Part 1 Inspiration:
Finally, I am ready to start my blog. Writing my life story was inspired by the stories my Father and Mother wrote and told.Finally, I am ready to start my blog. Writing my life story was inspired by the stories my Father and Mother wrote and told.
Background:
I started with a blank page. Well did I? At the start of writing this, I already had ideas in my mind which admittedly had not transferred to the page but were still in existence in the morass which is my mind. Similarly, I was born as a tiny innocent baby to loving parents. Those same parents were already nearly half way through their life story and so imprinted many of their life experiences to me as their parents in turn had done to them.
My Father, William Grist Eborn, was born on 12th November 1914 in Brixton, London. My Mother, Mollie Eileen Kneller was born on 26th January 1916 in Woolston, Southampton. As a result, the family history they imparted to me from first-hand knowledge went further back than they would have done had my parents been younger when I was born. They were both born during the First World War and during their lifetimes they saw the Second World War and the vast pace of technological advancement during the 20th Century.
Part 2
First Year to Toddler:
My beginning was in the hot summer of 1954. My parents lived in Abridge, Essex as they had since buying the house in 1950. Abridge was, and still is, the first true village outside London, 18 miles to the North-East of the capital. The summer was apparently very hot and my Mother, being only 4 foot six and a half inches in stature, was finding carrying a large bump in the heat almost too much to bear. However I was a longed-for child, as I was to learn. My brother was already nearly 11 years old when I was expected. A sweltering August came and I think my due date was the 10th. I was late!
Mum was in Hospital as she was already 38 years old which was considered old to conceive a baby in those days. Wednesday the 11th came and went, on Thursday 12th and the Nurses urged my Mother to hurry up but I had other ideas and so I was duly born on Friday 13th – unlucky for some, but not for me! It was my time.
There are things that I can remember from my early years. My cot was blue painted wood with one side which slid down and I think there were some wooden wheels set into the wooden bars at one end. There was a transfer picture of something on it as well. I had a Dog on Wheels which was really a baby walker. He was mainly white with a little black hair and had a red handle. I liked to ride it instead of push as it was meant. I used to race from the lounge all along the hall. I will describe my home in more details later but it had a large, long hall which had doors opening to the lounge. The whole house had dark stained pine parquet floor and so was ideal for indoor wheels; if not child friendly as I remember many splinters in my feet.
I had a blue dressing gown with a bear embroidered on the patch pocket and I had a tiny stuffed rabbit which I called ‘Gosh’. I vaguely remember a Teddy Bear but Gosh was my special toy.There is a wonderful photo of me at 18 months old standing in the hall. I am wearing dungarees which I seem to remember were red. However the photo is black and white so I cannot be sure. I can see that hallway so clearly in my mind after over 60 years and can recall all the furniture in the picture and indeed in most of the house. 
I was christened in November 1954 at Lambourne Church, St Mary and All Saints. Abridge is the larger village in the Parish of Lambourne. I do not remember my Christening at all but I know there was a cake. The centrepiece was a Plaster Stork with a hook on his beak which held a model of a baby in a white nest. There was a blue silk ribbon.
At the time of my birth I had three Grandparents; Dad’s two parents, William Henry and Ellen Eborn and Mum’s Father, Harry Kneller. Mum's Mother had died before I was born. I believe that my Great Aunt and Uncle also came to my Christening. It was were Mum’s Uncle and Aunt who partly brought her up.
I expect the neighbours in the village, who I got to know as I grew up, came to my Christening. Steve and Brenda (P) who lived at Lambourne Hall and I know that Pip (E) came. Not only was his home two doors up the hill away from our home, own the field behind our house but he also had a Shoe factory two doors away from Grandad and Dad’s Lingerie factory in Leyton, East London. The service would have been taken by Rev’d (later Canon) Ralph (S). who was Rector of Lambourne and who lived next door down the hill from our family home.
