Sherborne House – recalled; a fence triggers a memory; Fair Isle knitting; tennis at Bournemouth, Wimbledon and “Mr Chalk’s lovely garden”; vertigo in Cheddar Gorge; anxiety over a “beastly complaint”; Margaret – a new friend; Ricky does well; plenty of visitors, and some tears.
On April 16th 1967, Gran writes of a kind gesture, telling us that:
…Mrs Dowson, who taught Barry and Jane at Sherborne House School, came to take Mother and me for a drive, mainly so that Mother could see Primroses at their best. We went through Hursley and Farley Mount… and on towards Sparsholt…
Dad adds a little bit of background:
“Sherborne House School in Lakewood Road, was opened in 1933, shortly before I started there. The Headmistress was Mrs [Eva] Wise. Her two daughters, known as “Miss Dorothy” and “Miss Wise” [Nancy] made up the rest of the staff. “Miss Wise” married soon after I left, and became Mrs Dowson”.
And:
In 2003 the school celebrated its 70th anniversary. Seventy-three-year-old Barry was invited to the gathering at the school and there he found “Miss Dorothy”, over one hundred years of age but still remembering “Barry Goater, the boy who was late for school one morning because he had found a Pine Hawk-moth”.
Gran, Greaty and Mrs Dowson drive on, to Leckford and Stockbridge, and then, Gran continues, “We turned off the main road and came to a wide grassy verge along a lane, which was carpeted with Primroses, a glorious sight. Mrs Dowson picked a posy for Mother”.
Describing the drive home, Gran is disappointed, as usual, with the increased popularity of Farley Mount, which she remembers as “her” place, but she has enjoyed the day, writing, “…through Farley Mount (crowded as Hampstead Heath with ice cream vans in attendance!) and Hursley home again after a most enjoyable afternoon”.
Next morning Gran and Brother set off for Purton, in north Wiltshire, to visit cousin Marjorie and her husband Jimmy, and also Fairlie, who is staying there too. There is a degree of poignancy attached to this visit, as we learn that Marjorie, the same generation as Gran, is rather badly “crippled” and confined to the house, and also, somewhat bizzarely, that iron railings, noted between the garden there and the fields beyond, remind Gran of happy times: “…our holiday home in Corwen, North Wales”, she remembers. “We used to spend our holidays here as children with this same family of cousins”.
It’s a busy morning on April 18th, “…to make up for yesterday”, says Gran:
…but I received a gorgeous surprise by second post. Barry and Jane Elizabeth sent me a beautiful ‘lumbercoat’, which they had ordered for my birthday and which had arrived early. It is in natural wool with a lovely Fair Isle yoke in shades of salmon pink, green, brown and white. It was made in Shetland by someone whom Barry met when he was there. I am delighted with it.
When on holiday, camping in Shetland in the summer of 1966, Dad, Julian and I set up our tents in the garden of the Leslie family, Laurence Leslie being the bus driver who drove us south from Lerwick to Virkie, near Sumburgh in the south. We became friendly with the family and remain in touch to this day. Laurence’s wife knitted Fair Isle woollens and for a while, Jane Elizabeth acted as an agent for her, selling hats and pullovers in the Bushey area.
Late April finds Gran reading “Rachel Carson’s thought-provoking book Silent Spring”, likely to have confirmed her views on modern life and Man’s misuse of the planet.
She hears with pleasure her first Cuckoo of the year on the 22nd, and plays her first tennis match of the season – “I was delighted to find that I can still play”, she writes. And she continues, “The tame Thrush twice came into the kitchen through the half-open window whilst I was having breakfast”, and:
I watched the final of the Ladies’ Singles in the Hard Court Championships at Bournemouth on Television, in which Virginia Wade played splendidly to beat the holder, Ann Haydon Jones 6-1 10-8. This evening I played tennis myself, trying out a new racquet, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Book 117
May passes and Gran manages a small number of outings, including several times into the New Forest, and on the last day of the month, to Cheddar Gorge with Barry and joined by Joan Appleyard, a moss expert friend from Wells. On this last outing, Gran, typically enthusiastic in her quest for interesting flowers and, on this day, mosses, admits she “made a big mistake”:
…and climbed too steep a path up the side of the gorge, with the result that I turned queer three quarters of the way up and really felt awful, unable to look down at the gorge. However, we found a piece of level ground with a few trees and bushes between me and the gorge and ate our lunch, after which I felt better.
