“Contented and at rest”; no hot water and a need for porage; a long-lasting watering can; when Katie met Harry; a natural history bonanza in Scotland; two new orchids; farewell “Granny” Pickford; exciting news from Katie; “a wonderful and never-to-be forgotten day”, and “what gems are there still to uncover?”
Book 229
January 4th 1987, Gran writes, is “a dreary and dull day starting overcast after night rain and soon pouring for the rest of the day” but we feel that after a long period of stressful and unhappy events, she has managed to regain some of her equilibrium, as she continues:
… and I have seen no-one, and the front door has not been unlocked. Yet I have been contented and at rest. A thrush was singing when I went to take the temperatures soon after eight o’clock this morning.
The middle of the month is bitterly cold and family and neighbours worry about her keeping warm enough in The Ridge, a house, like many others at that time, with no central heating or double-glazing, and just a gas fire in each of the main living rooms. Barry offers to bring a sleeping bag for his Mother to use when sitting in her chair, and recommends she buy some cling-film to rig up some primitive double-glazing on the windows.
On January 13th she writes:
My hot water would not run through the taps but Mr Pearce, the local plumber came and went into the roof space to investigate and put on the heating and a new powerful lamp in the light and said all was very well lagged.
Later the same day, the plumber visits again and although he tells her that all is thawed out, still no water comes through the taps and Gran survives this lack of hot water for another eleven days! It is very cold and snowy and icy in Eastern Scotland too, for Gran learns of and reports on the demise of Rick and Beverly’s red VW Polo:
Beverly had a narrow escape when driving to work, skidding on black ice and the car overturned. She had her seat belt on and could scramble out on the roof so escaped with cut knees but the car was a write-off.
Concern for Gran’s welfare continues. We read on January 17th that “Ruth came in early and said I must have the gas fire on higher in the dining room and Mrs Luffman asked me if I had porage for breakfast!”
And a few days later:
I have not seen Ruth but she sent me in a little raspberry trifle by James, who stayed some time, chatting. He asked if I had ever been abroad and I told him only to Italy, overland by train from Paris. He was very interested to hear about it, especially the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Lake Como and Spegia.
On the same day she receives news of a swan, which wintered for twenty-four successive years at Slimbridge. She says:
A letter from Diana [Fowler] told me that Lancelot, the old Bewick’s Swan has still not come back to Slimbridge and it is pretty certain now that he is dead. His mate of many years arrived alone at the usual time.
Late January brings milder weather but the freezing and thawing of water in her watering can during the cold period had caused leaks in it, “… but it has done well”, she writes, “I have had it fifty-eight years”.
Post brings the Compton Parish Magazine on the 28th and it has some worrying news for Gran. She discovers:
… that our Rector, Mr Ovenden, had recently been very ill and in hospital for a serious operation. There were letters from him and his wife, thanking the Parishioners for letters, cards and prayers and I was extremely dismayed that I had not known he was ill. I wrote to them both at once.
Book 230
There is news of Katie from Jane, which excites Gran on March 29th:
Jane phoned with amazing and exciting news of Katie who is nannying this week for Lady Euston, whose regular help is unavailable. She was taking Isobel for a walk in the park when they met another nanny with a little boy. The nanny spoke to Katie, the little boy, Harry, said “Hi Katie” but when his nanny told him, “I don’t think Katie will understand that”, Harry said, “Hullo Katie”. When she got back with Isobel, he employer asked her if she knew who Harry was, and told her that he was Prince Harry, son of the Prince and Princess of Wales! Truly my family has some unusual experiences.
Newspaper photographers were present at the time; the meeting of the two children in pushchairs was captured on film and Gran writes, “The pictures were in the News of the World, Page 7 and Jane said if I could not get a copy she has a spare one. I went straight away to the paper shop…”
On March 31st:
Barry rang with some interesting news. The Curator of the Bushey Museum called to see him last night and spoke of Bushey Artists. He was quite excited to know that Dorothy Adamson belonged to our family and said he knew much about her and would Photostat copies of cuttings he has, for me. He would like to borrow my cuttings likewise and the pictures that I have for an exhibition he is having. He said Do’s pictures are now worth several thousand pounds!
