to wipe my arse." The upshot of it was that the fella claimed he had a licence for the river and that it was fly only and we were ruining his sport. Jimmy told him not to be a whin ing old woman and to f**k off. The bloke turned on his heel and shouted we hadn't heard the last of it and that there would be trouble. Jimmy lost the rag and told him to come back, he didn't like being threatened by an arsehole, but the bloke kept on walking. As he was crossing back over the river I aimed a stone at the bloke and hit him in the back. I only intended to splash him, but soon we were all pelting him and he legged it pronto. I always respected Jimmy for that. It wasn't often people stood up for you against people like captain Mainwairing. I can also remember him taking a group of us on the bus to Bolton for a boxing tournament. After the tournament a 'pea souper' came down and we had to walk home. A pea souper was a thick thick fog caused by smoke pollution. You could not see more than a foot in front of your face. The buses were all cancelled, so Jimmy had to navigate our way home and he insisted every one of us was delivered to our front doors. The docks was a rough area in a pea souper but we felt dead safe with Jimmy. When he died, dozens and dozens of Salford kids who had grown up and moved to other areas of the UK attended his funeral. He was a proper bloke. A genuine working class hero to us. Edited June 6, 2023 by jukel123 21 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Astanley 11,471 Posted June 6, 2023 Report Share Posted June 6, 2023 Folk of a certain age all know a Jimmy ,..great story for what sounds like a great fella . 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NEWKID 26,211 Posted June 6, 2023 Report Share Posted June 6, 2023 Great story...loved that mate 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Qbgrey 3,987 Posted June 7, 2023 Report Share Posted June 7, 2023 Great that. It’s about creating memories for kids , some things you never forget when you get old . 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DIDO.1 20,882 Posted June 7, 2023 Report Share Posted June 7, 2023 So he used foul language in front of young kids and encouraged you to speak to adults in the same way and defended you in throwing stones at elderly men . Sounds charming Shop steward? Probably spent so much time down the kids club cos he was always encouraging people to go on strike. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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