Sunday 5th November, 1961

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1961 lettersLeave a comment

Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Thanks once again for weekly letter. Glad you like Susan’s drawings, I am afraid I do not see them as they go into the envelope sometime after I have prepared the main letter. If they are up to the standard of some of the drawings I have seen about here then they are not too bad. 

Both girls are much better than at the last time of writing. They are not 100% as both have  lurking colds. Carol has been started on adrenaline tablets to remove the catarrh and they make her very tired and crotchety. The trend is to get her to bed a little earlier. Susan starts school again on Monday and from all appearances she should be alright by then. 

I agree that it is strange that they should have picked another “Engineer” for the lecturing job, but there may have been a little “cancelling-out” of the other candidates. I note your suggestion about applying for any job fancied. Of course there are fewer and fewer such jobs going nowadays. McDonald asked me what I thought of the lecturing job, he said was that what I really wanted. I told him that the money was more than useful, and that the job was much like any other. They don’t think he thought much of that. I guessed Geoff would not get the job he was after. The post went to Vic Gregory who used to be with me on Work Study. The latter was a 3 in HQ Control Rolling-Stock section when I was a 2. C.W.P. took a fancy to him and all sorts of queer things then started to happen. Personally he is quite a likeable chap, ex-Bomber pilot with decoration, not over brilliant, but solid. I doubt if he could have made that level without a good push from behind, but stranger things have happened.

Reading Marshalling Yard has gone down the drain. the L.D.C. reported that the staff have declined to have Work Study there. Of course McD. is furious, and is seeking an explanation in the shortcomings of his staff. Mr Lay now has to go to Reading yard and find out from the Yardmaster why they have refused. I think it a foolish move, as by putting in an appearance on the ground so soon, the staff will think we are pushing it, and will be even more inclined to refuse. In any case he cannot tell them any more than we have and it will be useless to reiterate the bare facts to the men’s reps. I would rather work out a “demonstration scheme” which would show them exactly what they would get in terms of £.s.d. for the work performed. 

At the moment things are going well with the Old Oak Common Carriage Cleaners and we are progressing towards a stage of mutual confidence. Snow is still Snow. He gives little credit to others, and is saying that it was his efforts that got us back into Reading station. I do not mind in the least, it pays at this stage to get his co-operation but we shall tie him up pretty tightly in due course. 

I remember Prescott, he is the man I have in mind from your description. Was he not living with or friendly with Les Garland? 

By the time last Sunday’s frost came, the dahlias this end had been removed from the ground and transferred to the garage where they are at the moment inside the large basket you brought up. I hope they are alright there for the time being. 

Have not got the old wireless working yet, but only had one session on it for the time being. Will have another go soon. 

Note your remarks about the wines. I shall have to have a tasting session soon on all brews, both yours and mine. I must get some more sticky paper to make into labels for the bottles. At the moment I have half dozen bottles of apricot without labels, and it is a fact that the identity of wines can be forgotten much quicker than one would suppose, so I must get cracking. Glad to hear your blackberry is going to be good. Shall look forward to trying that. My Apple etc wine has now been transferred to top shelf of the airing cupboard. The fermentation slows up a lot overnight in the kitchen here with the drop in temperature. I do not think that can do it much good. With the addition of the requisite amount of sugar the liquid content is now just under 2 gallons, and I suppose I shall lose a little in the sediment etc. Think I will just call it the “Omnibus Edition”.

Hope Don was primed with sufficient Jungle Juice to last him until 2:45 a.m. Who would be a stationmaster? 

Quite incredible to learn that there are 25 flowers on the one plant. What has happened to the leaves that were being used as propagation? Have they turned into strong plants yet.

Sorry to learn that you have finally been cut off from the telephone. It must be a loss after so long, but if you did not use it much there was no point in having it. We are now back on the air as you know and we’ll make a note of the phone numbers you gave us. 

Sorry to hear that someone is sufficiently hard up to tamper with the money boxes in the church. So much for welfare state. 

The name of the Chrysanthemum is Westfield Flame. Perhaps we forgot to tell you. 

Well Guy Fawkes day has come and gone again. We only had a few interspersed with plenty of sparklers. To large bonfires that survived the vandals were lit, and we took the girls down to see them. Of course they were jumping up and down with excitement. The Catherine Wheel went much better this year. Last year it got stuck after two revolutions. The price of fireworks has leapt by leaps and bounds since I was a boy. A rocket stick landed in our front garden and this morning I went out to clear it. It was about the size we used to pay 2d for and when I looked on the cover it was marked one shilling. 

I cannot remember seeing any Gay in the post. Perhaps ours is still to come. 

Yesterday we went over to Yiewsley to take June’s mother to the dentist. She was to have had the first of two sessions to remove her remaining teeth, a prospect that none of us relished. As it turned out she was there for nearly 1 hour and had the lot out. We shall telephone shortly to find out how she is, but when we left yesterday she was standing up to it very well. The girls are down the road with their prams giving them an airing. The cat has come out to greet them and they were playing with him when last seen.* June has just telephoned and discovered that Mrs Baker is feeling quite well today. 

Eric has landed a job in Bristol, and no doubt he will soon be making his way there. I gather that he will move first (lodge) and the others will move after Janet has passed the 11-plus, an event which is some time away yet. It could be that he might show up one day, I do not think they know anybody in Bristol. Doug in the sideway at the moment putting antifreeze into his car. Of course Susan and Carol have got their noses into it. 

Well that’s the lot for now, hope you are both well. Love from us all. 

*This must have been a neighbour’s cat, and I have very vague recollections of a narrow ginger-striped creature visiting us.  We didn’t get our own first cat until 1965 (and have never been without one since), although we did briefly have a tortoise at one point.

Wednesday 1 November, 1961

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1961 lettersLeave a comment

Leonard to the family:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Many thanks for another long and interesting letter and this time “cut out” from Susan.  Very good Susan and thank you for sending it on. Glad you liked the drawing Grandma made on our last letter to you. 

Pleased to hear the girls are better but that a visit to doctor was necessary with Carol – hope the medicine helped her. Let’s hope she will improve a lot by the time she starts school.

Regarding your query time taken to make journey Ruislip to Clevedon I should think it was practically the same actual running time but the route via Andover enables one to avoid the cities of Bath and Bristol, two very awkward places to negotiate unless well acquainted with the districts. We shall do the Andover route again. 

Surprised to hear lecturing job went to an applicant from Engineering Department after what you said in previous letter – but there you never know who it is going to be until appointment actually made. Anyhow as I said before you will land one of the better jobs one of these days. Keep applying for everything you fancy. 

