Tag: DIY

Tuesday 13th October, 1964

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1964 letters, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Leonard to the family:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Many thanks for letter and cut-out enclosures from the girls duly received first this morning. Very sorry to hear June has been feeling off colour and hope she is better or at least on the mend now. Carol too in the wars again but glad to hear not really serious and hope marks have gone by now.

Yes the fog was a surprise Alec and it was so prolonged. Even after leaving Chippenham on the Marshfield Road cars were approaching us with lights on and we soon found out why as it got thicker the further we travelled. I did not really see the last of it until we reached Keynsham. Clevedon had had no fog but after posting the letter to you saying we had arrived home safely I had hardly got back home when down came the rain and in no small measure either. Since then we have had heavy rain, thunder and lightning, but yesterday and today has seen a return to the Indian summer except for the sharp white frosts in the morning. It has really been glorious and I’ve been able to work outdoors without a coat. Mum has been busy too. Today she dug out all the geraniums in front garden and then dug over the whole plot.

Noted that you have you also have had a great deal of rain and cold weather. I must say your garden was looking very well and the superlap fencing at the bottom makes a wonderful improvement and gives you more ground for shrubs etc. and certainly a lot more privacy. Just as well to be able to get all grown stuff in position as soon as possible to enable it to take root before the winter sets in. Hope June did not catch the chill working in the garden.

Yes there were a few accidents on the road last Monday and I thought the safest place was on the M4. Kept to the slow lane and let all the fast merchants pass as they pleased. It was queer in High Street Langley though – had no idea where I was and had been looking out for the traffic lights for some time. One seems to lose all idea of distance in a fog.

Very interested in your short comment on the journeys to Norwich and Welwyn Garden City. If the opportunity occurs some time in the future should like to run over that section of line between Liverpool Street and Norwich again.

Glad to hear it was possible for you to take Susan to the Brownie sports events and that she took part in the wheelbarrow race. I suppose the change in the weather affected her a little causing the sore throat etc. We actually lit our Rayburn heater on Saturday evening it was so cold and each evening since Mum has lit up after tea. Have not kept it in all night as at present no need.

What a journey you had to pick up your new receiver. This is getting right into the thick of it and I should not like to attempt it. Presumably you part exchanged your old receiver. Obviously when you wrote you had not had a fair test of the new set but shall be pleased to have report in due course. Just as well Peter was about to give you a hand up the ladder with it.

Noted he has his new car and that it is a good one. Seems to have been fortunate in getting a good price for the old one. Let’s hope he does not have much trouble now as he was having with the ?Pathfinder. Very good of Kay to be making something for Carol. Perhaps we shall meet her next time we come to Ruislip.

By the way June I hope you had a dig at someone about that 31 minute sermon. It was our harvest festival last Sunday and I thought about it when our vicar was in the pulpit.

Noted Peter took back the white campanula roots last Saturday. They should keep in good condition as they were practically sealed in the polythene bag.

How did you get on repairing the ceiling? Was the beaver board satisfactory? You certainly put your foot well and truly into it.

Do you remember the Virgins who used to live next door to us at Westbury? We hear Mr Virgin died suddenly last week in Bristol where he and his wife were living in retirement. Only Edna the oldest daughter is living in England (Sheffield). The other two are abroad. All are married. Roy Hewitt came round this afternoon to tell us the news but I had already noted it in evening paper and assumed it was the Virgin we knew at Westbury. Roy is walking very badly again and has to see his specialist tomorrow in Bristol about a larger boot. In a week’s time he has to see another about his hip and the broken pin. Had then them to tea last Friday and it was such a shocking day that I had to fetch them and take them home later. Fortunately it was choir practice night (postponed from Thursday) so took them home about 7 pm. Strange to say it stopped raining about 7:30 p.m. and remained dry throughout the night.

Looks as if you are going to have an interesting time with the Scouts on Saturday but what if June happens to be in hospital? Shall be thinking of you on the 16th, June, and hope if hospital treatment is necessary you will not be there many days.

Well now I expect you would like to know how I have been getting on with the SW set. Fixed it up in garage on the day after our return and tuned in immediately. Everything satisfactory. As you say not much local reception but plenty of foreign although I have not identified any so far. One station – calling itself ‘the State of Israel‘ – is persistently asking for a long distance stations to identify themselves and report strength at position B. Heard a direct transmission from Prince Edward Island when the Queen actually landed there. Came through very clearly. The other set I have now fixed up in greenhouse and without aerial or earth can get many stations just as clearly as with aerial. Before I can move SW set into house I shall have to erect an aerial and provide an earth. Your suggestions for actual listening noted and I must have a go at the times given. So far I have not fixed up the loose condenser you gave me and require a
⅜” drill to pierce the case. Mr Palmer looked in this morning and when in garage spotted the set so I asked him about a suitable drill and he’s going to lend me one. More about this at the time.

Had quite a job trying to locate some concrete posts for the panel fencing. The day after we got home Mum and I went out to Counsells at Yatton but they had never heard of them and I suggested that two firms in Weston-super-Mare might have them but they said no as they knew all the products of these firms. Came back disappointed and mentioned it to Bushell who was then on the point of going out to nails to visit his father-in-law. He knocked on our door later at about 1:00 p.m. and said his father-in-law had seen them about and suggested he (Bushell) call up Hobbs at Flax Bourton there and then and enquire. They referred him to their Failand depot where all their concrete products were made. This he did and they said they knew what he was talking about but they did not make them unless specially ordered. With this information Mum and I went out to Failand at 2:00 p.m. and saw the person in charge. He took me out in the yard and showed me two such posts and I told him that was just what I wanted. He said a mould would have to be set up specially so I asked him the cost telling him what you gave for similar articles. Eventually he quoted me 22/6d [£28 in 2024 money] each with another 1/- [£1.25] for delivery each. (1/- each per post for delivery). The bottom two feet were solid so that the fencing would not slip below that level. In these circumstances I thought it would be a good idea to have them and so ordered 18 posts (the two ends can be fixed with two of the wooden posts already on hand). delivery will be effected in three weeks.*

in the meantime I am finishing off the rockery between the garage and greenhouse. Have also taken a lot of plants into the greenhouse out of the frosty elements.

A letter from Tiverton last Saturday says that Joe and Lydia will not be coming up this year and have suggested next spring. Actually Lydia has not yet finished with the shop as the closing date has been delayed until the end of this month and Joe has already resumed his job as bank guard. Both have to attend Exeter Hospital for treatment so reason for postponement of visit quite understood. Another letter from Don suggests he and Joan come up again on the 20th or 22nd inst. It says he is going on all right and has been doing some gardening and firewood cutting.

The unpaid foreman still in evidence but I have not contacted him to date. The building seems to be slowing up a bit but I cannot say why. The weather has had a bearing on progress as the ground has cut up badly with so much rain.

*Total cost in 2024 money £526.50. A similar item today would not be too much different in price, but with free delivery!

[Continued Wednesday 14th October, 1964]

Monday 28th September, 1964

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1964 lettersLeave a comment

Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Many thanks for your letter and paper received earlier. Letter from this end this week a bit brief I am afraid, but we are just a little bit disorganised at the moment. Had a long session with Doug and Ronnie this weekend and managed to get most of his fencing done as well as completing our own. We were at it morning and night and did not attempt the letter yesterday. Home today from work to take Susan to Mount Vernon again for eye test. Ran her up there first thing this morning and now after lunch have a chance to write. A different doctor this time said she was okay for the next 12 months whatever that is supposed to mean. However to your letter.

