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SECOND INNINGS - TEDDINGTON 1963 - 1972 My return to ARL was a bit like a
batsman going into bat for his second innings after he made a duck in the first innings. I imagined a long playing period would
be needed to re-establish myself with local management.
Being pre- Christmas season there should be a certain amount of good
will about. These were my thoughts as I
entered the Chief Draughtsman's office. He
had not been informed of my return to duty at ARL, by the surprised look with which he and
his secretary, Olive Buogiou, greeted me.
I broke the ice, by saying, "The Prodigal Son has
returned, that is, if you have a place for me."
He stood up and shook my hands and said, "Indeed we have,
for the workplace units are in storage, awaiting your return. The work study team has said it was
your design and that you would be the best person to install them. Your section leader's post has been
shared, knowing that your absence was a temporary affair.
On completion of this refitting of the office, you will take
over your old job." I replied, "This is ideal,
for it will give me time to get readjusted to the establishment's current work, thank
you." These draughtsmen
units were well received by all the staff and I never remember having an adverse comment
made, not after Mr Rose had tried it out. This phase of batting at the
wicket was not unlike my return to Ever Ready after my five years in the war. On being restored by my former post, I
felt that after serving three years on this Work Study Management Team, I had been granted
my reprieve. This may also have been due to the
fact that I had become a changed man, according to comments I overheard. On the study, a great deal of
discretion was necessary when dealing with large numbers of people and different
situations. The need to be
assertive in this role did not apply, as it did in the army as a sergeant. It is possible that I carried on this
attitude on leaving the army, and this is why Colin Selway was having a go at me. Before the work study stint, I had
some colleagues from work for a social evening with their wives. Comments were made the following day about
not treating Gladys as a proper husband should.
So all these factors made me realise that I had some rethinking to do,
to correct my faults. This, I
believed, was taking place during the last three years, especially as regards the home
situation with Harry, still very unsettled at his new job.
I needed to find out what was
troubling him. He arrived home from
work on Wednesday evening, complaining of a septic throat and wanting to go on sick leave. This he did, staying in bed for a week over
the 1963 Christmas holiday period. We
never knew what he was thinking about this job, until a number of years later, when he
wrote the following: Harry did get this job with Power
Petroleum, although when he set out for London, we were not told he had finished with
Smiths Clocks. Andrew, just before Christmas,
took part in a Christmas service at Westminster Abbey, with members of St Johns church
choir. Mr Batty, their
choirmaster, had been rehearsing the choir in choral pieces to join other choirs, who had
been invited in this mass choir service.
Gladys was pleased to attend, as was I, seeing Andrew taking
part and knowing that he was close to where our Queen was crowned. During the Christmas service at St
John's I was approached by Ted Edwards, to see if I would assist in their youth club,
which Andrew attended with other members of the choir.
He told me they want some one to run a beetle drive. With Andrew attending, I found it difficult
to say no, and of course, I got involved with the church activities. Now it was one of these beetle
drives where Andrew told me off for acting so stupid, when we arrived home. He said, "Dad, you look stupid running
up and down, seeing how many parts they are putting on the beetle's body after you have
thrown the dice." When he said
this, I wondered if this was the beginning of losing his smile. This was a feature of Andrew that his
mother and I so cherished. Harry's
unhappiness was like a cloud over the house and I knew that as Andrew grew up and became
more thoughtful, he would be affected. More bells were ringing, for Harry
had in March finished at the Petroleum firm, being told that he should not take up work of
the calibre that he had been trying to. Again,
we could not find out what his job was. It
was only later that we learned from his writing that he had a teleprinter to operate. This was Andrew's 11-plus year, so
we tried to avoid any distressful scenes with Harry's problems, which we could not fathom
out. All Andrew's school reports
were average, with 'good' for attitude and maths.
He did not read much, like Harry, and I was not too concerned if he
did not pass his 11-plus, as long as he was happy at his school. Reg and Barbara stayed with us
during Easter week. I was pleased when
Reg entered the extended living room and said, "I see you have got your little pieces
of Bath in position", pointing to the fire-place.
"I cannot see any cracks above the opening in the wall you have
made, do we assume the house will not fall down while we are here?" I replied, with a smirky grin,
"If it does, it will be your fault for starting me off on these do-it-yourself
jobs." Our wives seemed to hit it
off with Gladys finding Barbara a ready shopper, to keep her company on her tour of
Kingston's shops, not forgetting Bentalls. While this was going on, I took
Reg to ARL before they had closed down for Easter weekend.
He had a surprise, when taking him through Bushey Park to Upper
Lodge, where he saw the large facilities such as the fifty-feet whirling arm and my water
entry structure and tanks. In their short stay, we took them
to Hampton Court, Kew Gardens and to Heathrow Airport.
It was the latter, where
they were astonished at the immense activity of passengers and planes arriving and
departing. This was in complete
contrast to their home town of Bath. It
was good to learn that Harry, who had been with us and was now out of work, was both
helpful and good company to our guests during the whole of their visit to Teddington. Reg made certain that I knew this for
he thought that this might surprise me, which it did! Andrew, through his choir friends,
joined the Kingston Crusaders Movement, a sort of Scout and Guides movement combined. This was run with a Christian bias by
inter-denominational leaders. They
had outings and camps, which broadened Andrew's outlook. I became a sidesman at St John's
Church and before I knew what was happening, I had been called to serve on the Parish
Parochial Council, PPC. This widened my
knowledge with regard to the inner workings of the Church.
The vicar, Tim Bowell, approaching retirement age, was a sincere,
straight laced theologian, always able to quote chapter and verse from most parts of the
Bible. In the PPC was a retired RAF group
captain, who always appeared to have opposite views to the vicar. Other members came from a mixture of
backgrounds, but I must admit I had no idea of the in-fighting in the Church until then. Again, before I knew what was happening, I
had been required to organise a barbecue on a stretch of land by the river owned by a
Church member. This turned out to be more of a
fete, with a group providing music, of a kind. The
noise of this pop group upset a local resident, who 'phoned the owner of the land. This was brought to my notice and I
immediately asked the group to turn their amplifier down.
It seems there is some difficulty for pop groups to play softly, for I
could not notice any difference when they said it had been reduced. The following day in the tabloid press, in big
headlines was 'Church rowdy barbecue upsets TV
producer.' Why do pop groups have
to blast their music so much? Here is the letter I received from
the vicar: "My
dear Alan, will you please accept my warmest thanks for all your magnificent work with the
barbecue. The great success of the evening
was so much due to your wonderful management. etc. Yours sincerely, AC Bowell." Having returned to my base at
Teddington, there were several activity strands to be reconnected. It was good to attend the NPL Bridge Club
again, to meet some of my former Bridge addicts and make phoney bids, to upset their
calculations. One such addict was Bob Wilson, an
ARL cricketer and an NPL hockey player. When
talking to Bob, I mentioned that I was not enjoying umpiring at football. This was mainly because a referee is more or
less isolated from those taking part. I am a
team player and like to enjoy the comradeship after the match over a glass of beer. There was still a more basic reason, why I
did not look forward to taking part in this capacity, I am colour blind and found myself
having to remember faces on each side - not an ideal state when their faces get dirty. Immediately after I had mentioned
this, Bob suggested I turned out for the NPL Lower XI hockey team, of which he was a
member. He told me that I could borrow
one of his hockey sticks to take home and practice hitting the ball, for I had never held
a hockey stick, apart from playing for the Scouts against the Guides. Soon, I was playing regularly on the left
wing, where no-one else wished to play.
This was because the left-winger should be skilled at using a
reverse stick and very few could. Whilst on my three years tour, I
developed aches and pains and assumed my age of approaching 50 was having an effect. To my surprise, these effects seemed to
disappear after a few weeks of playing, so I explained to Gladys that sport was acting
like a medicine to me. She replied,
"That's funny, shopping does the same for me, when I am looking at clothes and
jewellery." A life-long friendship was gained
by playing hockey, with Bob being in the same team, both for ARL cricket and for NPL
Bridge and hockey. He worked in
the chemical laboratory in the scientific grade.
Both he and his wife came from Yorkshire, which most people could tell
from their broad accent. It was after a hockey match that
Gladys came with Andrew to fish me out of the bar.
Bob and Anna were with me at the time, in a small group having a drink
with our opponents. Anna, who could see
that Gladys was stressed, explained that I was having this one drink and would be leaving. She then persuaded Gladys and Andrew to join
us in a drink. From that incident, our
wives also developed a life-time friendship. When the cricket season started,
Andrew became the team's scorer, with Gladys meeting us in the pavilion after the match
and meeting Bob and Anna. It was during
my first cricket game of the season, when stretching my arm out to take a catch in the
slips, that I released the nerve in my shoulder blade, caused when lifting the girder into
the dividing wall. Once again, I had
proof that sport was a way of keeping fit and, in this case, did more good than the
doctor's. I had achieved the highest batting
average for the 3rd XI team, something I was proud of, taking into account the fact that I
had been away from the team for three years and that I was in my 49th year. ARL were again winners of the Stanton
NPL Trophy for cricket. Harry had found work locally, in a
Dolcis shoe shop at Clarence Street, Kingston.