Geoff did not get the job for which he had recent interview. In his last letter to us he said it was given to the “sitting bird” so he could not really complain.  Apparently other moves are in the offing for which he will be an applicant. Note he is now putting in an earlier appearance at the office mornings. Is this the result of Work Study efforts? Also noted your effort at Reading seem to be bearing fruit. What does John Snow say about it? Have an idea he might be indifferent to any such schemes. 

Prescott came from Liverpool and he has a cast in one eye. He went back to Liverpool for a few years and has again been resident in Clevedon for the past two. Understand the vicar has been very interested in the case and taken quite a lot of pains to get the boy settled again – even getting him to join the St Peter’s Church Choir of which his younger brother is a member. I think I mentioned that this brother was in Wells Cathedral Choir; this is wrong, the vicar tried to get him in but at twelve years of age Cathedral authorities said he was too old although his voice was ideal. It has been proved that Prescott’s second wife – stepmother of boy who ran away – has been a real mother to him and that it was the trouble at school which started the bother. I think Prescott did in fact play darts in Salthouse Hotel years ago and you are probably thinking of the right individual. 

Chimney sweep duly left the soot (from two fireplaces) on the garden in a heap where I shall let it stop until the spring. Expect last Sunday’s frost made your dahlias wilt a bit – soon be all over for another season. It was foggy here to until well into the morning. 

Yes I shall take a few cuttings later of your chrysants and bring them on for next year. At the moment we have quite a nice show of flowers in greenhouse – a bit early I must admit but sun has been very warm at times and brought the flowers out. 

Caught another mouse in garage – seems to be the odd one getting in there now and again.

Don’t suppose you have got the old wireless set working again yet? 

Yes the rhubarb wine is very nice (nearly all gone now) the Parsnip immature just yet but should be alright later. I have an idea the Blackberry I made is going to be very nice when fully matured and you must have some of this in due course. Have not done any sampling recently. The grape wine is still fermenting satisfactorily and so far I’m pretty sure the liquid yeast is still active. I empty out about half the water once a week and replace with cold boiled water and add a little sugar. 

That wine you are now fermenting sounds as if it might blow roof of house off. What are you calling it “Queens Walk Special” or “84 Varieties”?

Had a letter from Lyng last week. Don was out one evening having his usual quantity of Jungle Juice when publican had a phone call for him – diesel car en route Castle Cary to Taunton had mistaken signal at Durston and run into buffer stops carrying them forward about 30 feet. He was in attendance until 2:45 am.*

Must mention the African violet you gave us when last at Clevedon. The other day I counted 25 flowers on it and several buds to follow on. It has developed into a very nice plant. 

There are a few apples on the Jersey beauty to pick yet and I’ve got the extended ladder in use to get them. Even so I’m afraid some of the apples will have to stop until they fall. Sorry some of yours going bad, it is due to the poor season for such fruitf. I see in today’s paper price of apples is likely to “rocket” because of the general shortage. 

Managed to get two rows of broad beans planted last week and strange to say we had a mixture of fresh runner and fresh broad beans for dinner last Sunday. Have now picked the ripest of the runner beans for seed and should be able to to get more in a week or two. 

Yes we saw the Charlie Drake “knockout” but like everyone else did not realise it was a knockout until reading about it in newspaper next morning. 

Noted June having another run with car – it will be nice to get her full licence to enable her to “run around the block” as it were taking and fetching Susan from school. Not very far it is true but not nice in wet weather to have to walk the distance. Have given our car one good clean since we came back from Ruislip and so far have only used it locally for shopping and library. Our telephone was disconnected yesterday. I’m glad you are keeping yours. After all you will certainly be able to make more use of it than we should ours. It is a luxury we can can now do without. Mrs Marshall and Mrs Cummings have both said they will take emergency calls for us if necessary. Their numbers are – Mrs SA Marshall – Clevedon 3037 Mrs SJ Cummings – Clevedon 2497. 

Well I think this is the lot for another week. Hope you are all keeping well now. All our love to you both with kisses for our two little girls Susan and Carol. Mum and Dad.

*Could find no reference to this incident online so it must have been relatively minor.

Eva To the family on the remaining three quarters of a sheet of Leonard’s writing paper:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Many thanks for letting and cut out from Susan. I expect she is having a week’s holiday now, the children are here. Dad made a mistake about Mrs Cummings as I have not told her yet but know she would take any message during the day as would Mrs Marshall. 

It has been very rough here.  Went up yesterday with Mrs Palmer to the church, she to do some mending of hassocks and I the brass. While there old Mr Horton called in to take any money in boxes. He does this about three times a week. Somebody had been tampering again with the box by the visitors’ booth, that is three times but they haven’t got it open yet. Somebody else had wrenched off an umbrella bracket. Down at St. Peter’s they have what they call a flower fund box and this has been rifled twice. It’s getting a bit hot here.

Mrs Bushell next door tells me she has finished working at the dentist as expecting in February. I was surprised. Miss Weeks have a young couple in who were married last week the other lot found an unfurnished flat. 

Those bronze chrysants of Alec are a nice shape and if we trim them down to one or two on a stalk they would be lovely. Pity you don’t know the name of it. 

The postman dumped a sample of pink dish wash called ‘Gay’ have you had any it is too scenty for my liking.** 

I suppose the bonfire has grown huge since we saw it, soon be Guy Fawkes Day. Lots of love from Mum and Dad.

**It’s been impossible to track this down any further than the picture linked here.

Letter illustrated by Eva with a drawing of various fireworks – Catherine wheels, several sparklers, some Roman candles and a rocket; also someone who could potentially be Guy Fawkes who has rather a lot of teeth, an amorphous shape in the corner is probably a bonfire.  Higher up the page two wildly distorted figures are playing with an over-large ball. 

Sunday 29 October, 1961

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1961 lettersLeave a comment

Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Letter in red this week, the black type now definitely wearing thin. Thanks for the usual weekly letter from you both also drawing duly seen and approved of by the girls. Both are better now thank you very much, but have the aftermath of cough etc particularly in the case of Carol. June had to take her to the doctor on Thursday morning after she had had difficulty in breathing on Wednesday evening. Usual jollop prescribed which fortunately she does not mind taking. They are both so full of life that not long after a bout of illness they are soon bouncing about again. 

Note your run home a little up so far as mileage is concerned. I was aware of the extra distance, approximately 6 miles I think. Having regard to the time spent in Andover, could you say the route is any quicker?

I do not understand Geoff’s fixation about retirement, some time ago I remember he was saying only ten years to do, and that means only ten more possible continental holidays. I could well say that if I last till sixty I have only another twenty years to do myself. This of course means well over the halfway mark for the recognised 45 years (wristlet or pocket – or can I have the money?)

