It's not normal to have clean and tidy Homes and Kids are aware of that fact from the moment they can crawl and once they can walk they try to ensure that Adults unnatural obsession with tidying the House doesn't succeed......
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In the late 60s I was working with my Dad on a little Decorating project he was doing for a Woman we knew who lived in a House just across the road from where we lived.As usual and on this particular morning,my Dad opened the front door and shouted "Hello...it's us!"......she was clearly upstairs as a voice replied "Hello...I've made you a cake!"...my Dad replied "Lovely!"...she then said..."are you going to pop up and get it,or do you want me to bring it down?"....before My Dad could respond she went on to say..."How's Nobby? and it was at this point we both realised she was on the 'phone!.....
When I was maybe 9 or 10 years old I was with my friend Brian on our way back from "The Cut", a stream a couple of miles from home,where we'd probably been trying in vain to catch a fish. Nearing Snowball Hill,where we'd walk back down to our village,an Austin 7 car pulled alongside in which there was the driver,his wife I assume and a couple of kids.He wound the window down and said in a broad Welsh accent "Do you know which way we need to go to get to Wales!?....I was completely the wrong person to ask for directions...I STILL get lost even if near home!....as he spoke I noticed some hills on the horizon and said "it's that way" pointing him towards Snowball Hill and we watched as he drove and bounced down this stony,uneven lane mistakenly thing he was on his way home.......
There-was a very pretty girl at School a little tease called Holly she said-to-me one dinner-time "would you like to lick my lolly!?"....... I-thought this was code,of course and couldn't bloody wait "meet behind the bike shed" "and make sure you're not late!"........ I met her there at half past one but felt a total divvy as-I spotted Holly standing there sucking on a Mivvi........
I've always suffered with periodic deafness,particularly at schooI and beyond.In the early 70s I was labouring briefly on building-sites. One day I got sent to a job nr Wycombe.The foreman stood on a box shouting orders and when he got to me said "and YOU....throw all that wood in the Biffa!. I'd never heard of a Biffa (skip as I found out later) and I thought he said river (there was a stream running through the site) and by the time he returned shouting "WHAT THE F# # K are you doing?" I'd built quite a nice dam!......
In 1970ish I went on my BSA 250,up to Sid Moram's motorbike shop in Slough for parts.I left and headed down the M4 slip road back to Woodlands Park. As I got on the slip-road the bike cut out and stopped just ahead of a young male hitchhiker.I realised straight away that I hadn't turned the petrol back on. As I was leaning over to feel for the petrol-tap the bike bounced up and down on it's springs just as I kicked it back into life,with the hitch-hiker I'd just passed now on the back of the bike,gripping my waist uncomfortably tightly and sitting far too close to my back for my liking! stating "I've never been on one of these before!" I dropped him off at the Maidenhead junction........
In a spin...... Me Dad made the first electric-car from a duff Bond-Bug three-wheeler he'd bought it with no engine from some local wheeler-dealer Then,with parts from a defunct wash-machine he set about the job and fitted the electric motor and the original Programme-knob and with a little bit more tidying it was ready to be tested and Dad-said he'd take it on his own in case he got arrested he set the knob to "Delicate" and it poodled out the drive then turned it 'round to "Super-Spin" and the bugger came alive....... we watched him pass the paper-shop he was going like a rocket and we reckon he'd just touched ninety-five when the plug came out the socket.....
...paradise..... A tree full of Sparrows. The pond full of Frogs. Bees 'round the pollen. Woodlice in logs. A Robin sits watching. A Pigeon says "coo". A Butterfly flutters. The Hedgehog is due. Whistlers in tree-tops. A distant Dog barks. Red Kites are swooping. Slugs making marks. Blue-Tits are pecking. Baby-Birds drink. A Dragonfly hovers. The Sun starts to sink. The Wireless plays Joni. "They paved paradise"... But here in the Garden. They left us a a slice....
