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Gran gives thanks; a change to the Castle Line schedule; The Bartered Bride; a tough time for the Eagle family; two christenings; disapproval of plant collecting; fifty pounds saved; “nippers” on HMS Victory; a new bird on Brownsea Island, and farewell to Winston Churchill.

October 4th 1964: “A quiet afternoon writing more letters”, Gran tells us, and she continues:

…this evening I went to Church, primarily to give thanks for Geoffrey’s safe arrival and Jane Elizabeth’s well-being, but it proved to be a most uplifting and inspiring service, conducted by a visiting clergyman, a Welshman, whose name I unfortunately do not know.  His sermon was based on our interdependence one upon the other and our Brotherhood in God the Father, and he spoke with the utmost sincerity and forthrightness.  I shall long remember this evening.

A homely welcome at Shulbrede Priory; more grandchildren on the way; two boys with “astonishing energy”; the Wayfarer’s Dole; Mother is eighty-seven; a third daughter for Jean Hockridge; chasing a Wryneck, and Cousin Fairlie joins her in Teesdale.

Being a Grandmother is a great joy to Joan Goater.  On March 13th 1964 she receives some welcome mail from overseas, and reports:

Today’s post brought my Grandmother’s bracelet from Jill Brewster in Canada, silver discs bearing the name and date of birth of my grandchildren, Julian, Rhoderick (Ricky) and Katherine.  I shall, D.V., have another one to add in September and I am proud and delighted to have it.  It is a Canadian idea.

“A wonderful day though it was not in the least what I expected”, she begins her entry for the 15th.  “I met Peg at the top of Hiltingbury Road at ten minutes to ten and we set out for the Punchbowl at Hindhead, in Surrey.”  Snow is falling.  It is already two inches deep and she is not optimistic about the outing, which is with members of the Mid-Southern Branch of the British Naturalists’ Association.  Nevertheless, she describes an interesting day:

The object of the expedition was mosses, and the leader, the Honourable Laura Ponsonby, whom we have not met before… we realised that hunting for mosses in such conditions was impossible so she suggested that we should try lower ground and led the way.  Three cars followed her through quiet lanes… to Lynchmere, where Miss Ponsonby turned into what was obviously the drive into a private estate.  When we got out, I asked her if it was all right for all our cars to park there and she said, “Oh yes.  I live here!”

“Here” was the old and beautiful Shulbrede Priory, which was built in 1190, and we were taken round the grounds on our moss hunt.

The car goes “clunk”; hello Katie; a plant search with little hope; Santana and Osuna – equally matched;  Soberton Mill for sale; Julian and Ricky – embarrassed; planning for Teesdale; another grand-child expected; Spring-fever brings depression, but the Royal Ballet is uplifting.

Gran has a good day’s botanising on June 8th 1963, with other members of Southampton Natural History Society, on Browndown Ranges, near Lee-on-Solent.  The group is led, she says, by Mr Westrup, who is compiling the new Flora of Hampshire.  Nottingham Catchfly is a particular goal, a new plant for Gran, and they find plenty of this as well as several attractive grass species, also new for her list, including Purple Small-reed and Bush Grass [now called Wood Small-reed].  She paints the Catchfly next day – the five-hundred and first in her collection.

Two winters compared; ” just what he needs”; a cocoon in a hat; Bucklers Hard – a disappointment; a visit to Bulcote; drawings lost – and found; the Mudds move out; fifteen Robins’ eggs, and an addition to the family.

The bitter weather of the now infamous 1962/63 winter is still making itself felt at the end of January 1963, and on February 1st, Gran says:

The snow is still with us and January’s final records are in!  It was the coldest January for one hundred and twenty-five years, but, paradoxically, it was also the sunniest and the driest this century.  It is certainly one that I shall remember.

And a few days later, she records the figures in more detail, comparing them with those from the equally memorable winter of 1947.  The lengths of the cold spells were similar: fifty days in 1947 and forty-six in 1963, but most telling are the days of frost and snow-lie, with fifteen days the longest run of frost in 1947 compared with thirty-seven in 1963; and the days with snow lying in 1947, a mere twelve compared with forty-two in 1963.

There are several newspaper cuttings pressed between the journal’s pages concerned with the plight of birds and other wildlife during the winter, including that of the Dartford Warbler, almost, and potentially completely, wiped out in its British stronghold – the New Forest.

Natural History outings continue, including a return to Hayling Island, with friend, Doreen Peters and brother Norris, the latter very keen to see his first Collared Doves, which they do, as well as finding a new goose species for Gran, who writes:

I spotted a small party of geese in a field close to the lane and we stopped to investigate.  We remained in the car to avoid disturbing them and had a wonderful view.  There was no doubt about it – they were actually Pink-footed Geese, nine of them and we could see every detail.  This was a new species for me.

Christmas without the Boys; a winter Blackcap; record low temperatures; burst pipes and a wet bed; stuck in a snowdrift; her first Collared Dove; good neighbours and Gran buys some tights.

November 27th 1962:

An unusual song, issuing from the Yew tree opposite here this morning, attracted my attention and I watched for some time.  I was particularly intrigued because it is far from quiet and peaceful here now with the shops, and car park directly beneath the Yew, but a sudden noise disturbed the bird and, with a familiar cry, out flew a Fieldfare!  The song was cross between Thrush and Blackbird…

This afternoon I cycled as far as Flexford Bridge to see my friend Bee Richardson, and noted how prolific are the Holly berries this year.