I gathered that the lecturing job went to a chap from the Engineers Department.  They have now got three out of three lecturers from that department. Sounds a bit fishy to me. I knew I had an (illegible) recommendation for the last one. They would have had a difficult job not to give one as they had declined my services as Work Study Assistant when I applied last January. 

Have not heard the result of Geoff’s interview. I saw him twice last week when arriving at Paddington in the morning. Take it he has started getting up earlier as he used not to roll before about 9:15 a.m. We have got the evidence as he was checked in when we did a Passenger census. 

I do not know what the outcome of the Reading Yard meetings will be yet as today the L.D.C. (staff side) have called a mass meeting of the shunters and guards to inform them of what they have learnt from us at the appreciation course and the meetings, and to ask for their support in taking the matter a stage further. If they want a closer look, we can knock up a provisional scheme based on the old figures (1957) – let them see what they have to do to earn their bonus, and calculate the average weekly take-home before and after. If they like the look of that they can have it on trial for six weeks with the option of rejecting it after that time if they are not satisfied. I can’t think what more we could offer to demonstrate there is no catch in it. 

I did not see the article about young Prescott – pretty bad business. Was his father the North Country man (or Midlander) who used to frequent the Salthouse (? dart player ) towards the end of the war? 

Very good arrangement of yours when chimney sweep called.  Do not blame you unless it is necessary to stop him taking the soot away. Should think it some use for the garden although at the rate of one chimney per year would not be enough to do much good. 

Note your gardening efforts – have in mind taking out the dahlias in a minute or two. Not much more to be expected from them. Very cold last night with the hint of both fog and frost. This morning, looking out of the bedroom window, could only see clearly to the middle of Melthorne Avenue although the houses at the end were not completely obscured. Was out in the car last night, hurried home to beat any fog, and found the worst patch across the road at the junction of Queens Walk and Torcross Road. Had to slow the car almost to a stand for about 10 yards. 

Glad you like the chrysanths, perhaps you will know what to do to get large blooms with them. I just let them grow as they will, but I expected that by pinching out to the buds at the appropriate time you might get some beauties.

I have little doubt that your mice did inhabit the old wireless at some time. All the evidence was there, and I must say that with the small slits in the bottom of the casing, and the complete cover of the chassis above, it was a very good choice of nesting place. 

I am afraid the wine you say you like is definitely Rhubarb. I had only one bottle of Jungle Juice apart from that which is maturing in the large jar, and we drank that when you were here. Glad you like the rhubarb although I have not tasted other than about half a glass. Please comment about the Parsnip. What is the verdict? 

Had to move the still maturing fermenting grape juice into a half-gallon stone jar as I wanted the large jars for apple wine. The apples you brought up were going bad as they were not being used fast enough. I found a receipt [sic]* involving 8 pounds of apples and made up the brew in two buckets. Finished up with one-and-a-half gallons of strained must but so far have only put 2 lb of sugar in. I feel that at least 4 more pounds of sugar are needed to the total, so that would be equivalent to another two pints of liquid. In the mixture is 1 Shredded Wheat, one grapefruit, one eighth of a pound of sultanas, one cup of pineapple juice, 1 and a half lemons, and 4 sticks of celery. Your guess is as good as mine. 

Do not let the liquid yeast get cold will you? Keep it in a warm but not hot place. If you do not use any by the end of the week, pour half away and fill up with cold boiled water and half spoon of sugar. An occasional dessert spoonful of any must you have available helps to ginger it up a bit. 

No more driving lessons yet, but may have a go this afternoon. Did not hear the comment about Stonehenge that was promised – perhaps not very important. 

We both saw Charlie Drake knock himself out. I thought the tall thin chap** was too weak to throw Drake through the window and had to be helped by the other chap, but did not think it was due to Drake being unconscious. 

Not much other news this end just now. Will try and get out while not actually raining. Love from us all for now and hope you are both keeping well. 

By the way I had a flu injection on Monday. a number of us had them with varying reactions. All set now for the winter? 

*Online sources seem to suggest that this was already an archaic expression by the time Alec chose to employ it, but the chances are it’s a usage inherited from one or other of his grandmothers.

**Henry McGee

Wednesday 25 October, 1961

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1961 lettersLeave a comment

Leonard to the family:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Many thanks for your long and newsy letter duly received yesterday morning – also thank you Susan and Carol for your lovely drawings and Susan’s little letter about the comic. Grandma and Grandfy thought you would both find something to interest you in it. Hope you are feeling better now Susan and able to go to school again this week. 

Yes we had a nice run home on the 16th but with the mileage up a little it takes a drop more petrol. No doubt about it we had the best weekend for weather in spite of fog on the Sunday. It has been rather poor since our return – gale force winds and frequent heavy rain storms but there it is – we were fortunate for our stay with you. 

Sorry Susan a bit off colour but presumably alright again on the Sunday. We thought they were both looking and feeling very fit – they improve every time we see them and my word we can see a difference – they are both growing up fast.  

Glad to hear Mr and Mrs Baker with Peter and Pauline reached home safely on the Saturday and that you were able to make the journey to West Drayton for June’s mother’s birthday. It was Geoff’s on the 23rd and we dropped him the usual – he was 53 this time. Says he –”another 7 years to do”. Sounds like a sentence for some crime. 

It was excellent news that you had had an interview for the lecturing job but I quite agree with your comments. On a job like that you are not getting any practical experience, which experience must count for very many higher positions. One thing about this incident however indicates that you were recommended by your own department otherwise I do not think you would have got as far as an interview. Keep it up, you will get something one of these days which will be worth having. Do you know if Jeff has heard any more about his recent interview for another job? 

Noted also you have had some interesting meetings at Reading – query with what results – also when do you find time to write up the minutes or is this a job for others to do? 

Grandad Atkins was born at Beckington Somerset, a little village that is at the crossroads made by the Warminster-Bath and Frome-Trowbridge roads*. When visiting Salisbury regularly during the war with Mr Pole for meetings with the Southern Region we used to always pass through Beckington. 

Did you see in London papers last week a Clevedon boy named Prescott aged 14 was missing from home? Disappeared on the Wednesday because of some alleged trouble at school but was found at Tickenham on Sunday in a pretty pretty distressed condition because of the rough and wet weather. His father is in Parish Church choir, he was actually a member in my time but left the town and recently returned. He has a younger son aged 12 who is in Wells Cathedral Choir. Quite a rumpus here for a few days. Now we hear on wireless there is a 13-year old girl missing at Glastonbury. 

The chimney sweep arrived at 6 a.m. on Monday – raining in torrents – but mum must tell you more about this. I stopped in bed out of the way. 