His workplace being close to home and not having to travel, we had
hoped that this would have removed some of the stress he had experienced with his other
jobs in the city. He started
there in April and survived until August. Here
is an extract from his writing, for, again, at that time we were not aware of his deep
thoughts: "I got the feeling that everybody was hostile
towards me. I would see the doctor
frequently and complained of my heart racing. In
the end, they sent me to West Middlesex Hospital, where they told me to go to Springfield
Mental Hospital, but I refused. The
traffic around Kingston was terrible and probably still is.
The shoes were cheap and nasty, and a lot of people would come
in and rave about their heels coming off. This
boy I was working with, a cheeky devil, put dying on my back as I was walking out of the
shop. The manager quickly removed it. He loved to persecute me and got a lot of
fun out of it." Andrew, not having passed the
11-plus, attended the Orleans County Secondary School, where he seemed to settle in,
having no complaints of any kind about the school.
To my surprise, Andrew had become a rugby player, taking his place in
the school's Under 12 team. I think
this was an indication that he had a mind of his own and was not doing anything because
his Dad did it. It would be interesting
to note whether he would take up cricket. We had another letter of thanks
from the vicar. Here it is: "Dear
Mr & Mrs Rayment and Andrew, Thank you very much for all your effort for the Christmas
Coffee Morning. It was an enjoyable
morning and the amount raised was excellent - and surprising! Best wishes for Christmas, Yours
sincerely, AC Bowell. PS - Mr Rayment - would you be kind enough to read the
fourth lesson at the carol service on Sunday? You
will be a real sidesman." This was very special, for Gladys
seemed to find satisfaction in taking part and meeting interesting people. Gladys attended the candle-lit carol
service, in which I did read the fourth lesson.
At the start of the new year, I
set myself the task of redecorating the through lounge, to make good the damaged caused by
working on the dividing wall. This I
wanted to complete before Easter, so that I could set about painting the outside of the
house, which I had delayed because I was scared of going up ladders. Whilst painting the ceiling, I closely
inspected both walls and ceiling adjacent to the opening in the dividing wall, for any
signs of cracks appearing. It was a
great comfort that none had been found and that we could continue to sleep without fear of
dropping through the floor, which Gladys had said might happen, from time to time. During this work, I kept a look
out for someone with a tall ladder to borrow when painting the front of the house, with
its high central apex. Eventually I
obtained the loan of one from a church member, living close by, which I laid alongside the
front garden dividing wall. I am
now repeating the girder exercise, in that no matter how long I delay using it, it will
still be there to taunt me each time I enter the front door. On Good Friday, after attending
church with Andrew, we returned home to find Gladys crying with a cloth wrapped around her
wrist covered in blood. I could not
properly hear what she was saying, only that Harry had been involved. Without further delay, I 'phoned Dr Bennison and
asked if he could give Gladys attention. Fortunately,
he was able to see her, so I rushed her round in the car to see him. I had, by now, found out that
Harry had come down the stairs demanding his breakfast at nearly dinner time. She had given him a cup of tea and shooed
him off. In the melée that followed,
at the bottom of the stairs, her wrist was cut by a broken cup. When Dr Bennison was told this, he
said he was not surprised. He revealed
that Harry was frequently asking for a sick note to stay away from work. He had advised him to see a psychiatrist from
Springfield Hospital, Tooting. After he had dressed the wound, he
told us he would get in touch with the hospital for a psychiatrist to visit Harry right
away. I told Andrew when we got
home, that Harry needed help of some kind, and that we were to get the dinner, while his
mother recovered from the stress. Harry
had stayed in his bedroom all this time and when I went in to have a talk with him, there
was no apparent remorse for what had happened to his mother. When told that a doctor would be calling to
see him, he made no comment. Being Good Friday, I had not
expected a doctor to arrive as soon as they did, for after he had introduced himself, he
referred to his associate trainee doctor. We
were informed that Harry was suffering from schizophrenia and needed immediate hospital
attention. They suggested that he
returned with them. I went back with them to
let him know that it had been agreed that it was necessary for him to go into hospital. They said that it would be
advisable for them to take a stroll, while his mother, who had now recovered from her
ordeal, got his clothes together. I
went with them, to show them the Teddington Lock.
I heard them saying how relieved they were that Harry was prepared to
go into hospital voluntarily, without any form of enforcement. I was given an assurance that he
would be able to return after a few weeks of treatment and that he would be prescribed
tranquillisers when discharged. The doctor was heavily built,
wearing thick soled boots, whilst his trainee was thin and pale looking, wearing light
shoes. Maybe after a while in this
profession, one becomes toughened up to meet all kinds of disorder. The most important matter here was that
Harry did have an illness and we knew that this must have been with him at school. Today, this would have been identified at a
special school for pupils with a behavioural problem. It took a little while to adjust
to Harry's absence, but there was a feeling of relief that the cause of his inability to
fit into society had been found. Prior
to going to hospital, Harry obtained work at a Co-op furniture shop in Tolworth from
September 1964 to January 1965 and took a job as a furniture salesman again, at Jays,
Staines from February to March 1965. As Whit was approaching, I was
coming to the end of my planned indoor decorating tasks and getting mentally geared to
tackle the outdoor painting challenge. On
my first free Saturday morning, as I was staring at the ladder and then looking up at the
apex, a grey-haired lady came hurrying across from the council estate on the other side of
the road. She asked, "Could you
use your ladder to get through my window, as I have locked myself out?" I was a coward to tell her that I was afraid
of heights, and so replied, "Alright, I will have a go, which floor is it on?" "Oh, I am on the third
floor." I thought that I should be
sick when she said this and turning to Andrew, who had just joined me, "Will you take
this ladder across the road to this lady's flat?"
As I held one end and led the way, with Andrew holding the other end,
I noticed that we were getting slower as we approached my destination. Being Saturday, children and
residents were about, gathering around the base of the ladder, to watch this spectacular
break-in. I received help from one tall
youth in putting the ladder up against the wall.
To my dismay, the ladder failed to reach the windowsill of the open
window. This was a moment I dwelt on
for some time, as to whether I could reach the horizontal frame with my hands to pull
myself up and over the frame with the top half of my body motionless through the open
window into the flat. Andrew was
nudging me not to do it, but, for me there could be no turning back - what would everyone
say? Step by step, looking upwards, I
made my ascent, noticing that it had gone quiet down below.
This quietness was worrying me,
for it suggested that this was a dangerous operation.
Momentarily, I froze and looked down and saw the faces gazing
with curiosity as to what was going to happen next.
Looking upwards again, I plucked up the courage to climb a few more
rungs of the ladder, when I realised that it was now that I must make a grab to hold the
horizontal frame. As I made this grab,
I stood on the last rung, and with great relief, I was able to hold it with one hand and
then finally with both. This enabled
me to feel safe and to lift my body onto the horizontal frame. Having completed this manoeuvre, my
legs were now in free air, with my body balanced on this frame. With the top half of my body
inside the flat, it would be straightforward for me to slide onto the floor of the flat -
so I thought. When trying this, I found
that my body had got wedged on the frame, and no matter how I tried to release myself I
could not get dislodged. I could hear murmerings down below
about fetching the fire brigade. I now
tried to raise one leg over the window's horizontal frame, which I eventually succeeded in
doing. With most of my anatomy inside
the flat still resting on the frame, it was just a matter of letting go and praying for a
safe landing. Once again my Guardian
Angel had been watching over me, ensuring that I survived another day. The next moment there was a knock
on the door, and on opening it, this flat's resident said, "I found your break-in
quite thrilling." I replied, "This is the first
time I have climbed this ladder." "Oh, I thought you were a
painter." Andrew stood with her and said,
"Dad, I was terrified you were not going to make it.
It is a good job that Mum did not watch you." Next time I shall be honest with myself, and
admit I am a coward, and refuse to attempt a rescue involving heights. Whilst we were taking the ladder
back, I thought that this fear of heights would not occur if I used this ladder to do the
painting, since I had reached the top rung at the flat.