We used to....... We used to build a Trolley.from wood and old-pram-wheels. We used to cast a fishing-line.and wait for spinning reels. We used to catch some tadpoles,and keep them in a jar. We used to jot-down number-plates,of every passing car. We used to walk through woods and fields,and maybe feed a Horse. We used to be Apaches,and run through moorland gorse. We used to end up scratched and cut,but that was par-for-course. We used to be a Cowboy,and wear a Sheriff's badge. We used to visit relatives,for food that we might cadge. We used to go for picnics.and eat a lovely spread. We used to clean Dad's motor-car,that,or go to bed! We used to go up,to-the-Bridge,and watch for puffs of steam. We used to bike for miles and miles,and throw-stones-in-a stream. We used to climb up Apple trees,and pinch a little fruit. We used to wander Farmers' fields,and watch the 'keepers shoot. We used to rifle birds-nests,and take some eggs for blowing. We used to build big snowball
The wife's grandmother many years ago had been told whilst in conversation with someone that "Mr ........ has died!"......she then wrote his wife a sympathy card and walked to the Post Box and posted it. On the way back she passed this 'dead' man in the street, who said "Hello to her Later in the day she then went back at collection time to explain to the Postman and get the card back!.........
from 1974 to 1976 when we married me and R would meet very briefly after work (on the nights we didn't go out) under a big tree outside our Post-Office and exchange letters,which we've still got and we've also got letters and post-cards we sent,now and then,including a post-card I have from Brighton that R sent me in 1974 while on holiday which included a cross she'd put to show where I was to meet her on the Saturday. So just like Diary's,the letters COULD be read,(if anyone wanted to!,)by future generations.......But letter writing has been superseded in the main by technology... Who will be able to read their texts and emails!
A little old Lady,just like Granny........ She manned a machine-gun post once,on the Kent coast Plotted the course of enemy aircraft. Flew Spitfires,Hurricanes sometimes even Bombers. Made bombs in a factory. Was in the S.O.E.and parachuted behind enemy lines. Worked at Bletchley Park and helped crack the Enigma. Looked after her family and lived on meagre money and rations. Went to War-zones and looked after the wounded as a Nurse. She just got up in the morning and got on with it. She risked her life this little old Lady who looks just like a Granny. A frail old man who looks just like Grandad....... He got shot at while running up the Normandy beaches...never forgot that day. Flew Spitfires,Hurricanes and Bombers....didn't expect to live long. Was in a P.O.W. camp in Singapore,treated worse than an animal. Manned Anti-Aircraft Guns. Sailed one of the 'Little Ships' that rescued thousands. Was saved at Dunkirk. Buried friends Was on the Russian convoys,lost fi
Footprints in the frying pan..... On Saturday 13th February 1971 I flew to Jersey in a Vickers Viscount turboprop aircraft,my first ever flight and by the time it landed in St Helier I was totally deaf! I was met at the airport by a mate I'd worked with in Twyford who'd gone to Jersey earlier to work on a farm,which is where I stayed for the weekend. We got in a small car he'd hired and drove to the German Underground Hospital,by which time my hearing had returned and took in various other sights of Jersey and later in the day headed to his digs in an outbuilding on the farm where he lived. The accommodation was grubby and basic and had probably been used by hundreds of seasonal workers and the bed and 'linen' was very damp,bordering on wet and didn't appear as though it had ever been washed or changed. The following morning my mate cooked breakfast in a black frying-pan (on a small cooker near the bed),in which was equally black congealed fat and on which were
sometime in the 1970s I went to Maidenhead,on my motorbike,to buy a tin of purple-gloss-paint my Dad wanted then popped into the bank.I took my helmet off and put the paint inside and placed it on the counter while being served at which point it rolled off and the paint tin "exploded" all over their carpet........I left.......
