In July 1979 we moved from St Benedict's Close in Atherstone to Kings Avenue. I remember going to school from St Benedict's Close, and coming home to Kings Avenue. I really thought we had had a huge drop in standards, and in our fortune. I was wrong of course, but that's how it felt that day.
The house was nearer school, but further away from the Salvation Army hall. All this is relative of course since we were still quite close to the town centre, and Atherstone is a small town.
The back garden was full of soil and accumulated rubbish, and it took my father a good while just to ascertain how large the garden was. Over time, however, the house become very homely, and my father still lives there to this day.
There is a good deal to write about our time in Atherstone. Suffice to say that in 1980 I started at the Sixth Form at Atherstone School, taking my A levels in 1982. One of my A level options was Typewriting. The school tried to dissuade me, saying that it was designed for "under-achieving girls". However I am glad I did take typewriting, as now I can touch type and this has held me in good stead for my career. I got on well with my typing teacher, and the options were arranged so that in one session there were 6 of us, in another 4 girls and in another two of us, me and Sarah.
On one occasion I remember our typing teacher saying "Oh ...I do like educated pupils!". We were typing book titles from handwriting, and one of them was George Elliott's "The Mill on the Floss" - so me and Sarah duly typed "The Mill on the Floss". Apparently a good many of her pupils would have typed "The Hill on the Floss". One of regrets is that I didn't take typewriting in my O level options, because I got with it so well. In later life I was to spend a large part of my career as a secretary, and got up to speeds of 80 wpm. Certainly in the exam I had time to type the whole paper, and then re-type the whole paper. Sadly I only achieved RSA Grade 1, but had I taken up typewriting 2 years earlier I might have been Grade 2 or even Grade 3 by the time I finished school.
One of my happiest memories of my time in Atherstone was walking the lanes around Orton-on-the-Hill one sunny day. This was of course before the motorway was built which has changed the character of the area, in my opinion, detrimentally.
One of our rituals as a family was centred around Bonfire Night. We always had a bonfire, and we always had fireworks. Dad was in charge of the fireworks. Mum was in charge of the bonfire night fare. A particular favourite was Groaty Pudding, the main ingredient being white groats which could only be bought from Cradley Heath. Of course this necessitated a visit "home" to the Black Country - in which we would visit my nan, and possibly an Aunt or two - to get the groats. Mum also made her bread pudding - not the sweet sickly stuff you get in the shops, but a deep based slightly sweet affair. It was absolutely delicious. We used to polish it off with aplomb.
Another favourite of my Mum's cooking was her scones. There was always a bottle of milk souring on the kitchen windowsill.
They were good days.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 September 2013
Saturday, 24 August 2013
The road to 2013 part 9
In May 1972 my parents resigned as full-time officers of the Salvation Army. The constant moving around was having a detrimental effect on our family, and by this time I had been to 7 schools.
They became instead Envoys (the Salvation Army term for a non-commissioned officer, or a part-timer in charge of a local corps) and we moved to 9 Station Street, Tewkesbury. We were to live in the small house in Station Street for 5 years - up that point the longest stay I had had anywhere. The house was next to the Warner's bus garage while we were there.
Nowadays a car park sits on the site of the bus garage.
The little Salvation Army hall in the town has been demolished to allow for road widening. The hall was in Nelson Street which really was a narrow road. I do not have a picture of the hall, but the map below shows the location (on the map it is referred to as "Lecture Hall").
.jpg)
One abiding memory is that of the Steam Fair on the Ham, and the Mop Fair in the streets. All the main road traffic was diverted down our street, including the service buses. There is a picture of the Mop Fair on the corner of East Street. If you look at the map above, the road running at right angles to Nelson Street at the top of the picture is East Street.
In the summer of 1972 we had an outing to London and visited the British Museum; the purpose of the outing was the Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition. The queue was huge, and snaked round one half of the car park, and then snaked round the second half. I remember we parked the car in the suburbs and caught the tube into central London. There was also a wonderful "British spirit", people would keep places for those who were having convenience breaks, or, like us youngsters, visiting the rest of the museum.
