Another family wedding; two new ducks; Gran – “extraordinarliy fit”; a Yorkshire Dales holiday; the car and caravan are sold; “God bless the Queen”; Serpentine in Cornwall; Julian runs a 10,000m ‘PB’; a morsel of family history, and missing Brother.
April 10th 1977: After Barry and family depart Chandler’s Ford for their home in Bushey, Gran:
… had just settled to a lonely afternoon and evening when Beverly and Ricky appeared, a delightful surprise. I gave Ricky Brother’s microscope and he was so pleased to have something which had belonged to Norris. They suggested that they would take me to the Caravan to get papers etc. that I had forgotten before, and I let Ricky take the South Moth Books and brought the Readers’ Digest Bird book for Geoffrey who always asks to see mine when he is here. Ricky then asked if I would like a ride round the Forest and I led the way to Ladycross of happy memories of my last outing with Brother. We saw a Stonechat on the way and, passing Hatchet Pond, I showed Ricky where the Bog Orchids grow as he has never seen them. We stopped at “our gate” at Ladycross and went for a walk, so that I could show Ricky and Beverly the Lungwort, also new to them.
She ends her note of the day with, “It was very pleasant for me to have these dear youngsters with me this evening, especially as the others had left…”
Grief is something of a constant in Gran’s life at this time, and she writes on April 17th, after a day spent busily in the garden of The Ridge:
This evening I suffered some bad moments of realization of Brother’s passing, finding it so difficult to believe and then being overwhelmed with grief. But I was alone and realized that only I can come to terms with my loss. We have been such friends and kindred spirits all my life.
The wedding of Julian and Sue Evans is approaching and Gran and Grampa leave for Bushey on the afternoon of April 22nd to attend it the following day. The house at Reddings Avenue is full of family and visiting friends, and Gran is impressed, when Julian shows her:
… the sword he has to wear with his uniform, and very impressive it is. It is the Sword of Honour from Cranwell and it was one of the winners who has lent it to Julian for his marriage tomorrow.
April 23rd brings a detailed description of the wedding, including:
Amid the usual home routines, I made up the buttonholes, Carnations for some, and yellow roses for others, whilst Jane Elizabeth went to get her hair done. Jane, Stuart, Katherine and Andrew arrived soon after ten o’clock and it was lovely to see them all again.The Ceremony took place at St James’ lovely old Church at Bushey and the bells were pealing as we arrived… Julian, and Ricky, who was Best Man, were sitting just in front of us, Jane Elizabeth’s Mother beside me, and, as Julian stood to await Sue, the sight of his slim figure in Air Force uniform, with the Sword of Honour, brought sudden tears to my eyes. Sue looked very beautiful in her long, simple gown of heavy ivory silk, with long, full skirt and train, pointed collar trimmed with narrow lace, which also edged the long sleeves, and with twenty-four silk-covered buttons down the back.
The Reception was held at the R.A.F. Officers’ Mess at Hendon, where Julian and Sue first met… for the wedding breakfast we had a choice of a number of cold meats and a salad of great variety, and R.A.F. personnel, wearing cummerbunds but no jackets over their white shirts and R.A.F. blue trousers, served us as we passed the long table upon which the repast was displayed and then waited at table and poured the wine.
Sue, her hand guided with Julian’s, cut the first groove in the cake with the Sword of Honour, and a tiny scrap of icing on the blade was noticed by Julian, picked off and popped into Sue’s mouth… Whilst they were opening presents brought by guests to the Reception there was a sudden flash of lightening and clap of thunder, followed by torrential rain. Their present to Ricky was a fine Jubilee china mug.
I do not know where the short honeymoon is being spent, but I know there are sand dunes on which Julian can train for his coming run for England in Budapest, whence he goes on Friday!
Barry, Geoff and Gran bird-watch at Tring Reservoirs on the following day, where Gran is delighted to see that, “… in the meadows and even in the hedges were more Yellow Wagtails than I have ever seen together, at least a couple of dozen”. Among the fifty or so bird species seen that day, she and Geoff see one entirely new to them – a Ring-necked Duck, “… a rare American visitor”, she writes. And later that day, visiting Hilfield Reservoir, more local to Bushey, another duck is added to her life list – Ruddy Duck – also an American species but introduced to the UK, rather than wild.
April 29th sees Gran at the Royal Masonic Hospital, eleven months after her hip replacement, for a check-up by her surgeon. The results are good, Mr Cullin telling her that she is a “credit to him”, that she is “extraordinarily fit”, and that he is pleased to hear she is going on a walking holiday in the Yorkshire Dales on Tuesday. She need not see him again for four years, he tells her.
Gran and her friend Enid leave for their holiday in the Dales on May 3rd, taking a train from Southampton to Leeds, and then another to Skipton, from where a taxi, driven by a woman, Gran notes, takes them to their guest house at Grassington. This is to be their base for a fortnight during which they explore several of the Dales, enjoying unfamiliar scenery, plants and birds, and being well looked after at their accommodation.
Book 168
“It has been a wonderful holiday for me and I hope it will help me over the difficult days ahead when I try to sort out the problems connected with dear old Brother’s passing”, she writes on the evening of May 16th, the day before she and Enid leave Grassington for their return to Hampshire.
Norris has left to Gran his Ford Anglia and the Royal Winchester caravan in which he lived, and which Gran has learned is rare and possibly quite valuable. On May 19th she writes:
This afternoon we went to the Pilgrim Caravan Company in Ringwood to try and find out the worth and prospects of selling my caravan but it did not seem very encouraging. The proprietor would not commit himself about the value, but he had already been to see it and would like to see the inside. I am not eager to get a big price but I dislike the idea of being given a paltry sum and then have it sold at enormous profit.