This was not to be, for I sweated and froze many times before I
finished painting the apex. Without
doubt, I was never meant to be a fireman nor a wireman in the telecom industry. Just as well, for I should never have been
accepted by the Institute of Chartered Engineers. This august body, did in fact give
me membership during this year, a sort of 50th year birthday present. My work became more involved with the section
providing designs for models, load beams, and supporting equipment for the rotating beam
at Upper Lodge with an occasional jolly to the AHBRE, Glen Fruin, Scotland. I had achieved the top batsman, in
the batting average for the second year running, since my return to the NPL 3rd XI cricket
team. Bob Wilson, my hockey colleague
was placed third in the averages and so he should, one might say, being twenty years my
junior. For making a good job of the
church barbecue, I was landed with the chairman's job for the Christmas fair, to take
place on Saturday, 27th November, 1965. The
details of this event are shown in the parish circular, together with the schedule of
events in the appendage. I was thanked
again by letter by both the vicar and the PCC, for organising this event which raised
£330. A letter was received in May from
a Miss N Rubeck, Social Worker, Advisory Casework Service for the National Association for
Mental Health. The gist of this letter
was concern from Harry's health and the stress that this illness brings upon the parents. This was the first time that anyone
had expressed concern for Gladys or myself.
Eventually, Harry was discharged,
after about six weeks, and was prescribed tranquillisers.
A social worker visited us from Middlesex County Council, to
discuss support for Harry and family. One
item that was brought up was that Andrew could be affected by Harry's behaviour and
consideration should be given to him being sent to a boarding school. He explained that the County provided
financial support, where needed, if Andrew were sent to one of the boarding schools on
their list. Following this visit, his mother
and I had a quiet talk to Andrew on this matter.
We were pleased and also sad that he expressed a keenness to attend
boarding school. On the lists of
schools we could choose from were: Blue Coat; Merchant Taylors; Haberdashery; The Royal
Merchant Navy. Accordingly, we
sent a letter of application to the Local Education Authority inviting them to sponsor
Andrew's boarding school education. This was granted, and after a tour
visiting a number of these schools, we chose the Royal Merchant Navy School, RMNS at
Bearwood College in Berkshire. We
were impressed with the splendid building in spacious grounds with playing fields and
boating pond. The whole estate,
which was surrounded by trees, many of which were rhododendrons in flower at the time we
were there, once belonged to the owner of The Times, John Walters. We finally obtained an interview
with Mr Cunningham, the headmaster. After
showing us around the College, we were invited into his study. My first words were not very tactful,
especially as he sat at his desk, on a high backed chair, with a David Niven appearance,
looking very pompous. My opening words
were, "We have chosen your College from a list of approved schools". With this comment, he nearly fell off his
throne, and when he recovered, he asked me to rephrase my remarks. I said I was sorry, I had chosen the wrong
word, and that I should have said 'a list of schools for which the County provides
financial support.' It was fortunate
that I was sufficiently aware that the word 'approved' relates to a kind of remand centre
for errant youths, to correct my error. This faux pas did not upset the
applecart, for Andrew was invited to join the College at the commencement of the full term
in September. There were several
times after Andrew had seen his future place of learning and living, that he asked if he
could start sooner. Each time
this happened, we were saddened that there should have been a need for this request. During this time of waiting, Harry
had several jobs, with Brooke Bond Tea, Colnbrook, Harrison Timber Merchant, Kingston, The
AA Motor Association, Teddington. All
these he got himself and all were jobs he could not cope with because of stress or that
people were getting at him. The
Minister of Labour, Kingston, informed Harry that a place had been reserved for him at the
Rehabilitation Unit at Walden, Croydon, starting on the 9th March, 1966. This is what he wrote about this
training: We took a chance that all of us
would be able to get away on Thursday 26th May, Whit week period and that my VW Beetle
would not let us down. Being a German make I
should have no difficulty in getting spares, should I require them. Our journey, after arriving at
Ostend from Dover, went through Belgium via Brussels, and into Holland, en route to
Beesil, where we stayed at a large rented detached house with Joan's family. This was the first time we had met
them since their wedding in 1956 and they had since added to the family Wendy, aged 7 and
Bob, aged 5. Joan, with her dimpled chin,
taking after Jackie Kennedy, gave Gladys a hearty hug and a warm welcome to us all, as did
Mike. He was very chubby compared to
the last time we saw him and, as we found out, enjoyed himself. He was on an RAF service station, where they
were able to share in the social life of the mess and in addition, being a Mason, he took
an active part with the local residents in the activities of the Lodge. The highlights of our stay were
motoring to places of interest. Our
visit to Cologne, where we saw its impressive Cathedral, damaged during the war, gave us a
reminder of our own suffering, as did the visit to the war graves at Arnhem. Our trip to Amsterdam, whilst of
pleasure to witness the Dutch scenes, waterways and windmills, was very much a nightmare
for driving. It appears that cyclists
are equally as important as the motorist, having their own cycle tracks, both in and out
of cities. Not only does the
motorist have to drive on the right hand side of the road on the Continent, he must give
way to traffic entering from side roads on his right, and this includes cyclists. I think the flatness of the
country gave the impression that there was something missing compared to our own country. For me, I shall remember most taking
the wrong turning and doing a U-turn, going round an island the wrong way, just before a
German motorcycle speed cop, wearing a white helmet appeared. He had allowed me time to recover my
correct position on the road. We saw numerous
speed cops all looking like midgets on their bikes with white helmets almost as big as
themselves. There was only one occasion when I
had to reprimand my boys at the back of the car, for fighting over something, as boys
will. I was pleased that Gladys saw her
sister, and had time to chat about family matters. We returned to England the same
way as we departed, on the 3rd June, in time for Harry to start his new job on the
following Monday, at Willments (Twickenham) Ltd, Ford Main Dealer. This was his twelfth job in three years,
which proved that he had good presentation, but I was surprised that firms did not ask for
references before taking him on. When Harry reached driving age, he
had lessons and passed his driving test first time.
I gave him permission to use my VW Beetle car shortly after
passing, to go to Hammersmith with a friend, about a job.
On this trip, he had an accident with a motor scooter rider in
Chiswick. He suffered from minor
shock and was forbidden to use the car, except for emergency purposes. He finally bought a Fort Consul
convertible banger with financial help from a friend, Paul Dixon, who was in the car at
the time of the accident. This banger
had more rust on it than paint. It
was never left outside the house, but in a side street, where our back entrance from the
house opened onto this road. He was
therefore now able to seek work outside the Teddington area. He stayed at John Willments until
the start of the new year, 1967, when he was admitted into Springfield Hospital again. This is an extract of writing about his
experience at this firm: Andrew, who was confirmed at St
John's Church on 1st May, had a very satisfactory autumn report at Bearwood College, where
he had joined his new boarding school in September.
He was considered a most useful member of the rugby Under 14's XI. A good tackler. Here is a copy of his first letter home
from boarding school: "Dear Mum and Dad, I'm just writing to tell you
how I'm getting on at my new school. The
work is not too hard and I am doing French again.
I've got used to their habits and nearly know my way around the
school. I am in the under 14 rugby
team, I played on Saturday and helped them lose.
The Master has put us into hard training because the team has lost
every game this season. I
hope all is well at home. Andrew. PS, the meals are good!" Gladys was, at this time, very low
without Andrew, and with Harry and his difficult behavioural problem. She was very home oriented, apart from
her afternoon's Kingston shopping excursions.
Joking, I said, "Why not get a part- time job at Bentalls,
where you could get paid while helping at the shop and seeing the best bargains at the
stores as soon as they appear." She replied, "Yes, I would
like to do that, and I know they are wanting part- timers.
I will visit them tomorrow, but you will not have any of my wages if I
do get work there." I smiled, "It is all right,
for you will be able to buy the week's groceries from there with the money that you
earn." Gladys got a job as a
part-timer, helping in any department that might be short of staff. It proved to be the greatest uplift that she
could have. Each day, she had a
fresh story to tell, either about the customer or about the staff. Her favourite department was the chemist
shop, where she would name staff who were having an illicit affair and who had called in
to collect preventatives, before going away at the weekend. I was able to pick her up each
night, which was essential at the weekends, having purchased the week's supply of
groceries at the discount price allowed to the staff.
Due to her mobile role, of filling in the various departments, she
became very knowledgeable on Bentall's goods and she herself became well-known by the
staff. Bentalls took an active part in
the life of Kingston. They kind of
hosted the Kingston annual carnival and it was traditional for Mr Bentall to stand on the
store's balcony and wave to the procession of tableaux passing by below. With Gladys a member of Bentall's staff, I was
able to join their bridge section of the Bentall's sports and social club. This brought me in direct contact with
Bentall's top brass, including Mr and Mrs Bentall.
