One job we used to hate doing was being transferred to the Royal
Mail meat boats. They used to land the meat and the platform truck
or scooters used to bring it into the shed. Four men used to lift
up these lumps of meat and put it on you. If you were one of the
carriers, which you always didn't want to be, they used to place it
on your back, then you had to carry it up a steep plank into a
lorry. And that was hard work. I remember the heaviest one ever I
had on my shoulders weighed 300 pounds and it's all iced you see
and there again no protection for your shoulders, carrying ... iced
meat all day long, must have set up rheumatism in lots of people's
shoulder, but we were young and strong and it didn't bother us that
much. But carrying it up the plank, that was that was the trouble.
You used to have to get the bounce of the plank as you went up. If
you got the wrong bounce it shot you off (laughs) and you'd go
right over the top, meat as well.
