The Earl Street Mission sat at the top of Earl Street near the corner with Richmond Grove.
It is indicated by
the arrow on the 1940s aerial photograph below.
"Every Sunday it was a case of wearing your Sunday clothes, not playing in the street and attending Sunday School. Earl Street being the nearest one, was where I was made to go every week. Even more so in the 1950s, girls did what they were told, and boys did as they wished. This weekly occurrence culminated in the Whit Walks something which in these days have virtually ceased to exist.
My mother made all my Whit Walk dresses and those of my friends too. It seemed a strange ritual, as obviously money was short, yet we had our long dresses, gloves, shoes, socks and also a new "day" outfit. This was to be our new "Sunday Best". The clothes you wore to do your Sunday visiting.
On Whit Sunday the people of the parish met and with banners aloft, dressed in our finery, we held the hands of our friends or a basket of flowers and walked through the locallity no matter what the weather. People clapped, cameras clicked and we all felt either embarrased or the "bees knees". Mothers, fathers, grannies, granddads, brothers, sisters and cousins, we all walked to celebrate Whit Sunday. Somewhere along the lines was the service but I really don't know if that was before or after the walk.
The Rose Queen and Attendants must feature here too. They were elected, goodness knows by whom, the congregation perhaps. Well my day did come, and was I proud. My mother made all the attendants' dresses and that must have been some task. The Rose Queen's attendants were called Rosebuds."
The images below are shown with the Permission of Lynda Lynch
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The Earl Street Mission was swept aside in the 1960s when the whole area was demolished. Below is an image showing the scene in 2014.