In playing bridge with their controllers, I heard what was new
taking place with stores, as I did when their famous Tudor Restaurant was to be replaced
by a fast moving cafeteria service. My hockey friend's wife, Anna,
lost her baby and suffered depression. Gladys
managed to persuade Anna to join her at Bentalls and in doing so, she made a recovery. I learned from Anna that Gladys regarded
this store as hers, and would wander all over the store from time to time. She made quite sure that she wore
a new outfit and board brimmed hat for our attendance at Bearwood School's speech day. It was a very emotional moment meeting
Andrew, whom we had not seen for nearly two months, and to see him with his smile, looking
well. There was a mass of colour, with
all mothers doing their own thing, dressing up to make an impression on their sons and the
school staff. After prizes had been
presented in the morning, to those who
attended the previous year, we wondered onto the lawn, where staff and pupils with their
parents intermingled. To my surprise, Andrew asked us if
we would like to be introduced to his Housemaster, Mr Russell. When I was at school, I was scared stiff of
my teachers and would not have dreamed of asking my parents to speak to them. This invitation impressed me, for I noted
that Andrew had an air of confidence about him already, as a result of his schooling here. Each boy belonged to a house,
Andrew belonged to 'Frobisher'. All
houses put on a play or musical piece at these assemblies to compete for the house prize.
Andrew's house sang extracts from the Sound of Music, coming 2nd in the competition. One felt happy that Andrew was
going to do well and that the school would bring out the best in him. Out of Harry's disability, my other son was
rewarded with a first class education; it is an unfair world and is beyond understanding,
especially when people are born with a disability, be it blindness, deafness or even both
in some cases. In the sporting world, the year
1966 will not be forgotten by English soccer fans, for it was the year we won the football
World Cup. I too, did well at
cricket in my 51st year, by scoring 71 runs in one innings and achieving the highest
batting average for the third XI team. I
was regarded as a promising hockey player still, with lots of potential! I received a very appreciative
letter from my vicar, Rev A C Bowell, for a fund-raising event, for which I was a
presenter at a concert, where some local artiste took part. As I have never appeared on the stage,
facing an audience with the object of building up their interest, I felt I had the
opposite effect. However, the leading
artiste, Mrs Wade, a soprano singer, did thank me afterwards for my kind introductory
remarks, which eased my mind a little. Earlier in the year, I had landed
the Chairman's job of the Friends of St John Committee.
The object of this committee was to raise funds for the church by
inducing parishioners to take out covenants in favour of their church, this enabled any
income tax paid on the sum covenanted to be reclaimed and added to the sum donated. In this activity, going round houses
along Lower Teddington Road, I could have been mistaken for an insurance agent. I was able to report to the PCC in December,
that this committee's endeavours had increased St John's annual income by a further £500
annually. In the PCC, there were a number of
interesting characters. The vicar's
warden, Group Captain Brouson, was always in opposition to the vicar, and should have been
the people's warden, but that would have meant a loss of rank. The treasurer, Mr Herdman, was the
equivalent of our Foreign Minister, Douglas Hurd, both for appearance and mannerism. Mr May, the future secretary, a very smartly
dressed executive type, travelled to the City daily and was in charge of engineering
services at the Savoy Hotel, so I was told.
A local property owner, Jack Offer, a tall thin gentleman,
disappeared each year when the Henley Regatta was being held and took part in an official
capacity. I suppose Ted Edwards
was the one with whom I was most comfortable, being an ex-serviceman and down to working
man's level. I had invitations to the Sunday
mornings get-together for drinks after the Church service at Mr May's riverside dwelling,
which I attended once, but I felt I did not have the right accent for this social circle. I could not see Gladys trying to act
the lady, she was not a pretentious person. It seemed to me that half the PCC
time was taken up discussing financial
matters, of which the Church Hall was a continual drain on their finances. Also looming ahead, was the question of
rebuilding the church in the vicarage grounds, due to a new road scheme, which would
virtually leave the church on an island. Again, looming ahead, was the fact
that my name had been put forward as Deputy Vicar's Church Warden. This was a post that did not have automatic
succession, nor was it recognised in the church's hierarchy. In other words, it was to be the vicar's
warden's dogsbody. I did not seek
further involvement in the activities of the church and I acted out this role, primarily
due to my home situation. After Harry's brief spell at
Springfield Hospital, he had three jobs, before returning again three months later. He did a week at Elm Garden Nurseries,
Claygate, several weeks at the Ministry of Social Security, Hounslow, as a clerk, and at
West Middlesex Hospital, Isleworth, again as a general clerk. None of these jobs he was able to cope with
and he finally returned to Springfield Hospital at Tooting. As parents, we seemed to get very
little help to know how to care for Harry. They
prescribed tranquillisers for Harry to take when he felt he was having a turn, such as
seeing things that were not there. He
had a further three weeks in Springfield and left as before, with no guidance about
rehabilitation before starting work. During the next three months he
had four jobs. At each of these places
of work, he obtained employment on his own. Here
are the comments he wrote about one of these jobs: "At Bells Garage in Kingston, I was very good at
the job, and was capable of working on the pumps and working out the change. It was £'s shillings and pence in those
days. I tried to chat up a wench that
worked in the office, and made a fool of myself.
The manager started to take the mickey and called me a
'spastic', and generally being horrible." Harry left on Monday, 14th August
and it was not until we had a call from Edgware Hospital, that we knew where he was. It transpires, he did reach Scotland,
without seeing his penfriend, and on returning, due to taking tranquillisers, fell asleep
in a lay-by at night on the outskirts of Edgware. The
police woke him up and after being questioned and the car inspected, the police took him
to hospital, where he stayed the night. Next
morning, after the effects of the drugs had worn off, the police returned him to the car
with some kind of warning and instructions to change one of his tyres. When he returned home, on Friday 18th
August, he described his adventure to us. We took him to the doctors and
arrangements were made for him to enter Longrove Hospital, Epsom. He was there for several months. An outcome of this affair, was that Harry
was advised not to drive until he was off sedatives.
With him not stable enough to keep a job, it was inevitable that he could
not afford the expense of a car and would have to sell it.
He used his 'pride and joy' to
escape from his local surroundings and lose himself in another world. He gave his mother lifts in the car to go to
work and knew that she, too, was escaping from her cares for a few hours. The Triumph Herald was advertised and sold
through the Exchange and Mart. Although
Gladys missed these lifts when they took place, it was a relief to know he would not now
be a danger to himself or the public, as a result of driving the Triumph. My Austrian colleague, Steven, was
a guest of honour at a retirement dinner, prior to his departure from ARL. This was held at the Griffin Hotel, Kingston
and took place during the recognised one-hour dinner period. There were eighteen draughtsmen
present, who attended and paid tribute to Steven for the standard of his spoken English
and knowledge of the English language. I
had organised this event and was pleased that the hotel staff did produce a first class
meal in the allotted one hour period. This event appeared in the ARL
news, with reference to the network planning adopted by the hotel staff to serve this meal
in the one hour flat. Steven and his
wife retired to Hove, leaving their mark of being prouder to be English than perhaps some
of us born here. He was always
stressing, that we had been free of oppression for centuries and had no idea what is was
like to have freedom taken away. We
visited them many times at Hove, where they had found some good neighbours. Steven gave me several momentoes, including
a Zeiss camera. One reason that it was important
that we should not abuse our dinner hour, was that the Defence Minister, Denis Healy,
together with Chief Scientist (RN), Mr B Lythall, were visiting ARL at around this period. Members of the scientific staff were very
impressed with the Defence Minister's visit. He
gave many searching questions to the Director and 'G' group leader, whilst visiting the
whirling 50 foot rotating arm facility at Upper Lodge. Another important visitor, Vice
Chairman of the Defence Board, Ottawa, Dr, L L Heureaux was given a tour of the
establishment, perhaps he was pleased with the results of the study that was carried out
on the Briar Dior, Canadian Hydrofoil Vessel by ARL. For some reason, the cricket
results for NPL did not come to hand, I can only assume some of us did badly. However, in the Bowls - Stanton NPL Trophy
results did get printed and came to hand with ARL the winners. Two rinks took part, that
is, four persons bowled in per rink, for which I was the lead for one of the teams. This was another sport where I was gradually
being drawn in to represent ARL. The children's party committee at
ARL held two dances in the Glazebrook Hall, NPL, to raise funds. These were well-attended by something like
400 people. Gladys and I met our
friends there, including Bob and Anna, Tony and Joan, and the others. Drinks were consumed, of a limited nature,
with the wives being present and of course cars were being used, not bikes! It was a splendid sight to see the
children at their Christmas party in Glazebrook Hall being entertained and fed in this
spacious hall, which was formerly a wind tunnel for testing large structures. Andrew, who was home for
Christmas, had a lot to tell us about Bearwood. He
had lost some of his shyness and when he described the daily routine, he conveyed a
feeling that he enjoyed the boarding school life.
Here was his daily schedule: 7.30 out of bed, 8.00 breakfast,
8.30 chapel, 9.00 to 12.15 periods 1st to 5th, 1.00 lunch, 2.00 tutor time, 2.25 6th to
7th periods, with no periods on Wednesday afternoons.
Games onwards after 3.45 each week day.
On Saturdays, when not taking part in school matches, he told us they
were encouraged to join the various clubs and activities.
