Wednesday 3rd August, 1960

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Leonard to the family [on reverse of Table 164, NEWPORT, HEREFORD and SHREWSBURY – HEREFORD, WORCESTER and WOLVERHAMPTON – Saturdays continued and Sundays]:

Dear Alec, June, Susan and Carol

Many thanks for letter received on Tuesday with all the news. Glad to hear the girls are better again now and hope Carol will soon get over the nightly upset.

We thought Susan would remember the kitten but Carol – as you say – is just that bit too young for a retentive memory. The only new cafe on the beach is the one with the kitten which of course you visited once or twice – we have certainly not found another. Susan coming on with her alphabet – shows she is interested which is a good sign.

No I did not know Norman Smith – Geoff also mentioned him in his letter but I was not aware he was a former colleague of yours. Sorry to hear about June’s uncle Will. I see according to the magazine issued about three years ago giving photograph of all five that he is the eldest and would be about 76 now. Hope you had better news of him over the weekend.

Incidentally except for Sunday night the weather was quite good this end. We went up to Griffiths’ place Sunday afternoon and in early evening they took us out to some famous rose gardens at Almondsbury. Unfortunately the gardens were closed but we had a good view of the roses from the roadway.*

On Monday Mr and Mrs Newman came down for the afternoon with their two nieces who are on holiday from Harefield. They left about 9.15 p.m. in order to get home before the crush after closing time. Tomorrow (Thursday) we join them at Bristol for a coach tour to Symonds Yat hence the start of your letter today.

Note you are busy shaping things up for garage – am afraid I cannot help with the problem of how to keep Susan & Carol off ‘the works’ but surely they cannot do any damage?

Very interested to read about your interview with Pattison, but who is Cecil Moore? Presumably the B.J.C. rep in charge of the investigation in South Wales. It could have course have been one of the Littlewoods Pools brothers and would have been a very good contact. It was strange that things would work out so following your application – might do a bit of good. Did your application go forward, or was it too late by the time Baynton-Hughes got back to his desk? Who is George Jenkins? Cannot say I heard of him when at Bristol. Anyhow good luck to you on this work and it may result in something good for the future.

Gardening this end following usual pattern for time of year. Still plenty of runner beans available and have picked over the half hundredweight now. Also no trouble to sell tomatoes – beetroot & carrot, lettuce etc. Raspberries are finished and this morning I made a second row of the new sort Malling Promise. Have also put in sleepers to form edgeof path in extension of the concrete one between greenhouse and frames – am making a Nursery bed immediately beyond greenhouse where I find the soil is very good. Already I’ve transplanted about 90 cauliflower plants there also carnation cuttings and the potted cinerarias. Cannot proceed further however until a big heap of hay has been burnt or rotted down. Expect you remember one of my mounds of hay was built up at this point.

Understand Mrs Drewett’s house up for sale – think figure asked is £2,500** but cannot imagine anyone giving this for it in the condition it is in at the moment. There is great activity in Cummings’ old house now – the back door has been taken down and replaced by a window and the door will be rehung at the back where the original window was sited. Lawns fron and back have been cut but nothing done to garden yet.

The pond appears to be steady just now at about 1″ deep in the shallow portion and if this proves permanent it indicates slight leak in the sides of the pond and should not be a difficult job to put right.

Note you have not had an response to your advert for car so far and that you are thinking of putting an ‘ad’ in local press. May be a bit difficult to get rid of but must see what Press can do.

Has June heard any more from Insurance people re: necklace? – hope that part of it will be settled satisfactorily. I am afraid I shall get nothing for burst pipes as it was obviously due to ordinary wear and tear.

Well I think this is about all for another week but understand Mum will write a line following our outing on Thursday to let you know how we got on.

All our love to you both and lots of kisses for darling Susan & Carol.

Mum & Dad

*Not sure where this was; Berwick Lodge apparently used to have a formal sunken rose garden but this has disappeared in the interim; however given the lay of the land it’s very unlikely this could be seen from the road. I suspect instead it may have been an earlier incarnation of what is now Almondsbury Garden Centre.

**Just under £59,000 in present-day money. Zoopla has the average present-day value for houses in that road as £335,000 – down 6% since the start of the pandemic.

Sunday 31st July, 1960

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Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Many thanks for letter, punctual as usual. Glad you liked Susan’s effort. She is always writing or cutting up pictures now. To-day I had to set out the alphabet for her to copy but I do not think she got very far. They are both pretty well now but we are having regular disturbances from carol. She is very good with her potty during the day and fetches it when in garden rather than wet herself, and we think that this business in the night is the same cause but in this case she can not get out to get pot and anyway is too sleepy to realise it.

I told Susan about the visit you paid to the cafe with Uncle Joe and she remembered the little cat. I questioned Carol about events on her holiday but already she is quite vague about it. She remembers who she stayed with but has got most of the other details mixed up. Not surprising I suppose, she is still very young.*

Pity about the weather on the occasion of the visit. I expect Joe and Lydia were glad of the break and were able to see something of the district.

Yes I thought Geoff would be writing to tell you about Insall. I cannot say I was totally surprised as he told me some time ago how serious it was. Unfortunately I do not think many people believed him when he told them how serious it was. He had told so many in the past that it seemed like just another tale. I am very sorry it has happened as a few years ago I would have said he would outlast many.

You would not have known Norman Smith I think, one of my former colleagues from Staff Section of the D.O.S.O.. he died suddenly the previous week. No record of illness or pain.

You do not say if you like the New Cafe on the beach. We did not go into it when we were down.

