IN these days of social mobility, declining traditions and work migration, David Sandiford is something of an anomaly. That’s because he has lived 66 of his 68 years in the same house.

Pimlott Road in Hall i’ th’ Wood has seen many changes across the decades and not all of them for the better according to Mr Sandiford.

“There was a lot more respect for older people in the past and people were a lot more trustworthy - you could leave your front doors open,” he said.

“People also used to take more pride in their gardens. As a lad it was my job to mow the front lawn and put new plants in but because I was so young my dad was the one who used the shears for the front privet fences.”

Mr Sandiford never had cause to be lonely during his childhood. Apart from his twin brother, Arthur, he also had another four siblings.

“We lived in Hibbert Street in Astley Bridge for my first two years. It was very close to the Warburton’s factory which was handy for my dad, Charles, as he worked as a packer there.”

With six children to care for it was no wonder that his mother, Jean, was a full-time mother and housewife.

Some of Mr Sandiford’s earliest memories are of playing in the back garden.

“We used to make tents and camp out, and we also had picnics using miniature cups and saucers.”

One of his responsibilities was to look after the family’s hens and care for the pet cats and dogs they had during the years.

Religion played a big part in his life and he served as an altar boy at St Aidan’s Church on Crompton Way.

“Once a year we all used to take part in the Sermon Walk led by Father Hugh, who was in charge of St Augustine’s of Canterbury Church as well as St Aidan’s.

“The whole congregation followed a route along Crompton way, through Hal i’ the Wood estate, then up Laycock Avenue, Valpy Avenue and Ripley Street.

“We sang hymns as we went and the vicar said prayers.”

He was a pupil at Castle Hill School where his friends included the future snooker star Tony Knowles.

One of Mr Sandiford’s sisters, Margaret, worked at a mill and was responsible for helping him engage in a rather perilous past-time.

“She bought old cotton bobbins home and I used to put them on a stick, por paraffin on them, light it and run around using it as a flare. Looking back it was quite a dangerous thing to do.”

Like many people, he can remember the day that President Kennedy got assassinated.

“Everything went dark and there was non-stop torrential rain for two hours. The railway line was like a river.”

After leaving school at the age of 15, Mr Sandiford got a job at the Co-op on Tonge Moor Road.

“It was hard work filling shelves and managing the stock. I stayed there for four years.”

Following that, he got a job as a labourer at Markland Scowcroft Steel Tubes and went on to work at Lancashire Tubes on Crompton Way where he spent 40 years until he retired in 2015.

Supermarkets and online shopping were unknown during the years he was growing up. Instead, things were a lot more personal.

“Mr Morris had the grocery shop on Pimlott Road. It was the busiest shop in the area,” recalled Mr Sandiford.

“It was later taken over by Mr Halliday.”