He had joined the chess club, mathematical workshop, and tennis for
beginners. I smiled when he was
telling me, for he had already drawn my attention to the remark in his report that he was
an outstanding rugby forward and now he is taking up tennis. There has been no mention of
soccer or cricket, even though he became our scorer at NPL the year before he left for
boarding school. He certainly
does not intend to do things because his Dad did them.
You could say that was true of me, for I never took up my father's
calling, music. His reports from
school indicated that he was not an academic on the classical subjects, but did have a
strong leaning on the mathematical side. It
was very noticeable, when he spoke of his learning, it was always with reference to his
maths. The comments in his autumn
report for 1967 did not hide his low ability with C's and D's in most subjects. I think this was to push him well in time before
his GCE examinations. He told us the boys during their
free time, were encouraged to do community work in the village of Sindlesham, provided
that the college were made aware of the address where this was being done. I was most impressed with the school's
balance of discipline and freedom the boys were given by the headmaster, Mr Cunningham. Each boy was given a new brochure
on Bearwood College, giving the history of the RMNS and Bearwood Mansion House and Estate. Here is an extract:- They had to be seven years of age
and were looked after until they were fourteen.
The Institute sought to rescue them from vice and profligacy; to
inculcate in them tenents of the Church of England, and ultimately to place them in
suitable positions. The lease of
their premises at Bow Street ran out. A
new school was built. The foundation
stone was laid by the Prince Consort, this being his last public engagement before he
died. In 1862, Earl Russell opened this
new school building at Snaresbrook, catering for 120 boys and girls. By 1890, the school, in addition to its main
subjects, had adopted mechanical drawing, French and shorthand for boys, and for girls,
drawing and typewriting. An officer type uniform, with a
cut back jacket was worn by the boys, and for the girls, an ankle-length slim woollen navy
skirt, tight long-sleeved jacket, with a pastel bow at the neck and a straw hat with a
ribbon. In 1902, King Edward VII granted
the school the attribute of 'Royal' and the
opportunity was taken for the school to be known as the Royal Merchant Navy School. Soon after this renaming, due to a
combination of increased numbers and the school building requiring a major reconstruction,
new premises were needed. Eventually in 1919, Sir Thomas
Devitt, Bart and Sir Alfred Yarrow bought the estate at Bearwood, some 500 acres in
Berkshire, and offered it to the Institution. Bearwood
had been the seat of the Walter family, which owned The Times newspaper. During the early period, there was
much marching on the playing fields, to the dining hall and back, up to bed and down again
to breakfast. In 1955 to 1959, there
was a falling-off of numbers and the girls were siphoned off to the junior school at
Bexhill from Bearwood. With Mr Cunningham's appointment
in 1963, the school took on a new image, with the help of new grants. This enabled the school to up-date
facilities and provided five married quarters and eleven masters' flats, adjoining their
houses in the main premises. These
improvements attracted staff of the required standard, both for the classroom and the
playing fields. The school had
noticed a higher level of attainment than hitherto, up to sixth form standard. During Christmas leave, Andrew
made contact with his former Crusader friends.
His mother was now experiencing the 'going away' with Andrew, as she
did with me for so many years. I
suppose one has to come to terms with this happening, if, in the end, it is for the best! We received a letter from Dr
Collie, an Assistant Psychiatrist at West Middlesex Hospital after Harry had been
discharged from Longrove Hospital, Epsom. Here
it is: I attended a short course in my
own time at Kingston Technical College. This
was on network planning, a management tool used on major projects. This technique was first used on the Polaris
submarine, built in America. The basis
of this system is that a length of a line represents time.
Should two items, A and B, be required for a sub-assembly, C, and item
A takes twice the time to make, compared to B, this would appear on a chart with one line
twice the length of the other. To
remove the slack on B, the resources would have to be drafted to reduce A's time by half. The alternative to this, if there was no
urgency to start sub-assembly C, then effort used on B would be available elsewhere. This presentation is a method of
providing pre-production information when dates are added to the start and finish of the
line for those engaged on the project. It is
a visual network picture, similar to a railway network of routes. I was informed that I was to
attend Salford University, with the Deputy Group Leader and two senior draughtsmen, Doug
Snelling and Tom Abercrombie. This was
a four-day course on the use of computers in engineering design. For me, this was a nostalgic experience,
being located adjacent to Manchester, where I started my working life in the basement of
one of its warehouses. It came as a surprise that Salford
University should be staging this course with Manchester University next door, renowned
for its excellence in management and computer studies.
Although computer aided design, CAD, was in its infancy generally at
this time, there were big strides being made in the car industry, where shapes were
programmed and the same basic data used for drawings and computer controlled workshop
machines. In research establishments
generally dealing with single prototypes, it is not economical to employ extensive
computer programmed equipment, compared to the car industry producing large numbers from
one set of programmes. However, there
was some scope at ARL, in the production of propeller blades and propulsion tail units for
torpedoes. On his return, Mr Scovell, the
deputy group leader, set up a small section in the drawing office, to specialise in this
field and in computer controlled equipment, where purchased. I submitted a report on the
information gained on this course to the drawing office manager, Fred Baker. The G Group leader, Mr F S Burt,
retired and a standard retirement presentation in room 201 took place at 4.30 pm. Present were my usual colleagues,
Tony, Gordon, Stan and Bob. For Tony,
it was his usual unsafe journey on his bike, having taken his share of liquid
refreshments. On these occasions, I
left my transport at home. My flat colleague at Wimbledon,
Alex Mitchell, straight from Oxbridge when I first joined ARL, became the new G Group
leader. They say that like attracts
like, and I believe this to be true in the academic world, a sort of 'boys' network'. I was fairly close to Derek
Hilbourne, for whom I had worked on the Canadian hydrofoil project. We arrived to discuss a new assignment and
first referred to the shouting match he had just had with his new leader. A comment was made about 'not going to the
right school'. Our next door neighbours, the
Stambridges, had a holiday cottage at Exbourne, Devon, which we could rent should we so
require. It had not been possible to arrange
our holidays, due to the uncertainty of where and what condition Harry would be in. With him having the sack at the Agriculture
Office, for being too slow, he was out of work with nothing in the pipeline. We decided to make a booking for the summer
holidays, when Andrew would be at home. When we arrived at this quiet
village with thatched cottages and got out of the Beetle at our lonely cottage, Harry's
first words were, "Oh this is ideal, it is deafeningly quiet." Our routine each day was for Gladys to visit
Oakhampton to do her shopping and explore the town.
On our return, we would make up a picnic lunch to take with us to the
beach, about 15 miles away near Bude. At night I would challenge the
lads at chess, when not going for short walks. Harry
occasionally drove the car to the village shop.
I think the change of scenery and routine did us all good,
particularly as we were all together, for a change.
The weather had also been kind, with no rain during our stay. Shortly after Andrew's return to
school, we received an interesting letter. Here
is an extract from it- About this time, we received a
letter from Harry, who told us he was leaving for Clacton-on-Sea when he left home a few
days ago: Again, this was a good message on
two counts. We felt that he would soon
appear home after he had used his stress escape mechanism by going off. The other reason was that he showed a trace
of humour in his contradictory remarks. He
had never got himself into trouble where I had had to rescue him, nevertheless, we were
concerned whether he would have enough money to get home.
On his arrival, his mother said,
"Now you have had your fling, tomorrow you can take yourself off to Bentalls. They require help in the Despatch
Department." This he did, and stayed
there for the rest of the year. I was now in my fourth year of
hockey and had established myself as the right back in NPL's fifth XI team, with Bob
Wilson as left back. I had a good sense
of positioning myself, as I had in football. At the cricket AGM, I had been
inveigled into constructing covers for the cricket pitch to protect it during matches
where there is heavy rain stopping the match. This
came about when a member of ARL said he knew where there was redundant material in the
bulk stores, which could be used. As stated before, I have
difficulty in saying, 'no' and landed myself a moonlight job in transferring this material
from ARL over the wall into another government department, NPL. Those covers, with wheels, were about ten
feet long and six feet wide and fitted with drainpipes to the gutters, taking the water
away from the wicket pitch. I was
pleased to finish this job before the 1969 season started.
It was getting time for me to take it easy, but I find life's too
short for that. I have regularly attended the
Parish Church Council, PCC, meeting of St John's.