Further alternations to garden and precincts have involved the complete removal of the old shed and extension. Car can now back straight in and stand on the concrete in clear of the new “five-barred” gate. The stage is now set for marking out the ground and setting up the shuttering. How I am going to keep the kids off it thought is another matter. Have also removed the unsightly barricade of wood and string at the foot of the left hand back lawn. To stop kids getting at the Chrysants and the veg I have fixed a low gate at the end of the concrete path hinged on the fence guarding the veg and a short fence from the gate to end wall. All three lawns were cut this week-end and do not look too bad after all the rain we have had. The clover has grown rapidly and gives a nice dark green colour. I have written to the council for permission to erect the garage and have received from them two forms to fill in and request for two plans. The accident to the beacon occurred some time ago and the plant has had time to grow three more shoots which now have the makings of buds at the extremes. Quite an armful of beans you managed to pick for Elford. So far I have picked seven beans off the dwarfs. My tomatoes are doing well and I have cut off the lower leaves and shortened the upper ones to enable the sun to get at the fruit. Pond seems as if it may be partially corrected. Have to wait and see.

I note Geoff’s theory about applications for vacancies but I cannot wholly subscribe to it.  He may be right of course but I consider such a situation fantastic.  There must be something seriously wrong with an organisation wherein routine matters can be dealt with only when the boss is in good health.  Note the following  carefully.  I made out my application for the B.T.C. job (1095) on 26th July and placed it on Baynton-Hughes’s desk.  He was away and did not return until Friday 29th so that application stayed there untouched.  On 27th Mr Pattisson called me in for a chat. He said that the work of the Terminal Committee was now at a low ebb and Mr Barnes would be away for some time on other work. As Barnes had taken with him three members of his ( Mr Pattissons) Research Section he was in a difficult position for covering some of the outstanding work and asked how I would react to giving him a hand.  I made the appropriate replies and retired.  Later I was called again and in the presence of Cecil Moore was handed the papers of a job to do part time in addition to keeping the Terminal stuff going.  This new job is a new method of Controlling Wagons by continuous record.  It is hoped to get a tight and accurate check on all wagons eventually but for the time being the job is being developed experimentally by a Joint B.T.C. and W.R. Team who have already run two pilot tests at Tondu and now have to prepare a scheme for the whole of the Cardiff District and introduce it in January.  In connection with this job I shall be working closely with reps from the B.T.C. and have already met and spoken informally with the head of the Operational Research Section of the B.T.C. He is aware that I have been assigned to the job, but what no one has of rumbled yet is the fact that my application of the 26th was for a post in his Section.  The work will entail frequent visits to Cardiff and I may have to spend some time there. They have co-opted of the Cardiff men to assist us, none other than George Jenkyns – retired and back as a Class Four or Three Clerk.  (Be kind to your office boy etc.)

We heard to-day that Uncle Will had a stroke about ten days ago.  June’s Dad only heard to-day.  Can not imagine why he was not told earlier.  We do not now how bad it is but there is some evidence of a little mental confusion.  We hope to hear more to-morrow when Mr and Mrs Baker are expected to tea.

Sorry to learn about Rebecca’s fracture.  Must phone Geoff.  Sorry I was 20 short on the car number.  That makes us quits.  Note you have found another source of jars.  I believe that you can buy cider direct from the firms in those jars now.  Have so far had no response to advert in shop windows for car.  If nothing this week we shall have to put one in local press.

Well there it is for this week. Hope you are both feeling o.k..  Love from us all.

*27 months; probably not quite up to such a detailed interrogation.

200th post!

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Crikey, this seems to have come round quickly – so quickly, in fact, that I hadn’t actually prepared anything for it. However when I was trying to sort out the mis-dating of the family photos recently I stumbled across a little snippet of family-related news which is definitely worth including here – no matter how distant the actual relationship may be.

So, let’s start with an explanation. You’ll have figured out by now that Leonard’s wife, Eva, had a brother named Joe. Joe, married to Lydia, lived in the fascinating house in Shelly Road, Exmouth, which fell a victim to the Council bulldozer in the 1970s.

Family at Tiverton, 1960

This picture, taken by either June or Eva*, shows Lydia in the centre with her grand-daughter Claire on her lap and Joe standing behind her. Joe is flanked by (left) his son-in-law Eric Shapland and (right) Eric’s father Harold Shapland. On either side of Lydia are her daughter Pat (left), and Alec (right), and on the front row are Susan, Kay Shapland, and Carol.

Harold Shapland was a bit of a minor celebrity and actually a good deal younger than he looks in this photo – he didn’t turn sixty until a few months later – and among his other achievements he was a commentator on bowls for both BBC radio and television.

Eric, although apparently not sharing his passion for bowls, certainly followed him in local politics. It was while attempting to verify the identification of the men in this photo as Harold and Eric that I stumbled across Eric’s recent obituary. Our families had lost touch over the years, but clearly Eric was a very popular man in the Tiverton area and his passing will leave a considerable gap.

I wrote a letter on 20 July which I hoped would reach a member of the family eventually, and by coincidence had a message via this page from one of Eric’s daughters a day or two later. I replied by e-mail but haven’t had any further response, although it would be nice to join up another loose end and exchange family news.

*Likely, I think, to be June, who is obviously missing from the photo. This was almost certainly a day trip from Clevedon, and if we left one adult behind everyone else would fit into Leonard’s car; Eva, therefore, despite the visit being to her brother, would no doubt have ‘stayed behind to get the dinner’. The only exception might have been if June was unwell and had opted out, allowing Eva to go instead, but Eva was not exactly a reliable hand with a camera and I honestly don’t think this is her work!