Part 3
Part 3
My family Home:
As I got old enough to walk I became frightened to go upstairs as I thought that there was a Fox on the landing. I should say here that the stairs were a straight flight of polished wood with ribbed rubber mats stuck onto each tread. These treads were polished with shoe polish. The staircase was almost hidden in that it was approached from the small rear hall and had no natural light although both of the bedrooms upstairs had glass panels over the solid door. Originally the balustrade on the landing was made of solid panels which added to the darkness. I remember Mum and Dad having the panels replaced with open vertical spindles which improved the light.
My bedroom was upstairs at the front of the house, facing West, and like Mum and Dad’s bedroom at the back, had French doors opening onto a Balcony. I should explain the layout of the house. It was a large detached Chalet-Bungalow in the Art and Crafts or ‘Tudorbethan’ style.
Both upstairs bedrooms had doors to the Eaves and the eaves on the North side were fitted with slatted racks to store apples. It was possible to walk through the eaves on that side from one bedroom to the other bedroom. When I was a little older it was fun to explore these ‘tunnels’. The eaves on the South side had been designed in a similar way but Mum had a small en-suite wash room built with access from the South side eaves door from her bedroom.
The house had been built in 1936 by an Architect, Mr Seymour for himself, his wife and their three children called Tony, Dennis and Barry. As a result the house was named ‘Tondenbar’. It was in a large plot of about one acre set in the first village outside London. The house was designed as four bedrooms; two on the first floor and two on the ground floor. There were leaded light windows throughout but those in the kitchen were frosted like the bathroom and toilet so that the maid could not see what was happening in the garden. There was a Servants’ push bell on the wall of the dining room and another in the floor of the lounge. These were disconnected when I kept pushing them! There was a deep porch with a wide oak door with leaded glass panels at the top. The lounge fireplace was a magnificent tall ‘Claygate’ brick design with brick seats, display niches and a wide oak mantle shelf. Many years later I saw an identical fireplace in a house in Manor road, Chigwell when I was an Estate Agent in the area.
The lounge had a faux Inglenook and beams above the fireplace and built-in log and coal boxes. The reception rooms and the hall had what we called plate rails but were really Delft Shelves. There was a ground floor bathroom with a green suite and yellow tiles. It was on these tiles that my height was recorded. There was a separate cloakroom next to this with a toilet but no hand-basin. There was also an outside toilet in the first of two built in stores at the rear of the detached brick garage.
Part 4
Hoe Lane history:
Hoe Lane was a Roman Road and originally had a Ford across the River Roding at Silver Street which is off the Market Place. Legend has it that Queen Elizabeth 1st commanded “Let a Bridge be builded (sic) here” – hence the name of the village.
The houses along the first part of Hoe Lane, especially on the West side, going up from the River had long gardens with many ancient oak trees along the end of the gardens in rows. It is supposed that they are descendants of the trees which marked the edge of the wide clearing which accompanied the borders of Roman Roads to give site lines and so prevent attacks.
Hoe Lane runs from the River Roding right up the hill to Hainault Forest. The majority of Abridge and the Parish of Lambourne had been owned by Lord Lambourne. Lord Lambourne was famous in his day and was known to the Press as Uncle Mark when as Colonel Mark Lockwood, he was an MP. He was a close friend of King Edward VII and he often accompanied the King on holiday to the Spa town of Marienbad, in modern day Czech Republic.
Lord and Lady Lambourne had no children and he appointed his Nephew as his heir. The Nephew was killed in the First World War and like so many titled estates the Mansion was demolished after Lord Lambourne’s death. The village school in Hoe Lane was on Lambourne land and the school still operates from the same site. Whilst the estate was inherited by a distant cousin; Colonel John Lockwood, much of the land was sold off. Colonel John Lockwood gave the area of land nearest to Abridge Village centre to the village as a Cricket Field and to the South of that allowing for a future road access the Rectory was built in the 1920’s. This replaced the grand Georgian Fronted Rectory on Church Lane. The building of the 1920’s Rectory there may have had the result in establishing the development area. Originally my family home was built next door to the Rectory in 1936 but part of the Rectory garden was sold off in the 1970’s and a new house built there. The Rectory was demolished in 2015 and two new homes built in its place.
