Lyndon Road contd............

Next door across the entry to us lived another family with teenagers and youngsters. When I was very young they were called Maclewham or something like. He was old and his wife was quite strict and always frightened me. They had a boy with bright ginger hair called Sammy after his Dad and a daughter my age called Sarah. Didn’t like her she was a bully!! Frightened me she did, she would corner me in the entry and not let me get past, we didn’t use our front door so in the end I would have to walk back down the entry and wait outside of the house until she had gone. She used to take sides with my friend Frieda so I was the odd one out. I lived in fear of that girl. Her Father died and then her mother married again, became Mrs Kearns – which I could pronounce! – and they had a little boy Phillip, he was lovely and even Mrs Kearns became nice and pleasant. In retrospect it must have been a struggle with an elderly sick husband and two young children to look after so I suppose that could account for her attitude while Mr Macklewham was alive. Sam Macklewham’s death didn’t change Sarah’s attitude though and I was very relieved when we left Stechford to go to live in Hall Green. Many years later, when I was about fourteen I heard that Sarah had died from a brain tumour. This had a big effect on me as we were only fourteen and I had not thought that people could die at that age. I may not of liked her, even at times hated her, but would not have wished her death.

The other side of the Macklewhams lived a family called Jenkins, they were a nice family and I think the child nearest my age was a girl called Pauline. We were friends but not close although I am given to understand by my mother that I moved in there when she was in hospital in Dudley Road. They were a normal family, my mother’s best friend I think as she used to go round a lot and Mrs Jenkins used to come round to ours. Me? I played with everyone’s children, the Powers who lived on the other corner, the Carmens who lived opposite and many more that I can't remember.

More thoughts on Lyndon Road .....

At the top of our garden was the garden of another house, now this was a different story. I think that this family was one up from gypsies, I don’t know why but even at a young age I knew that this family was ‘different’. Mrs Oldcroft was short, fat and scruffy and there were lots of kids of all ages. I was friends with one of the youngest, Tosha, she had a proper name but everyone called her Tosha. One day stands out in my memory with regard to Tosha, we must have been about 5 or 6 and I went round one day to call for her. One of her teenage brothers was coming out of the front door as I walked out the path and he said ‘Tosh is just having her tea, you can go in and wait if you like’. So I went in the house and through to the back room and had the shock of my life ….. there was Tosha having her tea, sitting across her Mom’s lap and latched onto the left breast!! I was amazed; I had never seen anything like it! So I sat down and waited till she had finished her ‘tea’ while all around me life carried on, teenagers arguing, little toddlers running round with noses running or nappies hanging half off and all of them in various states of dress, as though nothing different was happening. Maybe it wasn’t for them but it sure was for me! When we came outside I asked her what it tasted like and she said ‘milk of course!’ and then didn’t want to talk about it anymore and I soon forgot about it. I told my Mam and she said that was one of the reasons why she didn’t want me to have anything to do with them, they didn’t do things correctly – what ever that meant.

Initial thoughts on Lyndon Road

As I travelled home on the bus last night and looked out of the window, as I came along Dolphin Lane I thought back to when I was a child and was growing up in Lyndon Road, Stechford. Even at that young age I had privileges not given to some of the other children round about. The people who lived in the first house in our road, a large semi-detached house were called Mr and Mrs Jenkins. There were lots of rooms in this house, the kitchen right at the back with a small dining room off. Through this room was the stairs and two more rooms, the back lounge and the front lounge. The back lounge had French windows so when we played outside we could see a bit of this room and Mrs Jenkins could keep an eye on us. They had a daughter also named Christine and an older boy. I cannot remember his name but he was a teenager and was always in and out of the house. I was allowed to play with Christine on the odd occasion, although only in the back garden. Mrs Jenkins was very house-proud and I was never allowed past the kitchen but once Christine took me into the back lounge where they had a television. Her brother had ‘popped out’ so we were left to our own devices and so we went exploring, only into the back room and the back lounge. I never visited any other part of the house!!!
I was the only child allowed to play at ‘The Jenkins’s’ as it was known whereas none of the other children in the road were allowed. Christine Jenkins was a singular girl, having no other friends that I was aware of, and she was always in charge ‘cos it was her garden. I quite enjoyed playing with her, I used to take my doll and we would play picnic, teddies teaparty etc. One day when I went round to see if she could play, she had the tent up and we played quite nicely for a while and then she decided we would play doctors and nurses. This was ok by me and of course she was the doctor and I was the patient, after all she had the stethoscope!!! It was when she wanted to look up my knickers that I decided I didn’t want to play anymore and quickly ran home. I never told my mother why I came home so quickly and I certainly never went back there again, although my mother said many times that Mrs Jenkins had been asking if I could go play.