Thursday 28th July, 1960

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Leonard to the family [on the reverse of Table 164; WOLVERHAMPTON, WORCESTER and HEREFORD – SHREWSBURY, HEREFORD and NEWPORT; Mondays to Fridays continued and Saturdays]:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Many thanks for another long and interesting letter not forgetting Susan’s effort which was quite good. We hope they are both improving now. Tell Susan we went to the Cafe with Uncle Joe and Aunt Lydia last Saturday morning and saw the little brownish coloured kitten again – it was running all over the place & has grown a bit since you were all there. Of course we saw the model train and Mobo toys too but I’m sure they will still be here when Susan & Carol come back to Clevedon next time. Sorry to hear Carol has difficulty again at night and can only hope she will grow out of it.

A letter from Geoff yesterday included the sad news of Ken Insall’s death at age 52. I knew he had a bit of heart trouble but never imagined it was so serious.

We had your p.c. last Saturday giving alteration to telephone exchange and have duly noted in our book – thanks.*

Joe & Lydia duly arrived on Friday but weather was not very kind. Did manage to get out and about in one or two dry spells but Saturday morning it properly poured down and we were glad to escape into the New Cafe along the beach from which visibility out into the Channel was practically nil. Sunday evening we took them to Weston to catch 6.15 p.m. thence home but before that we went along the Front. Although it was drizzling there were thousands of people about and where you parked you car under wall was one big mass of cars almost as far as you could see.** We were glad to get out of it and on our way home after departure of 6.15 p.m. They had a good time however and made the most of the short time here.

Our water supply has not changed since pipes were renewed – quite a force with it. Have not had to use hose since either owing to volume of rain which has fallen.

Note your comments re various items of gardening at Ruislip – yes I think the Beacon variety of Chrysanth is a very brittle one and requires careful handling. If yours has broken off keep part still in soil as it will continue to grown & eventually flower. Picked 25lbs runner beans today and took them to Elford and also had 2lb over for ourselves – only picked from three sides out of the four rows so reckon there must be another 6 or 7lbs for Saturday’s picking. Tomatoes coming along nicely and now on sale. There is still about 1″ depth of water in shallow part of the pond and I’m just wondering if it has now sunk as far as it is going to. The continuous rain however prevents a correct diagnosis at the moment.

Talking about vacancy applications Geoff tells me that he has not heard (nor anyone else) about applications put in in early part of June – due he says to Pickford being off ill. Query if same cause delaying Work Study jobs. Note you applying for one in B.T.C. – shall be interested to know of any response.

Position also noted re: plums – quite understood so do not bother further.

Geoff says that a fortnight ago today Rebecca fell down when taking part in a school Drama and broke a bone in her wrist and Dr put it in plaster which will have to remain for about six weeks. Just hoping it will be alright again when they start holidays. Carol evidently likes playing with Timmy but whatever has caused her to start biting? Is her teeth still troubling her?

Position re car appreciated and whatever happens this end we will keep L.T.A. 259 until you are ready for it. Whatever you do don’t make the payment of £100 a No 1 priority. You may want the money for other major items and as mentioned in previous letters we shall be quite pleased to await your convenience. We are very glad for you to have the car and feel certain it will give you years of service – perhaps until the time you can afford a new one.*** As you know it is a 1949 model but has had good handling throughout its life and has not been overrun. Have heard nothing more from Mr Payne since I last wrote.

Shall think of you for the next weekend or so preparing site for garage – will also give you a bit of much needed shed room.

I don’t know about cherry cider – it would take a lot of cherries to make a little.

Today when I was round Elford’s I saw a gallon glass jar with handles (almost identical to the Fermentation Glass Jar we bought in London) which had contained malt vinegar so asked Elford if any chance of buying it. He said if I gave him the 2/- deposit charged on these jars I could have it. It is now in garage cleaned and filled with cold water for storage purposes.

Very sorry to hear about George Woodberry – he was a pretty keen Inspector but very nice at all times.

Well I think this must be the lot this time.

All our love to you both and again lots of kisses for those two dear little girls.

Mum & Dad

*At this time we and all our neighbours were transferred from the old Swakeleys exchange to a new one called Viking [now the 845 London area code]. The reason for this is probably that the old Swakeleys exchange was no longer up to the job; we had certainly been on a party line (of three, originally, I believe) when the phone was first installed, due to the lack of infrastructure. Of course these were pre-digital times – even pre-STD – so the party line calls probably went through an operator; I remember there were different patterns of ‘rings’ for everyone who shared the line.

**It’s only a guess, but I would imagine this was the far southern end of the beach at Weston close to what is now Broadoak School – which Alec had attended in its former existence as Weston Grammar School and which was much later also attended by his one and only grandchild, Robin.

***Alec never in his life had a ‘new’ (i.e. the current year’s) car. He could well have afforded it, but honestly didn’t see the point; good second-hand was always good enough for him – and for at least one of his daughters, too.

Sunday 24th July, 1960

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Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Both your letters duly arrived and assimilated. Carol managed to tear Mothers into pieces before I had even seen it but was able to get the idea. June has already replied.

The girls are rather better and at times it is difficult to say there is much wrong with them. They both have very runny noses and Susan has a very coarse loose cough. Carol has a job breathing at night and has had us out a couple of times. During the day however they do get around and into the usual mischief. There is a lot of unidentifiable illness this end too. All sorts of people complain of aches and pains, sore throats etc and we even had a couple of flu victims in June. This on top of the weather or in result of it is just about the limit.

Very sorry to hear that Mr Newman has not enjoyed good health lately also Jack Richins. All part of the same story no doubt.

Your luck with the water pipe seems to have run out at last. I think it was many years ago that the first signs in the Avenue became apparent and you really were fairly lucky. Good job to get done despite the upheaval to path asphalt etc. Have you noticed any improvement/deterioration in the quality of the water. Re garden, I see I have one prospec­tive pumpkin at last at the end of about two feet of plant. Saw two fair-sized beans on the dwarfs but one had been heavily attacked by slugs. Pulled two fair sized beets in the week which June threw away due to worm infestation. Runners going up the string well and shewing flower in many places. Chrysants all healthy after the rain. I believe the plant of mine that had the top drop off was the Beacon. There may be some special weakness in that strain.