Her recovery from vertigo complete, they drive on to the limestone headland of Brean Down, “a wonderful promontory with sea on both sides and a view across one bay to Weston-Super-Mare”, she enthuses. The rare White Rock-rose and Honewort, as well as several grass species are new plants for her there, and home at the end of the long day, she concludes her notes with: “Barry and I were very tired when we retired but we had enjoyed a wonderful day together.
Greaty, always referred to as “Mother” by Gran, reaches the age of ninety on the 26th, and, Gran observes that, she is “quite overcome with all the parcels, letters, cards and flowers”.
A visit to Bulcote to see the Brenan family is a delight but nevertheless leaves Gran deeply anxious. Katherine, four years old on the 29th, suffers severely with asthma, although the doctor there, Gran reports, is optimistic about modern treatments.
“Lunch time”, Gran writes on the 27th:
… brought a few moments’ pleasure and surprise when Barry dashed in. Julian and Ricky had been going to cycle down to stay in Chandler’s Ford, but it had been so terribly wet that Barry decided to bring them down by car.
It’s the bank holiday weekend but sunny weather on the 28th does not tempt Gran and Norris out. Gran says:
…as we expected the roads to be crowded. We watched, on Television, the progress of Sir Francis Chichester, returning from his solo voyage round the world in his yacht “Gipsy Moth”, which had taken him nine months. He reached Plymouth safely to a tumultuous welcome from 500,000 people on Plymouth Hoe at half-past nine.
June 15th:
This afternoon I went to Southampton to buy a summer dress and pair of sandals. The dress presented some difficulty as they we all far too short for a woman of my age. I did eventually find one that is just bearable.
June 17th, Gran records as a “wonderful and soul-satisfying day”. Mother is taken to Bassett to be looked after by a friend, while Gran and Norris drive to Fonthill Terraces and nearby areas for a day’s botanising. They rendezvous with a new companion, Margaret Burnhill, at Hindon, in Wiltshire, and introduce her to many new species, particularly orchids – “Margaret had seen few orchids, and today was to prove very exciting for her”, writes Gran, adding later that she was “completely overcome, seven new orchids in one day”.
Henceforth, Margaret becomes a very frequent sharer of their outings, often mentioned in Gran’s notes, and sometimes with a hint of regret, as on occasion Norris and Margaret undertake these trips without Gran, and anyway, Gran really prefers the company of her brother alone. For now though, she writes of Margaret, “A real enthusiast and very nice company indeed”.
“A letter from Barry this morning gave us good news of Ricky”, she writes on July 1st: “…in his exam results this term he was first in Science and English, second in History and third in French. Altogether most encouraging and just what Ricky needs”.
It was indeed just what I needed, as a confidence-booster, but these results were primarily a reflection of the excellent grounding I had received in the Prep School at Haberdashers’.
Wimbledon provides its usual interest in late June and early July but Gran is disappointed on the opening day, saying that she “was saddened to see the popular Manuel Santana, last year’s winner, beaten in the first round on the Centre Court. The winner was Charlie Passerell, an American…” However, watching the tournament as the days progress, seems to improve her own game, and she writes on one evening that, “Inspired by all the wonderful play I have recently seen, I went to tennis myself… and was much encouraged, especially by my serving!”
On the day of the Ladies’ final, Gran records that “Our Ann Jones lost to Billie-Jean King 3-6 4-6” but she does not watch the match on television because she has more tennis of her own to play that day:
This afternoon I went to the Garden Fete which was held in Mr Chalk’s lovely garden and entered for the Tennis Tournament. We drew for our original partners but changed with our opponents after four games. We played nine games in all and individual scores were counted. Those with the larger number of games moved on to the next round. I drew David Dyer first and eventually won the cup with one Brian, whose surname I did not learn! We were blessed with a lovely afternoon and everything was most enjoyable. I took Mother with me and everyone was most attentive to her…
There is more news of me a few days later, in a letter from Jane Elizabeth saying: “Ricky had done well on the school sports day and had broken the record in throwing the cricket-ball and had come second and fifth respectively in two races”.
An outing to the disused railway cutting at Downton, to show Margaret Burnhill the Lizard Orchid growing there ends in failure and great disappointment for Gran, who assumes that the recent removal of the rails and damage to the embankment there are responsible. However, a few days later, on July 16th, during a phone call from Peg Eagle, Gran learns, “that someone has deliberately dug it up, because Peg saw it, robust and flourishing but still in bud, in May of this year. Isn’t it infuriating? And what can be done – another rarity gone for ever”.
