Holidays

An amusing incident occurred when we were on holiday at a place called Ugborough in Devon.  I was aged about 4 or 5 at the time.  'Daddy' decided that he wanted to emulate his hero, Stirling Moss and went speeding down a country lane and had an accident, hitting a car coming in the opposite direction.  We all got out of our car and there was this rather good imprint of the front of the other car on the front of ours.  We kids were standing around giggling and sniggering and this other chap was telling Dad that he didn’t realise Woolworth’s still sold driving licenses.  'Dad' was getting more & more embarrassed, when yours truly stepped forward in all innocence (honestly) and said, within earshot of just about everybody, "Don't worry dad, it's only the firm's car".

As I explained earlier, in those days it was not as socially acceptable to have a company car as it is today.  I think it is probably true to say that my 'Dad' was not too impressed with my command of the English language.  I remember not having any supper that night, which didn’t really matter as I would have been unable to sit down and eat it anyway.

On one occasion, we went to a coastal resort for a holiday.  When we down to the beach for the day.  On the beach my 'dad' started teasing me about not going swimming and what a coward and baby I was.  I ended up crying and told him I could swim and would show him.  I stripped off my clothes ran into the water and started swimming.  And kept on swimming and kept on and kept on and kept on.  I was heading out to sea and not really thinking about it when I heard all this screaming and shouting from the beach.  I stopped swimming and looked back at the beach.  I saw all these very tiny people waving their arms about.  My brother was swimming toward me and eventually caught up.  I thought we were going to play a game or something but he told me were going back to the beach.  It seemed to take ages to swim back but our feet touched sand and I noticed dad was standing on his own; nobody was talking to him as they looked at me as if to say things like "Oh poor boy with a wicked daddy".  I didn't particularly like my dad and was secretly pleased he was being told off.

Religious matters

Considering that my 'Mum' was a Quaker and used to march with CND (dragging us all along including 'Dad', prodding us to keep moving and if we moved too much it was the old slapped legs routine), I suppose they were quite nice people really.  Everybody has their good points, it was just a pity I discovered few of theirs.

My foster parents must have been one of the last to send children to Sunday school in the great British tradition.  Whether it was a ruse for the grown-ups to have an hour's peace and quiet or truly for the spiritual benefits I don't know.  What I do know is that along with the other children I had to go each and every week, and I can remember absolutely nothing of these occasions and so presume they had little or no impact at all on my life at that time.

However it did lead to my joining the church choir at St. Mary's Church of England Church in East Molesey.  I'm not too sure how long I was in the choir but I recall spending almost the entire service sending slips of paper to the girls in the choir around the stalls throughout the service to relieve the boredom.  I was eventually 'removed' from the choir. I don't quite recall exactly why - for which I am sure I am extremely grateful.

Piano Lessons

My 'sister' Wendy used to have piano lessons each week and it was decided when I was about 5 that I would have them too.  I used to have the hour long slot after Wendy on a Saturday morning.  We used to travel to Ember Court Road near Hampton Court which is where the elderly lady lived who gave us our lessons.  I often found it laborious, especially learning scales, but I persisted and am glad I did.  Wendy became a very proficient pianist and passed a lot of examinations and for a short while she taught piano to others.  I used to practice at home, but more out of fear than desire as 'dad' stood over me.




to be continued........