A visit to the Cotswolds; a manipulation; Gran is 50; a tryst on Compton Downs; a Drinker is saved; two years of National Service – done; a couple of enthusiastic Irishmen; and four get a soaking on Farley Mount.
Gran, we learn on July 18th 1954, is Godmother to John, one of Tommy and Bob Fowler’s children. On that day, she, with Jill and Diana (the other two Fowler offspring), and Tommy, drive to Cheltenham, where John is at what Gran describes as “the famous school”. The journey is, typically, described in some detail, Gran enjoying the Cotswold villages with, to her, unusual names: Warborough, Stratton St Margaret, Blunsdon and Cricklade. She is impressed by the verges near the last named, “massed with Meadow Cranesbill”, some of which she collects for planting in her garden at The Ridge. And she recounts an amusing incident:
… a boy emerging from a side road was so startled by the sight of an approaching car that he promptly fell off his bicycle and disappeared into a ditch, though we were nowhere near him!
The main reason for the trip is to botanise on the limestone hills near Cleeve, and Gran excitedly describes the finding of a new orchid species for her there. She really does love that family of plants!
Suddenly, I saw an orchid that was new to me, small, yellow-green and scented! I dropped to my knees. Musk Orchid (Herminium monorchis), I felt reasonably certain though I had never seen it before, and this was confirmed later. There were three here, two broken off, so I allowed myself one of these, for identification purposes, but later we found a very great many, in patches – oh, there must have been hundreds of the beautiful little things! I was delighted and so was everyone else. Enthusiasm is extremely catching!
We were now on Aggs Hill…and from the top we could see, away beyond Cheltenham below us, the Malvern Hills…and, just visible behind them, the mountains of Wales. How I longed to go there once again.
They descend to Cheltenham for tea in the town, and, before leaving for more botanising at Leckhampton, they are shown around the dining-hall of John’s school, where Gran is moved:
…here the names of the fallen were inscribed on the walls, where hung the portraits of past headmasters. Here also were some beautiful words, which I thought should be recorded:
“Remember
These Sons of Cheltenham,
Men of peace and not of war,
Who yet stood to defend
The things that are just
And the ways that are lovely
And fell as their fathers before them
Leaving us debtors For ever.”
At Leckhampton Hill, “Climbing ever upward”, Gran writes, John, Diana and she decide to see the Devil’s Chimney, a famous landmark, which she describes:
…an unsteady-looking precarious structure of uneven stones piled one upon the other, upon which, legend says, an old man went every year on his birthday until he was eighty years old and stood on his head. I do not vouch for the truth of this story but as far as I am concerned, there is no need for the notice warning visitors that to climb this landmark is dangerous!
Returning downslope, Diana finds two specimens of Ivy Broomrape – another new species for Gran, and Gran also notes that “the swarms of flies were almost unbearable”. John is returned to Cheltenham and the others drive home, noting two hunting Barn Owls on the way.
Book 45
Writing on the 20th, of a “manipulation” to be carried out on her still troublesome shoulder, Gran hopes that “tomorrow’s operation will not handicap my writing for it is my greatest consolation”. She remains woozy for a long time after the operation:
…after the anaesthetic, spent most of the time sleeping it off, with little desire to stir myself even when I awoke. The nurses were kind, the other patients friendly, but I only wanted to sleep and sleep… Jane came for me at six o’clock, a neighbour, Mr Sykes, kindly driving us home in his car – the thoughtful suggestion of his daughter, Diana.
After an uneasy night, she, “…wakened to sunshine and my fiftieth birthday – which I had forgotten until my Mother brought me three gifts, which had arrived yesterday.” She and Jane attend Sherborne House School Speech Day in the afternoon, Gran finding it impossible to believe that it is eleven years since Jane was there herself.
On the 23rd, Barry has just two weeks left of his National Service, and he “demobilizes” his bicycle by riding it all the way home to The Ridge from Rudloe Manor, a distance of some 60 miles.