No work on garden this week so far – the ground is soaked and more rain coming down. Last weekend managed to lift all the gladioli corms and put them in the frames to dry. Also made the first picking of runner bean seeds (the ripest) but there are plenty more to come. Now is the time for broad bean seed to go in but ground conditions just hopeless at the moment. 

Have put the 35 chrysanths in greenhouse after taking out all the tomato plants – the fruit is ripening off in drawers in garage – as mentioned in last letter your chrysanths are in full flower quite a nice reddish bronze colour. 

We are still picking runner beans to eat and I think they will continue wearing until frosts finish off the plants. Will let you know no final total weight for tomatoes and runner beans in due course. 

No more mice about in garage and for time being think we are free of them! It is quite possible some of them made a nest in the old wireless set – strange to say it was one place I did not investigate when trying to trace them. 

The wine I have tried was the one other than the parsnip – a cloudy wine which I thought was the Jungle Juice but which you suggest is Rhubarb. It was not labelled but tastes very nice. The grape wine continues fermentation but not quite so vigorously as when we came up to Ruislip. Have racked off all the others into sweet jars for storage purposes – the best tasting at the moment being the Blackberry. The liquid yeast you gave me seems to be working very well but I have have no further winemaking prospect at present. 

Have not used any of the leaf mould yet but have tipped it into a box to keep. It is most valuable stuff being mould from beech leaves which – with oak leaf mould – is the best you can possibly get. When in the vicinity at any time you should get some to dig into your soil – bound to improve it. 

Last Friday after a dry night – about the only one for a week – I managed to cut all the grass with the motor mower. It had got very long since previous cutting but it came off very easily. May have to have one or two more cuttings before closing down – as it were – for the season. 

The clock goes back next Sunday so it will be pretty well dark by the time Susan comes home from school. Any more driving lessons yet June? Or is weather getting too bad for this year? Since our return from you we have only been out twice – shopping and library. May pop into Weston one day next week – weather permitting. 

You will hear about Stonehenge from Mum in a minute or two. By the way it was not by side of road we took but well over to the right on a branch road in the direction from Ruislip to Clevedon. It was certainly adjacent to the branch road one I think leading to Devizes**. Do you remember this? 

No more now dash all our love to you both and more kisses for two little girls from Mum and Dad.

*As formerly mentioned, Tom was born in the Workhouse at Westbury, Wiltshire, and raised by a couple at Rode/Rode in Somerset, although Road and Beckington are pretty much side-by-side and there must be some doubt as to where one starts and the other ends.  Either Tom and/or Leonard were deliberately not told the whole story, or the story had become garbled over the years.  On reflection it is quite possible that Tom grew up having no idea who his mother actually was, only that he had a sister named Mary.  His marriage to the fiercely moral Emily may have ensured that this particular aspect of family history was ruthlessly suppressed thereafter and never mentioned again.

**A quick look at the map suggests that Leonard and Eva were travelling west along the A303; the ‘branch road’ described no longer exists – it would have run past Stonehenge to join up with the A360, but now seems to be solely an access/service road for the ancient monument itself and its visitor centre.  The A360 does indeed – eventually – find its way to Devizes.

Eva to the family on remaining three quarters of a sheet of Leonard’s writing paper:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Many thanks for letting us and drawings which were very good. We looked into Charlie Drake’s Bingo tonight, and Michael Aspel mentioned there was goings-on at Ruislip and they were supposed to be going down there, he was a scream. 

The sweep came 5 minutes early had gone at 7. He said he had to go to Mrs Cummings next but didn’t think she would be up because he believed his wife had mixed the dates. Anyway I saw her today and he had only come a fortnight too soon, still she had it done – she has the old people from Cornwall there too. 

I should think we have had enough rain since coming back everywhere is soaking so gardening is out for the time being. 

Lots of love from (Grandma and Grandfy) Mum and Dad

[NB: there was of course no reference to Stonehenge but Eva did contribute a drawing which I was going to attempt to describe but to be perfectly honest my powers of description failed me.  It is attached below, together with a photograph of what probably inspired it.]

Sunday 22nd October, 1961

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1961 lettersLeave a comment

Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad,

Once again the round of letters begins, and yours of this weeks arrived about 9 a.m.. Thank you also for your note sent on arrival back at Clevedon. It seems that you had a very good run and a much more enjoyable one than you thought you would get on the previous day. I think the route is quite good, and will prove much less exacting from the driving point of view when it has been done a couple of times and we are used to it. 

Thank you also for the book sent to the girls, they enjoyed it. 

You certainly had quite a while in Andover – much more than we had, as we only got involved in a traffic jam. I think the best sausages I have ever tasted were the chipolatas made by Maunders of Tiverton. If the Andover ones come up to that standard they must be good. 

Susan and Carol were very glad to see you, and had looked forward to it for a long time. They seemed to accept the comings and goings of people quite well. I do not think they have a great deal of feeling for time and distance yet. 

Susan has been a bit of colour for a couple of days. hard to put a name to it, but she did not have any dinner yesterday, and did not eat much tea. This morning’s breakfast disappeared quickly enough though, and she seems more herself. they have been giving us a duet of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in the front room. 

Glad you managed to spot Stonehenge this time – it is big enough. I was surprised to hear you had missed it on the way up as it is so close to the road. Some walk up to it though I believe. 

I am glad you enjoyed the visit. I am afraid it was over so quickly, and hard to believe that it was made apart from the tangible evidence. That of course is the drawback of long weekends which are so infrequent due to the distance involved. I expect you could come up more often if we lived near Reading. This would reduce the journey to about 100 miles and the time to about two-and-a-half hours. 

Yes I am pleased with the photographs. short of cinematograph films I think that is the best way to do the job these days. The results amazed me as hitherto my efforts in black and white came in for severe criticism. 

Mr and Mrs Baker arrived home safely on the night of their visit – Peter’s driving having improved. It being Mrs Baker’s birthday yesterday, we went over to Yiewsley in the afternoon. We have had to return the projector so Pauline will have to wait now before she sees the large sized pictures. As you know she has already seen them in a pocket viewer.

Our heavy rain occurred on Sunday night if I remember rightly, and we had another dose of it last night. Dahlias still flowering – we were able to take a mixed bunch over to Grandma yesterday. 

Note your clearing up activities going to plan. I noticed that my indoor chrysanths or some of them have flower buds. If we do not get a severe frost I may get some blooms.

I am afraid I cannot guess which bottle of wine you sampled. I thought that I gave you a Parsnip and a Rhubarb. Both of these were fair drinks, but I had to add some sugar to the Parsnip and I had not tasted that particular bottle perhaps you found it not sweet enough. My grape wine is still fermenting, but is obviously slowing down. Have not made any apple wine but with luck I may get round to it soon. Now that you have reminded me of this subject, I have had a swig of the Parsnip for myself – not bad. I must have a racking session with my wines and get them into bottles.