There were just two more homes up the hill to the South of our home. The house next door had a Tennis Court where planning permission was available to build another home. In those days there were Death Duties on inheritance between Spouses. The title to the house next door had been put in the Wife’s name as it was assumed that the husband (Mr A) would die first and so Death Duties would be avoided. The lady died first and so the Tennis Court plot was sold but no house was built as it was bought by the owner of the next house up the hill; the last in this group.
As there were no street numbers until the late 1990's all the houses had names. Starting at Alderwood Drive and going South on the West side the houses were called; The Rectory, Ellan Vannin (which was built in the 1970's), Minstead, Five Bats and The Paddock. Starting at the Lambourne County Primary School on the East side they were called Bracklen (I later bought this and re-named it Marrables, then came the 1960's properties, 4 bungalows, Sylvan, Florence (re-named Stanway when Stan and his wife and son bought it), Cote Lawn, Avalon (Mum and Dad later bought this and re-named it Minstead when they moved literally across the lane and so did not have to change their address in any way), 7 houses, Charlmont, Tillers, Sandown, Oleanda, Beresford, Lyndhurt, Little Downs. Last in that section was The Elms (later called Inverellen) which was a 1930's build and originally there was a restrictive covenant preventing Bracklen / Marrables from being converted from a bungalow to a house. This was lifted and I did indeed make it into a house. in the 21st Century all three of the bungalows, Sylvan, Stanway and Cote Lawn have been demolished and replaced by much larger houses. as has Tillers.
Mum used to deliver the Parish Magazine to the houses in Hoe Lane and I have her 1966 list of names, addresses and payment received. .
Other homes were built along Hoe Lane up the hill to the South but they were in groups so there was no ribbon development.
Lord Lambourne’s 36 bedroom Mansion was replaced on an adjacent site in the 1930’s by a large Tudor style house which itself was added on to what had been one of the Estate Cottages in the Gardens. The area of that whole cottage became the Ballroom. At the time of writing I understand that the current owner has plans to replace the 1930’s Tudor style house with a new Mansion.
As Abridge is only 18 miles from Hyde Park it continues to be a popular village.
Part 5
Insular but loving upbringing:
Growing up without people of my own age around me I was insular and one time I was taken to Margaret’s party. She was part of a large farming family and this branch lived across the River Roding from Abridge Market Place. I know I cried a lot and Mum had to take me home. The other party event I could not cope with was Alice’s party. She lived with her parents on the Woodford Bridge end of Manor Road, Chigwell. I remember she had gorgeous auburn hair. I think I was taken home from that party too.
We had a telephone. The number was Theydon Bois 285 which later became 2285 as more people had telephone lines. Initially, our phone was a shared line with the Rectory next door and I remember picking up the telephone to check if the line was free and Mum could make a call. The original black GPO telephone had the meal dial replaced with a 1960’s plastic one and then in the 1960’s a two tone grey GPO telephone replaced it in the dining room and a wall mounted cream telephone was fitted in the main bed room on Mum’s side. I sold these two telephones in 2015 / 2016.
Mum had four people she called most; her best friend Auntie Betty (M) a former model who I really liked. She even came to see my first detached home I had bought in 1986 in Abridge. That was shortly before she died of cancer. There was Auntie Betty (J) who was Mums cousin and who lived near Southampton. I am still in touch with her daughters; my second cousins. Auntie Betty (J) and Mum’s fathers were brothers. Mum kept in close touch with her ‘little brother’ Colin who moved home a lot but generally lived in Hampshire and the South-West, except for a time when he emigrated to Canada. His daughter married a Frenchman and has lived in France for many years. Mum’s other close friend was Mary (B-M) and it was from her home that we got my / our dog; Patch. Mum was also friends with Mary (C) who was a ‘Lingerie Buyer’ for a Department Store. Also through the Drapery Trade connection were Jack and Margery (P) who owned a Department Store in Enfield.