Gran’s sixty-third birthday is on July 22nd, and she receives, among other presents, an electric kettle, a “very useful basket for picnic lunches, and a good deal of cash with which I hope to buy an anorak”, she writes.
Her fears that Mother’s infirmity would prevent her enjoying countryside pursuits in 1967 appear to be unfounded. She often manages to find a “sitter-in”; Norris is almost daily at The Ridge for this role when necessary, and frequently Mother is taken out to well-loved places with the two of them. In addition to this, Gran spends much time knitting and some time flower painting, and in spite of occasionally complaining about a lack of contact with friends, she often receives other visitors at the house. July 26th and subsequent days, for instance:
Margaret Burnhill called in with some specimens for identification. Brother also came later to say “goodbye” before leaving for Ireland tomorrow. After tea Margaret, and later, Brother departed and I finished painting the Madder. Mrs Griffin called in, bringing me her two hanging baskets to enjoy whilst she is away in France, departing also tomorrow.
Brother leaves his home in Lyndhurst next day, picking up travelling companion Jimmy Rae, cousin Marjorie’s husband, at Swindon on the way, and that afternoon Gran records that Mary Harding, “…came to see me. It was good to see her again and to hear her news”, she writes.
And the day after that, Dr Dony and his wife visit from Bedfordshire, forming a botanising party with Gran and two other Hampshire ladies, Mrs Yule and Miss Haines, for a highly productive expedition to the New Forest and adjacent areas. “Dr Dony gave us all supper at a very nice restaurant in Ringwood, and then brought me home to Chandler’s Ford”, she gratefully ends her entry for the day.
We have no more news of Gran’s summer and autumn of 1967, as Book 118 of her journal is missing. However, it appears that during this time, grandson Andrew has had an event of some sort in his life, which necessitated little Katherine staying at The Ridge with her Granny for some days, or weeks, while Jane and Stuart concentrate on Andrew.
Book 119
On December 2nd Gran receives a card from Jane, telling her that the family has arrived home in Bulcote safely and that Katherine had enjoyed her stay in Chandler’s Ford, Gran adding:
She says she is coming again, but Andrew says it is his turn next. Jane says she is sure that his recovery was accelerated because she and Stuart were able to be with him so much and I am delighted that we were able to help by having Katherine, bless her.
At eight o’clock in the morning, three days later, Jean Hockridge runs in from next door with a frantic phone message from Jane, this time concerning Katherine’s health. Gran, who writes that she has grown exceptionally close to Katherine while caring for her recently, recounts the following:
At eleven o’clock last night, after five visits from the doctor, Katherine was rushed to hospital and put into an oxygen tent with a severe attack of asthma. Needless to say, I wanted to rush straight off to Bulcote but could not do so and spent a miserable day here with nothing I could do to help…
Brother came this afternoon and I disgraced myself by breaking down altogether but he is a great comfort, as was Mrs Hillier this morning, as well as Jean, bless them, and I felt better and able to go to the Southampton Natural History meeting this evening. Mrs Yule spoke about her work on the new “Flora of Hampshire”, which she hopes to complete next year and get published in about three years’ time.
Gran finds she is not really in the mood for the talk, admitting that she “was glad to get home and phone Jane”. She learns then that “Katherine may be in hospital for a minimum of five days, or maybe several weeks”. She ends her entry for the day, written some time later, addressing Adrian with: “I did no writing, dear, remembering also how you suffered from this beastly complaint, and I had, naturally enough, started a migraine”.
Article series
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- 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)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 64)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 65)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 66)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 67)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 68)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 69)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 70)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 71)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 72)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 73)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 74)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 75)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 76)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 77)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 78)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 79)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 80)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 81)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 82)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 83)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 84)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 85)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 86)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 87)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 88)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 89)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 90)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 91)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 92)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 93)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 94)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 95)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 96)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 97)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 98)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 99)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 100)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 101)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 102)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 103)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 104)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 105)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 106)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 107)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 108)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 109)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 110)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 111)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 112)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 113)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 113)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 114)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 115)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 116)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 117)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 118)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 119)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 120)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 121)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 122)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 123)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 124)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 125)
I recall there was a Miss Bows or Bose there also. A formidable lady not to be crossed! Anybody else remember her?