At this time, Gran lists the birds that have nested in or adjacent to the garden of The Ridge in 1954. It is impressive by today’s standards:
…Sparrows, Blackbirds, Thrushes, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Treecreepers, Spotted Flycatchers, Willow Warblers, Goldcrests, Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Nuthatches, Robins and Green Woodpeckers.
Returning from Compton, where she has tea with Mrs Durst on July 26th, Gran writes:
There was a beautiful male Drinker moth at rest on one of the advertisements in the bus as I came back, and I took it and later it was released, since I thought that, if it started fluttering about the bus some unenlightened person might kill or damage it. It is a large moth and not everyone likes them fluttering round them.
On the last day of July:
This afternoon Barry and I went for a cycle ride together. A very nice suggestion on his part because he has an extra day’s leave this weekend and will be going away soon to his new post at Hampstead. I appreciated it very much. We went to Nursling and had a very interesting and enjoyable outing. In Hiltingbury Road we found an extraordinarily fasciated Welted Thistle, about five heads of which were joined in a flat semi-circle, the mauve blossoms like a fringe along its edge.
Up early for Church at Compton the following day, Gran, as usual notes all she sees on her ride there in the way of flowers and wildlife, including that:
A rabbit scurried into the undergrowth and I was pleased to see it, for, though I realize that they have become a pest. I do dread coming upon any that have fallen victims to that terrible disease Myxomatosis, which is spreading over Britain at an alarming rate.
August 3rd is the date of Adrian’s birthday – had he lived, Gran notes sadly, he would have been forty-two. She makes her way in the afternoon to Compton Downs, as she always does on this date, “to keep my tryst with you, dear, for the eighth time since your passing”. There she communes for a long time with the man she loved but never met, lost in thought, and writing, but eventually being forced to move on by myriad tormenting flies.
Returning home at length, she finds brother Norris at The Ridge:
…having called to say he would be able to take me to the BENA meeting at Hatchet Pond next Sunday and to leave me a generous “donation” towards a book for my birthday last month. I think I shall get “Wild Orchids in Britain”, but there are oh! so many tempting books!
Gran has done much work in the Fowlers’ flower shop in recent months, and she is required there several times in August, including on the 4th, to help with flower orders for the vessels Queen Mary, Wilhelm Ruys, Capetown Castle and Empire Ken. She “does up”… “one or two very lovely boxes, including one of three dozen red Poinsettia Roses for the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, sailing on the Queen Mary”.
A home visit by the Rector of Compton had been arranged after last Sunday’s church service, and Gran enjoys his company on the 6th, but is somewhat concerned by some information he imparts:
The Rector, Mr, Burdett, came to see us this afternoon and had tea with us. He is very easy to talk with and Julian was his own friendly self with him. Mr Burdett showed himself a great lover of Compton, though he has been with us for only a comparatively short time, and has a keen appreciation for the beauty and sanctity of the countryside in general and the village of Compton in particular. It was disquieting to learn that my lovely valley has been sold and is to become a series of smallholdings. I hope this does not mean that a great deal of its natural beauty will be lost.
The British Naturalists’ Association meeting in the New Forest takes place on the afternoon of August 8th, but Gran and her brother had decided to “make a full day of it”, and had arranged to pick up that morning, two Irish lads, Alan Hill and John Rogers, who were staying in Fareham on holiday, one of whom, Gran says, “had written to me for information concerning Honey Buzzards in the New Forest”. Gran adds, “…and they were to prove themselves two of the greatest enthusiasts we have encountered.”
The first excitement for John was a Green Woodpecker, for these birds simply do not exist in Northern Ireland, and his enthusiasm was a joy to see…Alan had been in England before but this was John’s first visit, so a great many of our quite everyday birds [including Redstart, Nuthatch and Red-backed Shrike] were new to him and both boys were charmed with the New Forest.
The main party of BENA members are met at two o’clock, and Gran describes the day and its findings in detail over many pages of her journal: Roe Deer, Crossbills, Buzzards, Holly Blues, Silver-washed Fritillaries, Graylings, all sorts of plants – including Bog Orchids, and a very young and beautifully marked Snipe – picked up and photographed. Gran finds herself in the company of Mr E.A.Robins, a lecturer on spiders and illustrator of Savory’s books on that subject. She writes that, “He was most interested to hear that Barry was soon going to Haberdashers’…working with Mr Savory”.
