Remembering Christmas Past - Christmas Draw - No.1

Pattersons James St 

When I was a kid, my Dad a member of the ‘Docks Non Political Club’ would have a Christmas Draw every year. Every time dad when to the club mum would remind him to buy tickets. By December, we would have maybe just over a hundred tickets he’d bought throughout the year when a couple of days before Christmas  we would receive the list of numbers and if you match one you were a winner.

At the club on Christmas Eve, the tables would be full of meat and booze. Mum was only interested in winning a few nice joints for the Christmas table and if we did win a few bottles of booze dad was under instructions to trade them off normally to my Uncle Joe and Tony.

This one year we did particularly poor only winning a chicken and a bottle of booze leaving mum disappointed has we normally did better than that. But Uncle Joe came to the rescue donating a joint of Pork or Beef for our Christmas oven.

Although we normally won something a piece of Pork, Beef or Chicken mum would always order a turkey at the butchers not wanting to leave it to luck and come to think of it I don’t think we ever won a Turkey in the draw. We didn’t have a freezer or a fridge back when I was a kid so mum would cook all the meat and we would have cold meat sandwiches for a while. We didn’t have one but I can remember a cold box fix to the wall outside in your back yard. It was just a wooden box! You could supposedly keep meat, sausages, and bacon fresh for a few days not sure I like the sound of it now. Our neighbour did and I think mum may have used it from time to time.

I will have to ask dad if our butchers Pattersons supplied the club with the meat that would put them in a win, win situation and they were only a few doors away. It’s were our Turkey was ordered and a day or so before Christmas Eve the window would be full of hanging Turkeys with name tags and if yours was there you could have a visit. Our Turkey somehow manage to fit into our somewhat small oven and I loved watching mum work her magic in our tiny Pomeroy Street kitchen.

With the demise of the Working Men’s clubs, you don’t see the old fashion Christmas Draw where you buy tickets throughout the year. Now you are more than likely to find a pub running a raffle night, which is not the same.

No more ‘Docks Non Political Club’, gone with the destruction of James St and with many of the members and their families also victims of Cardiff City council destroying the surrounding area it effected the membership. A move to a new location failed so it is no more but for those who can remember.