So the mice are still in evidence – I think one must have made a nest in the old wireless set as I got out enough pieces of paper, leaves and straw from underneath the chassis to make a large sized ball. Almost filled up the vacuum cleaner bag. 

Had a series of good meetings last week. The most important thing that happened was an interview for the lecturer’s job. Had my interview on Wednesday at 11:15 and a very good one it was. I gather that I have not got the job as McD phoned up and asked how I had done. It appears they were suitably impressed, but the job went to someone with previous lecturing experience. John Welshman was also up for interview, and the betting was even between us according to the G.M.’s office, so assume he got it. I do not wish to give the impression of quotes “sour grapes”, but although the money was worth having, I am still not sure that the best has not happened. I can see no future in the lecturing business, apart from the initial rise in salary. Of course there is the principal’s job to aim at, but there are others ahead already, and the need to train staff in work study will not continue indefinitely. Visited Reading three times last week – it gets like old times. 

We have decided to retain the telephone and have written accordingly. 

Pouring with rain again now, hope it eases off when the children go to Sunday School. Have not had a chance to get on the back lawns yet due to wet, and the front one looks as if it wants cutting again. All the honeysuckle plants are alive, as are the ivies. It seems as though the Esther Reads are doing well but have not been at close range since last weekend. One in flower is still flowering. The rose you saw is still in bloom. I must say if this continues in subsequently years we shall be pleased.

Have you used the leaf mould yet? By the way, what was the name of the Wiltshire Village that you told me Granddad Atkins was born in. Seem to remember it was a double-barrelled name, but it is escapes me at present*. 

Thought Grandma’s picture was good – could it have been Stonehenge? Well that is all the news etc.l for this week, I think we are up-to-date with most of it. Look forward to your next. Love from us all. 

*If by ‘Grandad Atkins’ he is referring to Tom, i.e. Leonard’s father, the answer is that Tom was born in the Workhouse at Westbury, Wiltshire, to a single mother, and was raised in the village of Road/Rode in Somerset – famous for the Constance Kent murder case – by an unrelated family.  Tom’s father’s identity is unknown.  Tom’s grandfather, i.e. Leonard’s great grandfather, was born and died in the village of Mells, near Frome, but had been in his grave for eleven years before Leonard was born.  Tom’s mother presumably made a special effort to give birth to him at Westbury as she had previously given birth to a daughter (Mary Maud) at Frome Union Workhouse in Somerset and it would no doubt be sensible for her not to have two successive children in the same county as otherwise enquiries would be made as to the identity of the father/fathers.  So far there is no indication as to who either father may have been, but there is clearly more research to do in this area.

Wednesday 18th October, 1961

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1961 lettersLeave a comment

Leonard to the family:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Just a few more lines to follow short note on Monday to say we had reached home safely. It was a lovely journey and we were able to enjoy the various landscapes enroute. Stayed at Andover for 35 minutes where we had a look around the shops and Mum made a few purchases including some sausages which proved to be some of the best I’ve ever tasted – made apparently by a local butcher. We spotted Stonehenge this time much better view being obtained on the homeward journey than coming up and apart from Andover we did not get out of car en route. 

Well now thank you all once again for a most enjoyable break from our normal routine. It was nice to be with you just for the long weekend and to hear Susan and Carol enjoying themselves – they are growing up fast. Now we have been over to the school entrance we can picture Susan leaving Mummy at the gate and trotting off inside and being met again at 3:30 p.m. 

Needless to repeat really, but we did enjoy the views taken on your holiday this year. What a wonderful thing to be able to look back on them in the years to come – the colours were grand. Expect you have since heard from your Mum and Dad June that they duly reached home alright last Saturday. It was very kind of them to come and spend the evening whilst we were with you and we were pleased to see them once more, also for Peter and Pauline to come along too*. A pity your sister could not manage it but I’m sure if you get the opportunity to show her she will be delighted with those holiday pictures especially the ones of the children. 

You are getting on with various improvements in house and garden – little by little does it and there is always something else to be done – we have not finished yet and I do not suppose we ever shall. The dahlias look nice and those you gave me are now in greenhouse drying off. 

We had heavy rain here Monday night and  this continued in storms on Tuesday with half a gale blowing as well. Yesterday (Tuesday) I pulled up the tomato plants in the bay just inside the greenhouse on the right hand side and brought in and planted there eleven more indoor chrysanths. Had to put boards on the garden to dig them out as ground was very wet.

Monday afternoon I was able to pick 4 or more pounds of tomatoes and Bill Aston came over yesterday for 3 lbs – Mum had the other pound for the house so we are waiting for more to ripen off. Apart from Aston have seen no one since we got home but Mum has seen Mrs Cornish. Understand it was very foggy here all day on Sunday visibility at times been poor.

The grass on lawns has grown a lot and needs cutting at first opportunity.

Have sampled one of the bottles of your wine – you can guess which? All mine were satisfactory on return, the grape wine still fermenting strongly. Some of the others I must rack off and store for future consumption – can get on with this when nothing at all can be done outdoors. Found a mouse in trap in garage when we got back but no further success this week so far. 

How did you get on at Reading on Monday? Mum has been busy on one or two jobs since Monday but she must tell you about them herself.  Shall soon be starting fires – had to have electric heater on these last couple of evenings. Weather has deteriorated rather suddenly and we can consider ourselves extremely fortunate in having such sunny days whilst with you. 

Hope the girls liked Wonderland. I looked for it at Ruislip (Forbuoys and Prangleys) without success but spotted it in Andover. It is evidently issued on Wednesdays. 

Well I think this is the lot for the present, hope you don’t feel too tired after our visit. Once again many thanks for a lovely time. with all our love to you both and lots of kisses for two very lovely little girls. Mum and Dad 

P.S. Your chrysanths (? Westfield Flame) in full flower – very nice.

*NB how carefully Leonard distinguishes here between Pauline-the-girlfriend and the other Pauline who is of course June and Peter’s sister. Pauline-the-girlfriend presumably didn’t last long as I have no recollection of her, but thought the world of Brenda Hawkeswood; the next girlfriend I remembered seeing was the one Peter ended up married to, but that wasn’t until 1967. I can only imagine that (a) five in a car would have been a squeeze back then or (b) the two Paulines didn’t get on, and Peter – being in possession of a penis – decided his needs took precedence over those of either of his sisters. It was ever thus.