Sorry the girls did not manage a letter last week, and I am afraid it is the same tale this week as we have had them at it with us on the fencing lark. Best place for them was where we could see them rather than that they should be indoors going through all the cupboards. I must admit they were a darned nuisance as they would not stop on our side of the fence, and had to be yanked back on many occasions. Susan has just this minute gone off to school for the afternoon session.

Hope you have had a good week with Mrs Baker. If the weather this end is anything to go by, you have had good sunshine at your end. It could not have been better here these last few days. Glad your trip to Burnham and Lyng went off o.k. Glad too to learn that Don’s improvement still maintained.

Sorry about your fencing, but you need it strong your end, and just as well that the defect occurred at a time when you could deal with it, and not at a time of high gales.

Our whole digging operations were extended to cover the holes for the posts for Doug’s fencing, and we found the same trouble in digging them throughout. No need to put water on that stuff as it would only make matters worse. All right to put water on hard topsoil, but if you can put it on the clay it makes it bind more. When it is dry you can crack it and chip it like concrete. Peter volunteered to do the heavy work on Doug’s job, and in fact was ‘engaged’ for the job, but he had a lot of trouble with his car* and could not make it, so we did it all ourselves. However when over at Ealing on the Saturday afternoon (appointment for a new glasses) Doug and Ronnie put in the posts alongside our plot, and they must have been drunk as the line is most decidedly not straight. However too late to join anything about it when I got back so will have to put up with a scenic railway type of fence.

I can’t remember all the points not strictly correct in the write-up on Scott’s place, but one bit was the statement that there was some five thousand amateurs in the country whereas there are over 10,000 licenses currently in use in the UK.

I gave you the details of the problem with car as I thought you would mention it to Bushell. He says more or less the same as I had already inferred. There is just the outside chance that the circuit breaker [illegible] need renewing, but it looks like the dynamo. Car is giving going in on Wednesday.

Did not discuss the matter of the extra few inches with neighbour next door, and went on with the job. Now have fence in one piece. Will tell you the details on that one when you get here.

Can’t think of anything special for you to bring up this time, you gave me the hose to bring back when I was down with you, and I now have all I want. Okay to come up as you said on 1st October, we have been so busy that the date has crept up on us. Will rush out and get the posts so that you get this rather abbreviated edition for Tuesday morning, and will hold over anything else until Thursday. Love from us all. 

*Or ‘he changed his mind and dumped us in it’, to be more accurate.

Sunday 20th September, 1964

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1964 lettersLeave a comment

Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Thanks once again for weekly letter and paper. I have a feeling that the chap we saw on Old Church Hill was the same man as in the photo, but I could be mistaken, it was only a second or two that we saw him. It was an interesting comment on his history with radio, but one or two of the facts were not true.

No sign yet of our next door neighbours. We do not know how long they are supposed to be away for, and they have had at least three weeks so far. No card of course ‘wishing you were here’. As you say the milk would not have been much good for anyone, and it appears we did not get it as ours seemed okay.

Plumber came and did the job for us. Toilet leaked at the back some years ago and I fixed it with Sylglas. It held fine, but June fancied the crockery was a little discoloured so we had a new one fitted. Plumber found that the new model was a little different from the old one, and the inlet pipe would not fit, so he had to come back again and put in a new extension there. He was looking out for a man to do the serving hatch, but so far no luck. We cannot get anyone lined up for the job. It appears it is a combined job for bricklayer and joiner. The joiner makes the thing and the bricky puts it in place. Our plumber friend says he can find a chap to make the frame, but not put it in place.

So far no attempt to carry out any interior decoration. June has some paper for the toilet which will be put up in due course. We await the work on the hatch (if it gets done bracket) before tackling the dining room.

We are all very pleased indeed to hear how well Don now is. It really seems as if the doctor has done the trick this time. The most important part of it all is that he now feels better within himself. The fact that he wanted to have a walk around the beach is astonishing, but in the circumstances of the strong wind he was well advised not to take on too much.

I think there must be some mistake in your comparison between the two sets. I would have said the new one is vastly larger than the old combo but we shall see. I still think the best thing is to keep the new one out of its case which is useless really. A simple wooden framework will do the trick. What are the bits and pieces that you do not follow in the book you got from Sealeys? Perhaps you could say what they are, and I will do best to answer.

We ordered our posts and fencing on Saturday last, and the whole lot were delivered on Monday. This is good business. Needless to say we spent the whole of this weekend at it and have done an immense amount. June did the shopping on Friday to leave a free morning for it, and by Saturday night we had got three posts in and two sections of fence up. Had a bit of assistance from Ronnie next door with the concrete mixing, and with the erection. 7 ft posts are supposed to go two feet into the ground, but try as we might with all the tools as our disposal we could not get hole any deeper than about 18 inches into the hard dry soil. The sites for the posts were all fairly inaccessible and could not let a good swing at them so finished up using the axe to try to break up the clay at the bottom of the holes but even that would not penetrate. However by mixing about thirteen good spadefuls of sand with four of cement and putting the lot round the post in one hole we managed to get a firm enough base. Today I used the last of the sand and cement to put in the next post, and we now have four posts in and three of the four lots of fencing in place. Unfortunately the next lot of fencing reaches right to Les’s post without the concrete post being in place, and I cannot do much about that until he comes home. If he is agreeable for the post to lie on his land (he can use it for any fence he likes to put up) then I shall remove the iron post and put up my last length of the fence. If he does not agree, I shall have to saw off a few inches of the fence and then put the concrete post on my side of fence. In any case I am out of material for the time being. The fence that is up looks quite good and very much neater than what was there before. I saw the lady down the bottom and offered our old asbestos fencing to them together with wire mesh as she had no fence on one side. They accepted and brought a van round in the afternoon and took it all away very gratefully, and he now has a really good fence installed down one side. When Doug saw the goings-on he promptly ordered posts and fencing for our common fence, and then proceeded to fell all his trees at the bottom of the garden. Today I fetched out all of the rose-hedge wire and all and burned the lot on a bonfire. Doug sawed up and later burned the trees and the neighbourhood now looks like a desert. The effect is to give the appearance of bigger gardens and much cleaner lines. We have removed a number of bushes and heeled some in for later replanting, and since we have put up some of the fence some of the bushes have been replaced in position. Have been at it all day, and now I have just got round to the letter at 6.30 p.m. as the last of the bonfire smoke dies away. Doug cannot take on the heavy work as a result of his operation, so we have fixed up for Peter to come over and do it for him. This will give him a bit of pocket money.

Sorry your visit to Tiverton is off for a while, but looks as though you may see rather more of them now if the job Lydia does is coming to an end. As you say you will have Mrs Baker with you for a week now, and hope the weather holds up and that you can get about. It would be most unlucky if the weather broke now. These last two days we have had outdoors have been really fine.

Bushell will have to try the Sylglas trick for his gutters.

Brown will almost certainly get into the next Parliament as Labour have a 10,000 majority at Shoreditch. He is about 12 feet high at the moment.