Dad seemed absent from my life as was the custom in those days. He was busy working in the family Lingerie manufacturing business at 74 Church Road, Leyton in East London. It was built on to what had been the family home of a Sea Captain and was called Finlay Villa. It was built in 1866. I tend to remember Dad on the weekends as I think I went to bed early. The factory was next to a scrap yard called Bosites and two doors from the Shoe factory. We could go into the large field behind our home by permission and somewhere in the field there is a gold and green enamel earring which my Mother lost whilst walking there.
Part 6
Outdoors:
When my brother, William was at the right age, Dad made him a Soap Box wooden go-cart with pram wheels from Bosites and steering via two ropes. This was passed on to me in due time and once I had outgrown it, Dad took off the front wheels and converted it into a Sack Barrow or Porter’s Trolley which only fell apart in 2017. I sold the wheels to a man who was restoring a Child’s wheelbarrow made for his Mother in Law by her Father. The Wheelbarrow reminds me of the wooden wheelbarrow Grandpa (Mum’s Father) made for my Brother. It was painted dark green with red coach stripe and red legs. The end by the handles was in a slot so that the board could be removed to empty the barrow. I don’t know what became of the barrow which was kept in the brick built shed parallel to Dad’s garage. In that shed was also a wicker basket on wheels with a handle. That succumbed to woodworm and I remember it being burnt.
The area of garden nearest the back door was hedged and had been a chicken run under the previous owners. This became my garden where I could dig and plant things which I loved doing. As I grew up I took to shaping the hedges in the garden. Those at the bottom of the garden which abutted the field, I shaped a Ginger Jars and Urns. I was inspired to do this as Dad always cared for the hedged bonfire site in the front of the side garden. The kept the hedges manicured and grew an arch over the entrance from the Orchard. I have loved hedges ever since and did some topiary at the farmhouse we shared.
I also had a large metal swing in 'my garden' with a slatted metal seat which was painted Green and then Maroon when the window frames were repainted that colour.
My brother had an air rifle and I remember him shooting old gramophone records. He also shot the head off a small stone statue which was in the front, side garden at the end of a York stone paved slope. Many years later I used plastic padding to stick the head back on the statue which I then realised is of a cherub peeing! It was always referred to as the rude statue. I think it came with the house.
Part 7
Toys:
I remember spending a lot of time in the large conservatory at the back of the house which was re-built with floor to ceiling glass and became a summer dining area at one end and sitting room at the other. Lego was introduced to the UK in around 1960 and I was given some. I had never got on with Meccano but I immediately took to Lego and many houses and Townscapes were created on the conservatory table. I went to sell that yellow Formica topped table in 2017 but was quite glad when it failed to sell even though it now lives in the loft!
I also had a train layout which I remember playing with on the lounge floor. There was a large carpet on the parquet floor which made it comfortable for me to lay across on the floor. The train set had a large transformer with a rotating knob which made the train go faster or slower. I had an engine, tender and Pullman carriages which ran along quite a length of track.
Toy cars were my passion and I loved playing with them. Dad made me a large carpet sized fibre-board which I painted with road layouts for my Lego and Toy Cars. I always preferred Corgi cars to Dinky cars. The board lived in my bedroom and one of the few times I remember being scolded was when I got green paint for fields on the newly painted grey skirting board which the decorators had only recently completed. I cannot remember the other misdemeanor but I do know that my Mum chased me around the garden with a cane – caning was acceptable practice then but I was a good child so remember very few instances.
I also had an Action Man doll. This was considered manly enough for a boy to have as it was dressed in combat gear and had various accessories of weapons and paraphernalia. I did make him a room ‘to live in’ out of a wooden box. I fitted a hinged door with a tiny brass knob handle and l decorated the room inside with wall paper. I fear that my action man really was a doll!
Lego and Corgi toy cars were my main toys and those I remember best.
Help at home:
Mum ran the home and in her own words was a competent but basic cook. her main source of recipes was the Radiation Cookery Book as well as cuttings from newspapers.