Eva to the family on two thirds of Leonard’s third sheet of paper:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Thank you very much for the nice holiday we had with you. The time passed all too soon and we are here with nose to grindstone once more. We had lovely weather didn’t we, they say here that the fog on the Sunday cleared about 5. We had one of the best drives home it was very nice country and I like Andover for shopping. The sausages (chipolata pork) were super. it was a small butchers halfway up the hill. We had a nerve to go into the station but nobody challenged us, expect they thought we were the superintendent and his wife!!!

Norman Bakers mother died suddenly while we were away or rather the day before and was buried on the Saturday only 63.

Dad has been busy getting in the chrysanths into the greenhouse, they are just coming into flower some in the ground and some in flower pots on the gravel. 

I have re-covered three pillowcases and one to go with the tick cut from featherbed,

 that makes my pillows decent looking. Also cut in half one of the curtains I used to put on the door and hung up in dining room at each end makes it a bit fuller. Can’t afford new ones yet. Also put the other door curtain in stairs window as there is a terrific draught in the winter.

Been busy gardening this afternoon nipping off the daisies. 

No more now lots of love again thank you for a nice time. From Mum and Dad.

At the bottom of this sheet a small drawing of two people in a very overgrown garden titled ‘Guess where BB’ on the back of the remaining sheet is a village with a tractor in the foreground and what may possibly be Stonehenge in the background…

Monday 16th October, 1961

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1961 lettersLeave a comment

Work Study section

D.T.M.O. Paddington

Dear John

I was very pleased to receive your interesting and humorous letter in reply to our somewhat inadequate card. Your letter is on its rounds, having successfully visited Paddington Yard and Acton Yard, and is now with the bods of the Paddington Passenger Station. Everyone was shocked to learn of your misfortune, but all to whom I have spoken have been encouraged by your latest news. Since we first met, you have not always enjoyed the best of good fortune, and this latest experience I am sure is one that you could have done well without.

I hope you will kindly forgive the typewriter, I find it very useful for all my personal correspondence, and remember that you really brought this upon yourself. 

I am glad to hear that you still get all the news of the old operating boys although you are not able to see them very often. I must say that since your departure to the North, and Bert Crutches’ departure to Bristol, news has been very hard to come by, but old Freddy Rendell does his best. I gather that Albert has bought himself a house at “Whitchurch” which I am told is near Pangbourne – how the rich live. 

Baynton now rejoicing at the B.T.C. is still telling everyone what a good scheme Reading Passenger Station is. We get applications each week from amazed people who are anxious to visit this wonder place. Of course we have to put them off and ask them to come back when we are better organised. 

I have been involved in recent weeks with your old friends of the Reading Yard L.D.C. We are anxious to reopen the Yard Investigation, and today I started the L.D.C. off with an appreciation course in Work Study. Nobby Clark and Tony Bowden are giving it. 

Had a wander down the yard and had a chat with Wilf James – one of the best. Have got Dave Baggaley up my sleeve to conduct the investigation if our course has the desired effect. He by the way has just got his “A”, a blessing he would have had at devolution had he played his cards right. 

Both the Tony’s have read your letter, and you may get independent reports from them. Tony Bowden has completed his investigations into Paddington Freight Shunters, and the report has been accepted by management. The staff negotiations will shortly follow. His similar work at Acton Yard in conjunction with Ralph Baker is also nearing completion, and promises to be one of the best yard jobs yet. 

Tony Notley and Fred Rendell together with others from the former Commercial Section are making progress with Paddington Station, and we have had some fun with sweeping machines recently. Tony is out all night tonight in conjunction with a demonstration of one such. Fred has been at Reading Passenger Station for a couple of weeks because we have reopened negotiations with the L.D.C. with a view to putting that place right. As you know there were many deficiencies in the scheme, and it is high time they were put right. 

Also last week I had a meeting with the Old Oak Common L.D.C. and Piecework Committee with a view to restarting at Old Oak Common Cleaning Depot. We are giving an appreciation course to five of their number plus two others from the Passenger and Freight Shunters on Thursday and Friday of this week. Who will do the job if we get back in is anyone’s guess.

Have half a dozen or so small schemes on the boil elsewhere which you may not find interesting, but that covers most of the big ones. We had no luck at Oxford with regard to a reappraisal. 

I am glad to learn that you still see something of Richard. Tony had a letter from him a few days ago which I read with interest. I owe Bud a letter, and it is good to hear he is still going great guns. I suppose there must be a future somewhere way out above the top of Work Study, and if we keep our eyes on him I expect he will show us the way out. 

I hope your wife and family are well, and becoming acclimatised to the new surroundings. It must be a wrench leaving Reading so soon after becoming installed there, but I expect that by now you have settled down. It seems only yesterday you were telling me of the wagon doors you had moved from Didcot. Perhaps you can let me know if your daughter is still doing well at school. My eldest started last Easter, and is now an old hand. 

We get little information from the other divisions, although James the Lyons looked in breathing hard about a month ago. We took him round to the Mitre to cool off. 

I am afraid I have not your letter here else I could reply to specific points raised, but I had a good chuckle over the crutches and discarding one stick etc. if I know you, you will be raring to go again soon, but don’t overdo things, the job just is not worth it. Best of luck for a swift recovery, and hope to hear of you soon. 

Alec 

Why?

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1944 Diary, 1959 letters, 1960 letters, 1961 letters, First World WarLeave a comment

This blog, amazingly, has quite a few followers now, although hardly anybody ever interacts with me except to click ‘like’ – which, goodness knows, I appreciate – and I honestly have no idea who most of you are, or where you are, or what interests you about some sixty year old letters from a quite unremarkable family. (The few exceptions are a couple of distant relatives who have happened upon information having a bearing on their own family history, and have contacted me directly as a result.)

Most of you haven’t been here from the very beginning, and I didn’t really explain myself fully in the first place, so maybe it would be sensible to take advantage of this brief hiatus in the narrative – while Leonard and Eva are staying at Ruislip with five year old me, my three year old sister, and our parents – to give you a bit of context for this endeavour.

The problem

I started out with six – six – boxes of Fam. Hist. paperwork, plus a box of slides, two old Bibles, and a great deal more. That’s in excess of 300 litres of the stuff, which my online calculation thingy suggests is 0.3 of a cubic metre. My desk runs at about 0.9 of a cubic metre, so you can get the general idea; the volume of stuff I have (or, rather, had) would probably fill a four-drawer filing cabinet.

Even a quick perusal of the material indicated that not all of it was worth keeping. For example, there were paper copies of things that we also had in electronic form, and printouts from online genealogy sources that aren’t going to go away. They were easily dealt with.

One of the Bibles was in very poor condition. It was valuable only for the information it contained. We scanned and saved that and – yes, I admit it! – put the Bible itself in the paper recycling. The other one had been rebound at great expense and is therefore going to have to stay.