June had feeling she brought the tweezers home with her but as they were not to be seen this end some doubt arose. As you have no trace your end they could be anywhere. Not worth bothering about.

Have some outdoor tomatoes now about half inch diameter. We want some sun now to ripen. A thought occurred to me to-day that your sweet/sour cherries would make a good cider. I know it is always made from apples but its an idea.

Looks as though the pond is a repeat failure. You will have to apply waterglass as in the first case.

No news about Divisional Jobs and as far as I can ascertain no one else knows. John Welchman phoned from Mold Jcn L.M.R. last week fishing for news. The LMR people have told him that as he has not heard yet it is probable that he has not got one. Manning also applied and he has not heard yet. I think there is a deep game being played, with the players themselves liable to be called away to other duties at any time. I have no doubt that a lot of things will happen shortly but the order in which they happen will determine good luck or bad luck for the person affected. My own view is a bird in the hand which protects from an unlucky gamble. Will have a go at one in the B.T.C. this week. Bristol would do much better to start appointing their Work Study teams and put Weston and Palmer back to work. Former can do the same work much more thoroughly, quickly and cheaply.

Re Mums call for some plums. That will be very difficult now as I have lost my contacts at Worcester where we used to get them from. The last lot old Parkins got for me. If I hear of any being arranged I will get some but it is a bit remote.

Re your car. We accept your offer of L.T.A. 239 at £100 ( One Hundred ). I have been clearing away the site of the new garage. This has involved the construction of something like an elongated five barred gate to swing over in front of the car. With this in place I can remove the rest of the shed and extension which previously served also to keep children safely inside the garden. With the site finally cleared which should be effected next week-end, I can proceed with concreting of the base. This could be done in one week-end but say two for good measure. The site has to be examined by the surveyor. Allow another three weeks for delay. Add up to two months from then for permission from council to be obtained plus say fortnight for delivery of garage and another week end for erection. All this adds up to about 17 weeks before we could have a kennel ready for the car. It could be quicker of course if luck goes with us, but having regard to the time Gray was delayed waiting for his, it may not be far out. I would not like to take delivery and keep it out of doors. That is not the way to start after the careful maintenance it has had. You may use up a lot of this time yourselves waiting for your new one but doubt if it will be that long. If worst came I could arrange for Garage to hold it for me unless you have other ideas. We would expect to be able to clear off debt by the Spring 1961. In view of the recent cuts in prices of Vauxhalls I should not be surprised if Payne does not find one of those for you. Gray is satisfied with his, and I have no complaints. When you consider the conditions under which ours is kept it behaves remarkably well.

We went over to West Drayton this afternoon after Susans Sunday School. She wrote her name to-day ( copy enclosed ). We were not with her at the time and she brought it to us. Later she also wrote Carol, She knows how to spell them. Best joke lately was heard from Carol. She was playing with Timmy the cat when she said “Lie down and go to sleep Timmy and I will wake you up “. It is not recorded what Timmy thought of that idea. She has got the bad habit of biting people and poor Susan has some nasty teeth marks on chest and shoulder. We bite her back to cure*. Hope it works. Perhaps we should feed her occasionally.

Heard this week that George Woodberry is very ill with cancer. Not expected to last more than a few weeks. No very exciting news at Paddington other than the withdrawal of Barnes to help Dudley Hart to resolve the bad freight position in the Midlands, He will be away for some very long time as you may expect. This is a joint W.R./L.M.R. job with Hart in charge. There are three 0.0. Research bods including Ted Arkle detached plus a squad of 34 Traffic Analysis boys from both Regions. He hopes to keep tabs on the Terminal Committee but I feel he is calculating on too much leeway from Hart. Well there it is for now. Hope you are both fit. Love from us all till next week.

*Interesting that the tune changed considerably over time to ‘you must have been doing something to upset her’, which later morphed into the notion that I was habitually cruel to (a) Carol and (b) animals. And ‘biting her back to cure’ was not something I personally ever attempted.

Thursday 21st July, 1960

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Leonard to the family [on the reverse of Table 164, Wolverhampton, Worcester and Hereford – Shrewsbury, Hereford and Newport, both directions, Saturdays and Sundays]:

Dear Alec, June, Susan & Carol

Many thanks for both your letters duly received on Tuesday but we were very sorry to hear the girls were poorly with colds again although from June’s letter they appeared to be a bit better on Monday – hope we get better news next time also that June herself did not develop the cold.

When we went to Bristol last week found that Mr Newman had recently had a fortnight in bed with bronchitis and now we hear indirectly that Richings is off at Weston with lumbago. In this area there seems to be a lot of minor illnesses at the moment with throat and nose trouble – may be due to that long spell of dry weather.

Sorry to hear about June’s father & mother and hope they both will be alright soon. I expect they could do with a rest but unable to leave the shop – am afraid this is one of the biggest drawbacks of having your own business unless you can leave it in charge of someone you can rely on for short breaks.

Note June has been busy knitting for the children – they keep you going one way and another. Don’t expect they have been outdoors much this week for the storms have been frequent and extremely heavy – could get wet through in one of them even running from bottom of your garden to house.