After the main party leaves, and Gran, Brother and the two lads remain, they decide to visit the coast at Pennington and Keyhaven, where more avian treasures await them:
We had not gone many steps when John stopped, quivering and incoherent with excitement and pointing, gasped, “Isn’t that a Harrier?” It was! A beautiful male Montagu’s Harrier, flying low over the marsh, causing a great uproar amongst a party of Black-headed Gulls on the water’s edge. It flew slowly in a wide circle over the marsh. We could not have had a better view and we were all delighted – Brother being the only one of us who had previously seen one of these birds.
Four Black Terns and a Little Stint are further highlights for the Irish boys that afternoon, and dropped off in Southampton around eight o’clock, they return by bus to Fareham, delighted with their day, and no doubt very grateful to Gran and Norris. They arrange to meet again before returning to Ireland.
Gran helps with flower deliveries to the United States, in Southampton next day, which she describes as a “fine ship”, and describes it further thus:
This was my first visit to her. It is typically American and the bellboys, as the stewards are called, are largely darkies, and all wear Air Force blue trousers with narrow black and white stripes down the sides, and white coats. The stewardesses wear all white, even to their stockings and shoes, and their nurse-like caps. One of the darkie stewards pleaded for a flower every time we went aboard and did not seem to understand that we had no loose flowers with us. Another said it was his birthday and nobody had sent him flowers, so I gave him a scrap of white heather, which I had tucked into my dress, and he gleefully said he would press it in his Race Book. I wished him luck!
The ship is very luxurious. Dull red paintwork, chromium fittings and cabins like hotel rooms, very tastefully decorated. Large oxidized silver American Eagles and such, adorn the walls of the stairways, and the lifts carry one up to the upper decks. A young man was playing the piano very well indeed in the lounge as we passed through.
Gran brings more white heather home with her that evening, “for Barry’s birthday cake on Saturday”, and she continues:
Early this evening he came home, a civilian again after two years in the Air Force. It does not seem possible that the time has gone already, yet two years ago it seemed that it would never pass. It will be a sad day for me when he goes away next month to start his new life, but I shall be glad for him and shall wish him well with all my heart.
Gran’s present to Dad, on his 24thbirthday, is a box of paints, with which he was delighted, given:
…hoping to encourage him to take up his painting seriously again, since the picture he did of my Devon cottage, from a photograph, seemed to me to show real talent. He promptly sat down and painted a pair of Pintail Ducks for me, and they fully justified my belief in his ability.
The two Irish enthusiasts, invited to accompany Barry for a day close to Chandler’s Ford, arrive on the 15th, and, on borrowed bikes, they set off for Farley Mount, followed later by Jock who leaves Julian with Granny MacNoe. Everybody gets utterly soaked in a prolonged rainstorm, and on their return, Gran records that “never have I seen four such drenched people”!
They were soaked to the skin. Jane and I rushed about finding spare clothes to lend John and Alan whilst I dried their trousers over the gas stove and on the oven door and we managed to clothe them with the help of Barry’s recently discarded uniforms until it was time for them to leave to catch their bus to Fareham. Even then, I sent them home in borrowed shirts and socks…but they said it was all worth it for they had seen a family of Stone Curlews, new to them both, at Farley Mount before the storm drove them home.
Article series
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 1)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 2)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 3)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 4)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 5)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 6)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 7)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 8)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 9)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 10)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 11)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 12)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 13)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 14)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 15)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 16)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 17)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 18)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 19)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 20)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 21)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 22)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 23)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 24)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 25)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 26)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 27)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 28)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 29)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 30)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 31)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 32)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 33)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 34)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 35)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 36)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 37)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 38)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 39)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 40)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 41)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 42)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 43)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 44)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 45)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 46)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 47)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 48)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 49)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 50)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 51)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 52)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 53)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 54)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 55)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 56)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 57)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 58)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 59)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 60)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 61)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 62)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 63)
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