Then there was Leonard’s diary of the 1914-18 war – albeit his participation covered only a fraction of that time. It was written in pencil, and the covers were beginning to deteriorate, and it was time for the diaries to have some proper conservation as they were already 100 years old. After due consultation with the younger generations, who didn’t want to take on responsibility for it, we offered the original diary to the Royal Engineers Museum at Chatham and they accepted. There is a story to this, of course, which will be shared later when we start looking at the contents of the diary.

Alec’s QSL cards, however, were another matter. The younglings snapped those up with cries of glee, drooling over some of the Soviet-era artwork, and went off and plotted them all on a map.

But still, there were the letters – almost ten years’ worth of them. They imposed a storage requirement, and the younger generation weren’t remotely interested in them. I was, but I couldn’t see myself hanging onto bundles of paper for the rest of my life. The answer was to think of each letter as having two components – the paper itself, and the information on it. The information was worth keeping, but the paper wasn’t. Therefore the solution was to scan – or, more recently, to dictate – the text, and to shred the letters themselves.

This raises the question of observer bias. If it is not possible to compare the electronic version to the original, there are always going to be opportunities to challenge the electronic version. It may seem unlikely that this would happen in the case of some relatively benign and unimportant family correspondence, but unfortunately there are some living relatives who subscribe to a revisionist version of history – and, specifically, to The Narcissist’s Prayer:

That didn’t happen.
And if it did, it wasn’t that bad.
And if it was, that’s not a big deal.
And if it is, that’s not my fault.
And if it was, I didn’t mean it.
And if I did, you deserved it.

The obvious response to this would of course be to keep the originals and make them available if ever the remaining family demand to see them, but life is too short – and they will only believe what they already want to believe anyway, whatever the evidence presented.

Thus, this blog – and its many backups – and the determined effort to reduce the volume of storage required by gradually disposing of all unnecessary items. There will still be plenty left over at the end, but hopefully if everything is stored in electronic form it will be less important if the originals end up in a skip somewhere at some future date.

Parts of this family’s story are interesting and parts are not. In future decades probably nobody will care if Leonard grew 285 lbs (130 kg) of runner beans in a single summer, or what he paid for his car repairs; however Alec’s experience of British Rail during the Beeching Purge may be of interest, and Leonard’s war diary has already added to the sum of human knowledge. It all goes together, the good and the bad, the relevant and the irrelevant; that’s just the way life works, and that’s why I’m not editing anything or making any selections. You, as the reader, will decide what is important to you; my job is simply to transmit the information.

And that, in a nutshell, is the answer to the question ‘Why?’

We now return you to your advertised programming, and thank you for watching this infomercial!

Sunday 8th October, 1961

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1961 lettersLeave a comment

Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Your latest letter to hand at usual time, for which many thanks. Glad to say that both Susan and Carol are now much better, and but for an occasional runny nose, otherwise O.K.. Yes Susan can write lots of words now, and is beginning to show great interest in reading as she asks all sorts of questions about all and any writing she sees, including such things as posters, sauce bottles etc.   Simple words of three letters are beginning to click into place, and with the present interest should start the ball rolling for the rest. 

Last Sunday, as has been told already, a number of the bigger girls were whisked off to the primary section of the Sunday school. They had to form a line as their names were called out. When the line was complete Carol shouted out “you did not call out my name”. This from the teacher afterwards. I think to avoid disappointment for the children whose names were not called out the remainder were formed into a line and were taken round in a circle.

Yes we realised that the drawing represented mice in the garage, but had to have a crack at the artist. They always come in at this time of year, but gather they get a hot reception. 

With regard to your visit on the 12th, please note you will be expected to lunch. It does not matter what time you arrive, nothing will spoil. It is not a very good idea to have a picnic lunch en route this time of the year, as it may be raining or a bit cold for hanging about. June will have something this end for you to eat so please do not bother about the grub.

I am not worried about taking time off. I do not think any obstacle would be placed in the way of my having extra days if genuinely wanted, but the main difficulty is finding a convenient time to be away. I have five meetings lined-up for next week already and that excludes Thursday and Friday. I would have had one on Thursday, but the man I want to contact is on late turn. 

Hope the articles to be brought up do not weigh down the car too much. 

I left the honeysuckle cuttings out of their coverings last weekend and all seem to have suffered a slight setback as a result. I think they are all still alive, but a distinct flagging is noticeable. Gave them a drop of water as the earth seems very dry. Probably the cause. Should imagine the rose leaves are being cut by bees or wasps. They are in tatters now. I think there will be a rose for you to see, also one or two remaining dahlias. 

Some figures for your produce, can imagine at the potential there if only you have a reliable outlet. Yes I thought I made it clear in my last letter that I understood that spring sown broad beans were more likely to suffer from blackfly. Must have got the sentence crossed. 

I saw a comprehensive plan of all the motorways a few days ago, and think that the new one you took off will be very useful to us. The drill would seem to be to follow the South Wales motorway until it joins the Ross Spur, then along that one and onto the West of England one. Distance probably the same as now, but could save up to half the time. I would say that to double the average speed would not be unreasonable. I should think that when the motorway is completed the peace and quiet will have departed from the neighborhood.

I cannot tell what the next moves are with Beeching. It is difficult to get a true appreciation of the position as people with vested interests are giving alternative views on his comments. Someone in the G.M.’s has told me that Curry has made a report that certain people are too obsessed with incentive schemes. (? McD)

Paddington Yard is on ice for the time being until I can get a hand-ou done for the staff. So many things on the go that only the most urgent can be tackled. 

Note Don’s resignations, but we had the opposite effect at Maidenhead. One of the carmen had sent in his resignation, and was working out his time when the incentive scheme was introduced. As a result of what he learnt from the other men, and his bonus of the first week, He has withdrawn his resignation and wants to stay on. A checker who handed in his resignation at the same time is holding fire for the moment to see which way the scheme for shed staff goes. 

Pity Don only got £25. Having been mentioned in the list it might as well have been for £5,000. Still he can now get 25 more if he wants to and increase his chances of. Susan and Carol have one each but so far no luck.* 

No more practice with the L-plates this week although we did go out again in the evening of the day previously reported to you. Gear changing is improving, and occasionally we were able to get right up into top gear. 

Of course Tiverton had to write when it was too late to do anything about it. Had they written before you could have delayed your visit to us for a week and fitted both trips in. We are of course glad for our own sake that it brings you here sooner. 

Susan’s drawing of the L-plate was unprompted but I got the blame for it (of course). 