Our holiday in the summer of 1972 was to return to Oldways End in Somerset (see part 8). That was to be Mrs Fanthorpe's last letting summer, otherwise we would have carried on going there. I got very friendly with her pug.
The next summer we went to Penygroes in Caernarvonshire. We visited Caernarfon Castle and Harlech Castle, and attended the English Baptist church in Caernarfon. In Caernarfon Castle there was still the dias in which the Prince of Wales had been crowned, although not the throne if memory serves.
Summer 1974 saw us holidaying in Shropshire. The only memories I have are a visit to Stokesay Castle and Sunday meetings at the Salvation Army in Shrewsbury.
In 1975 we were back in Caernarvonshire, by now called Gwynedd. This time we were staying in the village of Groeslon, and we visited the beach at Dinas Dinlle every day (rain or shine).
Our final summer in Tewkesbury (1976) was a "staycation"; our family had 5 members and each of us chose a day visit to somewhere. Mum chose the Avoncroft Museum near Bromsgrove, Paul chose Skenfrith Castle, David chose Birmingham, I think I chose Worcester (to give me chance to observe Midland Red buses probably) and I think Dad chose Snowshill Manor and the Cotswold Rare Breeds Centre.
I had a further two schools at Tewkesbury, three years in the local junior school (Tewkesbury Church of England school) and two years at secondary school (Tewkesbury School). I had piano lessons for a time in Cheltenham on a Saturday morning. I used to catch the Bristol Omnibus Lodekka into Cheltenham, changing onto a town service operated by a two-door Bristol RELL. After the lesson I would go into Cheltenham and have coffee and a scone at Geraldines, and then go to the Coach Station to watch the mass departure. I got friendly with the lady in the Bristol Omnibus bus office, next door to the Coach Station, and when they got a new timetable, she would keep the old ones for me. I then used to catch the Midland Red bus back to Tewkesbury.
One day I caught the Midland Red bus to Evesham. I went to the Midland Red office there and bought a Hereford & Worcester timetable. They didn't have the other three timetables, but was told that the office at Stratford-on-Avon would have them. I caught the X91 to Stratford, bought the three timetables (Warwickshire & Oxfordshire, Leicestershire & Derbyshire and Salop & Staffordshire) and caught the X91 back to Evesham. My parents were unimpressed at my extra journey to Stratford.
On one occasion I also went to up stay with my Nan in Old Hill. I caught the National Express 414 coach from Tewkesbury to Brierley Hill were my Nan met me. I think this was probably one of the best holidays I ever had. I went along to the Home League at Cradley Heath Salvation Army with her. At the end of the week she put me back onto the 414 coach for my journey back to Tewkesbury. Another time we went up to the motorway junction just south of Bromsgrove, and my Uncle Ron & Aunty Margaret drove down to the south junction; there we swopped my Nan over, and she came to us for one Christmas. I really loved having my Nan, and she is one person who I miss most.
My brothers went to cubs, and later scouts. I went along to cubs on one occasion, and they played a game of British Bulldogs. I decided this was not for me. One of my best friends at school was in the Boys' Brigade, and he invited me along. This was far more to my taste, and I had two very happy years in the 1st Tewkesbury.
In 1977 we attended a street party, a couple of streets away, to commemorate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. The actual Jubilee was 6th February 1977, which was a Sunday. I was then, as I am now, in awe of the Royal Family, and had had a series of "Royal Papers" for a spell. I decided to buy all the papers on 6th February. That was at the time very daring. We did not buy anything on a Sunday, and of course the Sunday papers were expensive, as indeed they are now. I remember being very disappointed, because apart from a few front pages there was very little of content for the Silver Jubilee inside.
My mum was very involved in the Tewkesbury Amateur Dramatic Society (TADS), and I was an extra in a performance of "The Happiest Days of Your Life" - we wore school uniform and had to periodically pass the French windows to give the impression of the action taking place in a working school. My mum played the Girls' School Headmistress. In another production, "Toad of Toad Hall", she played the judge.
On 6th January 1977 the was a school trip to the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly, London, to see the exhibition Pompeii AD79. Another school trip was to Warwick Castle.
