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Just read the Bygones page evening post Tusday May 5th. Joy James has written a book about St Ann's which most of us older one from St Ann's know about. In the evening post it is stated that much of our staple diet was stale bread soaked in warm tea or condensed milk watered down from a boiling kettle and shoved into the coal fire, which her dad called tea pods. Now I don't know how old Joy James is but she also say's about the latter years of the second world war recalling keeping coats on in the class room and stuffed newspaper into plimsolls to keep snow and ice out. My brother was born in 1939 and he can't remember any of this as he was to young. I was born in St Ann's and did not leave the area till 1969. Yes! the houses were not that good but I feel she is painting a darker picture of the life we had, we had good friends and neighbour's. Also there was always food on the table each night we had a hot dinner, apart from Friday when we had a fry-up Saturday we had cooked ham and salad. Both my mum and dad went to work although mum only worked part time. Also my grandma and granddad aunties uncle's lived in St Ann's but I never went to there house's for tea and had stale bread. I don't think Joy James lived in St Ann's all her life. So why make it blacker than it was. As far as I know all my friends had happy childhoods and their mums put real food on the table, most of our dads had a garden, so most of us got out five a day. I am not saying Joy James is wrong but lets look at it from everyone's point of view!