Our trip to Woburn Abbey was a washout. I know my dynamo although working is not charging the battery, and in fact when the speed of car was fast enough for the dynamo to cut in it promptly shorted the battery at the cutout. I had it in mind to get this sorted out in October when due for test, but thought I had enough in battery for our trip for stock. However we started out, and got through Rickmansworth and Watford and made for the M1. Just short of the M1 I had to consult map for route, and stop the car at the side of road. I could not restart for some time, but after messing around for about 10 minutes up she came on battery with no trouble. With this we carried on and got onto the M1. Kept at a steady 35 miles per hour – the speed at which the ammeter registered zero – and got past the Teddington service station. Our turning. Got about one mile off the M1 and within five miles of our destination when the engine cut out. Try as we might we could not get it to go, and made up our minds that if we could restart we could make for home at a gentle speed and hope to goodness that we could get there before lights were necessary. I suppose we stopped there for about half an hour waiting for battery to recover. I topped up the plates with some water the girls had brought for the dolls picnic, and there seemed some life in the cells*. Had another swing with the handle and up she came, so we all piled in and steamed off up the A5. Kept going at a gentle 30 through Dunstable and St Alban’s with the car still going, and made for Watford and then Rickmansworth and we were still going well. Decided to stop on the grass verge of the Denham Bypass and have our picnic and we stayed there for an hour. Had a job to start car again, but eventually it came to life, and with that we got home. The M1 is a good road – what we saw of it – and feels better than the M4.

Borrowed Doug’s charger and put 24 hours worth in cells and we are O.K. again for a bit. Charged up both batteries so have one in reserve.

A lot of people are looking over the property in this road, but I think they have all been sold long ago.

Pity we could not have had the gadget for making holes at this end this weekend.

To repeat about Don, his present condition is remarkable and a welcome change from that which we saw him in when last with you. Can only hope this will continue as will help to [illegible] the winter.

Well I see him to have nattered on about nothing in particular and now near the bottom of page again. Carol has a slight cold but otherwise we are fit and well. It was the girls’ Sunday School outing to Gunnersbury Park yesterday, and I was roped in for taxi service from church to South Harrow station in afternoon and evening. Got eight of us in our car for the return journey.**

Well will close now with love from us all, and look forward to your next.

*I have a very clear recollection of this day and had been looking forward to reading Alec’s account to see how he would describe it. In fact, what happened was that when we stopped the second time there was consternation in the car because we weren’t near any houses, and the parents were muttering about not having any water on board. I piped up that I had some in my ‘Dolls’ Picnic Set’, which was similar to the one shown below and contained two little white and red flasks. [N.B. it wasn’t ‘the girls’, it was me.] At first he said he didn’t think it would be enough, but was somehow convinced it would be better than nothing – it would have been at least a pint/half a litre as they were both full. Rather ungraciously he accepted my offer eventually and went off and poured the water into the battery, and returned my two flasks. I suspect the reason this has stayed in my mind for so long is that (a) it was reluctantly conceded that I had actually done something useful for once, and (b) Alec left an oily thumbprint on one of the flasks which was never possible to remove thereafter, and the poor things were very nearly new. No good deed ever goes unpunished, FFS!

**Yeah, and not a seatbelt between them! It was a short run and he would have been going slowly, but in retrospect this sounds extremely scary!

Tuesday 28th July, 1964

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1964 lettersLeave a comment

Leonard to the family:

Dear Alec, June, Susan and Carol

No letter so far this week but with the improved postal position one cannot be far away and perhaps it will turn up tomorrow. Since last writing we have had continuous sunny weather but the atmosphere has been very heavy at times and slight distant thunder. I suppose now the fair is here and the Bank Holiday approaching it will start to rain.

I see in today’s evening paper you have had a bomb scare in London but probably some distance from Liverpool Street. Query were your train services upset.

Weekend motorists for the West of England had another slow crawl on Saturday last and the queues both sides of Honiton as large as ever. Just reaching the peak of the holiday traffic now. Hope you get on better when you start your journey to Exmouth. Guess the girls are very excited in anticipation of the caravan holiday. We have not been out on any long run since our trip to Ilchester and Lyng. Have been in touch with Lyng by telephone (Mrs Marshall’s) and Don was admitted to a Taunton hospital yesterday (his birthday) for observation. When I phoned Joan last night she said he was quite comfortable when she left him and the doctor there said they would be examining his throat on Thursday to start with. Had not heard of any trouble with his throat before but it looks as if they are going to give him a complete works at last to see exactly what is the trouble. He has lost a lot of weight but this could be the result of worrying. Joan will write me again after visiting hospital on Thursday. I forgot to ask his address so cannot write him direct at the moment but is it is anticipated he will only be in there for about a week. Am writing Geoff later to bring him up to date with the position.

Here at home we have been getting on with the equipping of the inside of the greenhouse. Have now erected the staging across the far end for a width of three feet and it looks very good. The middle upright supports are in position and the side pieces in place for keeping the uprights rigid. Next job is to fill up with earth and I have some to cart from just inside the fence put over by the bulldozers of some weeks ago. May not be enough but the levels can be made up as time goes on. The old garage is down of course and Bushell and I are trying to erect same (except for reduced width to 12½ feet) around his existing garage. So far we have the three long sections up i.e. the back and two sides and now having a go at putting up the front section including the swinging doors. Hawkins’ men have made up the approach to our new garage with tarmac and this also looks very nice. I had an old sleeper down for running into garage temporarily and this has now been dispensed with.

Building operations at the back of us is starting next week and there are thousands of bricks on hand already. This morning they were marking out the actual sites for the houses. Nothing further has been done with the pond on the Iron Curtain side of the fence and until they do this I cannot decide on what to do on our side.

I think I told you some weeks ago that Ted Caple had changed his job. Now Ernest has also given up the telephone exchange work and taken a job as postman in Clevedon. Perhaps he thought he might be in time for strike money.

You will be very sorry to hear that Mrs Buxton died last Friday following a collapse. She had however been seriously ill for a long time. Mum thinks she must be about 63 years old.

Plenty of visitors in Clevedon at the moment and as I mentioned before the fair has also arrived. Cornish still very much in evidence but I have not seen him myself. Mum has gone out this evening delivering her round of parish magazines.

We saw Norman Allen with Marion and the children last Sunday evening and he could tell me that for several weeks before Charlie Rust retired Titball was out on the station so-called learning the job for which he was an applicant. Perhaps his turn will come as he is very much younger than John Saunders. A bit of a come-down though to spend the time out there and then for somebody else to have the job. Norman Allen is now Class Two and seems more settled – at one time he was seriously thinking of leaving the railway but had no idea what he wanted to do.

I see Harold Bastin who retired from position as assistant to Hart earlier this year has lost his wife. Apparently they went to Midhurst, Surrey, to live according to press reports. I think he stayed until he was all nearly 65 years of age. Chief inspector Woolway has also retired from Temple Meads and local papers made a lot of it but he was not all that efficient as you may remember. He had however been 50 years at Temple Meads in the parcels and on the station. Will leave off now until your weekly budget arrives.

[Continues Wednesday 29th July, 1964]

Sunday 26th July, 1964

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1964 lettersLeave a comment

[N.B.: a letter from Leonard, presumably dated Wednesday 22nd July 1964, is missing from the collection.]

Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Once more I have to report we have had no letter yet this week, but can of course reply to your last which was received here last Monday. With luck we shall receive your latest tomorrow. Also with luck things will be back to normal for next and subsequent weeks. As you remark in your letter, there is always something to delay post these days, and the service is not what it was. Unions to these days have little compunction in upsetting the general public to get what they want, in fact upsetting the public by withholding their normal services seems to be the main method of attack. They always try to hold their strikes when they will do most damage – for instance the railwaymen (N.U.R.) at or about bank holiday times or Christmas.*

We are all keeping fairly well here with the minimum of aches and pains. We hope you are both okay too. You remark that the West Country have their usual traffic holdups, and we saw on the TV last night that the big holdups have started for the period just prior, during and after the Bank Holiday. You also say about rain. We have not had any of that for quite some time now, and in fact the weather here has been really glorious. In the city of course it becomes like a grease spot, and it is most unpleasantly humid, but here it has been very nice, and I am glad to say the weather this weekend so far has been extremely good. A bit too good yesterday as during the afternoon I got down to doing that bit of concreting in the front garden. Admittedly it was not a big job come up but unfortunately Peter still had the barrow and, until he turned up when the job was almost complete, I had to cart everything about in buckets and bowls. I have had a look at it this morning, and it looks as if it will be alright. Unfortunately the stuff dried as soon as it laid, and I had to ask the girls to stand in front of it to shade it from the sun.**

Not a bad deal with the foreman to get that lot of already mixed cement. Could have done with that here and would have saved a lot of time and effort. Nice of Hewitt and Aston to come down and watch you at work. Must have been a temptation to offer them a spade or trowel, but might not have gone down well. Perhaps it is the homemade wine they like.

Note the rearrangement of the staging in the greenhouse, and that you now have the light fixed. Gradually getting things done, and by the sound of it the bulk of the work is finished. Of course the garden needs to be dealt with, but I expect you will be doing something towards that in the Spring. Your polythene sheeting sounds okay as a base for the gravel, but is there not a risk of the lower sections of the gravel getting sour? In most gardening books they stress that good drainage must be provided, and were this not so you would have concreted the base in any case, and not need polythene at all.

Cornish still up to his tricks then. Pity he has nothing to do to occupy his time, then he would not be able to get in people’s hair.

Very sorry to hear that Don was so rough and that you had paid a visit under these circumstances. I hope the news is a bit better now, but unless something is done very quickly I cannot see any change for the better is likely. If the summer weather as well as the winter weather upset him then a drastic remedy has to be found or he will not maintain the strength or the will to fight it. I wonder if the asthma is really hay fever or another allergy? If the former then trips out in the country in the car can do more harm than good. Let us know how matters now stand.

I was very pleased to learn that Bushell had passed his test. Many would have given up after so many failures. Perhaps these failures were due to overconfidence – who knows? Anyway he has his license now, and can do his driving openly. Interesting to learn that he has in mind an old type A40. Pretty cheap these days but so are cars of much later vintage. However he knows his pocket best. Had the clutch done on ours this week, and the exhaust secured, and the steering tightened up. The damage created a bit of a draft***, but it was a good job done, and the car feels much better to handle.

Not an awful lot of activity on the building site this end this week although the end house down the hill is growing up fairly rapidly. The drains have been put in and this involved digging a long trench level with the front of our houses. This was very deep and to my mind very dangerous for the children who would not keep off it. A poor attempt was made to shield it at night, but that would never have stopped me let alone a local herbs.

The zinnias in the lean-to are now opening into flower and are magnificent plants, but those in the garden have hardly moved since planted out, and are in fact still only about three or four inches high. Everything else growing quite well both inside and out in the garden.

Went over to the school on Tuesday piloted by Susan to see an exhibition of the work. There were very many miniature gardens in trays, bowls etc. made by the children and lots of cakes, pies, sandwiches, cheese straws etc. Drawings and paintings by the score, and essays and books all over the place. I could not hope to see in detail all there was to see, but it seems a far better display of work than I ever remember seeing at Weston. Paid a call in the science room where a few children were deputed to explain certain experiments with optics, and electricity. One group of girls had Bunsen burners and were showing expansion of metals, while another was showing refraction of light through a prism. Another boy demonstrated to me the conductivity of metal by operating an electric bell from a battery. When he put a piece of metal in circuit the bell rang but when he put a piece of wood or plastic in the bell did not ring. Thanked him for the information.

All the gardens made by the pupils were judged in respect to each year and out of something like 60 of her year Susan got third prize****. She is quite pleased and has written to say so in her letter. The garden was the little one I think she started when you were here by putting a couple of small cacti and some mind-your-own-business in a bowl. Together with a couple of small primulas it has grown quite nicely.

Got a couple of bags of cement for 5/- [roughly £6.25 in 2024 money] a bag last week and together with half a yard of sand at 30/- shillings [£37.50] completed the path in front garden. Had the sand dumped on the grass out the front as could not let it block the driveway. Peter had promised to come over in the afternoon and ring the barrow. Without the barrow I had to move the sand into the garden or the kids would have made sure work of it. This meant putting it into June’s wash boiler***** and carting it in manually. June helped with bucket-loads. No sign of Peter just after lunch so started on the job. Mixed all the stuff in the garage and when ready carted it out in an old washing-up bowl. All the time I had the hose in front garden going full blast to keep stones and rubble moist. As fast as hose was moved stones dried out. I was on the last mix when Peter arrived with the barrow, so let him mix the last one up and took it a bit easier from then on. Feeling a bit stiff this morning, but job now done and out of the way so worth it on balance.

Well that is about all for this week. As I say I hope you are both well and hope that the news from Lyng improves. Love to you both once again. Alec 

*Well, yes, the point being to remind the general public that their services are not only useful but also necessary, and that life would so much more difficult if those services were withdrawn completely. Alec lived a very privileged life and it never seems to have occurred to him that some people had to fight for things he enjoyed as a matter of course – for example safe working conditions, reasonable hours, appropriate pay, pension provision, holidays, etc. etc. etc. None of these would have been available had not some union activist somewhere demanded them, and been prepared to withdraw labour until the matter could at least be discussed.

**If this is true, rather than one of Alec’s silly jokes, it just goes to show what a model father he wasn’t.

***He means it was expensive.

****I won a pen exactly like one of these, which I was immensely proud of. I was recently given another one just like it, but in the intervening sixty years hadn’t seen a similar one anywhere at all!

*****Note that this is specifically *hers* and not a joint possession, or one belonging to the household. Ingrained casual sexism, a real artefact of its time.

 Friday 17th July, 1964

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1964 lettersLeave a comment

[Continued from Wednesday 15th July, 1964]

Since writing the previous page we have had a letter from Joan to say Don was very ill again – this time with asthma on top of his other complaints and asking if we could run down to see him. I phoned her from Mrs Marshall’s and arranged to go down on Thursday (yesterday). Both Mum and I have been hard at it recently so decided to make a day of it and call at Lyng after lunch. Left here at 9:40 a.m. and went via Wells, Glastonbury, Street, etc to Ilchester where we called at a small public house for a snack and shandy. Then on to Martock and Long Sutton* – where we saw that the station buildings had been demolished and only the edges of the platforms remained standing. Then on to Langport and through Stathe and Burrow Bridge to Lyng where we arrived at about 1:45 pm. Found Don downstairs but very rough. This very hot weather makes it most difficult for him to breathe and he has a machine on the floor in front of his chair working a fan to give him air. Apparently he had a very bad turn on Sunday night and doctor sent for. He turned up on the Monday and again on the Tuesday and calls again today. Joan takes him out in car every evening for a run of about 20 miles but he does no driving himself. Geoff does not know anything of this latest development yet but I am writing him presently. Don does not know that Joan wrote us and thought we had called as we were in the vicinity.