In August 1977 we moved away from Tewkesbury to Atherstone in Warwickshire. I really didn't want to leave the town because it was so pleasantly situated.
They became instead Envoys (the Salvation Army term for a non-commissioned officer, or a part-timer in charge of a local corps) and we moved to 9 Station Street, Tewkesbury. We were to live in the small house in Station Street for 5 years - up that point the longest stay I had had anywhere. The house was next to the Warner's bus garage while we were there.
The little Salvation Army hall in the town has been demolished to allow for road widening. The hall was in Nelson Street which really was a narrow road. I do not have a picture of the hall, but the map below shows the location (on the map it is referred to as "Lecture Hall").
.jpg)
One abiding memory is that of the Steam Fair on the Ham, and the Mop Fair in the streets. All the main road traffic was diverted down our street, including the service buses. There is a picture of the Mop Fair on the corner of East Street. If you look at the map above, the road running at right angles to Nelson Street at the top of the picture is East Street.
In the summer of 1972 we had an outing to London and visited the British Museum; the purpose of the outing was the Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition. The queue was huge, and snaked round one half of the car park, and then snaked round the second half. I remember we parked the car in the suburbs and caught the tube into central London. There was also a wonderful "British spirit", people would keep places for those who were having convenience breaks, or, like us youngsters, visiting the rest of the museum.
Our holiday in the summer of 1972 was to return to Oldways End in Somerset (see part 8). That was to be Mrs Fanthorpe's last letting summer, otherwise we would have carried on going there. I got very friendly with her pug.
The next summer we went to Penygroes in Caernarvonshire. We visited Caernarfon Castle and Harlech Castle, and attended the English Baptist church in Caernarfon. In Caernarfon Castle there was still the dias in which the Prince of Wales had been crowned, although not the throne if memory serves.
Summer 1974 saw us holidaying in Shropshire. The only memories I have are a visit to Stokesay Castle and Sunday meetings at the Salvation Army in Shrewsbury.
In 1975 we were back in Caernarvonshire, by now called Gwynedd. This time we were staying in the village of Groeslon, and we visited the beach at Dinas Dinlle every day (rain or shine).
Our final summer in Tewkesbury (1976) was a "staycation"; our family had 5 members and each of us chose a day visit to somewhere. Mum chose the Avoncroft Museum near Bromsgrove, Paul chose Skenfrith Castle, David chose Birmingham, I think I chose Worcester (to give me chance to observe Midland Red buses probably) and I think Dad chose Snowshill Manor and the Cotswold Rare Breeds Centre.
I had a further two schools at Tewkesbury, three years in the local junior school (Tewkesbury Church of England school) and two years at secondary school (Tewkesbury School). I had piano lessons for a time in Cheltenham on a Saturday morning. I used to catch the Bristol Omnibus Lodekka into Cheltenham, changing onto a town service operated by a two-door Bristol RELL. After the lesson I would go into Cheltenham and have coffee and a scone at Geraldines, and then go to the Coach Station to watch the mass departure. I got friendly with the lady in the Bristol Omnibus bus office, next door to the Coach Station, and when they got a new timetable, she would keep the old ones for me. I then used to catch the Midland Red bus back to Tewkesbury.
One day I caught the Midland Red bus to Evesham. I went to the Midland Red office there and bought a Hereford & Worcester timetable. They didn't have the other three timetables, but was told that the office at Stratford-on-Avon would have them. I caught the X91 to Stratford, bought the three timetables (Warwickshire & Oxfordshire, Leicestershire & Derbyshire and Salop & Staffordshire) and caught the X91 back to Evesham. My parents were unimpressed at my extra journey to Stratford.
On one occasion I also went to up stay with my Nan in Old Hill. I caught the National Express 414 coach from Tewkesbury to Brierley Hill were my Nan met me. I think this was probably one of the best holidays I ever had. I went along to the Home League at Cradley Heath Salvation Army with her. At the end of the week she put me back onto the 414 coach for my journey back to Tewkesbury. Another time we went up to the motorway junction just south of Bromsgrove, and my Uncle Ron & Aunty Margaret drove down to the south junction; there we swopped my Nan over, and she came to us for one Christmas. I really loved having my Nan, and she is one person who I miss most.
