Whats a steery?

[George]

You know your old when some kid ask ya whats a Steery.:smirk:

Its a plank of wood with two struts sticking out at each end of the plank,the back one was nailed to the plank and the front one was affixed to the front of the plank by a big nut&bolt,the axles were nailed to the struts and the wheels were obtained from housies prams which were robbed outside the washouses....lookout havelock street here I come. :shock: :)

[Waterways]

You know your old when some kid ask ya whats a Steery.:smirk:

Its a plank of wood with two struts sticking out at each end of the plank,the back one was nailed to the plank and the front one was affixed to the front of the plank by a big nut&bolt,the axles were nailed to the struts and the wheels were obtained from housies prams which were robbed outside the washouses....lookout havelock street here I come. :shock: :)

It was short for a steering cart.

[Spike]

Our Da made us boss steeries :PDT11

[bluesareus]

You know your old when some kid ask ya whats a Steery.:smirk:

Its a plank of wood with two struts sticking out at each end of the plank,the back one was nailed to the plank and the front one was affixed to the front of the plank by a big nut&bolt,the axles were nailed to the struts and the wheels were obtained from housies prams which were robbed outside the washouses....lookout havelock street here I come. :shock: :)

Don't forget the rope attached to the front struts for steering and also used for pulling.:handclap:

[George]

Does anyone remember what a candle waxed board was used for? :unibrow:

Was for sliding down the steep decliningt streets around nethy area.

[chrismarsden]

Is a steery the same as a goey?

[George]

Is a steery the same as a goey?


Dunno? different districts had different names for things like a Jigger was the name for an entry where I was born and elsewhere it was called an enog.

[Spike]

Dunno? different districts had different names for things like a Jigger was the name for an entry where I was born and elsewhere it was called an enog.

My wife says enog now :)

[chrismarsden]

Dunno? different districts had different names for things like a Jigger was the name for an entry where I was born and elsewhere it was called an enog.You wern't from Lodgy were you?
We always said enog for entry.

"Oller" for waste ground or as they say here in Garston a "Bank".

[disco]

Don't forget your steery had to have big wheels at the back and small ones at the front to make it go faster ???:eek:

[gregs dad]

The basic requirements for steery was an old pram, plus 3 pieces of wood.
plenty of nails which had to be at least 3 inches long and 1 bolt.
The tool required were a hammer and a poker as we never owned drills when I was young.
The pram supplied the wheels and the axles,the wood was a piece for the chassis and 2 pieces for attaching the axles to.
You attached the axles to the wood with a line of nails each side driven into the wood leaving enough nail showing to be bent over the axle.
The back axle was then nailed onto the chassis
The poker was heated up till red hot then a hole burnt into the chassis and the front axle bearing wood then the bolt was dropped in.
Various refinements were added later on like a rear brake,a seat made out of an orange box
This is where the famous Soap Box Derby which was held annually originated from.
We used to ride ours down Sandhills Lane as it is a good incline

[ItsaZappathing]

Is a steery the same as a goey?

Yeah a goey..Go Kart . Same thing.
Great fun. You never see kids making them anymore.

[chrismarsden]

Don't forget your steery had to have big wheels at the back and small ones at the front to make it go faster ???:eek:

No good for handling though, especially trying to turn a little at high speed.

[chrismarsden]

The basic requirements for steery was an old pram, plus 3 pieces of wood.
plenty of nails which had to be at least 3 inches long and 1 bolt.
The tool required were a hammer and a poker as we never owned drills when I was young.
The pram supplied the wheels and the axles,the wood was a piece for the chassis and 2 pieces for attaching the axles to.
You attached the axles to the wood with a line of nails each side driven into the wood leaving enough nail showing to be bent over the axle.
The back axle was then nailed onto the chassis
The poker was heated up till red hot then a hole burnt into the chassis and the front axle bearing wood then the bolt was dropped in.
Various refinements were added later on like a rear brake,a seat made out of an orange box
This is where the famous Soap Box Derby which was held annually originated from.
We used to ride ours down Sandhills Lane as it is a good incline

Never had a hammer, half a house brick.

[Davec]

You wern't from Lodgy were you?
We always said enog for entry.

"Oller" for waste ground or as they say here in Garston a "Bank".

