WE look at teenage working days for this extract from the memoirs of Dalton author and local historian Jim Walton.

Mr Walton, now 87, of Newton Street, Dalton, looks back on life as a civil servant, work in market gardening and with Dalton Co-operative Society.

He left school at 16 with his School Certificate and passed the Civil Service entrance examination which was held in Barrow.

With the Second World War still having a big influence on daily life, he was posted to the Post Office Savings Bank in Harrogate which had up to 40 temporary workers.

He said: “To my horror, I was informed that because I had sat and passed the entrance exam I was the second in command – at the age of 16.

“I have to admit that the work was very boring.

“It consisted of perusing large ledgers - full of names, addresses and savings – and making alterations where necessary.

“I did not like this work at all and after six months or so, without mentioning anything to my parents, I handed in my notice and went back home.”

Life then took a completely new direction.

He said: “I took a part-time job working for Stan Cornthwaite, a market gardener, whose wife had a shop selling ribbons, cottons and cloths just opposite to where I used to live on Tudor Square.

“Stan’s market garden was just around the back, opposite Dale Street, where he needed help in looking after his greenhouses and garden.”

He was a good boss but his honey bees were not too friendly.

Mr Walton said: “He kept bees and I got stung in the head three times in about a minute, while I was digging near the hives.

“My boss had to remove the stings which he did quite successfully.”

His next job as with Dalton Co-operative Society which had been founded in March 1861 and started trading from a rented shop in Sklegate.

It later became the biggest trader in town with several stores, a reading room and even a cinema.

By 1961 it had almost 3,500 members and merged with the bigger Barrow Co-operative Society in 1969.

Mr Walton said: “I applied for a job at the Co-op.

“This involved appearing before the committee which met in the committee room at the head of a beautiful staircase in the rather classic office in Chapel Street.

“This would have been alright but my friend Brian also applied for the same job.

“The arrangement was that we would both attend for the interview on the same day at the same time.

“The committee interviewed us separately - Brian first then me – with the astonishing result that they could not decide which one to take on, so they decided to take us both on.

“I came to be employed in the Hardware department – now a car showroom – in Market Street.

“I was a shop assistant, a repairer of Co-op radio sets – of which I had no previous experience – and a layer of carpets and lino. You name it, I did it – or at least tried to.”