Following the postal strike yesterday we do not expect to have your letter this morning (now 6:30 a.m.) but perhaps it may arrive tomorrow. This one to you will obviously not arrive at number 84 until some time next week.

By the way Bushell passed the driving test yesterday and will now get a small car. I’ve started to put down the concrete blocks for the path edging in the greenhouse and hope to get most of the remainder in today but it is terribly hot working inside this weather.

No more this time but we hope to be able to reply to your letter next week. All our love to you both and lots of kisses for the girls. 

*Properly known as ‘Long Sutton and Pitney‘ – or, in family parlance, ‘Long Suffering and Pity Me’ – this was also close to a signal box which had previously been operated by various relatives (possibly members of the Beacham family and therefore cousins or uncles of Leonard’s). It’s also possible that Leonard had worked here for a time as a young man, although the details of his early career are so far proving elusive.

Wednesday 15th July, 1964

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1964 lettersLeave a comment

750th post!!!

Leonard to the family:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Not surprising no letter arrived yesterday morning and doubtful if it will turn up today owing to the trouble with the G.P.O. staff. Shall post this as usual but again it is doubtful if you will receive it until some time next week. Nowadays there always seems to be some turmoil in the industrial world upsetting the general routine of business and it is time the authorities dealt with it very severely but how or in what manner is most difficult to say*.

We hope you are all keeping well and now looking forward to your holiday which starts in three weeks. The roads are getting very congested again and I see the West Country have had their usual weekend jams and accidents. Our fine weather seems to have broken for a while and we have had several hours of rain on a number of days but fortunately it did not interfere with the two days (Monday and Tuesday this week) I assisted Bushell to get down the framework and some of the concrete for the garage on his side of the fence. He had underestimated the quantity of gravel and dust and cement required and actually needs a similar lot as used to complete the job. It may take about a week to get this delivered and so activities are halted for the moment. He takes another driving test (his fifth) on Thursday at Weston and if he gets through will buy an Austin A40 – similar to LTA 259** – which he knows is in good condition and which he can obtain very cheaply. So this will do for the time being.

Last Friday (a very hot day) the road foreman on the building site got his men to bring round to the rear of new boundary fence two small loads of ready-mix and I released the chain link fencing to enable them to put it just inside which is in within three feet of greenhouse. Had enough and some over to lay in path in greenhouse and 10/- [£12.50 in 2024 money] for a drink was all that was necessary for the road foreman. As I mentioned it was a very hot day and working inside even with all the windows open was terrible and to cap it all both Roy Hewitt and Bill Aston called while I was at it and sat in the garden seat watching me. Neither of them could have given me a hand in any case but it was difficult to talk to them while wheeling in the stuff and spreading it out and smoothing off. I had to take the door off greenhouse down in the end to properly deal with the path at that end and had to be careful the ready-mix was not fouling the bottom edge of door when it was replaced.

Last Wednesday the 8th the electrical side of the job was finished off nicely and I now have a light with a two-way switch and power point in garage and the power point in greenhouse. Now I have to put in the concrete blocks for the path edging in greenhouse and of course re-erect the staging. This time the staging will run across the back only and I shall then have two long sides for general purposes such as tomato growing. Another idea I have is to put down polythene sheeting and gravel on top for ring culture and then when watering the water will be held by the polythene instead of soaking away and result in less watering being required. Sounds very nice I know but now is the time to think of these things and past experience can be useful when rearranging the setup. On the gardening side I have in about 75 plants of various sorts and have been promised some more later.

Nothing more has been done in breaking up the pond on the outside of our boundary – the man who was doing it has been sent elsewhere for the time being. Quite a lot of the builders’ men are working on the new road immediately the other side of our fence but apart from loads of bricks sat around now actual marking out of sites for the houses have taken place. I think you will see some activity in this respect when you are here. t

10 cwt of Gloco [smokeless fuel] arrived last Thursday morning when we were out shopping and the men took it away again (it comes from Weston) and they left word with the neighbours that we must write and let them know when we should be home to receive it. Took no notice of this idea and surely enough it turned up again on Monday when we were here. For the present we have got it in the three garden frames to keep it dry. Shall not be needing them for gardening purposes until next Spring.

No further news of Don but I wrote both Don and Geoff on Monday (query when they will get letters) so should hear from them later on. Shall probably get an invitation to go to Lyng for Don’s birthday on the 27th. We generally go down then and again when you are with us.

Ran into Cornish last night and had to listen to a lot of rubbish but I got away from him quickly on the excuse I wanted my supper – he had invited me over to see the new boundary on his side etc. He frequently wonders round the back of our garden peering into everything he can see – proper nosy parker.

[Letter continues Friday 17th July, 1964]

*Loosely translated as ‘The lower orders should never try to obtain better pay or working conditions. Instead, they should allow us to exploit them for as long as we choose, and discard them afterwards without a thought.’

**The much-loved old family car.

Wednesday 10th June 1964

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1964 letters, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Leonard to the family:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Once again many thanks for the weekly budget and letter from Susan received yesterday usual post. June’s birthday today and we hope she will have a very happy one. It is now 6:20 a.m. and I am trying to make up for lost time but more of that later.

Yes Alec the weather is a common topic just now. We too have had some very heavy storms and last Friday was another soaker most of the day. The weekends not very good either and macs had to be carried. The Astons went off to Eastbourne on the Saturday and I took them down to the station in a real downpour – good start to a holiday. Cannot get in to the station now and I had to drop them by the end-on entrance. Such is progress. The traffic at that moment was also very heavy and The Triangle was jammed for a while.

Now to your letter. Noted you managed to cut the lawns between the showers. After returning from the station on Saturday I too had to clean car and chamois leather well in evidence – they are excellent for picking up the moisture. Glad to hear the Lollipop girl still singing her song and that no more records have been broken. Qquite an interesting letter from Susan describing the different badges of the Brownies.

More teeth trouble then Alec, not a very happy prospect looking forward to a visit to the dentist. In 1937 when I was 40 I had the lot out and finished with the dentist for good except for renewals on dentures.

Have no idea if the name of the Avenue will apply to the extension or whether some fanciful name will be thought of by the authorities. The builders (Robinson’s) called the area The Saltings. It could as you know sometimes be called The Stinkings.*

It appears the four of us involved with the sale of land have to keep our eyes open regarding measurements and I hear Cornish made them also move one fence-post two inches. He has now knocked down the remainder of his front garden wall with the idea that a new one will be built and not his old one patched up. This I had from Heel who saw Cornish at it about 6:30 a.m. one morning. Every movement of the builders is watched and Cornish is wished many miles away by the men working on the site.

The cleaning out of the old putty Alec is a tedious job but it must be done to ensure a smooth base for the glass when it is replaced otherwise any pressure on the glass will cause it to break.

I advertised garage in Western Daily Press last Saturday but have not had one application from same. Hobbs (the Readymix concrete man) told a friend about it and the latter came along late last Friday evening but said it was too tall for his purpose. Actually it is 12 feet to the ridge. I expect the trouble really is the cost of labour in taking it down but in due course Hawkins will have to do dismantle it even if it is stacked on our side of the fence.