We were bi-lingual, although I preferred enog, jigger sounded very common.....I was from Princes Park don't you know.

[Billy D]

Thanks for the Memories everyone

Back jiggers....i remember belly floppin across to each backyard wall right up our street to the oller...

The last steery i made was for my son and his mates about 10 years ago,,,

They were made up,,,,lol

Bill..

[George]

You wern't from Lodgy were you?
We always said enog for entry.

"Oller" for waste ground or as they say here in Garston a "Bank".

Nah! mate,I was from the St Domingo Rd area.

How about the word "Bombdies" would ya know what that was? :)

[Ged]

St Domingo road up on Everton ridge with the likes of Havelock st, Mitford st and Hobart st (which is still like Everest) must've been a joy to steery down.

Bombdies around Islington and Norton Street supplied our bommie wood for years on end during the 70s.

[kevin]

Nah! mate,I was from the St Domingo Rd area.

How about the word "Bombdies" would ya know what that was? :)

The play areas the Luftwaffe kindly created for us?

[George]

St Domingo road up on Everton ridge with the likes of Havelock st, Mitford st and Hobart st (which is still like Everest) must've been a joy to steery down.

Bombdies around Islington and Norton Street supplied our bommie wood for years on end during the 70s.

They're the ones Ged,it was easier to cart a greased/waxed board up,Ged than the Steery after sliding down from the top...talk about madness alls ya had to grip was the front of the board bent and someone gave you a hefty push.

[George]

Hey Ged,I'm suprised you're not out photographing the long roads off Breck Road as they have started pulling them down.

[Paddy]

Yeah whats the hollow biz George?

[lindylou]

Hey Ged,I'm suprised you're not out photographing the long roads off Breck Road as they have started pulling them down.

Do you mean Walton Breck rd ??

There was no demolition going on up Breck rd when I was there yesterday !:PDT_Aliboronz_11:

All the streets off Breck rd are in good shape - refurbished terraced houses - and further up heading towards Everton rd the houses are all 'new property'


I think you may mean the streets along by LFC ?? - Walton Breck rd, many which are tinned up awaiting demolition and some already gone.

[George]

Do you mean Walton Breck rd ??

There was no demolition going on up Breck rd when I was there yesterday !:PDT_Aliboronz_11:

All the streets off Breck rd are in good shape - refurbished terraced houses - and further up heading towards Everton rd the houses are all 'new property'


I think you may mean the streets along by LFC ?? - Walton Breck rd, many which are tinned up awaiting demolition and some already gone.

My apologies,I meant off Breckfield Rd North ie Mere Lane area across th road.

[lindylou]

:) ..... there are so many Brecks to get mixed up with .. Breck rd, Walton Breck, Lower Breck, Breckfield rd South, Breckfield rd North :)

[Ged]

Hey Ged,I'm suprised you're not out photographing the long roads off Breck Road as they have started pulling them down.


Been there and many others, check my streets ahead page under Demolition and desolation (or something like that) :)

[Spike]

Been there and many others, check my streets ahead page under Demolition and desolation (or something like that) :)

Or Something Like That?

What kind of self advert is that, Put some effort in :)

[Ged]

:)

[Spike]

I remember making our own bikes, that was fun.

Then I got a chopper :) ( bike Ged )

[George]

Been there and many others, check my streets ahead page under Demolition and desolation (or something like that) :)


No fly's on you is there Ged,last week when I went to the LRO there was this little dsk in the corner with a reservation sign on it marked "Ged" :)

[Ged]

I try to get one right by the counter, those poor sods do so much walking for me :unibrow::ninja:

[Spike]

stands for GERIATRIC EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

[George]

I try to get one right by the counter, those poor sods do so much walking for me :unibrow::ninja:

:lol: When the guy brought me some photies he threw a pair of gloves on the table,thought he was being funny :)

[Kolchak]

Two things on goeys'. (Whats the plural? lol)

They'd always tip over if you tried to get around a corner too quickly.

You'd always get about 4 kids on one, until one poor kid would join in and the rear wheels would buckle, obviously, the buckling would be that last kid's fault!

I wonder if the reason you never see them anymore is because theres just not as many Blue Cross style prams about?