Gran’s dislike of cats is clearly undiminished, even when the owners are her favourite neighbours, for on May 8th she writes, “Though I am sorry for the Kingston family, I cannot help being glad that their cat is dead – run over!”
And she adds on the same day, reviving memories for me of a great childhood friend of my Mum, Jock’s:
When I was shopping this morning a lady stopped me and said, was I Mrs Goater? But I would not recognise her. I did not but she was Joan King who used to live in the flat above Griffins’ when her Father was the chauffeur to Mr Evans, the Butcher from Winchester. Joan is now married with two sons and was very interested in my family.
Book 231
May 23rd sees the start of a fortnight-long holiday for Gran. Ruth Kingston takes her to Winchester for the train to Preston where daughter Jane meets her for two nights with her at Longton, and then, on the 25th Jane drives her north to Montrose to spend time with Ricky and his family. As they arrive, she says, “We had a view of the sea and soon came to ‘Ricky’s’ Basin, belonging to the Scottish Wildlife Trust”.
Jane departs for Longton and over the next days Gran is taken to many outstanding locations of natural history interest, including the botanically rich Glen Clova, in the Angus hills: “One of my ambition places”, she writes, and the undulating ground of Keltneyburn, in Perthshire, where she sees the first orchid species new to her for many years:
On the knoll which Ricky particularly wanted me to see was Chickweed Wintergreen, which was a delight to see again and, the main object of the expedition, the Small White Orchid Leucorchis albida, a few spikes in bud, which is one of the few orchids I had never seen.
A day in the Cairngorms brings back happy memories of an earlier visit there, although she finds Aviemore much changed, and not for the better. She sees the distant pass of the Lairig Ghru, walked with cousin Fairlie and also the Pass of Ryvoan, where, she notes:
At last we found some of the rarity for which this area is famous though much less than when Fairlie and I found it, Serrated Wintergreen Orthilia secunda, several plants but only one in bud”.
On June 2nd a bumpy Landrover journey and a difficult scramble for an eighty-two-year old, but undertaken with considerable determination, adds yet another orchid to Gran’s life list:
Today’s highlight came this afternoon when Ricky took me to Rossie Moor, not far away, but not an easy ride towards the end… walking along the edge of a field, across a smooth pasture followed by a curious herd of heifers and finally across the extremely rough edge of Rossie Moor, we came to the marshy area, where we heard a Cuckoo. A Tree Pipit was singing. In the marshy area we saw a small frog before seeing the first plant of our objective, the Coralroot Orchid Corallorhiza trifida, one of my ambition flowers – a saprophyte about five inches tall with small, yellow flowers…
And at the end of the day she writes: “Having done the rough walk to Rossie Moor, crawled under one fence and climbed through another, and over a five-barred gate, I was very tired and retired early”.
Apart from these major outings, her time based in Montrose is peppered with small wildlife highlights, written up in detail in her journal: a magnificent colony of Early Purple Orchids on the coast near Usan; Puffins at Auchmithie; Ospreys at Loch of the Lowes; Eiders nesting at Montrose Basin; Short-eared Owls, a Hen Harrier and Blackcock on the moors in Perthshire, and a cliff-top walk on the Kincardine coast, at Crawton, where:
The roar of the waves breaking on the shore, the sight of thousands of birds and the smell they cause must be experienced to be believed. The main colony was of Kittiwakes, some nesting and some gathering nesting material from the grassy hill over the gorge, leaving the ground brown and bare where they had torn up the grass.
Home in Chandler’s Ford at the end of what must have been an exhilarating but surely exhausting time away for Gran, she receives news from Mary Harding that:
… her Mother [Granny Pickford] had died soon after I went away. It is a relief, as life held very little for her in the last few years and I hope now that Frank and Mary will be able to have a holiday together and Mary’s life should now be free of stress. I shall see her tomorrow.