Sorry to hear of the scarlet fever case in Carol’s class and do hope it will not spread. I expect the health authorities are onto it closely.

Don will see Dr Carr in Bridgewater six weeks after his first visit to see how the treatment is working. This man apparently has a very large clientele and strongly recommended by hundreds so he must be doing a bit of good. Personally I think herbalists can make some progress where the Medical Profession failed but we shall see. Had a line from Don and Joan to say they got back all right last week with no apparent after-effects. It was a shocking day though really.

Yes the pond looks a bit odd now that the fence is across it but I’m waiting to see what the bulldozer does to the part the other side of the fence. The impact of this machine may crack the whole thing right through in which case there will be no alternative but to scrap it. There should be no troubling getting some top soil pushed over for filling up and I shall see if can get a lot more to fill up several low-lying patches. The chain link fence being only three and a half feet high the bulldozer can easily drop the soil over the top. Incidentally the very large sewer pipe laying machine has just reached around to our plots so good progress is being made by these people. Now we understand Moore who lives in number 12 Tennyson Avenue is drawing up a petition to have the rates of the houses in the Avenue reduced because it will no longer be a quiet cul-de-sac. What a hope – more like the rates being increased because we now have a through road instead of a cul-de-sac.

Noted not a lot of progress being made on the plot next to number 82.

Ted Caple and Mr and Mrs Hewitt now back from the holidays. Ted Caple has been over the battlefields of the First World War and has named several places I remember well. Mum saw Roy in the town Monday and said she hoped he have not brought typhoid back from Scotland. He said he had already had it years ago. Never knew this until he mentioned it. So far he has not called round here and a good job he did not yesterday. I reckon he will stroll around today. This morning however we are going to Hill Road and the library.

So you go in for dogs then at number 84. We see them occasionally on our ground but usually they are prowling about before we get up. By the way Mrs Bush tells us she has had her dog destroyed because it had got old and was almost blind. This was the dog that jumped out on Susan when she was stopping with us a couple of years ago.**

Glad to hear the contents of the lean-to are going on all right but why play about with the mouse. A trap under a bit of shelter close to the hole would have attracted him. Am wondering what we shall find under the garage when eventually it is pulled down. We have some ants coming up behind the kitchen unit and mum has killed a lot. Seems to be millions of them about this year.

Thank you for the copy of the service for the dedication of the new church. Must have been a very nice service and I expect a crowded congregation. It is Civic Sunday here on the 14th so expect the Council to turn out in force.

I arranged with the Readymix man for a delivery to be made on Saturday morning but as mentioned above it was an atrocious day and fortunately he did not deliver. Saw him Monday evening and arranged for a ton to be brought up at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday and it arrived the same time as postman. I set to and wheeled it into position and laid it in the trenches prepared for the surround. Kept on continuously until had finished and it was then 1:40 p.m. Bushell was at work otherwise he would have lent a hand. Could not stop for dinner until completed as concrete was hardening. Had a little over and kept it moist for Bushell who took it about 2:30 p.m. for path making. I could have used it had I prepared a site but I had had enough by the time I had filled up the surround. Of course during this work for the Rating and Valuation Inspector had to come along to see the new garage. Told him I did not to expect to see him as one garage was replacing another. When he spotted the old one still standing he said ‘I see you are in possession of two garages’. Soon told him where to get off on that one. He was quite nice however and we had a chat about one thing and another connected with the rating procedure. When I said I was getting ready to put up the greenhouse he said ‘then I shall be seeing you again’. Upon asking why he said greenhouses were subject to increased rates. Usually they did not bother with small ones so I asked him what he thought I was putting up – a nursery? Anyhow he says he would only come if he was advised by the local council to visit the premises for the specific purpose. He had a good idea the local people would not be advised by me of its erection. He took my measurements for the garage and asked if any power fitted therein. Fortunately I was able to tell him no. Might be different if he called back in six months time but I did not tell him this.

The fencing people started to put up the chain link fence last Friday but had to run for shelter (rain) so many times that eventually they gave up with the job half done. Not been back since. They must have been wet through before leaving here and then had to get back to Frome. Now we cannot get beyond our new boundary unless we climb over the fence which I have already done several times. Whilst I was taking in the concrete (from path up front) both Cornish and Heel came over at separate times to offer me a shovel but I explained I preferred to use a spade. Cornish started on that he was watching the builders and the young man next door (Heel) to see that he did not do him down. My barrow was then full and I excused myself to get away from him. This is the first contact since at the beginning of March and it is obvious he is still full of trouble. Heels have had some relatives with them this past fortnight and are taking them back to Rugby today. Quite a nice morning and I hope to do a bit of gardening after going to town. Managed to cut the lawns yesterday afternoon so that is over for another week.

During the rainy sessions I have been improving the shelving problems in the garage. Have now got one almost a full length of garage on the side nearer the house and already it is full of odds and ends. I’m now fixing some narrow shelves on the side of garage (on Bushell’s side) over the bench. These will hold the chisels, screwdrivers and tins of nails etc. Keep those articles off the bench. Never a dull moment. Was so tired out yesterday that I went off to bed after the 9:15 p.m. news. The rockery stones stacked on the plot near the pond I have now moved to a site at the back of the new garage where they will be out of the way for the time being. If I can get some top soil can fill up the bed from which the stones have been taken. Quite a lot can be absorbed there.

Looks as if I am getting near bottom of page against so will close with all our love to you both and lots of kisses for the girls. Thinking of you today June***. Mum and Dad. 

*The new road actually divided into two, with the main part – going off to the left – remaining as Tennyson Avenue and the numbers continuing in sequence. It looped around to join Southern Way, where there was – as predicted – a new road named The Saltings. The right-hand spur, however, was named Macleod Close, with the house immediately backing on to Leonard and Eva’s place being number 15.

**And that’s my life-long fear of/distaste for dogs explained. I’ve always been a ‘cat person’, and that’s obviously why.

***This would have been June’s 39th birthday.

Sunday 7th June, 1964

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1964 lettersLeave a comment

Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Thanks once again for weekly letters and paper duly to hand. Weather an obvious first on the list this week. Cannot think what effect it has on your building chaps, but this end it has rained pretty continuously all week. There have been occasional short spells of warm sunshine but they have been very short. Managed to cut the lawns yesterday, but the grass was very wet and clung to the mower.

The chamois leather cloth* has been well in evidence in the week. It is just what the doctor ordered. Could not dry the car before with an ordinary cloth as they do not soak up the moisture with the result that the car gradually got dirtier after each clean. Now I can keep the fine polished finish provided I leather it off after showers.

Carol bashing away at the records in the other room, but so far I have not had the Lollipop. Susan busily writing something for you. First thing this morning (now 9:30 a.m.) the sun shone brightly and the temperature in the lean-to was well up to the 100[°F, or 38°C], but it is clouding over a bit and looks like more rain to come.

Sorry about late posting from here last week, but weather too bad for June on the Monday. I put letter in post on my way to dentist on Tuesday morning, and the next post was noon from Whitby Road. Had a wait of fifteen minutes at dentists before he got to work, and had thirty minutes in the chair. He filled up two front teeth, and matched the missing bit from the middle one by putting on a cap. All right now for six months.