[George]

I wonder if the reason you never see them anymore is because theres just not as many Blue Cross style prams about?

Plastic wheels mate,plastic wheels...they just don't look right on a bygone invention. :rolleyes:

Then again we could always call it customized ie "Buggy wheels" for low rider steery lol

[Ged]

:lol: When the guy brought me some photies he threw a pair of gloves on the table,thought he was being funny :)

As long as they weren't boxing gloves eh? :)

[Pauly]

Don't forget the hole , where the nut and bolt went, for steering.
That hole had to be made with a RED HOT POKER.It took a while.Me dad said it made the wood hard and so it didn't turn into a great big hole. Oh, and drills were too dangerous for us kids. Errrr...
Good road test, either Beacon lane , or the new tarmac car park in stanley park. It was smooth , then.... late sixties i think.
Got up some mad speed in the car park, so much that we had to jump off the steerie before it smashed to bits in the railings on Priory road....scabby knees again!

[George]

Don't forget the hole , where the nut and bolt went, for steering.
That hole had to be made with a RED HOT POKER.It took a while.Me dad said it made the wood hard and so it didn't turn into a great big hole. Oh, and drills were too dangerous for us kids. Errrr...
Good road test, either Beacon lane , or the new tarmac car park in stanley park. It was smooth , then.... late sixties i think.
Got up some mad speed in the car park, so much that we had to jump off the steerie before it smashed to bits in the railings on Priory road....scabby knees again!

Pffft" ya wimp,this was the territory for steeries....Havelock Street

[brian daley]

I lived in Toxteth until I was 10, Mozart Street at the bottom of Lodge Lane, back entries were called Jiggers in the 40's, and we had steery races, the Birrell brothers from Holdens shop on Lodge Lane were ace steery makers. I moved to Garston in 1952, we did'nt have any jiggers in the Tennies, it back alleys or enogs, and being a tenement kid we very rarely got to going in back alleys ,they were all in "enemy" territory . But what about your tyres, did'nt any have an old car tyre that they used to punt with a short stick ? You'd see kids in the street showing their wheels off to other kids, some poor sods only had old bike wheel, no tyres, no spokes ,just a rim really. And then there were the bike frames,no pedals,no brakes, no seat ,no tyres, ,we used to use them like skooters, one foot on the part where there should have been a pedal and the other foot used to propel yourself along. Those streets in Everton were ideal for freewheeling down. A guy I sailed with in the 60's told me he had a bike like I've just described, he got on it in a street by St Georges church and freewheeled downhill toward Great Homer Street. As he gathered speed he put both feet on the frame and shot downhill; it was as he approached the bottom that he realised he had no way of stopping, he crossed Great Homer street to the sound of screams and motor horns. When he came to a halt on the other side of Great Homer Street he dropped the frame and fled. Teddy Woods was his name,he'd be about 70 now,a great character.
BrianD

[George]

I think you mean Netherfield road ,Brian? simple reason is to get to Great homer Street you had to crossover Nethy(Busy road) and then go down a street across nethy which brought you out onto Graty, So I suspect it was Nethy were he came to a halt as the streets on the other side of Nethy were zigzagged.

[brian daley]

I think you're right George, its so long ago that it is almost lost in the mists of time. But those Birrell boys, they made steerys that looked like racing cars, they were able to get the best boxes from their own backyard, we would stand in awe as they brought out their new machine. Great days of the Back Entry Diddlers.................anyone remember them?
BrianD

[goldenface]

I made boss steerys. I remember one had rear suspension made out of two bouncy balls and two extra pieces of wood.

It was that good, one of the neighbour bribed me to let him have it for his kid. :)

[Pauly]

Pffft" ya wimp,this was the territory for steeries....Havelock Street

Used to save Havelock street, for the snow.

[ItsaZappathing]

I made boss steerys. I remember one had rear suspension made out of two bouncy balls and two extra pieces of wood.

It was that good, one of the neighbour bribed me to let him have it for his kid. :)

You was posh !!
Mine was the usual pram wheels with the suspension springs off the pram.
Did you use reins for steering. We had old rope:PDT_Xtremez_42:

[hmtmaj]

from the late 60's to the mid 70's, The Halligans "Chugaboom" took us everywhere :PDT11 It was indestructable !