Mother was able to tell you in her letter our water pipe gave out at last. About the middle of last week I suspected it as could hear water running in the pipes in the house with all taps turned off then on Saturday morning moisture started to seep up through the ashphalt path between Porch (outside kitchen) and shed. I went down to Stan James & brought him back in car to confirm burst and turn off water at the main (outside front gate). He left the water key so we could turn on for a few minutes occasionally to fill up receptacles and came along on Monday with his brother Frank and another man and dug out a new trench from front gate to kitchen. The old pipe was cut off at each and and left in ground. Water recommenced at about midday Tuesday and trench refilled by 5.0 p.m. Now and again work had to be stopped because of heavy storms but they certainly made a good job of it and now the earth must settle down before ashphalting over.

Note your gardening news Alec and we are glad the Budleias are coming on nicely as you were particularly anxious to succeed with them. You seem to be pestered with more slugs than me although some of them have been taking a fancy to winter cabbage plants here.

Still no sign of tweezers – has June any idea where last seen? Could then have another search.*

We are still picking raspberries and runner beans and the first two tomatoes were picked on Tuesday since when we have gathered another eight. It is obvious the others are turning colour and we shall be selling by end of week. The cherry wine I racked off this morning and put under fermentation lock and just now I noticed it was working well. Shallots and onions have been harvested – dried and stored. The pond is nearly down to the shallow level but the rain is delaying the final lap.

So you have had no further news of any of the Divisional jobs – has anyone else heard yet? Or have any interviews taken place? Note your additional application for job on LMR – just lets them know you are in the running for something.

Miss Sperrings** came down to tea on Tuesday and said things were still very busy and chaotic at Bristol and that Charlie Rust had as much as he could do to keep going. Weston & Palmer (relief staff) are out of their old job of staff cutting again apparently.

Re: car I do not know if Mr Payne has full knowledge of the examination of your car – should doubt if he was told but you know more about the construction of it than I do and if it is as you say any defects would – I should think – be revealed gradually. Anyhow I’m sure you would be wise to make a change as soon as possible. Could not quite make out your remark that you would not be ready to take over a good car until the Spring. If we change ours it will be in the next month or so when second hand car prices are most favourable. If you managed to sell yours soon what would you do until the Spring? I suspect difficulty in garaging – is this so? So far as we are concerned even before you told us of defect in yours Mum and I had talked over a change and the possibility of your liking to have ours for minimum cost. We would rather you have it than let it go to strangers because it is such a good car.

If you can I should get garage put up – there is no worry about starting to pay us for car until you are in a position to do so – that is of course if you decide to have it.

Payne is on the lookout for us and we may hear from him anytime – this does not mean we should take first one offered – it must be a good one before we buy.

Well this is all for now – hope to get better news of you all next letter.

All our love to you and again lots of kisses for Susan & Carol.

Mum & Dad

*The fuss these tweezers are causing is surely out of all proportion to their value. I just want to slap June and tell her to get another pair; clearly they’ve fallen into the bin and been thrown away by accident, or something. Or is she perhaps fretting about the tweezers because she knows the pearls are a lost cause? It’s not impossible, I suppose.

**Miss Sperring may perhaps have been Leonard’s secretary when he was Station Master at Bristol Temple Meads. A lady who had formerly been his secretary turned up at his funeral in 1986, along with a small handful of other ex-colleagues. Considering that Leonard retired in the late 1950s, this is very impressive loyalty from all concerned.

Sunday 17th July, 1960

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Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Thank you once again for letter which arrived on the nail. Note your opening remark last time was re weather and can do no worse than repeat for this time. It has been shocking. This week-end has been especially bad. There was a long enough spell of dry weather on Saturday to enable me to out all three lawns but since then the Heavens have opened. During the night it was continuous heavy downpour and gutters had difficulty in carrying it away fast enough although they are not blocked.

The children have both picked up bad colds from that awful child over the road who only took five minutes to hand it over.* Susan is worse than Carol but she is a couple of days ahead. Susan has an ulcerated throat and coughs frequently but so far Carol has only suffered from catarrah blocking the nose. I say only , but that is enough thank you as she had us awake most of Friday night. Last night it was Susan coughing her head of, and the rain. To-day they seem to be much brighter although misbehaving very badly.

I must tell you that yesterday morning I went in to Carols room and asked her how she was, to which she replied – “Go on toy train to-day Daddy and Mobo toys”. Susan has just been put to bed and I asked her what she wanted me to say to you in letter and her reply was ” Tell Grandma and Grandad we have got colds “.

All my Chrysants have recovered thank you but they have all lost their shapes a bit, I am afraid that due to inadequate staking they are losing that nice ‘straight stemmed’ appearance. I have no doubt that the flowers will be just as good though. Sorry your Beacon was damaged. The one I have seems to be the best of the bunch so far and has made as good a stem as the Dwarf Rose. We have flowers on the Dwarf Beans and one or two pods appearing. The runners are moving fast now and I expect some flowers shortly. The pumpkin still as before. The Dahlias are nearly all in flower now and make a picture. We are cutting them as fast as we can but there are always more to come. Some of the Cosmos is in flower and I expect yours will be shortly. Both the Budleias are moving now and promise to grow into respectable plants. Your stocks are beginning to flower but I appear to have lost some as cannot see nearly as many as I planted. The slugs have had all my lettuce and I have put in some fresh. Put salt on the tails of thirty or more the previous week and put down some slugit over the newly planted out lettuce. This latter has accounted for considerable number of slugs who were after the young shoots but I am afraid it will now have been washed away by the rain.

Note the tweezers still absent. Do not worry about them, they could be anywhere.

Sorry to hear about Joe Dunsdon, I remember him well. You certainly seem to have quite a round of visits pending. I hope they all prove to be enjoyable.