The vicar and the treasurer have taken the majority of the council's
time in discussing: (a) the proposals for rebuilding a new church and hall in the vicarage
grounds; (b) the increasing debt of the church and the measures to be taken to remedy the
situation. The treasurer, in his brief,
did mention the increased income from £500 to £1,000 per year, during the last three
years, from the covenants donated, arising out of the efforts of the Friends of St John's. This was one of the groups I had been landed
with since joining this church. Whenever
I pass a church, I give a thought for the vicar and the treasurer, who are usually faced
with increasing repair costs and who have a diminishing congregation to contribute towards
these repair bills. The new church proposals, which
the architect had submitted, did not cater for the numbers that the present church could
hold. The vicar thought that this could
hold up progress, since the Bishop had to give his approval. The land adjoining would have to be bought
if the church buildings were made to cater for this number, between 300 and 400. The vicar pointed out that there
were many obstacles that would have to be overcome, such as meeting the local planning
regulations, particularly as regards car parking space requirements. This scheme, of using the vicarage land,
where there is no adjacent car parking space in the Vicarage Road, cast a continuing doubt
as to the feasibility of the proposals. What
had put some urgency into this matter, was that an anonymous parishioner had offered to
pay for the new proposals of building a new church and hall. Although this donor was not named, I would
have put money on Jack Offer, the Henley boat man and local property owner. The vicar, as chairman, called on
the treasurer to make enquiries regarding the ownership of the land adjacent to the
vicarage, and whether it could be purchased, and at what price. This uncertainty about the church's
future was having a slowing down in the interest of on-going activities such as my Friends
of St John's summer and Christmas fetes. My boss, Fred Baker, informed me
that I was to attend a two day Admiralty interviewing course. From time to time, senior members of the
drawing office were called upon to become interviewing board members, when recruiting
technical staff for Admiralty drawing offices. This, I attended with others, from
various establishments, including one from underwater weapons at Portland. The course director informed us that all
those chosen for interview had the required technical qualifications. Our role on the board was to identify
the candidates with the most potential, and who could cope under pressure. In general, questions should be based on the
answers given to previous questions, unless there was a need to explore some relevant
subject not touched upon. We
carried out mock boards, one in which I was to be the nasty, a sort of Sergeant Barlow
from the 'Z-cars' TV programme. Our
candidates were volunteers from a local establishment, who acted as our guinea pigs. All these sessions were recorded and played
back for comments. When my candidate was asked why he
should be selected in preference to all the others, he replied, "I have outstanding
HNC markings." I
then asked him, "How do you know that the other candidates have not got better
markings than yourself?" He
smiled, and said, "If they have, then you must be spoilt for choice." This brought smiles from the rest of the
board. This was the start of the
interviews, others took over later. The course director played back
the tape and made comments about each board member.
Regarding myself, he mentioned that I looked a 'Barlow' type, and
sounded like him on the tape. He
thought this guinea pig kept his cool, when replying to my question. Andrew joined a school party to
travel to Switzerland with their house master during the half term. According to the postcard we received, most
were suffering from ankle sprains from tumbles, whilst learning to ski. Before he left to go on this exciting
holiday, he had been informed that his name was going forward for a training on the
Malcolm Miller Schooner, subject to his wishes and parents' approval. He may have been sliding about on the slopes
in Switzerland, but here at his school, he had certainly landed on his feet! We had a double set-back at the
beginning of the new year, 1969. Harry
had again failed to keep his job at Bentalls and our investments, little as they were, but
still very precious to me, were entrusted with a financial company that had gone into
receivership. Both Gladys and I were thrifty in
the sense that if there was something we wanted, but could not afford, we did without. Only the mortgage of the house left us with
an outstanding debt. Any surplus money
that I had went straight into Davies Investment Company at Wimbledon, who advertised in
the Daily Telegraph, quoting higher interest rates than the building societies. I had invested around £5,000 at the time I
read in the paper that the receivers had been brought into this company. Gladys was, naturally, very upset,
and said that I had no right to trust an unknown investment firm. The following weekend, when having a drink
after the hockey match, with Gladys and the Wilsons, Anna said to me, "Gladys has
told me that you need your head looking into.
Is it right that you have lost several thousands of
pounds?" I replied, "No, that is not
completely true, the receivers are hoping to recover most of the money invested." This was my first experience of putting
money into investment with a higher interest rate than the norm, without taking into
account the risk involved. This would
be the last time I lost my hard-earned money in this way, I should keep to Government
savings in the future! I attended a meeting at the
Connaught Rooms in London, where the receiver addressed the creditors of this company, in
the presence of Mr Davies, promising to recover as much money as possible. After explaining that the banks had not
given him enough time to take advantage of his investments, the creditors subjected Mr
Davies to a barrage of questions. A
few days later, his suicide was reported in the papers.
He left a widow and a family.
I would have preferred to have surrendered all my capital, if it had
meant a saving of his life. My lesson
had been learned, not only because of the loss of money, but also because of the wrath
that followed from Gladys. Harry's job at Bentalls, that
finished at the end of February 1969, had only been a temporary one. Here is an extract of his experience whilst
working at this store, which he wrote later: I went into the staff office and
tried to get a position there as a salesman, but the Personnel Officer saw my employment
record. He wanted to know if I had ever
had trouble with my nerves and I said, yes. He
commented that I would have to go behind the scenes as a Porter. When I first started, the
under-buyer, by the name of Light Howler, insulted me in front of the other porters, and
from then on they made themselves bad workers. There was a fantastic variety of
toys in the toy department. Most of
the porters were hippy types, and the wages were so low that they went to the Personnel
Officer and complained about it, but nothing came of it. They had two Father Christmases in
the grotto and some fairies behind the scenes. The
crowds were fantastic on a Saturday. Mrs
Bentalls was an alcoholic and she was often seen around Kingston in her Rolls Royce, the chauffeur was not allowed to stop near an
off-licence or a pub, otherwise he would be fired if she got out and had a drink. My mother worked at the dispensary
and got a good name there." When we arrived home after church,
I thought we had another repeat of an Easter domestic upset. "Go upstairs, quickly. Harry has taken another overdose of
valium." Gladys was unharmed but
very distressed, as she shouted to me. I
rushed upstairs where Harry was lying on his bed, semi-conscious, with his eyes rolling. I immediately sent for the ambulance,
which took him to the casualty ward of the local hospital. He was discharged after a few
days, and warned that he would be sent to Springfield Hospital, if he continued to be a
danger to himself. A social worker
visited us to give support in dealing with Harry's depressed state. Mr Ferron promised to find something
that Harry could cope with. On the 12th April, Andrew arrived
at Weymouth to start his two weeks sail on the Malcolm Miller. In his kit bag, he took with him was
all the clothing specified for
the trip, including two pairs of plimsolls. These
were not to be smooth, "it is very DANGEROUS", quoting from his instructions. Here is an extract from the joining
instruction booklet, issued by The Sail Training Association Schooners. "Object. 1. To provide young men with an outlet for their spirit
of adventure and an
opportunity to develop a
sense of responsibility, self-reliance and, above all, an ability to work as a team, which
will help them throughout their lives. 2. To achieve this aim,
the Training Association has built the schooners. This
has been made possible from subscriptions from the public and generosity of British firms,
who have contributed a large amount of equipment. The Schooners. The Schooners are of 300 tons
Thames measurement, 135 ft long, have a beam of 25 ft and a draught of 15 ft, 6 ins. They are rigged as three masted schooners,
with a Bermudan mizzen and gaff sails, and top sails on the fore and main; in addition,
there are square sails on the foremast, the top of the main mast is 98ft above the deck. Crew. In each permanent crew there is a
master, a chief officer, a bosun, an engineer, a chef.
In addition, there are three experienced watch officers, three watch
leaders and 39 trainee crew on a training cruise. Programme. Everyone will take their turn at
steering, sail handling, helping in the galley and keeping the ship clean and tidy. In addition, instructions will be given in
chart work and the use of navigational equipment on board." Andrew, who was now 16 years of
age, had appeared to have suddenly shot up in height, after this seagoing experience. He told us, including Harry, that the most
exciting period was when the set sail the first day in gale force winds. The waves were so high that the bow of the
ship dipped in the raging sea. Sometimes,
he was required to go along the bowsprit to adjust the foresail, and he had to hold onto
guide ropes, as the waves came over the bows. He
said he enjoyed the sail work on the main sails, and taking over the steering. Below deck, when off duty watch,
they were told seafaring tales by the members of the crew, and Andrew heard enough to put
him off joining the Royal Navy. One of
the crew, on loan from the Royal Navy, gave an account of the seafaring training he
received. The boy cadets were required to
rise at 5.30 each morning, take a shower by 6.00 and then climb the top mast and over and
down before breakfast. They were not
allowed to wear anything on their feet, apart from when they attended Church Parade on
Sunday mornings. After the completion of this
training cruise, a report was submitted on each trainee to the sponsor and the parents. Here is Andrew's: Signed
by the Watch Officer and the Master." This has not been a good year for
cricket results, for myself or for ARL. We
failed to win the Stanton NPL Trophy, and I only came third in the batting averages, age
was obviously showing. Still, I could
not be so bad for 54 years of age, for I did score half a century not out. At St John's PCC meeting held on
Tuesday, 9th September 1969, the vicar announced that a new priest-in-charge had been
appointed by the bishop, to take over on his retirement.