December 8th:

A busy morning, during which I took out the Christmas cake from its sealed tin (with some trepidation since it was made in May with Jane’s wedding cake) and finding it in perfect condition, put the marzipan on it.

A letter from Jane on the following day cheers her mother, telling her that she feels much better and will be coming to Chandler’s Ford for Christmas.  “She wants a tree and all the trimmings so this has given me an incentive which was sadly lacking as Julian and Ricky will not be with us this year”, writes Gran.  A few days later she makes macaroons and shortbread for the festive season, traditional December tasks for her, and she ices the cake. And the rest of the month is busy with card-making, collecting materials from the countryside for decorations, and all her other usual preparations for Christmas.

“More cards arrived today”, Gran says on December 22nd, “and two small books on Australian fish by my friend Gilbert Whitley, who has discovered several new species and who has done many of the illustrations in these new books”.  She adds:

I did a Christmas arrangement for us and have also made a holly and larch cone wreath for the hall, decorated with my bunch of little bells on red ribbon sent from America during the war.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 114)

Generosity from Canada and Singapore; a wedding and a separation; joy and anxiety, but life goes on.

Gran, with daughter Jane, and soon-to-be son-in-law Stuart, is back home at The Ridge late on August 2nd 1962 having spent an exhausting time helping to move Jane’s belongings from her old flat in Gordon Rise, Mapperley, to her new Nottingham flat, to be shared with Stuart.  Gran describes the flat, as “a quarter of a very large Victorian House, about one hundred and fifty years old, and the rooms are spacious”.  She has also been driven further north, to Leeds, to meet Stuart’s family, including his sister Maureen and her daughter, “to try on the dress of the littlest Bridesmaid, Caroline, who looked enchanting and will quite likely steal the limelight on their Wedding Day”.  Once home, on the 3rd, she addresses her now long-departed Adrian, to whom the whole journal is dedicated:

Your birthday beloved, and you would have been fifty if you had been spared.  I have not been able to go to Memory Down, or indeed, to have marked this special day in any particular way this year but you have been in my thoughts continually all day.  It has been a busy one for me.

A letter from Barry, saved between the journal’s pages, tells her about a parcel of plant specimens that he has sent to her: “…you may even be able to paint some of them if you wish”.  They follow, he says, “a fabulous day’s hunting in Bedfordshire yesterday… I took my bike on the train to Luton and then cycled about forty miles”.  Unfortunately the specimens arrive “unfit for painting” but they make Gran’s mouth water, all being new to her – Purple Milk-vetch; Wild Liquorice; Sulphur Clover; Great Earth-nut, and many more. [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 113)

Perthshire treasures, and the wedding draws near.

It’s July 3rd 1962 and Gran’s second, and much longed-for holiday in Scotland is about to begin.  Her companion, Pauline Muirhead is not delayed, as Gran had feared; she is there at Euston when Gran, met first by Barry at Waterloo, arrives in time for their ten o’clock departure for Perth.

Once beyond Lancaster, she really feels that she is “in the north”, delighted by unfamiliar flowers such as Wood Cranesbill and Melancholy Thistle, seen by the railway line.

However, with Beattock Summit passed, she is less impressed with Scotland’s visible industry:

We stopped at Carstairs and Motherwell, passing Shield’s Colliery and others with the attendant hideous slag heaps, which are a blot on the countryside, though slightly improved when herbage covers them.

Beyond Coatbridge and Larbert, she has kinder things to say about the area in which I now live:

…the most beautiful scenery as we looked across at the Ochil Hills with the play of sunshine and cloud shadows upon them.  We could see Wallace’s Monument, in which is his sword, commemorating the Battle of Bannockburn.

An entertaining summersault; confounded cats; to Dungeness in a Chevy; wedding cake anxiety; rare breeders at Nursling; Cheddar Gorge – a minor ambition fulfilled; Billie-Jean causes an upset, and all ready for Scotland.

Returning to The Ridge late, on April 11th 1962, after playing Badminton, Gran is surprised to find Jane there.  Excitedly, she writes, “She had brought home her Wedding Gown, the loveliest, daintiest creation of Nottingham Lace in a design of roses”.  And two days later, in Winchester with Jane, she purchases the material for her own dress.

Book 97

The family gathers for Easter.  Gran has made a Simnel Cake, and Jane and Stuart arrive at The Ridge late on April 19th.

“Just as we were finishing lunch, rather late”, Gran writes on the following day:

Barry, Julian and Ricky burst in upon us, a day earlier than expected but, happily we were able to find enough for them to eat, and afterwards all went down to Beaulieu Road, which proved a most enjoyable expedition.

There they hear their first Cuckoo of the Spring but I do not remember this so much as the entertaining but accidental reverse somersault off the top of a five-bar gate, which I performed, when Stuart, attempting to hurdle it, whacked it with his foot, knocking me off my perch!

Easter Day is April 22nd and after lunch, the New Forest is their destination again.  Julian is anxious to see Rufus’ Stone but his Dad is keener, as Gran tells us, to find a particular moss:

After parking the cars, we walked along the valley in which were the trees on which Barry’s moss was said to grow. He was lucky, for following directions read in a report, he went straight to a certain Beech tree and found the moss Zygodon forsteri, which is one of the rarest mosses in Britain and only known from five Beech trees in the Rufus’ Stone area.  It is dark green, with soft leaves and grows in the clefts down which moisture seeps.