No further developments on “Pearls” other than a tentative telephone offer. We await a proper communication from them. Wembley is not very far from us, could not say the exact mileage but guess it to be about four to five miles. There are several ways to get there and as it is a very busy road it is as well to take the route that points the car in the direction you wish to travel. You can go North to South from Harrow or in the reverse direction from Sudbury, or arrive from the West from Greenford, Parking facilities are very poor and Wembley High Road is a very long one so you see the difficulties. We walked the children quite a long way from the point where we left the car.

The initial move with the car has produced no result so will take the next step of putting a card in a shop window. Did Mr Payne know the actual condition of the car? I do not doubt his word of course but this type of car has the chassis and body of Integral construction. That means that it has no chassis pure and simple but that all stresses and strains are taken up by all parts including the roof. That being so I would not have thought that a break in part of the undercarriage in such a car would be so damaging as if it occurred in one where the chassis was the sole means of support. It all comes to the same thing however, it is due for a move on. Note your very generous offer of the car under terms extremely favourable to us. I may be wrong but I have a feeling that were it not for our situation, you would not want to change your car. We are all aware that it is in excellent condition, will give several years good service yet, and it suits you. It is possible that you could get a car which after a while you began to dislike, and have all the additional expense in the bargain, With the gradually falling market you are probably not far out in the estimate of its present value but I should say that the condition would raise it to £225 at least. The next point to make is that we should not want to take over a good car until some time in the Spring when we are ready for it. Well there it is, we should be fools not to accept so fine an offer but the real hinge of the matter is if you really need a new car, and can be supplied with one that you both like. We have some time now on both sides to see how the situation works out. Perhaps you will let us know in due time what you have decided to do.

Well to pass on to other matter, there has been no news of the applications I have outstanding. This week I put in for a 1260 to 1400 in the LNR General Managers Office ( Stationed in the Provinces). It will stir things a bit. It is always a good thing to follow an application with a good possible alternative two grades higher. It may be out of reach but it could help to apply a little pressure on our own people. If I get it it will be well worth having anyway, I have been very patient with them and given them every opportunity of making their bid for my services. If they start getting reluctant I shall have to put more eggs in more baskets.

We had a Work Study Conference on Thursday and Friday but I am afraid it was a waste of time.

Well there it is for now. Hope you are both keeping well. love from us all for now.

*I can’t make any suggestions as to who Alec might have meant here; our neighbours across the road were a family called ‘Brades’ or ‘Braids’ who had two children, Pat and Peter, and I don’t remember either one of them being ‘awful’. Peter was older than us anyway, and a boy, so it wouldn’t have been him. Maybe someone else lived there before the Brades/Braids moved in.

The Mystery of the Missing Pearls

On By Sue JenkinsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
Sunday 20 June 1960: Poets’ Walk, Clevedon

So, although I’ve mentioned it before, this was how one dressed for a Sunday afternoon walk in Clevedon in 1960. In my collection of old photos this image is dated 1961, but we’ll come to that in a moment.

Loss of the pearls

It was not possible to go out walking on a Sunday afternoon in, say, shorts, tee-shirt and sandals; it was necessary to be ‘properly dressed’, because the object of the exercise was to look as if one had been to church that day, even if one had not. Nor was any music (other than of a sacred nature) allowed to be heard escaping from one’s home. Nor were children to be seen and heard playing out in the garden, and no housework was to be undertaken except cooking. (Think of the scandal if the neighbours heard the Hoover or the washing-machine; think how awful it would be if anyone was hammering or sawing on a Sunday!)

If you think those stultifying scenes of home life in ‘Pirate Radio’/’The Boat That Rocked’ are exaggerated, think again; not every household worked that way, but some certainly did.

Leonard, of course, as the son of a very religious mother, attended church every Sunday. He was captain of the bell-ringing team for many years, also in the choir, and was I believe a church warden as well. Eva was a stalwart of the flower-arranging rota, and the church was always full of chrysanthemums cut from the garden at Devonia. In short, they Had A Position To Maintain – which meant that their guests had to toe the line and dress up for a walk as if they were setting off to meet the Queen; men in suits, women in dresses, children in their best shoes and hair-ribbons. That was just the way they did things in those days.

So, this accounts for the whole family going out for a walk on Sunday dressed to the nines and June wearing her pearls, and as there were two Sundays during the holiday this clearly happened twice – on Sunday 20 and 27 June. The picture with this blogpost must have been taken on Sunday 20 June, because – devastatingly – June’s pearls vanished during a Sunday walk on that trip and were never seen again. She never felt them go – just, one moment they were there and the next they weren’t. That couldn’t have been the same day that the photo was taken, for reasons I’ll list below*, so the pearls must have been lost on Sunday 27 June. As soon as the loss was realised we all turned back – to the top of Church Hill, for those who know Clevedon – and searched; however I’m pretty sure we were all looking for an intact necklace, perhaps with a broken clasp, whereas in retrospect the more likely scenario is that the string broke and the pearls were scattered to the winds. Eventually we gave up and left – whether walking on or turning back I now can’t remember – and the loss would have been reported to the local police, probably by telephone, in the hopes that they might be handed in. They never were, though, and June’s lament ever afterwards was that ‘somebody’s had those’.

In any case, Leonard’s letter makes it clear that they started the ball rolling on an insurance claim when we got home. Whether the eventual payment came up short or not I can’t say – maybe the letters will give some indication – but the money was clearly used for something else; June never had another set of pearls, at any rate, which is a bit sad – but, as they wouldn’t have had any sentimental association if she’d bought them herself – maybe she just didn’t see the need.

And from that day to this, every time I embark on that walk over Church Hill, I’m half looking out for my mother’s pearl necklace; you never know, it might turn up. We recently found a gold ring that had been buried in our garden since the early 1950s, so stranger things have definitely happened! However we also live over 150 miles away now, which cuts down our searching activities a bit.

