Gracii Guns Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 We moved to a part of town that's too rough to be described as "up and coming". On Saturday mornings, I'd hear this weird shouting, which I couldn't decipher a syllable of. Since I've been working from home, it turns out that the event repeats every few days. I hadn't heard of it before, but my husband says it was someone collecting scrap metal.I've searched this new experience on Google, and it turns out that most people haven't seen a "Rag and Bone" man since the '70s.Am I living in the '70s, or does anyone else get this too? Has anyone gotten any money for their scrap metal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris1989 Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Pikeys just nick it round here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lio Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 I'd never heard one before I moved where we live now, kind of in the middle of nowhere (in Flanders). Ours comes round once a week, but I've no experience with him, never given or sold anything to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Comstock Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 What's odd about collecting scrap metal? My dad (he's an electrician) can get a few hundred bucks for a hundred lbs. of scrap copper (it takes a few months to collect that much though). If you have a decent amount of aluminum it's worth a bit, it's not really too uncommon to find people who 'recycle' for a living. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gracii Guns Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 What's odd about collecting scrap metal? My dad (he's an electrician) can get a few hundred bucks for a hundred lbs. of scrap copper (it takes a few months to collect that much though). If you have a decent amount of aluminum it's worth a bit, it's not really too uncommon to find people who 'recycle' for a living.I don't find it odd. I know about the scrap metal trade from working in the cycling industry. Nothing is as heartbreaking for a cyclist than the prospect of your bike being melted. I just didn't realise they still used the "horse and cart" way of collecting it until now. Would prefer it being an ice cream truck though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Comstock Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 They really go around with a horse and cart? And a bike being melted down into a new, better bike shouldn't be depressing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfierose Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 There was a rag man who collected the rejected clothes from the charity shop my Mum used to work at.Scrap metal (such as white goods) will just go missing around here, no need to bother the council or go to the tip - stick it out front and it will be gone in a day or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downzy Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 It use to be quite common (or maybe still is) in inner-cities in the U.S. Many crackheads and heroine users will strip the metal out of anything and sell it to buy more drugs. A good account of the phenomenon back in the 90s was written by David Simon in his book "The Corner." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicrawker Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 With the price of raw materials climbing scrap metal is big business these days http://www.scrapmsc.com/our-pricing/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spunko12345 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 They come round in a van with a megaphone asking for any old shit. Good luck to them why not. If it's wooden or metal and i dont want it i just leave it out the front of my house and within a few hours the council sends a thick set Irishman around to dispose of it for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 (edited) It reminds me of Ashington, Northumberland which is this town near where I live. Wall to wall red brick terraced housing, like Coronation Street but ten times as big. They still have coal holes at the back, these little doors where you obtained your coal. Some people have bricked them up now but the new bricks are the give away. And the scrap men come around doing that weird cry. And all the streets are named after British military heroes and Victorian Prime Ministers! Edited November 7, 2015 by DieselDaisy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 (edited) When i was little they used to come down ringing a bell, asking for old rags and junk and that. Totters they were also called. They never came in a horse and cart like Steptoe though, they'd come in a big open back truck thing. They'd gimme a ride on the open back and drop me off down the bottom of the road where'd run back.The greatest sitcom ever made Edited November 7, 2015 by Len B'stard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 They really go around with a horse and cart? And a bike being melted down into a new, better bike shouldn't be depressing Not for nothing do i call all these fuckin' northerners yokels y'know, you wanna see what it's like up their way, grim ain't the fuckin' word Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gracii Guns Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 Our guy actually drives a pickup truck.My great grandad was a fruit and veg man though, who did have a horse and cart! I'm told he could leave the horse untethered outside the pub, and it would be waiting for him after great grandad had finished his pint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Our guy actually drives a pickup truck.My great grandad was a fruit and veg man though, who did have a horse and cart! I'm told he could leave the horse untethered outside the pub, and it would be waiting for him after great grandad had finished his pint!That story was probably edited for child Gracii's ears, it was probably eight pints, a round of bread and dripping and a good old fashioned Yorkshire punch up, after which all the lads hoisted your Grandad onto the cart and let the horse find its way home 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake-Pit Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Thornton Heath has one, has a horse too. & cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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