I am just going to list a few more of my childhood memories from Ryal side. I'm sure the only one this keeps awake is me, but be that as it may,here goes.
The pastures and wooded area near our house, was owned by one time Beverly mayor and classic old coot Parker Davis. This tract of land is all houses now. It was about fifty percent woods and the rest was fields. It was a good sized area it ran from Western avenue west to Bradstreet avenue in Danvers and from Bridge street south to Shortell avenue,which ran parallel to the Porter river. I have to believe that area was much bigger than Milne's hundred acre wood. Why they called Bradstreet ave.,Shortell ave. and Western ave. avenues is beyond me .They all were long stretches of road. The difference between what is considered a street and avenue is very confusing to me. In Ryal side all most all side roads are called avenues. In other parts of Beverly they are mostly called streets or roads. Suffice it to say if the way is short, I believe it is an avenue, if long its a street.
As kids we spent many,many hours in this area. Some times it was sports or make believe or just roaming around. Parker Davis's house sat on a hill at the top of Sunnycrest ave. Back then Sunnycrest,Netherton,Virginia and Hayes avenue were the only roads that bisected his property. At the end of the pasture closest to his house was "Look Out rock". This was a gathering spot for the neighborhood kids. From there about half way into the woods ran a stream that eventually ended up in the Porter river. (Remember the old adage,How far can you go into the woods?)This stream was fed from across Bridge street in the low area that I referred to when I was reminiscing about ice skating.
one spring I remember finding a nest of pheasant eggs not far from that brook.I also really miss the rush I would get when ever I flushed pheasants out of the tall grass as I roamed about.
I never saw a deer in that area, but in this day and age you can't walk in a wooded area with out practically tripping over one.For that matter the same could be said about turkeys. In my day plenty of pheasant,squirrels and fox,but not a deer or turkey to be found
Also that spring an incident got me a ride in the back seat of a patrol car.For some reason that escapes me a bunch of kids,at least ten of us wandered up to a fairly large building at the rear of Porter farm dairy. This building was on Netherton avenue and backed up to a field on the Davis property. At the bottom of that field down by Hayes avenue where John Tolvanen lived, is where we played baseball. So something had to get our attention. Because we never went up around those buildings. But this day we did.One thing lead to another and somebody threw a rock through one of the windows.The next thing you know everybody is throwing rocks and glass was shattering and flying all over the place.Seeing how there was about sixty windows in this structure,we wreaked a lot of havoc.The next thing I know, the owner comes flying around the building and guess who he grabs. The other kids are taking off in all directions, but not me this guy has got a good firm grip on the scruff of my neck. The police came and took me home to face the music. I am sure I was in deep shit.But I do not recall nanny's reaction or the punishment.I do know I did not have to worry about being a fink, because that dairy man knew all us kids.I just happened to be the closest one that he could get his hands on.
I don't recall any kid saying he or his parents had to pay to fix windows and for many years that ugly building stood there sans repair.I wonder if it is still there.
To this day that dairy remains a mystery to me. In front on the building we trashed was a small cinder block building. In this building they bottled the milk. And since I never once saw a cow anywhere in Ryal side. I have to wonder where the milk originated.(I know this is udder nonsense)But I will say this, at their ice cream stand on Bridge street they had great tasting ice cream.
The pastures and wooded area near our house, was owned by one time Beverly mayor and classic old coot Parker Davis. This tract of land is all houses now. It was about fifty percent woods and the rest was fields. It was a good sized area it ran from Western avenue west to Bradstreet avenue in Danvers and from Bridge street south to Shortell avenue,which ran parallel to the Porter river. I have to believe that area was much bigger than Milne's hundred acre wood. Why they called Bradstreet ave.,Shortell ave. and Western ave. avenues is beyond me .They all were long stretches of road. The difference between what is considered a street and avenue is very confusing to me. In Ryal side all most all side roads are called avenues. In other parts of Beverly they are mostly called streets or roads. Suffice it to say if the way is short, I believe it is an avenue, if long its a street.
As kids we spent many,many hours in this area. Some times it was sports or make believe or just roaming around. Parker Davis's house sat on a hill at the top of Sunnycrest ave. Back then Sunnycrest,Netherton,Virginia and Hayes avenue were the only roads that bisected his property. At the end of the pasture closest to his house was "Look Out rock". This was a gathering spot for the neighborhood kids. From there about half way into the woods ran a stream that eventually ended up in the Porter river. (Remember the old adage,How far can you go into the woods?)This stream was fed from across Bridge street in the low area that I referred to when I was reminiscing about ice skating.
one spring I remember finding a nest of pheasant eggs not far from that brook.I also really miss the rush I would get when ever I flushed pheasants out of the tall grass as I roamed about.
I never saw a deer in that area, but in this day and age you can't walk in a wooded area with out practically tripping over one.For that matter the same could be said about turkeys. In my day plenty of pheasant,squirrels and fox,but not a deer or turkey to be found
Also that spring an incident got me a ride in the back seat of a patrol car.For some reason that escapes me a bunch of kids,at least ten of us wandered up to a fairly large building at the rear of Porter farm dairy. This building was on Netherton avenue and backed up to a field on the Davis property. At the bottom of that field down by Hayes avenue where John Tolvanen lived, is where we played baseball. So something had to get our attention. Because we never went up around those buildings. But this day we did.One thing lead to another and somebody threw a rock through one of the windows.The next thing you know everybody is throwing rocks and glass was shattering and flying all over the place.Seeing how there was about sixty windows in this structure,we wreaked a lot of havoc.The next thing I know, the owner comes flying around the building and guess who he grabs. The other kids are taking off in all directions, but not me this guy has got a good firm grip on the scruff of my neck. The police came and took me home to face the music. I am sure I was in deep shit.But I do not recall nanny's reaction or the punishment.I do know I did not have to worry about being a fink, because that dairy man knew all us kids.I just happened to be the closest one that he could get his hands on.
I don't recall any kid saying he or his parents had to pay to fix windows and for many years that ugly building stood there sans repair.I wonder if it is still there.
To this day that dairy remains a mystery to me. In front on the building we trashed was a small cinder block building. In this building they bottled the milk. And since I never once saw a cow anywhere in Ryal side. I have to wonder where the milk originated.(I know this is udder nonsense)But I will say this, at their ice cream stand on Bridge street they had great tasting ice cream.
By the way,after you go half way into the woods you have reached far. After that you are on your way out.
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