Thomas told me "My Grandmother was the first Sub Post Mistress in the village, we used to live in the house that is attached to the current post office, her five brothers all went to New Zealand to start new lives. She used to get dressed up including a hat with feathers in it and travel to Paisley by steam train to do the shopping. Coming back from a shopping trip she fell on the stairs at Paisley Gilmour Street station and decided that Thomas, at the age of 14, would do the shopping in Paisley from that point on. I used to get a shilling for taking telegrams to the farms, good money in those days!"

He recalls that after school the children would go to John Stirrit, one of the three blacksmith's in the village (his forge is now Smithy (pronounced smiddy) Cottage where the Web Master lives :->) to work the bellows while the Smithy made horseshoes to shod the horses in the village. After the horse was shod the children would get to take them back to the farms. At that time all the farms used shire horses as means of propulsion for the ram implements and to get about. The other Blacksmiths were Dan Hall, whose shop was on Kingston Road, and the other worked for Lord Blantyre.

Thomas recalls his scouting days; "Mark Paterson started the Scouts in Bishopton. Myself and Gordon "Taffy" White, whose father was the Greenkeeper at the Erskine Golf Club, they used to make there own woods at the club but bought in the irons (If anyone has an original Erskine Golf Club wood (please let me know and I'll take a picture of it). I don't know why they called Gordon 'Taffy', he wasn't Welsh. (The black and white photo of Gordon 'Taffy' White and Thomas Pollock in their Scout uniforms)

Thomas and Gordon went to an International Scout camp near Paris when this photograph was taken. Return to London from St Enoch was £2 and 10" (two pounds and ten shillings - it's the old money) from London they took a train to Dover, a ferry to Calais and hitched to Paris. The visit didn't last long "When we camped we put the Lion Rampant up the flagpole, it was still illegal to fly it and they demanded that we take it down. Then they asked us to leave. We travelled back on raw beef sandwiches and some wine, by the time we got home you can imagine what the sandwiches smelled like!"

There were cattle shows, held each year in a different field. Dan Hall got the job of ringing the bell for bringing in the heifers for judging. There was always a beer tent at those shows and by the end of the judging, Dan was always a little the worse for wear, you couldn't make him out. They were always well attended.

"There was woodland behind Old Greenock Road, this was cut down during the war."

"The Village bobby at that time was PC McKay, he used to wear a helmet and a cape with his uniform, he had no problems giving you a clip round the ear if you were misbehaving"

"The headmaster of Erskine Parish School was Mr Duncan. At school we used to play marbles, various different games involved marbles and they had to be good marbles not glass ones. We would also play with horseshoes"

"Bertie Wade left the village to go to Straven, he set up a pub there I think, when he came back he bought the Golf Inn." (Bertie Wade's daughter, Margaret Wade married Eric Bryce and later they became the owners of the Golf Inn.)

"Johnny Woodrow, (current Post Master David Woodrow's grandfather) and I used to go by train to paisley to attend the John Neilson School."

"Henry Wilson was a joiner in the village, he had a workshop in one of the Vales cottages, he built most of the houses in Rossland around the station. His whole family was involved in the building of them."

Reid's had a wee vegetable shop in Station Road.

Hettie became the Sub Post Mistress after my Grandmother.

I built the prefabricated house next to the house we used to live in (currently attached to the post office), Johnny Woodrow bought it from me.

Graham Williams father (our columnist In the Renfrew & Erskine Gazztte) was a sea captain. He bought the land and built the house opposite me for his family.