Photo dating

All the slides in Alec’s collection are dated, by Alec, in his own hand. He used to give slide shows, which we called ‘pictures on the wall’, and this dating would have occurred round about the time he bought the first projector. The date of that is undetermined at the moment, but 1963 or thereabouts might be a reasonable guess.

However, unfortunately, the picture shown – which was clearly taken in June 1960 because the pearls are present – was dated 1961 by Alec. This, in turn, is going to call into question all his other datings – particularly the early ones – which will now have to be re-examined in some detail.

It does, however, mean that the picture taken in Pinner Park, which I used in conjunction with a post about that, was also taken in 1960 rather than 1961. You will note all three of us are wearing virtually identical outfits in the two pictures, which reinforces the status of the park visit – best clothes and best behaviour. How exhausting!

*Reasons for dating this particular picture to the week before:

1. It was taken on a bench on the path between St Andrew’s Church and the clifftop which is known as Poets’ Walk. We would have set off from ‘Devonia’ (then at 8, Tennyson Avenue – later renumbered to 10, Tennyson Avenue) and walked out along Church Road and through the gate at the end, where a path branched up and around the headland. (We flew kites there sometimes, but not of course on Sundays.) We would then come down from Church Hill along Poets’ Walk and returned either through or around the churchyard or – if we had more energy and the weather was good – continued down to The Salthouse Inn and back along the road. (N.B. this probably had something to do with the old superstition about never walking around a church ‘widdershins’, i.e. anti-clockwise!)

In short, Poets’ Walk was after Church Hill where the pearls were lost – and if June is still wearing her pearls at Poets’ Walk then clearly this must have been a different occasion.

2. I have a vivid recollection of what June was wearing when she realised her pearls were missing, and it wasn’t the brown and white dress and cardigan shown in the picture. It was a pale yellow and cream dress which was very flattering on her and set off the pearls to perfection. The obvious inference to draw from this is that the weather was much better on 27 June than it was the Sunday before, but clearly the string the pearls were on was no longer up to the job. June was devastated, but for once she didn’t actually manage to find a way of blaming her children for the loss. There were very few occasions thereafter when that could truly be said to be the case.

Thursday 14th July, 1960

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1960 lettersLeave a comment

Leonard to the family – on reverse of Tables 163: LONDON, OXFORD, KINGHAM, EVESHAM and WORCESTER (both directions); 125: TREHERBERT, PORTH, MERTHYR, ABERCYNON, PONTYPRIDD, CARDIFF, PENARTH, BARRY and BARRY ISLAND (both directions) and 152: LONDON, OXFORD, BANBURY, LEAMINGTON SPA, STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, BIRMINGHAM, WOLVERHAMPTON, SHREWSBURY and CHESTER (Mondays to Fridays – continued):

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Many thanks for letter duly received on Tuesday with all the news and we note you are now settled in once more after your holiday. The weather has certainly been poor since your return although today has been quite nice again. We both think you had a really good journey home – the A4 of course is the quickest route but can be very busy and difficult at times. Glad the children got through satisfactorily – must have made it a bit easier for June.

Hope by this time all the chrysanths have recovered. Since you were here one of my best (and most brittle) the Beacon has been broken off about six inches from pot level and I suspect a bird tried to alight on it so causing the break. Fortunately I have another and must take greater care of it. The rain has improved the crops wonderfully and apart from runner beans and raspberries which are plentiful we are marketing beetroot & marrows and now have carrots & lettuce available.

Before I forget it we have not yet come across the tweezers you mentioned – can June say where she last saw them, Mum will have another search. I myself have put my hand down the backs of the arm chairs and settee in front room without result – it’s really surprising what does disappear in these particular places – pencils, hairgrips, coins and even scissors I’ve found there in times gone by.

We note you did not have a very enjoyable day at Kew – it was a pity the various ‘Houses’ were closed during the period you were there.

Geoff and family duly arrived on Sunday – train about half an hour late at Yatton and whilst I was waiting there a terrific thunderstorm broke over the place but strange to say it was dry overhead when they arrived and remained so with quite a few sunny periods until their departure at 5.0 p.m. We had a nice walk along the Front (nearly to Pier) after dinner & it was quite warm.

Yesterday afternoon we visited Mr & Mrs Newman at Bristol – they had recently returned from a holiday at Harefield (near you). He could tell me that Joe Dunsdon (one of Bristol TM Chief Insps when I was there) had recently died following a stroke. You remember him I expect.

Yes we miss you all very much but have got back to our normal routine. Anyhow we have something to think about especially the nice days at Burnham. I expect both Susan and Carol will remember various incidents of their visit – perhaps the Mobo toys in particular.

As you know we expect Uncle Joe & Aunt Lydia here on the 22nd inst. for a weekend. Then on Bank Holiday Sunday* we have an invitation to visit Griffiths’ (Chief Controller) home and on Bank Holiday itself Mr & Mrs Newman with their two nieces from Harefield are coming here to tea and on Thursday 4th August we go with them on a coach tour from Bristol to Symonds Yat – quite a round of visits etc.

Thank you June for your letter following on Alec’s – we note you have made the first move to recover insurance on your necklace and hope settlement will be satisfactory although we know what the loss meant to you apart from its monetary value.**

Carol has learnt the way to get quick attention alright by her ‘announcements’. How far is Wembley from Ruislip? I cannot remember although on one occasion when on holiday with you Mum & I found ourselves there but did not stop.

Note you have started movement to get rid of car. When I told Mr Payne (Binding & Payne)*** you had got home alright in it he said he was very glad to hear it as anything could happen with a car in that condition.

