Timeline - Friday 6th September 2013 - the end of Summer?

The forecast was rain, and for once the forecasters got it right.  Summer feels like it is definitely over, and the wet stuff is falling from the sky. 

At lunchtime I visited the Chinese Arts Centre and viewed an exhibition by Taiwanese artist Wu Ching-Tsung.  There were a few banners which were entitled "Wrinkled Textures", which were very easy on the eye, but the main exhibit was something called "Crystal City 004" which was stunning.

The road to 2013 part 13

Having failed so miserably at my studies, I was left with some choices.  Either I return to Atherstone (not an entertaining prospect), or I move to Cardiff, or I move to Bristol.  I opted for Bristol on the grounds there was likely to be more work available. 

My first address was in Westbury Park in a bed & breakfast "establishment".  I was told that the price included breakfast, and moved in accordingly.  Then they told me the breakfast bit was a scam to get more money off the social, and no breakfast was actually provided.  It was squalid, despite Westbury Park being an area of subdued grandeur.  There was a Waitrose there, which I visited infrequently, but found a great like for their wholemeal shortbread.  My stay in Westbury Park was short-lived and very quickly I found myself in a Christian hostel in Clifton.  Again this was not very suitable accommodation; I had far too much stuff for the space allowed.  Not long after I found a much more suitable place to stay in the Chessels in Bedminster.  I shared a house with a guy called Philip who I grew quite fond of. 

I started attending the Salvation Army in Bedminster which was a nice fellowship.  I was very happy in the Chessels; there was a nice community feel about the place.  I got my first job whilst living there, working as a voluntary clerical assistant at the Friends of the Earth office, and in April 1985 I got my first paid job as a Typist with Avon Play Service, a community programme in the same office.  I also joined the trade union (NUPE).  Unfortunately the job, being a government scheme, only lasted 12 months.

Whilst working at Avon Play Service I moved out of the Chessels to a bedsit on Coronation Road in Southville.  Just round the corner from where I was living was a former church hall and in it was a theatre, run by St Paul's Players.  I noticed one day an advert for an audition for a play they were putting on - Under Milk Wood - and they needed a lot more people than any normal production.  I got the part of Mog Edwards.  I also developed my joy for props, and helped out in the props department.

My second play was in November 1985 where I had the part of Gerard in Abelard and Heloise, but this was only a bit part, most of my time was spent doing props.

I also took part in a production of The Crucible, again a bit part, spending the rest of my time doing props.  I wasn't involved with any other productions. This was mostly because I had moved again in 1986 to the Stokes Croft area of the city. 

I also got a new job coinciding with the passing of the 1986 Transport Act which deregulated bus services in England & Wales.  My new job, another community programme post, was as the Public Transport Information Worker at the Hartcliffe Community Information Centre.  My first task was to get the timetables of all the bus services in the Hartcliffe area, and then to provide the timetables for any members of the public who wanted them. 

Quite early on during my time there I went to the local parade of shops one lunchtime and asked for a Salad Sandwich - they asked me if I wanted Beef Salad, or Ham Salad, or Chicken Salad - and I said no just Salad - and to make me even weirder I wanted it on brown bread.  Every lunchtime thereafter I had to have a Salad Sandwich on brown bread - and they made it specially for me when they were making the other sandwiches, kept it on one side, and it was waiting for me for lunchtime.  That was sweet of them, but highly repetitive.

During this time I kept up on my by-election trail visits, helping mostly Liberal Party candidates.  In January 1986 I travelled to Northern Ireland to help the Alliance Party in the famous "Anglo-Irish Agreement" by-elections, when all the Unionist MPs resigned their seats.  I helped out in Belfast South and in North Down.  I did not tell my mother until I came back.  The other by-elections I helped at were Fulham (April 1986), West Derbyshire (May 1986), Newcastle-under-Lyme (July 1986), Knowsley North (November 1986), Greenwich (February 1987) and Eastbourne (October 1990).