The decorators finished at West Drayton a long time ago – probably 2 months. It was only one man (inside) and he soon went through the rooms. Outside there were a couple of men engaged on repairing the wall. 

We have written to the G.P.O. to ascertain what they want from us to keep the phone on. Still can’t seem to make up our minds if it is worth it. 

Well will not overdo the news etc. in view of your impending visit so will look forward to seeing you on Thursday – to lunch. 

Love from us all. 

*Sixty years later the position is still the same. See this Wikipedia article for a rough breakdown of the likelihood of ever winning anything!

Wednesday 4th October, 1961

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1961 lettersLeave a comment

Leonard to the family:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Many thanks for another long and newsy letter – also thank you very much Susan and Carol for your nice letters enclosed in separate envelopes. Grandma and I do like to have them to see how you are both getting on. Sorry to hear you have been poorly Carol but do hope you will be better by the time this letter reaches you – you must not be ill you know when we come to see you next week or you will not be able to show us round Ruislip. You are writing very nicely now Susan and my word you can write a lot of words already – keep it up little girl learn all you can and then help Carol at home before she starts school.

Now for Mummy and Daddy’s letter – sorry to hear Carol still under the weather – is it anything to go to Doctor for?* Hope she will soon be alright again. Susan quite well by the sound of it and doing very well at school and we note from her letter she is now in the primary class at Sunday school. Her writing is very good.

So Mum’s drawing gave you the idea of horses in garage – regret to say it was “mouses” not horses -some drawing. Suspected there was an odd one or two about so set trap and caught four in five nights since when no further success so think I have eliminated the first of the seasons invasion from the field. The trap however is still set waiting for them.

Thank you very much for confirming Thursday the 12th in will be alright for us to come up. We shall leave here not later than 8 a.m. and – all being well – shall make only one stop stop for coffee en route. Intend to come by the new route if weather satisfactory otherwise by an old and well-known route. If June would prefer it we could have lunch en route and arrive early afternoon. Nice of you to have Friday off to be with us – better still if you can manage Thursday afternoon but don’t overdo the time off on our account – you may be glad of an odd hour or so yourself at another date. Mum and I are both looking forward to seeing and being with you all again for a few days and we hope weather will be favourable. Must start to sorting out the various things to bring up. I have the list by me that was made out when you were all here in August. Will try and include a few apples.

Yes it is general throughout the country regarding shortage of apples and as most of them blossomed fairly well can only conclude frost affected the trees at the critical moment. Cannot really grumble about it as we have done exceedingly well for many years. Note the cuttings now removed from polythene bags are all in good order. The holes on the leaves of the rose would be due to one of several things – slugs – butterflies – minute flies or even whitefly. Should put slug bait down and syringe or dust leaves with DDT.

The new African violets should if they mature be same colour as parent plant.

The latest figures for produce here are runner beans 288 lbs tomatoes 235 lbs. Looks as if we shall be able to bring up practically the last of the tomatoes. I want to get plants out of greenhouse for chrysanths to go in. In fact I may be too late by the time we get home again on the 16th.

It is the other way around with broad beans – those planted in the autumn are less liable to blackfly than those sown in the spring. We had very very little trouble in this respect this year and as soon as I spotted any I pinched the shoot of each plant out.

Yes I think you may be right about the new motorway crossing the Moor Road by the pottery and then straight across the Clevedon-Yatton Road but everybody including Town Council officials are eager for more details. A bit of excitement for the ‘locals’ for once. The traders are delighted of course anything to come etc etc.

Your remarks on the Paddington Yard Scheme and of Beeching’s visit and Curry’s meeting with McDonald most interesting but where does it lead? What is next move so far as Beeching concerned or is he satisfied with the manner of progress?

Had a letter from Don this week he said three of his signalman (one each from Creech Junction, Cogload and Durston) resigned same day to start work in a cellophane factory at Bridgwater. Incidentally Don also said he had won a £25 premium Bond in the September draw (unto them that hath etc).

I remember now June mentioned the Hawkeswoods some time ago and we identified them as the one I knew. Noted it was no slip of typewriter re: Peter’s new girlfriend. How does June like this one?

Gull House is still partially in existence and the name you are trying to remember is Hancock.

Yes a bit mixed up I’m afraid but it is the couple next door (Cummings’ house) who have celebrated their first anniversary; Mum and I generally refer to them as ‘the newlyweds’.

Glad to hear June has made a start with the L-plates. Best wishes June for good motoring in due course. Sunday morning even in Ruislip about as good a time as any for a bit of practice. Sunday afternoons in recent weeks has seen a tremendous rush of cars on the road towards Clevedon and Weston. I’d sooner be indoors when it’s like that.

Had a letter from Tiverton last Friday inviting us to Tiverton and Exmouth this coming weekend but in view of close proximity to a visit to you we have said we would rather leave it until next May.

Referring to L-plates again must say we saw Susan’s drawing of one on the envelope of her letter and the word ‘Mummy’ written against it. Doesn’t miss much does she?

Have been busy recently hedge-cutting again. The growth has been fairly thick since the rain came. The lawns to have had to be dealt with and as for weeds well they seem to come up by the million.

Have the decorators have finished at West Drayton? And how are Mr and Mrs Baker keeping? Noted Pauline with you last weekend – the girls were pleased I’m sure.

No more now. All our love to you both and more kisses for Susan and Carol.

Mum and Dad.

*Short answer, probably not. “Oh, whoops, her leg’s dropped off!” would scarcely have been enough, since June was firmly convinced to Doctor didn’t know what he was talking about and neither did anybody else…

Eva to the family on the remaining three-quarters of a sheet of Leonard’s paper:

 Dear Alec June Susan and Carol,

Many thanks for the nice drawings from the children. Susan writes very well doesn’t she? Did she do the drawing of Carol? I hope the children’s colds will be gone by the time we arrive.

I think we will take our lunch and eat it on the way as I’m not sure what time we arrive, then you won’t have to worry about us.

You ought to have seen Dad and I on Monday. I thought of the feathers you wanted so we humped the featherbed down and pushed back the feathers in the centre and I attacked and cut it as best I could then I tacked up what I am bringing and threw away the rest – not too bad really only a few feathers which I promptly put cleaner on. The people at at Martindale** [?] are coming in in November.

The harvest festival went off alright. Dad had to go four times as vicar wanted choir for children’s gift service. Glad we are going to have a few days must say I can do with them.

Love from Mum and Dad.

Pictures of a telephone a vase of flowers a fruit basket the cake stand and a clock.

**I have no idea who ‘the people at Martindale’ may be, unless they are carpet cleaners or something. A quick Google seems to indicate that ‘Martindale’ is a well-established surname in Clevedon and may possibly represent a family of house builders.