As well as Mrs (L) being the 'daily lady’, Dennis washed the windows and F) did the garden. (F) was his surname but I never knew his Christian name. Later on, Dennis who became a Bus Driver drove us to Buckingham Palace when Dad got his OBE. Dennis used Dad’s Triumph Dolomite car and he took the bus company badge off his peaked cap so he looked like a chauffeur. He also bought Dad’s Austin 1800 (the model was nicknamed the Land-crab car people) from him. Cars feature a lot in my history and it was only in the late 1990’s that I heard the expression ‘Petrol Head’ used at me which I had to agree with once the term was explained to me.
The milkman delivered daily and brought his bottles through the side gate to the back door. I sold the ‘No Milk Today’ sign in 2017 and the metal milk bottle holder with a metal lid with a dial which could show numbers of bottles required was sold in 2015 but I still have Mum’s handwritten note on a sort of waxed tablet which was supposed to be wipe-off and reusable. However the tablet has now crazed and the black writing remains which says, ‘Have put the crate out of the sun for when it gets hotter (we hope)!’
The Baker also delivered and I remember he had a large wicker basket over his arm. He too, came to the back door and a treat for me was when Mum bought me his individually wrapped Wafer biscuits which had a thin coating of Chocolate. Later on, Mum always had a few finger bars of CDM (Cadburys Dairy Milk) in the refrigerator.
I remember the refrigerator was a ‘Prestcold’ with a chrome metal handle and thick sides. It was freestanding and about the height of a work surface.
I remember the original Washing Machine. It was a freestanding model with a round trap door in the top where the clothes were put. There was a mangle above it where the clothes were mechanically wrung out. It was drummed into me not to put my fingers hear the rollers.
The iron was a black and chrome electric model which was taken to be repaired when it needed it. Tit was an era of repairing items with an ethos of 'make do and mend'. This was born out of the shortages during and after the Wars. There was an old iron ones kept as souvenirs from the factory where they had been used as part of the finishing of the lingerie items.
Mum's Shopping Basket
Part 9
Memory jogging and family friends:
I was an observant child and to this day I can describe almost everything in our home. I used to dream that the house was filled with sand to retain everything in it for ever just as I knew it. That is where these reminiscences arose; I loved the house and had I been able to buy it I would probably never have moved.
Much later in my life I downsized from the farmhouse which became my parents’ final home with me and I needed to sell things. As I gradually listed the thousands of everyday items, each brought back a memory from my childhood and my past. One particular sale of a pair of wooden Salad Servers prompted a buyer, Jack, to be so engrossed with the story of the item he bought that he inspired this blog. As I progress, many of the listed items will prompt memories.
I had a happy, protected and reasonably isolated childhood. I don’t remember any friends when I was a toddler but I do remember Mrs (L). who cleaned house for Mum and who spent a lot of time playing with me. Mum said that she apologised to Mum for spending so much time playing with me. Mum was quite happy and I have lovely memories of Mrs (L). Later when Mum and Dad were out at their many social functions; especially those in London relating to the Drapery Trade Charity, The Cottage Homes, Nurse (F) baby-sat me. She was a retired Nurse who lived on the ground floor of the Pre-fab flats in The Pancroft, Abridge. She always brought her Dachshund called Jack, with her. I think there was more than one Jack as she kept to the name when one passed on and she had a new dog.
I remember sleeping often with the French Doors onto my balcony open and indeed it wasn’t until the 1970’s that the side gate was ever locked.
As a child I was nervous and frightened of visitors. The kitchen was at the back of the house and it had a built-in larder with a window screened with a metal mesh which was never closed. There was a free-standing Gas Cooker which stood in a tiled recess. The end wall nearest the hall was fitted with floor to ceiling cupboards and drawers. The bottom left hand cupboard was my toy cupboard and I would get in there and hide any time a visitor came. The cupboards and drawers were painted yellow with red fittings.
I remember the kitchen being refitted in the 1970’s in hand made wooden units painted orange. I sold the red plastic 1960’s cupboard and drawer handles plus the red plastic rotating cup holders in 2017. The larder had a tiled main shelf and it was there that some vegetable was put which I had refused to eat until I finally ate. I was a fussy child with food and on one holiday to Spain when I was fairly young, we had the same stewardess on the outgoing and return flights. She commented how I had lost a lot of weight over the two weeks. I now love Mediterranean food!