The road to 2013 part 12

In September 1982 I went to college.  I had an interview at Torbay College to do "Hotel & Catering Management".  Whilst I was in Torquay my mum received a phone call from Gwent College and on the basis of their conversation with my mum offered me a place.  To my parents minds it was settled - it was "God's will" that I went to Gwent College to do "Business Studies".  I found out two years later that the next week a letter had come for me from Torbay College offering me a place, but my parents kept this from me.  Had I known at the time, I would have not hesitated in packing up my belongings and moving to Torquay to take up that place.  Perhaps my parents sensed this and wanted to prevent such an open flouting of "God's will".  There was a lot of tooing-and-froing during the first half term, and no-one would have thought badly of me if I had gone to Torbay.  However, it was not to be.

I must say I hated Gwent College, and came to loathe the town of Newport.  I did do some touring out and visited Monmouth amongst other places.  We had a course trip to Brynmawr on the day that the new pound coins came out; very excitedly we found a bank in Brynmawr and got our first pound coins.  Then £1 had spending power, nowadays £1 is loose change.

I also took the opportunity of being in Newport to get involved again in the Boys' Brigade, and became a non-commissioned helper in the 1st Newport.  I was privileged to be able to attend the 1983 Centenary Service in Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff.

I did not flourish at college.  I scraped through the first year and eventually (after retakes) got a first year pass - which they tell me is an A level equivalent.  I dramatically failed my second year, and my one A level (or this A level equivalent) remains my highest academic qualification. 

Famously I stood for the college executive for the post of Executive Officer Clubs & Societies, standing openly as a Liberal Party member.  I got elected with 23 votes, that was over half the votes cast, and there were two other candidates.  I think most of my votes came from my course members and from the Christian Union; but 23 votes was a pitifully small total.  There were three campuses to the college - Caerleon (where the halls of residence were, and the teacher training site), Allt-yr-Yn (where my course was based, the Business & Technology site) and the Art College.  Only 2 votes were cast ALL DAY at the Art College - both of whom were Christian Union members, so I presume I got both the votes.

Speaking of the Liberal Party I attended my first Assembly whilst at college, which was in the Winter Gardens in Bournemouth. That was fun!  I made some good friends some of which I am still in touch with.  I was also on the by-election trail (which may have accounted for me doing so badly at my studies), and went to help the Liberal Party candidate at a number of by-elections.  The first was in July 1983 at Penrith and the Border, followed by Chesterfield (March 1984), South-West Surrey (May 1984), Stafford (May 1984), Portsmouth South (June 1984) and Enfield Southgate (December 1984).

The road to 2013 part 11

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.

The road to 2013 part 10

In August 1977 we moved from Tewkesbury to Atherstone in Warwickshire.  My dad had secured a job at one of the local schools and we moved into a town house at 5 St Benedict's Close.

We spent about 2 years there.  It was handy for town, and just across South Street was the Gateway Supermarket. 

During the "Winter of Discontent" there were power cuts and we had a supply of candles for such occasions.  Also there were strikes, including the bread strike.  I remember having to queue up outside of the local bakeries for bread before I went to school on a couple of occasions.

We moved from there in July 1979 because we had an addition to the family in the form of my brother Martin, and those town houses were not suitable for babies.

Monday Muse - 2nd September 2013

Two for the price of one today.

Timeline - Sunday 1st September 2013 - TransLancs Transport Show

I have always felt that 1st September is the beginning of the year (probably because I have a September birthday, but also Scottish dancing uses the academic year).   Today is Teachers Day in Singapore.

Today is windy in Manchester and summer seems a long way off.  1st September in Somerset is fairly sunny (photo courtesy of Berkeley).

I went to the Museum of Transport and caught one of the free heritage buses which went to Heaton Park.  There was the Trans-Lancs Transport Show.  I am not really into Manchester buses, but I did spy one Midland Red bus which was good.

On the way back I caught a heritage bus which was once in service with Salford City Transport.  I did chuckle to see someone running for the bus while we were en route back to the Museum of Transport, and hail it.  You would think he would have thought it is a different colour bus, and a different route to the one he wanted, but obviously not.