A large part of May 22nd “… was occupied”, Gran says, “… with the sad task of clearing dear old Brother’s caravan and two journeys were needed to transport it all”. On the following day she sells, with a degree of sadness, the twelve-year old Anglia, which had taken her and Norris on so many happy journeys, for £165, and on the day after that the caravan is also sold. Gran writes, “Pilgrim Caravans’ representative rang up this morning and offered me £50 for the caravan, with the usual derogatory remarks. I had to accept but I am glad I left little of the contents inside”.
June 7th: “Jubilee Day”, Gran exclaims:
… – twenty-five years of our splendid Queen Elizabeth’s reign and how well she has carried out her pledge of service made when she ascended the throne in her youth! May God bless her and grant her many more years of safety and happiness.
Gran rises early to get “all necessary chores done before the Jubilee programme started on television and I was thus able to spend a couple of hours watching it”. The ecstatic crowds on the route of the Royal Procession, the uniformed military, the horses and the moving Service of Thanksgiving bring her close to tears.
Book 170
Gran’s Book 169 is missing from her collection of journals so we now find ourselves searching Book 170 for entries of interest, and we discover that on August 23rd 1977 she has been in Cornwall for some time, invited to join Barry, Jane Elizabeth, Geoffrey and Robin on holiday there, based in a static caravan. Ricky and Beverly, who drove Gran there, have joined them, camping nearby. Gran has become very keen on pebbles, loving the beauty of the minerals within, especially when polished, and building up quite a collection. “Ricky took me out”, she writes:
… we reached Church Cove, near the Lizard… and at one point found accessible rocks of Serpentine, mostly black, but one faced with smooth shining reds, greens and blues. Ricky obtained a piece for me…
Three days later she is back at The Ridge, having spent one day in Exeter on the way home.
Gran makes a record in her journal of every athletics or cross-country race in which Julian features, collecting many press cuttings and avidly following the sport on television. On the evening of September 9th, having spent a day with Enid in Southampton:
Julian was running in the 10,000 metre race in the Coca-Cola International meeting at Crystal Palace and Athletics was televised from 8.10. Imagine my annoyance, when the 10,000 metres, which was run at 9.15, was not shown until 10.45! Of course I waited up and Julian put up an excellent show in such company as the leading world runners and was in contention until two laps from the finish when the leaders surged ahead though he was not far behind whilst David Black was lapped. The race was won by Brendan Foster and, of course, only the first three were shown so I could not know Julian’s position or his time. Infuriating!
She learns a few days later that Julian was eighth but had run it in a personal best time, in spite of being “trodden on” at some point in the race.
September 12th:
… I went to see Mary and took her some of Brother’s books… and my “Diary of an Edwardian Lady” to show her. Strangely enough, she had a copy which someone had lent her and she was keeping it to show me! We are both enchanted with it… Mary gave me some tomatoes and runner beans, and a bunch of single Asters.
A few days later, Mary Harding brings Gran some wool, she says, “for me to knit a cardigan for her mother”, known to Gran as “Granny Pickford”, whose birthday is in October.
We have not heard of Mrs Doncaster and her impressive garden for some years, but on the 19th Gran writes:
… I walked round to Merdon Avenue to see my friend Amy Doncaster, to whom I promised a visit when I returned from Cornwall. Sadly her sight and bodily strength is deteriorating but her love and enthusiasm for plants is not in the least diminished. She has been turning out her surplus flower vases and pot containers and gave me two before we went round the garden. I came back by the Lake, which is becoming decidedly over-stocked with Muscovy Ducks, to the detriment of the prettier Mallard.
Gran gives us a rare but small glimpse into her educational history on September 26th. She, and presumably Grampa, join a conducted Masonic coach trip round “Old Southampton” and she describes in seven pages of great detail much of what she discovers on this outing, including:
We passed the new Medical School of Southampton University… the University was evolved from the old Hartley Institute, which was founded in 1562. Aunt Em took her teacher’s training there and I took the Cambridge Preliminary, Junior and Senior Exams there from Shirley Avenue School.
And she adds:
We passed the old Southampton Docks Station, which was built by Sir Frederick Tyte on a saltmarsh in the early eighteenth century. We (the Adamsons) arrived there from Birkenhead at 2 a.m. after the First World War broke out in 1914, after being delayed in the tunnel at Birmingham to allow troop trains to pass. We should have arrived at Southampton West (as it was then) at 4.30 the previous afternoon!
She observes, on October 13th, a small act that warms her heart:
Seeing some schoolboys looking at something on the path outside the drive, I went to investigate when they put it on to our rockery. Sadly it was a dead Thrush, but I was heartened to see how gently the boy had picked it up and that the three had been concerned about it.
She notes often at this time how much she is missing the company of her brother Norris, and a visit to the New Forest – a ramble organised from the Community Centre on the 15th – is particularly poignant for her. Much as she loves being there and seeing plants, fungi and birds of interest to her, she writes:
I wish Brother had been with me, for no-one else seemed very natural-history minded except Helen, and most talked too much. However, they all said how much they had enjoyed the walk and it was a delight for me to be in the dear old Forest again…
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)
- 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)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 126)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 127)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 128)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 129)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 130)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 131)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 132)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 133)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 134)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 135)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 136)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 137)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 138)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 139)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 140)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 141)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 142)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 143)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 144)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 145)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 146)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 147)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 148)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 149)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 150)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 151)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 152)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 153)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 154)
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