This came as a surprise to most Council members. The vicar told those present that he
was most impressed with the new incumbent, whom he had met on two occasions. He would make arrangements for the
council to meet him before taking over on 12th October.
As this was the vicar's last meeting, Mr Courtney, on behalf of the
Council, expressed their thanks to the vicar for his wise guidance when steering the
parish through all the things that had happened to it, during the past ten years. On the matter of the proposed new
church, the vicar told us that the bishop was still dealing with the proposals. He had made it known that there would be no
question of amalgamation of churches. The
parishioner who offered to pay for the proposed new church and hall had clarified this as
being a free loan. The sale of the present hall had
met a hitch, due to objections on the part of the adjacent Heron House Residents'
Association's Restrictive Covenant. The
question of the disposal of equipment from the hall had yet to be resolved, should the
hitch be overcome. The inventory of the
equipment had been prepared by the treasurer, this included the Bechstein piano. Nothing stays the same, and so by
the time we held our next meeting, a new leader would be seated in the chair. Rev. Bowell was missed in many ways by
me, although straight laced, he was most sincere, very knowledgeable on the Bible and
ecclesiastical matters. With the hockey season upon us, I
took up stations as right back again in the NPL fifth XI team. There was a shortage of players at this
lowest level, and therefore my position was not in danger.
The home matches provided an opportunity for the Wilsons and the
Rayments to socialise after the game. Bob
had been transferred to the Ministry of the Environment, London, but continued to keep his
membership of the NPL Sports Club. This
he did, until they moved to Widley, Surrey. ARL Children's Party Committee
held a Christmas dance in the Glazebrook Hall, where the Johnsons, Newcombes, Fields,
Wilsons and Rayments joined together in each others' company and had a jolly time. Tony had to watch his drinking, they had
arrived by car. This was the second
dance arranged by this Committee in response to popular request. Attendances were in the order of 400, with
the proceeds going to the Christmas children's party, now held annually in the hall. Sadly, since Harry's overdose
incident at Easter, his instability had remained, but he had maintained his ability to
obtain work. After a spell of
unemployment, he obtained a buyer's assistant post with the chemical manufacturers, Parks
Davis, Staines Road, Hounslow. Here
is an account of his work he wrote later: It
was a lovely factory, and they had a research laboratory.
In the end they gave me typing, because I was not capable of doing
anything else. I got a job at Richmond
Park's depot through the mental health social worker, Mr Ferron." He
stayed at this job for a month and finished on the 20th June. Harry left home on the following Monday, but
would not tell us where he was going. Later
that day, we received a telephone call, and he told us he was staying at the Grange Hotel,
Salisbury. Next day, he returned and
told us about a hungry man whom he had helped by dialling 999. It was not long before he had
obtained work at the Times Furniture Stores, Fife Road, Kingston. Here is the version of this job he wrote
about years later: I started reading the Bible one
evening, the Old Testament, about Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. I was deeply upset by it, so I thought I
would take it out of the statue in the undertaker's window the following day. This I did, and was the beginning of a
frightful nightmare, nobody understood, including the doctors. There was a reasonable amount of
vanity at the job, with going down to the main depot and delivering the cars and putting
air in the tyres, working out the price
of the rental. The most business we did
were with minis, some were automatic and some were manual; they were the cheapest to rent. Sometimes there was only one customer a day,
so most of the time there was nothing to do." I was still getting worse from
shouting at the statue. The NGTB were converting every gas
appliance in London to natural gas, it was quite a feat, but I wound up in Horton
Hospital. I had a very bad nervous breakdown
that time and was completely insane when I got to Ward 5 at Horton Hospital. I was under the supervision of a
consultant, and I tried his patience a lot. Ward
5 was locked and they had a lot of violent cases there." End
of Harry's gospel on the NGTB, Brentford. The part-time job at Bentalls that
Gladys had, proved to be a blessing in taking her mind off the worry of Harry's mental
state. Another blessing we had was when
we had occasion to visit Bearwood College for Speech Day and the Christmas carol service,
held before closing the college down for the Christmas holidays. This was when Gladys could dress up in her
best attire, complete with broad brimmed hat.
She had now lost her confederate, Anna, who had moved to
Whitley, and so could not off-load some of her cares any more. When Harry started his breakdown,
he would not get up for work. His Doctor,
Ryle, was sent for, and following a discussion after seeing Harry, he admitted that Harry
was in need of hospital treatment. He
also agreed that we The outcome of the foregoing
resulted in our taking a holiday abroad with the knowledge that Harry was taken into
Horton for several weeks to receive a course of treatment.
It was hoped he would only remain in a locked ward for a short period. Every now and then, there is a
time in life to switch off from the daily concerns, stresses, worries or whatever problems
one may have. This was our time to switch
off, as we boarded our coach to take us to Lucerne, Switzerland. The fact that we did not sleep, travelling
overnight, was secondary. We were
escaping, with our thoughts on the holiday to come when not watching the changing scenery,
or the lights at night. Being a driver, I had a double
satisfaction, as I watched our two coach drivers take turns at the wheel, sharing the
responsibility for the lives of those on board their coach. One of the most enjoyable pastimes
at Lucerne was when we ambled around the Swiss chalets and admired their neatness with the
overhanging roofs giving shelter to the flower-decked balconies. All the passengers stayed at separate
chalets, our chalet was about twenty minutes' walk from the centre of Lucerne. For Gladys, it was the shop
windows that stole her main attention, particularly the confectioners', which excelled in
chocolate cakes; not forgetting the watch and jewellery shops. The flower-decked Chapel Bridge,
which crossed the river Reuss, dated back to 1333, formed a central attraction to the
town, similar to Rialto Bridge in Venice. The
real high spot of our holiday was when we travelled by mountain railway to Engleberg where
we reached the summit of Mount Titlis, 10,000 feet by cable car. In the final cable car, after our third
change on this ascent, I drew Gladys' attention to the danger notice. It stated: "No-one with a weak heart condition should take
this lift." Suspended in
space, she replied, "What do you want me to do, just get off, or pull the
chain?" At that moment,
looking down, it was fascinating to watch the ant like figures on the snow, shooting
about. When we arrived at the summit, we
had a close-up view of the skiers, starting off on their descent to the next cable car
lift station below. These brave
skiers, some of whom we saw in the cable car coming up, were bronze coloured, due, I
presume, to the sun's reflection off the snow.
To me, they might have come from another planet. Our coach, that brought us to
Lucerne, took us on a number of day tours. On
the first trip, billed to go to the highest point by road, a motorist stopped the coach by
pulling up in front of us, as we were about to leave Lucerne. Tim, our driver, got out and went to the
rear, where this motorist was standing. After
a few minutes, Tim returned to tell us that we had to thank this motorist for possibly
saving our lives. The wheels of the
coach had been replaced by more suitable wheels for gripping the mountain road track. The garage mechanic had failed to tighten
one of the rear wheels, which the motorist had seen wobbling. Our Guardian Angel had once again kept her
watchful eyes on us. I wondered if she
would ever give us up as a lost cause! This had been fairyland to us,
with trips on Lake Lucerne at night, enabling us to see these Swiss lakeside villages, all
lit up with reflections on the lake.
Our journey home had come too soon, but our batteries had
been charged up to cope with the problems that lay ahead. My cricket team still required my
services for the forthcoming season, again, a reflection on the shortage of players in the
club. Still, I made a comeback, for I
finished second in the batting averages. My
highest innings was only three short of a half-century, not bad for a 55 year young! I was thanked at the cricket AGM
for taking on the treasurer's job at short notice.
ARL XI had again failed to win the coveted NPL Stanton Trophy for the
third year running. Better staff
recruitment obviously was needed by the Admiralty. We had a player in our Saturday
team, aged 22, Peter Carson, who took ten wickets against Birwick College. He had sprained his ankle in the morning
and, normally being a fast bowler, he had to rely on his spinners. The Captain gave him instructions to sprain
his ankle every Saturday morning during the cricket season. Once again, I took up my station
as right back for the fifth XI hockey team, they too, continued to have a shortage of
players at this level. On one occasion,
I was asked to take over the goalkeeper's position after he was injured. It was very foolish of me to have done this
without a face mask. Between those two
posts, the keeper is nothing more than a sitting target to let drive at with a missile,
travelling at up to 80 miles an hour, or more. My church had not yet resolved the
new church building proposals, using the vicarage grounds.