Life returns to normal for Gran and as usual, she records what she watches on television. On June 13th, for instance:
Chores until it was time to see the Trooping of the Colour for the Queen’s official Birthday on television. For the first time she came in a carriage in a summer dress and hat instead of in uniform riding “Burmese” who has been retired after so many years of service.
Book 232
Heart warming information arrives on July 22nd, Gran’s birthday. “I am 83 but seldom feel it!” she writes, and:
Today’s greatest excitement came soon after I had fed the birds when Jane phoned to tell me that Katie rang her at 11.15 last night to tell her that Paul, who had taken her to Paris for a few days, had asked her to marry him. Katie is over the moon and we are delighted.
A few days later, while queuing at the post office, she has an encounter that causes her some reflection on families and fortune: “A ‘Granny’”, she says:
… was waiting behind me to be served and she had a little baby boy in a pushchair, who was rather fretful and she kept gently touching his cheek. I told her to go before me and I pushed the babe to and fro. When she thanked me she told me that the poor pet was blind and needed constant reassurance. I was so sorry and thought gratefully, how very lucky I am with my dear family.
Barry and Jane, newly returned from a trip to France and Spain, collect Gran from The Ridge on August 6th and drive her to Bushey in preparation for the journey north for the wedding of Andy and Judy on the 8th. On that day, Gran writes, they are “…up at 4.15 … and after a hurried cereal we left Bushey at 5.12…”. She continues:
The wedding was at 11 a.m. at St Mary’s Church at Penwortham, a lovely little church. At the chancel steps there was a beautiful all-white arrangement of flowers which included Arum Lilies, white Gladioli, spray Chrysanthemums and Carnations with foliage.
Andy, and Julian, who was Best Man, were in traditional “tails” and looked splendid. Judy’s very beautiful wedding gown was of white cotton, full length and full skirt, large puff sleeves, with an embroidered panel, and the embroidered panel was repeated on the front of the bodice.
Flower arrangements, bouquets and Bridesmaids’ dresses are described in great detail, of course, and, she continues:
Sam wore tartan trews, white shirt with a dark blue bow tie and Tom, grey trousers and a blue and white striped shirt, Anna a pale blue dress with a blue sash, and Elinor a white dress figured in blue and her front hair taken back in two plaits with blue ribbons with the rest of her hair loose. The Bridesmaids wore pearls and Katie her new engagement ring of sapphire and two diamonds.
The Reception is held at Crofters in Garstang, the newly-weds being driven there in a white Rolls Royce, and Gran records the meal as a “very nice repast”, and she enjoys Julian’s speech, during which his daughter Anna, calls out “Daddy”. She adds:
Bridesmaids carried round large baskets of cigars and white packets of matches, with “Judy and Andy” in silver on them, and for the ladies little pink comforts of tulle and ribbon containing sugared almonds”.
Times have changed!
At the day’s end, Gran sums it all up, simply, with: “It has been a very wonderful and never-to-be forgotten day”.
The penultimate of Gran’s blue-covered books will take us to near the end of 1987. Thereafter, nine books are missing and we then pick up her story, briefly, in the latter half of 1989. Following this, four large blue books and a small red one, still with clear, though increasingly erratic handwriting styles, cover the period from March 1991 to the first few days of January 1995. Gran still has five more years to live after this, but there is no more.
What gems are there still for us to uncover, having already been entertained and enthralled by the events of forty of her years in Chandler’s Ford? I shall read on…
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)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 155)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 156)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 157)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 158)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 159)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 160)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 161)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 162)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 163)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 164)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 165)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 166)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 167)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 168)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 169)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 170)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 171)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 172)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 173)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 174)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 175)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 176)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 177)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 178)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 179)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 180)
- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 181)
Thanks, Rick, What a treat! I love the energetic happy look on your Gran’s face in the photo with Beverly.
You shall read on and hopefully so shall we. Somehow I thought the last part WAS the last part and I was delighted to see that it wasn’t. This has been a wonderful life to share with us, beautifully edited and illustrated and lovely to read in “bits”. Thank you.