Home Entertainment
I remember that my brother had a Valve Radio and I think that I am right in saying that it was originally in the Lounge when I was a toddler.
I remember the Radiogram which replaced it in the Lounge. It was mad of dark wood and was quite large, about 4 feet wide. It had a pair of sliding black glass doors which had a zig-zag pattern in gold on them. Two thirds of the left hand part was taken up by the radio with knobs and lines like spirit levels which lit up depending on whether you chose Light or Medium wave. Above this there was a space for records. The right hand side had a Record Turntable with a beige arm which came down automatically on to the record. There was also a knob which could be altered for a 33 RPM or 45 RPM record. It may have had a position for 78's but I am not sure.
This was replaced in the 1970's by a Stereo record player with Medium and Light Wave Radio controls. There was a black plastic hinged box lid for the record part and a pair of plastic speakers. The radio had a thin wire aerial which was connected to a large Brass plate which had been the table top for an Indian style table. I remember that had cross style legs which folded flat. As a result the table was wobbly and I remember that the legs were sold at Ambrose in Loughton, Essex which was an Auctioneers as well as an Estate Agency. Dad made a wire frame for the brass tray and hung it on the wall. It therefore had a new life as a glorified Radio aerial!
We had a portable Wind-up gramophone. It was a black box with chrome fitments. I kept that for a long time.
In the 1970's I bought a Wind-up Gramophone. It was in an Oak Cabinet and was designed to play 78's. The top was hinged and the right hand section had the turntable and arm for the needles, the left hand section was partitioned for storage of records. The handle was on the right hand side. There was a speed control beside the turntable. The front of the cabinet was designed to look like two cupboards but only the right hand section opened. This revealed the wooden horn and the volume was altered depending on how far the door was open or shut. I intended to strip out the workings and put a 'modern' stereo in it. Thankfully, I saw sense and restored it so that it could play 78's again.
Grandma had a Blue Transistor Radio which was given to me when she passed away and I kept it until about 1999 when I broke it.
My brother had a much smaller Transistor Radio, also blue but with a padded cover. This he took to his first marital home in Buckhurst Hill, Essex in 1966.
We had a television even before I was born and Mum said that the Rector's two sons used to come in to watch major events until they had a television. It was a medium coloured wooden box with a convex screen. It showed Black and White only. There was a pink perspex screen which could be put in front of the television screen which was supposed to enhance the picture. I don't think it did much and I sold that screen in 2015.
In about 1968 I was given my own Television. I had my brother's old room as a sitting room and still retained my bedroom upstairs. That was also Black and White and it was called a portable model and had a sprung handle on the top but it was very heavy.
My room with my television above the piano
Mum and dad bought a Colour television and I certainly remember watching the wedding of The Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer but I think we had it much earlier.
I had a miniature colour television which I think was in the 1980's. It was about 4 inches wide and tall by about 3 inches deep. I remember letting it go. I also had a Sinclair Micromatic Wrist Watch Radio. I loved that and only sold it in 2016.
Mum had a Piano until I came along but we got another piano after my brother had moved out and there was space again. That piano was in a mahogany case and the top opened up like a bureau. I don't remember what happened to it.
I remember playing Pick-a-Sticks and Rummy in front of a roaring fire in the lounge on a winters afternoon.
Part 11
Organisation at home
The garage had a pair of metal studded oak doors in keeping with the Arts and Crafts style of the house and a personal door across the side path from the back door. Dad had a wooden work bench with wooden boarding on the wall above it and all his tools were neatly on clips above the bench.
Shoe polishing equipment was kept in a small cupboard just inside the door. He retained this layout even when they moved to their retirement bungalow opposite and I had it replicated when we all moved to the farmhouse in Suffolk.
After the factory was compulsorily purchased Dad brought home the metal drawer unit which held machinist’s bobbins etc. and this too moved with the houses.