Mum and I have been talking it over and if you would like to have our car for half of its current value we should be very pleased for you to have it providing Mr Payne can fix us up with something suitable for ourselves. We have already spoken to him and he is on the lookout for us. Our car has been in for attention this past week and it has been given a thorough overhaul including the wireless set which is now A1 again. One small item still to be done but they have to get a spare fitting from Bristol. Actually the car is in excellent condition except that the battery has now gone over its guarantee period of two years and the front wheel tyre (Driver’s side) should be renewed at an early date as it is getting worn. We think its present value is about £200**** but if you would like it – would only ask you to find £100 altogether and this could be handed over in instalments spread over any period – years if you like. It may of course be a little time before we get fixed up ourselves but if you like the idea it seems that your immediate problem would be to get garage erected in readiness.

You must of course please yourselves entirely and if you feel you would rather make a deal locally we shall not mind in the least. In such circumstances we may decide to keep car for our own use. On the other hand if you would like it then we will get Payne to find us another as soon as he can – he is as I’ve already said looking out for us now.

That was a very bad trick by the gang to tear off wipers and aerials & most fortunate your car was absent. Presumably Police have all particulars of damage and taking necessary action. We understand from the Newmans something similar also happening in Bristol.

No more just now – hope you are all keeping fit & well – any news of the applications you sent in yet?

All our love to you and lots of kisses for our darling grand daughters.

Mum & Dad

P.S. Thanks for Horticultural pamphlets.

*Not sure what is going on here as of course there was no Bank Holiday in July; maybe Leonard is getting mixed up with either August or perhaps June (i.e. Whit) which is not at all like him; this out-of-sequence account is very untypical of his usual precision.

**Ah. [Insert sound effect of penny dropping with a very loud clang.] I should explain that I’m not systematically ‘reading ahead’ through these letters, especially the hand-written ones, so have been caught unawares by the revelation that the loss of June’s pearls occurred in 1960, not 1961. However this is what the law refers to as a ‘contemporaneous note’ and cannot possibly be gainsaid – even though it throws other evidence into confusion. It’s of such significance, therefore, that it deserves its own post – so for the time being I will only say that June’s pearls were lost while out for a walk one Sunday afternoon during the holiday in Clevedon, and that we’ll return to the subject shortly.

***Still in existence!

****Roughly £2350 in 2020 currency.

Sunday 10th July, 1960

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1960 lettersLeave a comment

Clearly the holiday in Clevedon was from Thursday 17th June to Sunday 4th July, 1960. Just as clearly, Leonard wrote as usual on Thursday 8th July, but that letter has since been lost. So has everything but the first page of Alec’s reply, which therefore ends abruptly.

Dear Mum and Dad

Thank you for letter which arrived on Saturday. Thank you also for the very nice time we had at Clevedon. We all enjoyed it but of course it was far too short. I agree that the weather was at its best for us, but what a change now. It has been depressing here all day and we have had several heavy thunder showers. As I write it is coming down in sheets. All the time though there is sunshine in the background and for a minute or two it gets quite hot.

As you know by now we got home safely and in good time. We stopped at Chippenham for.quarter of an hour ( pot purposes and to repack back seat of car ) and we got to Marlborough at 9-10am. We popped in to Cafe which was doing a roaring trade. Of course the milk was too hot for the girls to drink right away so we had to wait a while and it was 9-30am before we left.* We found the A4 a better road than the one used for forward journey and without unduly pushing the car we were able to maintain a fairly high speed. We went so well in fact that I decided not to turn off to Henley but to keep on through Reading and Slough. The children meantime were not shewing any signs of discomfort. We turned in at 84 just turned 11-30am**.

I am afraid that grass and hedges were overrun when we got back and due to rain I have not been able to put things right. I managed to cut both the back lawns with mower but before I had a chance to get shears on the tall grasses it started to rain and ground has not dried out since. The lawns now want cutting again. We found all the chrysants alive but a couple had wilted badly. The Budleia are both alive but they had severe checks and are only just now lifting their heads even after all the rain. Slugs have made inroads on the lettuces that have not bolted and altogether that crop is diminishing fast.

I expect you found it quiet after we had gone. No help for it. We were very sorry to hear that Mrs Parker lost her cardigan as indirectly it is our fault. Incidentally June cannot find her tweezers and thinks she may have left them at Devonia – ? any trace.

Sorry we had no tickets for the ‘Great Fire’ would have postponed our holiday a week if we had known. It must be done deliberately. Someone in the Fire Brigade I expect. Note the pond leaks. I feel that had it been filled as soon as set it may have held. As it is the clay may have contracted in the heat but should expand now the wet weather is here. Susan often says little things about “when we were at Clevedon” and I know she would like to go again.

We went out on Monday as arranged but I would not say it was highly successful. We went to Kew Gardens ( my idea ) but after admittance at 10-0 am, we found that all the indoor ‘Houses’ did not open until varying times later in the day. We wandered about looking at trees and shrubs until Midday then got out and had our picnic lunch in the car which was in an outside car-park. Lunch completed we made our way home by circuitous route but it rained heavily so that was no pleasure. I was not very impressed with Kew.

I hope your visitors had good weather to-day but the omens this end are poor.

*Twenty minutes in a cafe, with young children? What a wicked waste of time! I can’t help thinking that Alec, being an efficiency expert by way of a profession, found his children inefficient units and was constantly trying to redesign them. June, on the other hand, wanted matching and obedient dolls without personalities of their own. What a shame.

**That would be a decent journey time even today; Google Earth suggests about 90 minutes from central Marlborough to South Ruislip, via either M4 or M40, for a journey of roughly 70 miles, so Alec is clearly maintaining an average speed of 45 mph or so – maybe slightly more, given that the route he took was via A and B roads which can be assumed to be less direct and to have more obstacles on them in the form of junctions, lights, etc.