My brothers went to cubs, and later scouts. I went along to cubs on one occasion, and they played a game of British Bulldogs. I decided this was not for me. One of my best friends at school was in the Boys' Brigade, and he invited me along. This was far more to my taste, and I had two very happy years in the 1st Tewkesbury.
In 1977 we attended a street party, a couple of streets away, to commemorate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. The actual Jubilee was 6th February 1977, which was a Sunday. I was then, as I am now, in awe of the Royal Family, and had had a series of "Royal Papers" for a spell. I decided to buy all the papers on 6th February. That was at the time very daring. We did not buy anything on a Sunday, and of course the Sunday papers were expensive, as indeed they are now. I remember being very disappointed, because apart from a few front pages there was very little of content for the Silver Jubilee inside.
On 6th January 1977 the was a school trip to the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly, London, to see the exhibition Pompeii AD79. Another school trip was to Warwick Castle.
In August 1977 we moved away from Tewkesbury to Atherstone in Warwickshire. I really didn't want to leave the town because it was so pleasantly situated.
The road to 2013 part 8
Shortly after the fire in Kidderminster, we moved again (in May 1971), this time to Stroud in Gloucestershire.
The house we lived in was right next to the Salvation Army hall. The hall was originally a Countess of Huntingdon's Connection chapel and is octagonal in shape.
At the bottom of Acre Street there was a corner shop (and indeed it seems to be still there) where would get our Saturday treats from.
I have a school photograph of me taken in 1971. I was probably at this school for a very short time indeed, from May until the end of the school year in July. In September we moved to another school which from memory was called "Spire High".
In Summer 1971 we went to Somerset and stayed at Oldways End. The house was actually two houses adjoined by a passage way. Mrs Fanthorpe, the owner, lived in one house, and let out the second house for visitors. Mrs Fanthorpe also ran the hamlet's petrol station. We had a number of excursions and I remember visiting Dunster Castle (I still have my parent's copy of the souvenir brochure for Dunster Castle) and Tarr Steps. I wonder if the beach we went could have been Minehead, but I think it was at Blue Anchor.
The house we lived in was right next to the Salvation Army hall. The hall was originally a Countess of Huntingdon's Connection chapel and is octagonal in shape.
At the bottom of Acre Street there was a corner shop (and indeed it seems to be still there) where would get our Saturday treats from.
I have a school photograph of me taken in 1971. I was probably at this school for a very short time indeed, from May until the end of the school year in July. In September we moved to another school which from memory was called "Spire High".
In Summer 1971 we went to Somerset and stayed at Oldways End. The house was actually two houses adjoined by a passage way. Mrs Fanthorpe, the owner, lived in one house, and let out the second house for visitors. Mrs Fanthorpe also ran the hamlet's petrol station. We had a number of excursions and I remember visiting Dunster Castle (I still have my parent's copy of the souvenir brochure for Dunster Castle) and Tarr Steps. I wonder if the beach we went could have been Minehead, but I think it was at Blue Anchor.
Dunster
Tarr Steps
The road to 2013 part 5
In May 1967 we moved again to Tipton (my parents taking charge of the Salvation Army corps there) in what was then Staffordshire. We lived at 18 Furnace Parade.
The Tipton corps hall is now used as a factory.
One of my earliest memories is crossing a canal bridge in Tipton on the way to school. My parents took a picture of me asleep on the settee at our house in Tipton.
In the summer of 1967 we holidayed in Blackpool, and there is a delightful picture of me riding on a "panda" at the funfair in Blackpool Tower.
The Tipton corps hall is now used as a factory.
One of my earliest memories is crossing a canal bridge in Tipton on the way to school. My parents took a picture of me asleep on the settee at our house in Tipton.
In the summer of 1967 we holidayed in Blackpool, and there is a delightful picture of me riding on a "panda" at the funfair in Blackpool Tower.
On a sad note, my sister was born while we are at Tipton. She wasn't officially named because she was still born. The name my parents would have given a girl was Sandra Elizabeth, so as far as I am concerned my sister was Sandra Elizabeth even though she never breathed a breath.
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