Bucket on t’ Stairs: What 1950s and 60s life was like for a deaf kid in Batley

‘Bucket on t' Stairs: Growing up as a deaf kid in West Yorkshire in the 1950s and 1960s’ is the memoir of Neil Marsden who got his first hearing aid when he was eight years old.

A very bright lad, Neil grew up in poverty in a one-up, one-down house with the book’s title a reference is to those households which didn’t have a toilet or bathroom in those days.

He studied at Gregory Street Juniors before Batley Boys Grammar in 1963 without having to sit the 11+ exam, and went on to graduate from Reading University before becoming an Environmental Health Officer.

The now-retired Neil, 75, said: “I tell my story in Yorkshire dialect. That some may not understand it initially troubled me but my publisher encouraged it because over time proud, broad Yorkshire has become diluted.

“The book brings it back to life. I have laughed recounting the amusing stories and wiped away tears remembering the sad. It has been an emotional return.

“The nineteen-fifties and sixties were over half a century ago but I enjoyed every minute re-living them.”

The book has been published by David Rose, who studied with Neil at university.

David said: “His life as a retiree is a far cry from when we started university at Reading in 1970. His first digs had a carpet in the bedroom which he had never experienced, having lived with his brother and parents in Soothill in a condemned one-up, one-down house.

“I am two years older and he has called me uncle from when he heard I had gigged at the then famous Batley Variety Club as a trumpet player with PJ Proby in 1967.

“Conversely, university was a seminal influence on Neil, as was his time at Batley Grammar.”

Life as a retiree means Neil travels between Spain and Belgium according to the season. He walks, cycles, swims, plays guitar and gigs in folk and rock bands.

Writing is his new passion and his second book - A Life of Grime - is scheduled for release in summer 2026.

‘Bucket on t' Stairs: Growing up as a deaf kid in West Yorkshire in the 1950s and 1960s’ is available in most online stores, including Bookmundo UK.