Christmas

Christmas has come & gone and with it so many memories! I shall try to remember various ones as I go through this blog but 2008 was definitely one of the good ones!
We spent Christmas Day at home with Catt and the giant cracker, made by Peter and full of goodies for Catt and me.
On Boxing day we went to Nadine's house and had another great day. After exchanging pressies, the teens went into the front room, Shane and Peter went to the Pub and us girls played on the Wii. Nade made us a lovely spread and when the men came home we all sat chatting (Peter went to sleep!!). Altogether a great Christmas.

Photocopying Papers

I have today been photocopying all the papers I found after my Mother died. They have brought so many memories to the forefront. These papers have included not only cards sent to my Mother by my Father while he was abroad, but also the last card he sent before his death. He always wrote a few lines in the cards that he sent and the last lines in this anniversary card read "to think on without regret, & there's lot left us, us two, yet." How wrong he was, 9months later he had died. Mam always said that he knew he was dying and left a tape recording for us, I am looking for a spare reel at the moment as we have filled all our reels on the tape recorder (it's a very old reel to reel one).

As much as my Father 'played around' and disappeared for months on end, I truly believe that she was his real love. I know that there was no other man for Mam and she loved him to the end of her life. Once she told me that after he retired it was just like being on honeymoon all over again. This makes me smile now as I think of it - they were married in England and then sailed to Singapore (six week honeymoon!). She told me that as the boat left Southampton, the band was playing 'Red Sails in the Sunset' and this was so appropriate as she sailed west down the Solent and into sunset. Mam's new life took a lot of getting used to really, she had not only the Army life but also the life style. I must admit that, after going to Africa, I can understand a little bit of this, one is treated almost like a God and servants are eager to serve you. She loved the life, especially the heat and the tropical planting. I think she found a freedom that she never had at home - she was the youngest child with three older brothers. She was devastated when she lost her first child - Keith Edward - and then when she had a miscarraige, she began to feel 'lost'. The nurse at the hospital, when she arrived as she had to travel by ferry to the mainland, asked what she had done this time and my mother was appalled that anyone could think she didn't want this baby! My father was home every night and they attend many parties and social functions. When Ena was born she had an amah to help her but found it difficult to leave her beautiful baby and only left her when she had no other choice - again the Regimental parties etc. Even after they moved to Gibraltor, she was still enamoured of the Army life. When Peter and I went to Gib (as my father called it) it felt unreal to think that I was walking where both my parents and sister had walked pushing Tony in a pram and then years later Tony had walked when he was stationed there. So I continue photocopying the certificates; births, weddings & funerals........

Babies

Little memory popped into my head yesterday -

Not longer after we brought Catherine home from hospital, I was changing her nappy - she couldn't have been more than 5 days old - and Edward was watching. He stood quietly watching for some time and then he said to me "you'll have to take her back". Why's that I asked. "They haven't made her properly, she doesn't have a winkie". So I had to give a simple explanation as to the difference between boys and girls - not bad observation for someone who was about to become two years of age!!

My Brother (part 2)

We managed to find out that Tony had gone to a Catholic Church, who made enquiries and then sent him to Our Lady of the Wayside Church and Father O'Mahoney redirected him to Ena's. So she took him in and he stayed until everything was sorted and he had his discharge papers come through (he had gone AWOL so had to face the consequances). He found out that Pat had returned to her home in Bootle and was staying at her mother's with all the children. he stood as Godfather to Myra and it was just great having him around. Ena and Ron may not have agreed, although he was Ena's brother even she could not stomach the smell of his feet! Eventually Pat's mother wrote to him asking that he come and collect the children as they were being so neglected. How or when this happened I do not remember but I do know that it took Mom and Ena several weeks to get the girls clean from the head lice etc. (Tony could only get the girls, Pat would not let him bring Anthony with him). So Ena found schools for the girls and they all lived in her house, Veronica has many a tale about this time! Tony found a job as a Supermarket Manager at the Maypole and so he moved into a house over that way. Eventually he progressed to another supermarket and we lost contact with him yet again. Although I asked Ena for his address when Dad died, she maintained that she did not have it, (Ena knew that Dad had said he didn't want Tony there).
After Mom had her fall and was taken into hospital, Ena contacted Tony and they visited Mom every day at the hospital. When I arrived afterwards I was shocked to see my brother, he was totally white haired and wheezed like a good one!!! He sounded just like my father and when I closed my eyes the only thing missing was the Geordie accent. It hurt!
After the funeral he left and I never saw him again. He died in Telford, where I believe two of his girls still live (Patricia and Dawn).