OUR OLD DOG..... I took our Dog out yesterday we-went walking down the lane so instead of being by myself she was at my side again It'd been-a-while,since I saw her last but she hadn't changed a bit still pulling on the lead too much and-ignoring calls to sit But,we wandered in the Sun some time 'til we reached an open space then,off-the-lead,just like before I stood and watched her race I called her back,we headed home to fill her bowl with food and to watch her gulp it down again was-enough to lift the mood I made some tea and rested and she laid down at my feet and we-warmed-ourselves by the open-fire soaking up the heat Today had been like old-times when we'd walk out every day and I'd throw a stick for her to fetch when we stopped a while to play But,then I woke,she wasn't there just an empty House and me it was just a dream,of our old Dog who still lies beside the tree... Comm
Me on my Dad's Red Hunter at home nr Maidenhead mid 50s.He originally bought it as a sidecar outfit from a Shop in London.The sidecar would be off and on the bike as needed. (I don't remember it but my Dad told many stories of his "old Ariel").It was red and chrome and apparently "it looked brilliant on the exhaust side!".According to DVLA records it may still exist A few things I remember me Dad telling me:_the "dials" were in the tank...He rode over to Woodcote to see his Gran with his Dad and his younger brother squeezed in the single-seat sidecar and his other brother on the back....he once picked a Piano up for his Mum (my Gran) on the sidecar chassis but "stupidly drove through the Ford at Twyford and wrecked it" ....the piano not the bike! 1.my Dad told me he'd take the Ariel into the front room if he had to repair it for work the next day,as although he had a shed,there was no electricity and he could light the ga s lamp
One hot day in the mid-sixties,when we were all young children,we headed off to our usual haunt of Hayling Island but on this occasion my Gran and Grandad were with us. We were in my Dad's Ford Consul and the Grandparents in their Ford Popular.As normal we stopped half-way to let the cars cool and for a toilet break in the woods.My Grandad who was dressed in a suit,collar and tie also went off to "spend a penny" but when he came back to his car h e proceeded to take his boot cleaning kit from the motor and we had to wait while he polished his shoes before we set off again for the coast! This incident seemed to sum up that "old school" generation who couldn't even go to the sea-side without wearing formal clothes and playing at "keeping up appearances". This same generation would have a best-room that was never used,just in case someone more important than them came to visit and there were lots of "important" people around (according to th
In summer 1968 I was stood outside "Franks Cycle Shop" Station Road,Twyford,talking to Frank,the proprietor,who only had a couple of fingers on each hand,about some bits I needed for a Raleigh Wisp Moped my Dad had bought from him a few months before.Mid conversation and without warning he walked off and left me there as he rushed across to a Rolls-Royce which had pulled up,driven by the band-leader Billy Cotton,he of "Wakey Wakey" fame and with his "friend" singer Kathy Kay in the passenger seat. Billy Cotton lived Hurst way I think and had recently bought two Raleigh Wisps from Franks,clearly making him a more valued customer...plus he was famous!......sensing Frank was going to ignore me 'til Billy buggered off,I left.......
I worked at the Military Vehicle Establishment Chobham from 1978 to around '81 on a Building project.Eventually I decided to move on and went in one day and told the contractor I worked for that... "I'm just going to gather my tools and I'm off!" he replied... "F#### # g good job,I've NEVER liked you!!".....
when we were taken to visit Grandparents/elderly relations in the early 60s we kept our coats on (cold),their rooms were dark, echoed and were sparse,clocks ticked and chimed each 15 minutes,taps dripped,no radios played,the kettle whistled and we'd have to wait 'til tea-time anyway to get any tea,adults didn't speak to us,we couldn't take any food offered 'til we had the nod from our Dad and he'd finished tinkling on their our of tune piano,we'd sometimes be given something recently bought from the Jumble to take home.......
we went on a road tour of Europe in 1972.,visiting various countries and camping on the way.I was on my BSA C15 and followed the rest of the family who were in my Dad's Ford Zephyr.At the first Camp-Site we stopped at somewhere in France my Mum was in the office with me trying to book in.We only spoke English and the camp-site proprietors didn't. After a few minutes of talking and obviously getting nowhere,my MUM shouted "WE-WANT-TO-CAMPY!!!" as if that made their grasp of En glish clearer!...... Later on we were in a market at a vegetable stall where my Dad was trying to indicate to the seller with a karate-chopping motion while shouting out "HALF!"....that he only wanted to buy half a cucumber... a while later in Belgium,the radiator in the Zephyr started leaking .We stopped and my Dad said that an egg dropped in the rad would stop the leak temporarily,so he took the cap off,topped it up with water and dropped an egg in which after a few minutes was n