Random Memories - 1958-67
These are just memories as they come into my head, if I can remember them, to put here as they occur - maybe I'll order them later. I was recently accused of being a frustrated writer. I was shocked, I'd always been bottom of a class of 38 at grammar school and no way could I believe I was a writer, just judge by my English!. 20th December 2009. I'm reading a book by Emma Smith about her childhood as Elspeth Hallsmith in Newquay, Cornwall, in the twenties. My first holiday in a hotel without my parents was a week in Newquay in the late fifties followed by a week touring Cornwall and Devon. I remember the second week, which was August by now, was punctuated by torrential rain. Here we all are posing at Lands's End. I couldn't get over that the photographer had a sign for Leyland! Left to right- Me George (I think his name was George, he was Colin's friend and we'd only just met him), Colin & Johnny. I can remember some scenes in the book but I'm not sure where our hotel was. It was on the front but we, four lads, were in the annex up the side. We were four 'Christians' i.e. not 'lads' - well those who professed and called themselves Christians. Colin, Johnny, (George - from Wigan) and I. We drove down in our 1.5 litre 1938 SS Jaguar, Colin and I sharing the driving. We drove through the night leaving Wigan at 2200 hours and arriving in Newquay 12 hours later. There were no motorways then! I remember I was driving as we reached Newquay and we parked the car in a space up to a wall and I hit the wall! - Not very hard. We sorted out our hotel and room and went down on to the beach. I was excited and leapt from rock to rock and was chastised by Johnny and Colin for being so reckless. If I'd fallen and broke a bone it would have ruined their holiday? We had our own table for meals, just the four of us and a young woman, she was a couple of years older than us and I sat next to her, she was at the head of the table. I think she took a shine to me but as she was older, two/three years seemed a lot at the time, I didn't take her on. She wanted to take me dancing but I was shy and wouldn't go. I now love dancing, or would if I could, Strictly ... is my favourite programme. How would my life have turned out if I'd gone with her? She was quite presentable but much more worldly than me. now I'd had a similar opportunity when I was fifteen, a girl at school expressed an interest in me but she had to choose between the pictures and dancing and she chose dancing, which I shied away from. Ballroom dancing was the popular pastime in those days - how my life may have been different if I taken it up. We may have used the Great Western Beach in the book, which according to the girl in the book was the locals' beach. Her family are 'snobs', behaving as they think one should and not naturally - just like me. I used to look down on council house tenants but the laugh is we only lived in rented accommodation. We stayed bed and breakfast for the second week. I remember one night, on the west side of Falmouth I think, the husband was a surgical fitter and he kept us entertained telling stories but sadly his wife made him go to bed. I've been to Falmouth many times since 1974 but I can't fit my memories of the ships into the quays as they now are. 21st April 2012 - just found this photo when I was looking for something else: Rowing out of Tenby Harbour with Damian. Norma and Alex are also in the little boat. It must be 1963 or later. We went on holiday with Barbara and Tommy Egan. Barbara had rented a cottage in Tenby for a week. This was taken by Norma in September 1960. We were staying in Abersoch for a long weekend 1967 the bottom fell out of my life in Wigan and I gradually moved back to Leyland.

Random Memories - 1958-67

These are just memories as they come into my head, if I can remember them, to put here as they occur - maybe I'll order them later. I was recently accused of being a frustrated writer. I was shocked, I'd always been bottom of a class of 38 at grammar school and no way could I believe I was a writer, just judge by my English!.

20th December 2009. I'm reading a book by Emma Smith about her childhood as Elspeth Hallsmith in Newquay, Cornwall, in the twenties. My first holiday in a hotel without my parents was a week in Newquay in the late fifties followed by a week touring Cornwall and Devon. I remember the second week, which was August by now, was punctuated by torrential rain.

landsend
Here we all are posing at Lands's End. I couldn't get over that the photographer had a sign for Leyland! Left to right- Me George (I think his name was George, he was Colin's friend and we'd only just met him), Colin & Johnny.

I can remember some scenes in the book but I'm not sure where our hotel was. It was on the front but we, four lads, were in the annex up the side. We were four 'Christians' i.e. not 'lads' - well those who professed and called themselves Christians. Colin, Johnny, (George - from Wigan) and I.

We drove down in our 1.5 litre 1938 SS Jaguar, Colin and I sharing the driving. We drove through the night leaving Wigan at 2200 hours and arriving in Newquay 12 hours later. There were no motorways then! I remember I was driving as we reached Newquay and we parked the car in a space up to a wall and I hit the wall! - Not very hard.

We sorted out our hotel and room and went down on to the beach. I was excited and leapt from rock to rock and was chastised by Johnny and Colin for being so reckless. If I'd fallen and broke a bone it would have ruined their holiday?

We had our own table for meals, just the four of us and a young woman, she was a couple of years older than us and I sat next to her, she was at the head of the table. I think she took a shine to me but as she was older, two/three years seemed a lot at the time, I didn't take her on. She wanted to take me dancing but I was shy and wouldn't go. I now love dancing, or would if I could, Strictly ... is my favourite programme. How would my life have turned out if I'd gone with her? She was quite presentable but much more worldly than me. now I'd had a similar opportunity when I was fifteen, a girl at school expressed an interest in me but she had to choose between the pictures and dancing and she chose dancing, which I shied away from. Ballroom dancing was the popular pastime in those days - how my life may have been different if I taken it up.

We may have used the Great Western Beach in the book, which according to the girl in the book was the locals' beach. Her family are 'snobs', behaving as they think one should and not naturally - just like me. I used to look down on council house tenants but the laugh is we only lived in rented accommodation.

We stayed bed and breakfast for the second week. I remember one night, on the west side of Falmouth I think, the husband was a surgical fitter and he kept us entertained telling stories but sadly his wife made him go to bed. I've been to Falmouth many times since 1974 but I can't fit my memories of the ships into the quays as they now are.

21st April 2012 - just found this photo when I was looking for something else:

Rowing out of Tenby Harbour with Damian. Norma and Alex are also in the little boat. It must be 1963 or later. We went on holiday with Barbara and Tommy Egan. Barbara had rented a cottage in Tenby for a week.

This was taken by Norma in September 1960. We were staying in Abersoch for a long weekend

1967 the bottom fell out of my life in Wigan and I gradually moved back to Leyland.