The church's architect had carried out a full inspection of the
church's existing roof, and stated that, due to dry rot, the whole roof would have to be
rebuilt. The views of the bishop had
indicated that, using the vicarage grounds, be it for a conventional or prefabricated
type, the latter should be given most serious consideration. I felt that our new
Priest-In-Charge had been given a hard nut to crack at the start of his ministry in
Hampton Wick. I was given to understand
that he was a miner's son and received a good education by obtaining scholarships. Whilst in Haiti, working for the
United Nations, he was called on to serve in the Church of England. Before leaving Haiti, he bought many wood
carvings, done by the local craftsmen. These
he always liked to show his visitors. He
was rather tall and had an aura about him, I suppose one would describe him as elegant and
sincere. Occasionally, I thought I
could smell a whiff of whisky when he spoke. So,
did he jump out of the frying pan into the fire, when chased out of Haiti by their
Communist dictator, who was persecuting the Church members at the time he left, to take up
this incumbency? Harry was discharged from Horton
Hospital and was prescribed weekly sedatives on sick leave by his family doctor. In early December 1970, he obtained a
porter's job at Teddington Memorial Hospital. Here
he remained for a few months, but from time to time, he would mutter about the statue at
Kew. Gladys was seeking another holiday
in Switzerland, and after a visit from the mental health visitor, Ferron, who saw Harry,
he felt that Harry would be stable enough to go with us.
This time we went to Locarno, by Lake Maggiore. Once there by coach, staying again at a
chalet on the outskirts of town, our routine became the same as for Lucerne.
That is, for Gladys, looking at
the shops as she wandered through the narrow streets and arcades. The neatness of these chalets, with
balconies displaying flower arrangements, caused one to stop at almost every dwelling. The high spot of this holiday was
the ascent by funicular to the statue Madonna del Sasso, overlooking the lake. From here, there was a spectacular view of
the whole scenery around Locarno. It
was only when returning to our chalet that I realised we had taken Harry to this huge
statue, would there be an aberration effect? Fortunately,
there was none, and we returned a week later with a thankfulness that Harry had enjoyed
this break as well as ourselves. Sadly, this break, for Harry,
failed to keep away this statue that was still on his brain, for he received his cards
from Teddington Hospital at the end of May. Andrew spent his Easter holidays
with the Crusaders in Holland, where they joined other Crusaders at a house party, in
Wassenden, The Hague. Gladys had received a message from
the Patron of Bearwood College, The Queen, that she hoped to see her at the college's 50th
year celebrations on the 29th April. This
called for a new costume, and broad brimmed hat to match the occasion. The President, The Duke of Edinburgh, would
also be in attendance. This was indeed a day
to remember, even though the Queen was unable to attend, due to a cold. It was a day for the headmaster and
staff to have their gowns flowing, with Mr Cunningham being the peacock in this
appropriate setting of the well-groomed gardens of Bearwood. The Duke, who took the Queen's
place, opened a new teaching block, together with matron's quarters. Prince Philip did a walkabout, speaking to
parents, friends and boys, as he strode around the playing fields. He also chatted to members of the college sailing
club, before he launched a new dinghy called, 'The Queen'. Andrew, in his final A-level year,
had a warning shot fired across his bow, when reading his house master's comments on his
Autumn report, 1970. Here is what was
stated:- To my surprise, I had been
nominated for a two week course at London University College on Human Engineering,
starting on the 11th July. My immediate thoughts were that I was a bit long in the tooth
for attending universities. Those who
attended these courses were engineer grades within the Admiralty. I had the impression that the tutors
of the university, also visiting lecturers who initially attended this university, had
little to offer their course members. For
me, it had been interesting to be in the enclaves of the academics, wrapped up in their
ancient rituals. On my return, I had another
surprise waiting for me. I was required
to attend a Promotion Board within the Admiralty Weapons Pool, to be held at Bath on the
8th September. Again, I had expected my
age to have precluded my selection, as at 56, I was near retirement. However, I was not required to reason why,
but this invitation did give me a feeling that I had wiped my slate clean of black marks. I took this news home to my good
lady, who was delighted with the thought that she would be leaving the terraced house we
had lived in since 1950. Although in a
delightful position, it did have shortcomings, such as the toilet door opening into the
kitchen. I was successful, being appointed
to fill a vacancy in the Systems Engineering Group at the Admiralty Surface Weapons
Establishment, ASWE, Portsdown, Portsmouth. During August, we explored the
whole area around this establishment, which was off the normal public transport services. We ruled out Gosport, because of traffic
bottlenecks at Fareham. We ruled out
the Waterlooville area, because of the open plan estates and because during the freeze-up
in 1964, the water pipes had frozen up, not being deep enough into the ground. We wished to avoid built- up areas like
Portsmouth, and from the Havant side there was a traffic congestion at the A3 cross-roads
with the Portsdown Hill Road. We
decided to have another tour around later. On the 21st September, I was
invited to attend ASWE Project Review, where I would meet my future superiors. These reviews were a monthly occasion where
representatives, both from within and external, who had an involvement with the research
and development, were able to hear the progress being made, and ask questions, if
necessary. This establishment, I learned
later, dealt with guided missiles, radar, electronic warfare, communications and highly
secret work. I met my future boss
briefly, who told me that I was expected to start at ASWE on the 4th October. After listening to the review, and
not understanding it, I began to worry about what I was letting myself in for. It was just as well that I did not know, for
my sleepless nights would have started earlier than when they did. I think my Guardian Angel decided that it
was time I had a few challenges, as I was too settled in my job at ARL. With my to and fro taking place
during the cricket season, I had to bail out of my regular team, but made myself available
for the Sunday XI. These are the last
citations I had in the NPL 1971 Annual Cricket Report. "The new covers have been in use this season and
saved at least two matches, which would otherwise have been lost due to the weather. Thanks are due to Alan Rayment, Dave Ellis
and Martin Webb. Brian Hinde and Alan
Rayment worked hard to ensure we fielded two full sides.
Our thanks to both of them, for looking after the Sunday teams. ARL team made a recovery this year, by
winning back the Stanton Trophy." There
were much more important matters to attend to than sport, although I knew that I should
miss the cricket scene that had been part of my life, while here. When I called at Snellers, the estate agents,
Teddington, they valued the house at £7,500. On my first morning at my new
place of work, I was introduced by the drawing office manager to other members of the
drawing office, who were of the same grade as myself.
When introduced to a red-haired gentleman, Stan Burns, very
immaculately dressed in a dark suit, Mr Arthur Lambert, the manager, said, "Have his
house, he will be retiring in six months' time and has already bought a retirement home in
the West Country." Stan, looking at me, replied,
"It is up to you, here is my address", and gave me his card. When I returned home that weekend,
I suggested that we have a look at Stan's house.
We set off on the Sunday of this weekend and arrived mid-morning, the
distance being seventy miles, taking no more than two hours. As soon as we entered this Georgian style housing
crescent, there was an immediate feeling that this could be the one. To our relief, there was a car in
the drive of the house at Wigan Crescent. I
knocked on the door, and was pleased to see Stan open it.
He said, "You are lucky to find us in, we had set out to visit
the American Museum at Bath, and I upset some wall flowers over the back seat, so I came
back to clean it up. Come in and have a
look around." He introduced us to
his wife, Joan, likewise, I introduced Gladys.
It was evident to me, that the
builder had taken great pride to give the house character with its curved ceilings,
something unexpected for a post-war house, built under licence in 1956, so I was told. Going into a huddle with Gladys
about agreeing on the house before discussing prices, there was a mutual wish that we
should have this property. We sat in the
through lounge to discuss details of the purchase with Stan stating that they required
£7,500 and that it was not open to offers. I
had no wish to haggle about the price and would gladly have paid much more, if it meant
having the house as against losing it. I
responded, "Yes, we agree to purchase, subject to receiving a satisfactory building
inspection report." This was obtained, with only one
fault requiring to be corrected. It was
wiring that Stan had done to install wall lights.
A very irate Stan had read the report, and was upset that he should be
expected to attend to this wiring irregularity.
Rather than lose the purchase of the house, I told him to forget this,
as I would pay for the work to be done. When next I saw him, he mentioned
that an end house in the Crescent had been sold for £1,000 more than he was selling his
house. What neither he nor myself knew,
was that gazumping was about to take off in the housing market that my Guardian Angel had
arranged for me. On my return at the weekend, I
gave instructions to Snellors, the estate agents, to take my property off the market until
early Spring 1972. When I came to put
the house on the market again, the new selling price had jumped to £12,500. Although we did not quite get this figure, the
difference between this figure and the purchase of the Wigan Crescent house, gave us a
surplus of nearly £5,000. Again, we were
not to know that this difference, that our Guardian Angel had achieved, would enable
another house to be bought. This was for a member of the
family whose marriage took place almost before the blink of an eyelid once we had arrived
at Bedhampton. I wondered whether my
namesake, who sold the house in Teddington, had received instructions from our ever
watchful Guardian Angel to let us have it, as it now made it possible for us to buy both
houses here. It was as well to remember our
good fortunes, to help face up to the trials which were yet to be met. |
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© Alan Rayment 1998
Last revised: January 14, 2001