Lots of changes in the Avenue now. It must let a lot of light in now the road has been started between the houses. I wonder what the road will be called. Will that part of continuation of (Lollipop just started) Tennyson Avenue, or will it bear the new road name?

High jinks with the measurements then. I expect this is an old dodge with builders. If they can buy more land by a fiddle than they pay for, they will save pounds. Good job they are being watched. This is a repeat of the trick over on Cornish’s side. Bit of a minor calamity with the back end of the greenhouse. Does not take much of a wind to turn them over, and you were lucky to get away with a couple of panes broken. Should not have liked to do much putty chipping at that rate, seems a slow job. Someone is taking a long time to get your garage dismantled. Expect you would rather have the money now if offered.

Glad you had a visit from Lyng in the week. Sounds as if there is quite an improvement for him to get out so far, but obviously still some way to go. Pity about the weather, but cannot be helped. If he can get about in that kind of weather he should soon improve when the weather does. Sun now shining well again here. Sorry to learn that Joan also still under the weather but no doubt the visit did them good. You can keep the chickenpox down your way, we have a worse risk this end, in that one of the children in Carol’s class has scarlet fever. We are waiting with some anxiety to see if it has been picked up.**

Hope the herbalist can do something for Don. Sounds like a quack to me, but strange things can happen. What is going to be the arrangement? Is Don going to him weekly or will he wait for the Taunton or Bridgwater visits? As he is 90 (Millie again!?) can only hope he lasts long enough to do some good.

Could not imagine you would like the remains of the pond as it would be when chopped off. It is an ideal place for a pond when in centre of property, but stuck at the end like that, and severely truncated, it might look odd. Whatever you do as a replacement I should be inclined to think in terms of ease of mowing of the surrounding lawn with motor mower, and either put it outside the lawn completely, or sufficiently far in to enable mower to get round. I am inclined to think that if possible it should be adjacent to any pathways you intend to make (concrete), but no doubt you have thought all this out.

Good idea to make sure you are on the spot to see what builders do. They can easily pull a fast one when you are not about. Not too long to wait now anyway I should think. Yes those bulldozers are certainly move things faster when they start. What a change from years ago.

Not a lot of apparent construction going on this end on the building site. Can see they have started putting up a row of garages so it seems the block of flats part of the rumours is coming true. All the field has been very wet and lying in water as it collects at the bottom.

Your rich and influential friends touring the world then and sending in cards. I agree that Scotland is not a popular holiday resort at the moment. We have no near cases although I believe a small boy over the other side of London has typhoid, but no further such news for over a week. Only way to confine the disease is to dig a deep ditch across from west to east coast*** and isolate them. otherwise it will still spread to a certain extent, until it just dies out.

Things going on all right in lean-to although not much sun and heat in there this week. The watering seems to last longer in the cooler weather, and plants do not need so much water.

Just had an interruption. June spotted a large black dog in garden so had to go out and drive it off. It saw me coming and went straight for rose hedge between us and the Grays. Did not know there was a hole right at the bottom, but it went through into next door. Told them, but by the time they came out too it had disappeared – probably next door again. Now Susan is trying to put up tent, but grass very wet still.

Have not seen the mouse since, but we have two mysterious holes in the lawn that would just about take a mouse. Put two small pieces of broken pot over both holes and found one moved by the morning then tried again with two larger stones, but these remain unmoved. I am not sure if there is anything there, but we have not seen our mouse since.

I’ve not seen so many ants in the last couple of days although in the middle of the week found a swarm by the sink attacking some scraps put ready for the dustbin. I must have killed hundreds, and threw the rest out on the concrete where the birds soon got at them. It is quite possible that most of the ants in the house had been drawn to this feast and that few now remain. I hope so anyway.

Someone on the building site here this morning as a machine has been working.

No more records broken and no outstanding contacts on radio. It is National Field Day again this weekend. Lasts from about 6 p.m. on Saturday to same time on Sunday. Our club have put up a temporary station on the top of Horsenden Hill and three chaps were stopping there the night in a tent. They had all mod cons laid on including supply of beer food etc. so hope they keep dry. Heard them pounding the key at 8.00 a.m. this morning so they are still alive.

Not bad life out of your T.V. tube. I do not think you can grumble at the quality. Eight years of life of a tube is good going by any count.

The supply of soil from number 17 now dwindling as he has got rid of a lot to other people, but there seems to be enough for us to finish our plot. Two more lots would certainly do it.

The honeysuckle cuttings are out of the bags, but one has lost all its leaves and the other is losing most of its as well. There are shoots on one cutting that are substantial, but on the other they are a bit doubtful. Have put the good one out to harden a bit today and must bring it in at night. Some of the larger cactus seeds have now started to come through so with luck we may get a plant or two from seed. Cannot tell at this stage what plants or kinds they are. My guess is that one will be a form of aloe. The spider cactus is in flower but not very impressive. The aloe is just colouring into flower on top of its tall stem.

I imagine that by now you will have made arrangements to get the Readymix delivered and the repositioning of the greenhouse will be under way. Our hedge at the back is gradually thickening out, and visibility through it is reducing thank goodness. The fern you gave us a long time ago is growing fast in the corner, and although it does not grow high it is screening the lower part of the gap there.

Susan went to Brownie Revels**** yesterday and she has done some drawing for you. June and Carol went to the opening of the new Methodist Church, and enclosed is the form of service for you. June says the church is quite nice inside, and a simple design.

Clouding over again now as I get to the bottom of this page once more so will close again with love from us all to you both.

*This was A Big Deal in those days: it was something special that you gave a ‘Motorist’ – as opposed to someone who just owned a car – along with, if they were lucky, a leather-bound Road Atlas and a special pair of string-backed driving gloves.

**Alec was always very cautious about the infectious diseases of childhood having had to spend very nearly a year in an isolation hospital as a boy. I *believe* he had diphtheria, but have been unable to confirm this. When he left hospital he had to leave all his toys and clothes behind as they had to be burned, but his parents got him a puppy by way of consolation.

***Or maybe a wall? Oh, wait, that doesn’t work… Nasty thing to have said, really.

****Here’s an account of a more recent ‘Brownie Revels’ day. All I can remember of this one was that you had to take a plastic mug with wool wound round the handle so that you could recognise your own mug from all the others – mine was pale blue with dark green wool round it. I seem to think that we had to be in uniform and did running races, treasure hunts and probably some singing, but it was a long time ago.

Wednesday 3rd June, 1964

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1964 lettersLeave a comment

Leonard to the family:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

No letter yesterday morning and having regard to the weather on Monday we are not very surprised. It was a dreadful day and rained here continuously. Tuesday not a lot better but at least we did not have such a lot of rain although it was cloudy and cold. It is now 6:30 a.m. and I thought I would start the weekly budget to you in anticipation of your letter arriving by this morning’s post.

Since our last letter quite a lot has happened in the building line around here. The road is now being laid down through Cornish’s and Heel’s and the steamroller is levelling the ground. So far they have not turned the corner to come towards us. Monday was a blank day for them – practically no work being possible and I expect the ground is now a bit of a quagmire. Cornish has been very much in evidence and has been following the workman around all day – even from the time they arrive at 7:30 a.m..