My Brother (part 1)

My brother Tony (Anthony David) was 9 years older than me and was born while my parents were living in Gibraltar. I can remember that he was in a musical show held at my junior school (Corpus Christi), I think it was based on the 'Ralph Reader Gang Show' and he was in the chorus singing 'All the nice boys love a sailor'. That I can remember but when ........... that I do not know!!
I remember losing the key to the front door one day after school, I had to wear it round my neck 'cos he couldn't be trusted to look after it. I had dropped it down the drain in the kerb (don't ask me why ......... I was only little!!). Several friends tried to help me get it back but we all failed and then round the corner came my big brother. He lifted off the drain cover and put his arm down into that murky water and retrieved the key, what a hero!!! We all applauded and his street cred went up!
When I left Mrs Creanen's class and went into the first Junior class - with such an awful teacher - I came home crying and cried and cried. My mother told me to try to cheer up as it was Tony's birthday and his friends would be coming round and I didn't want them to see me crying. So I dried my eyes and went downstairs to Tony's 16th Birthday party and sat down. Several hours later it was decided that no-one was coming to his party - his birthday was 23rd July.
At some point about this time there happened an horrific scene - to my small mind. I heard shouting and came upstairs, my mother was on the landing shouting at my father who was in Tony's room. As I looked through the open door into the room, my father brought a chair down onto my brother's back and then my mother brought me down stairs. Years later I found out that my brother stole, not only from my mother's purse but anything he could lay his hands on (in retrospect - I think all children pass through a stealing stage which must be handled with love). This time he had taken his stamp collection - worth quite a bit of money - and he had 'sold' it to one of his school friends and it was the final straw for my father.
There is another memory of him see 'Queen's Coronation'
As soon as he was old enough, my brother joined the Royal Artillery and only appeared now and then. After we moved to Hall Green, he was only home occasionally, I can remember the pride I felt as he stood to attention, in his 'dress uniform', when the National Anthem was played at the cinema. He came home for my sister's wedding, and sometimes afterwards - another proud moment when he accompanied me to church, once again in his dress uniform. He was posted to Gibraltar (one time bringing me a pair of pink silk pyjamas and slippers in a beautiful pink silk case). Then he was posted back to England, and we saw very little of him - he was my hero.
I was about 14 when he came home with a wife and child. It was a shock to 'the grown ups', my parents had bad feelings about her but she was Tony's wife ........... Pat stayed at ours with baby Jackie, who was about 12months old, after Tony went to Germany .......... she wasn't a nice person - but saying that, she was young, in a strange town with unknown people. She wanted the single life and resented the baby at times. Happenings that I cannot write here, but I think that we were all relieved when she eventually went to join Tony in Germany. They had three more children, Patricia, Dawn and Anthony Jr. We received letters and a couple of photos over the years, but they never came home to us.
In 1968 Tony came back into our lives, dishevelled, distraught and sitting on Ena's doorstep. He had come home from work to find Pat in bed with his best friend! He could remember very little after that until Ena came home and found him on her doorstep.

Home Times and Trains

This memory was triggered when we came home from Bowling out at Star City on Thursday (18th) with TaraKate and Alex. I was showing her where I grew up, just a few comments as we drove along.

We lived a couple of houses down from the bend in Lyndon road and on the other side was a railway siding. The trucks were sometimes parked up overnight and could hold anything including cows. It was nothing to wake in the night and hear cows mooing!!! Anyhow, my mother always told me to come straight home from school 'cos if I didn't she would call the fire brigade to fetch me - why the fire brigade I have no idea. Well, the inevitable happened, I got caught up in what was happening after school and left there rather later than usual. I ran all the way down from school, crossed the main road and turned into our road only to find ......... fire engines galore at the bottom of the road, right on the bend where I lived!!! Oh!my goodness!! she'd called the fire brigade!! I rushed into the house and there was my mother in the kitchen and I started to cry saying "I'm sorry! I forgot the time! I'm so sorry!" I was upset and my mother (who had been busy and was oblivious to the time) cuddled me up, pacified me and then tried to get out of me why I was so upset. I explained that I was late and the fire brigade was outside! She laughed and laughed - apparently there was a fire in one of the trucks parked up and THAT was why the fire brigade was there!! 
Funny now but at the time it taught me a lesson, I was never late home again, she would never get the chance to call them out again - whether or not she did this time.