Here, Steve, Benny and Peter, pose for the camera.

[Samp]

I have just come across this thread and would like to make contribution from my own recollections of my childhood, which I am putting to paper for the benefit of my grandsons.

The story is true but I have added a bit of artistic license in the telling of the story to give it a bit of flavour.

The story:-

Prince Edwin Street was quite a steep street, from Netherfield Road down to Thorncliff Street it had been laid with tar over the cobbles, this was to give the vehicles using the street more of a grip on the steep slope, consequently this was an ideal surface for a steering cart.
During the summer holiday, which was the steering cart season the street of an evening would be busy with kids and their steering carts the more adventurous and slightly older kids starting at the top of the hill the less adventurous starting from a position opposite Kat Harrison?s shop, which was about the half way mark.
The less fortunate kids who did not own a cart would willingly pull your cart up the hill for you in the hope of a chance of jumping on the back as you pushed off. This was not frowned upon as the more kids who could pile on a cart, the faster the cart accelerated down the hill. The object being to see who could reach the very bottom of the street, (once you hit the cobbles on a fast moving steering cart, you lost speed quickly or you lost a wheel due to the vibration of the cobbles.) many of the carts were hybrids, that is to say if a kid only had part of a cart built and was missing a pair of wheels (his mother keeping a careful eye on the babies pram) it was often attached to the back of a complete cart, thereby extending it to accommodate more kids (or victims, should there be an accident.) If anyone was unfortunate to lose a wheel while traveling at speed, the pile up could be catastrophic. There would be kids, wheels, arms and legs, pieces of splintered wood, scattered all over the street. The first priority would be to see if the damaged cart could be repaired; any victims of the accident would be attended to at the edge of the pavement, small wounds and cuts, cleaned up with a bit of spit on a spare hanky. The more serious head knocks and nosebleeds would be sent home with a younger brother or sister as an emergency nurse, with the promise of a ride on the cart if they could make up a suitable story to get the cart owner off the hook.

Competition was fierce during a busy evening with many carts of all shapes and sizes taking the slope. A lot of pushing and shoving for a good speck and a clear run down the hill often resulted in a bit of gang rivalry. On one occasion our gang had commandeered the slope and had one major vehicle, comprising one cart and several hybrids, total passengers in excess of twenty kids. The leaders of the gang (who shall be nameless) mad with power and control of the slope had decided to go from the top.
This cavalcade would be flanked by a single cart on either side as outriders and containing the remainder of the passengers (victims.) I am not sure but I think we had a flag on the back of the big cart, for this occasion. With a cheer from the onlookers and those with more sense who had decided not to chance it, the cavalcade moved off.
Once committed there was no turning back. Half way down and just by Kate Harrison?s shop, the attack began. The rival gang jumped out of the entry along side Kate?s shop, stretched a rope across the road and wedged an old sack over the head of one of the outriders. The main spearhead of our cavalcade, entangled in the rope, twisted to one side and tipped the first ten passengers arse over tip all over the road. The second half of the cart split were it had been joined to the front, carried on under its own momentum (minus the front wheel) and ploughed into the rest of the wreckage. Arms, legs, wheels, blood, snot, pieces of splintered timber, blocked the street, the outriders adding to the carnage. The cry?s and screams of the injured cold be heard streets away. Mothers, sisters and uncles, came from every direction to claim their offspring or charges. The owners of the carts salvaged what they could from the wreckage and within minuets the street seemed deserted leaving only a few splinters of wood, some buckled wheels and the dim witted that were foolish enough to stay and take the blame.

[Ged]

from the late 60's to the mid 70's, The Halligans "Chugaboom" took us everywhere :PDT11 It was indestructable !

Here, Steve, Benny and Peter, pose for the camera.

Great pic Mart.

[Ged]

Great recollections Samp.

[Partsky]

Great pic Mart.

That is so great. My Dad would have loved to have seen this photo. He made so many of them. He would have laughed his head off. Great thread. Im ringing my Brothers to tell them to look at this

[hmtmaj]

Cheers all.
Notice the lack of cars in the street too !

Those were truly "Happy Days", 30 kids all wanting the next go on the Steery