As you already know we went to Weston etc. last Tuesday week with the Richings. The next day the sub-contractors arrived to put in the concrete posts for the new boundary fences and I noticed when they stretched their line across our garden that it looked as if they were taking in a bit more of the pond than I had measured out. Challenged them on this and they said they were working to the pegs put in by Robinsons’. I asked them to measure again from the front wall alongside Bushell’s fence where the length should be 130 feet. They did so and said it was 129 feet. Then Bushell could tell me that on the previous afternoon when we were away men were over our side putting in pegs. Told fence erectors to stop doing any more work and until they had spoken to Robinsons’ people. Later they came back and said they had had instructions to put pegs back to the 130 feet mark. I then told them that they could get on with the fence but that it was not to be closed to completely until the old garage had been dismantled and put our side of the ‘Iron Curtain’. This upset them as they said they would be back Friday to finish the job and would not afterwards becoming to Clevedon. Anyhow they did not turn up on Friday and so far are still missing. Another thing too – Mrs Pearson said she heard they were not putting up chain link fencing but so far as I am concerned that is what will be put up here and nothing else so am waiting for them to start work again.

No further news of garage being dismantled and presumably this is being threshed out between Robinsons’ and Hawkins’. Have now taken out all the old putty from the window frames of the greenhouse but what a job it was – took me several days of chipping to get it all out. I have the various sections leaning up against shed and the hedges nearby and the back end of greenhouse complete with all panes of glass (no need to take this out) was leaning an up against the hedge on lawn. Early Monday morning the wind rose and I heard this section go over flat onto the lawn. Although raining in torrents I went out to see what damage done about 8 am and found only one pane of glass broken. A real bit of luck for once. Needless to say the section remains flat on the lawn until time to put it back in position. Have not ordered the Readymix yet but may see about it this morning. Spent all day Monday in garage putting up more wooden brackets for shelving – getting it a bit shipshape now.

Had a letter from Don last Friday suggesting he and Joan come up on Tuesday (yesterday) so promptly replied telling them to come along. The weather at time of writing was grand but it was a very poor day actually for them. Don seems a little better and he was able to take a bit of interest in things going on here and to look over new garage etc. Apart from a quick look round however he kept indoors where we have the electric fire on for some warmth. Joan too not very well but I think they enjoyed the visit and it made a break for them to get away from Lyng. They renewed the invitation for us all to go down when you are on holiday with us. Could tell us that Kathleen was ill with chicken pox at the moment.

Dawn has been in touch with a Dr Carr of Shipham, Winscombe – a very famous herbalist and has had one session with him. Apparently this man has a very large practice in the area and visits Bridgwater weekly and Taunton and Yeovil monthly and holds surgery at his own place the Hydro weekly. He has told Don he can do something for him so Don is having a go. Has to see him again in the near future. This Dr Carr many years ago cured one of the Wills daughter’s at Blagdon and was set up in business by the father of the girl afterwards. He is over 90 (Carr). I hope he can do Don a bit of good even if it is only to give him some relief. When Don told him what the complaint was he replied “Emphysema, I have treated hundreds for this”.

Getting back to the alterations here, now that the posts are in for the new fence I do not like the position of the remaining section of the pond and may break it up altogether. Not made up my mind fully yet but if I do destroy it shall probably make another on the site of the round flower border between the rectangular border and the shed. I saw one advert for precast concrete sections for pond making and that they can be filled with water immediately and stocked with fish etc. First of all though the greenhouse must be put up again and lots of other things done. We were going to the Staceys at Bristol this afternoon but in view of what may happen in our absence we have called it off and intend to remain here until the builders have carried out their obligations so far as we are concerned. Have asked the Staceys to come down here instead. Did I tell you that the hedge at bottom of lawn was bulldozed down in about five minutes? The others went just as quickly although I did not see the bulldozer at work on them. The debris has been piled up into very large heaps and will be set fire to shortly. Hope it is not a washing day.

Had cards from the Hewitts from Fort William and Ted Caple from Holland. The Hewitts have been very fortunate for whether but I do not think I should like to be in Scotland at the moment with so much typhoid about*.

Your letter now to hand and June has confirmed that late posting was due to the bad weather on Monday. Many thanks for all the news and we know the weather is also subject of complaint your end. (Mr Palmer has interrupted this for about two hours.) Glad to hear all the greenhouse seeds and plants are progressing satisfactorily.

So you may have to change offices at Liverpool Street. If you get a more comfortable one even if smaller I do not suppose you will mind. What a price for houses on the ground adjacent to your house – should increase the value of yours.

Thought you would be interested to hear we had met Mrs Benn and had a chat.

If that mouse makes a regular run across your garden it should not be difficult to set a trap in his path of based with cheese then wait for the fun.

Sorry to hear of the bother you had with the sink. If the finish of the Formica is poor you must have it renewed altogether or else you will be reminded of the trouble over and over again. Better get it put right and make a good job of it. We still have a few ants crawling around – seems to be a proper epidemic of them this season all over the country**.

Your suggestions for screening the bottom of the lawn appreciated but I have been talking to Mr Palmer and he says he would not hesitate to fix panelling right across and thus ensure privacy right from the start. I reckon it would cost at least £50 [roughly £1250 in 2024 money] so shall have to think about it. No workmen on our plot today but it has been raining again quite a lot and this makes hard going of the building industry.

So one of the old records has finally been marked off. The new ones presumably are not as easily broken.

Note your further contacts on radio. Have not had the time to try and listen in on the short-wave yet. Our picture on TV gave notice on Sunday by constantly fading out until it stopped altogether on Monday. Sound was alright. Got Bell’s people to look in last evening and I suspected tube gone but was wrong again. It only required a valve to put matters right and we are back in full circuit once more. The tube has been in use since November 1956 so we can really expect it to give out at any time. Understand a new one would cost about £18 [roughly £450 in 2024 money] and a reconditioned one about half that amount.

Had a letter from Michael Richings and his wife this morning thanking us for the little fluffy rabbit we sent up for their baby daughter with Mrs Richings. asked us to call on them when in the vicinity but cannot say when that will be.

Noted Peter still supplying you with soil. Expect he’s glad to dispose of it from number 17. Don and Joan were asking after them all at Ealing and also of Pauline.

Our rat’s tail cactus has been a picture too and admired by callers. I take it you have removed the honeysuckle cuttings from the polythene bag now they have rooted. They should make their own growth now standing on the greenhouse staging. Gradually harden them off and then plant them in position outdoors. The ones I bought back from Ling last year are now in the small plot outside the back door where it is proposed to have a screen to shield prying eyes from looking down the garden from the front gate.

It is nearly a fortnight since we left number 84. Time seems to slip by when one is busy. We do however want the fine weather for the work outdoors and the sooner the greenhouse is up the better. Bought some boiled linseed oil to treat the woodwork but for the moment this cannot be done because it is so wet.

Well this seems to be the lot for another week. All our love to you both and lots of kisses for the girls.

Mum and Dad 

*Ah, the infamous typhoid-in-the-corned-beef story. I haven’t eaten corned beef for sixty years because there was ‘typhoid in it’ when I was a child, but had thought that story actually dated from 1965. It was no great loss, I didn’t like the stuff anyway and was glad of an excuse not to have to eat it: likewise the later ‘cyclamates in soft drinks‘ scenario in 1970. IMHO a life without either corned beef or fizzy orange is a life well lived!

**He should have seen ours at the moment – one giants ants’ nest!