My brother was particularly fascinated with a steam engine machine which fitted on the top of the cupboard beside the bench. Neither he nor I know what happened to that as he would have liked to show it to his Grandson.
The garage had an area of thick wooden planks on the floor with steps below leading down to a room about one third the size of the garage. This contained a Safe and had an escape hatch which came up through a Man-hole. The room was almost always flooded and we used to pump out the room which had been built as an Air Raid Shelter. One year in the 1970’s there was drought and using a hosepipe in the garden was banned. We had the sprinkler going almost constantly and were duly reported. All was well though as we all thought there was a natural spring under the garage and that is what we were pumping.
Many years later after Mum and Dad had sold the house-using the company where I worked as Estate Agent, we learnt that the house next door, where Mr (A) lived, had a water main which had leaked for over 40 years!
Part 12
Anonymous letter:
Un-be-known to me until many years later, my Mother received an anonymous letter. It is all written in childish block capitals with mistakes in the spelling and grammar. She kept it in an envelope with an elegant handwritten address. The postmark on that letter is London W1. The date is unclear but I think it is 21st December 1967.
I do not know if the letter came in that envelope and if it did, the writer did not disguise their handwriting on the envelope.
The full text of the letter as written on torn off, lined notepaper is:
i WONDER IF YOU. KNOW WHAT IS GONING ON BETWEEN YOUR HUSBAND AND HIS SECRETERY. WHO BUYS HER CLOTHS AND PAYS HER OUTINGS ASK THE MAN HE HAS AS MANAGER. WERE HE IS LATE AT NIGHT WHEN HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING LATE WE KnOW
Part 13
Saturdays
As soon as I was old enough I went with Dad to see his parents at Chigwell. Initially we went to Tescombe Lodge in Forest Lane where Grandma and Granddad lived. I always took a small suitcase of my favourite toys with me. They were generally toy cars. On one occasion I was in the sitting / dining room as children were not allowed in the main lounge which was reserved for ‘best’. I ran my car up and down the arm of the leather sofa and it made a hole in the leather. Granddad was understandably cross although I didn’t mean to do it.
Grandma was lovely and one of my favourite games with her was to chase around the large return staircase in their hall. The lower flight of stairs protruded from the wall and you could go around the back of it. I had a similar design made at the Suffolk farmhouse Mum, Dad, my partner and I moved to.
Grandma also played cards with me. Unfortunately she always let me win and Mum had to teach me to be a good loser!
Their house backed West onto the grounds of a Convent and there was a long red brick path in the centre of the garden. This divided at one point around a rectangular fish pond. The brick path was slippery and I was always warned not to slip or to fall in the pond. I never did.
When Granddad died, Dad carried on the Saturday visits to Grandma but this time in the flat she moved to at St Winifreds Close, Chigwell. It was a top floor flat; second floor, I think and it had a balcony and lovely views. There was a large L shaped Lounge Diner and two bedrooms. The main bedroom has a long range of fitted Wrighton wardrobes and the second bedroom had a fitted G Plan wardrobe with matching headboard for a single bed and a matching bureau style dressing table. Both sets of wardrobes came back to Abridge after Grandma died and the single bed became mine. I only sold that G Plan headboard with fitted bedside cabinet, glass shelf and screw-on light in 1996.
Part 14
Life on Sundays
When I was very young I went to St Mary and All Saints Church at Lambourne (Church Lane, Abridge). Later I attended the young people's services at The Chapel of Ease on the Ongar Road in Abridge. I played a Bishop in one Tableau. Later I went on to help with the Sunday School.
A pottery Cross and Chalice were commissioned for the Chapel of Ease. Mum offered to collect it for the Rector. Mum and I went in her Mini Countryman (Classic Mini estate with the decorative wood on the back). I think this was in 1964 or 1966. We collected the Cross and Chalice and I remember sitting in the back with my hand into the boot area holding tightly on to the cross so that no harm came to it. Mum bought another matching Chalice to have as an ornamental goblet on the delft shelf at home. Sadly, I heard that the Chapel Cross and Chalice were broken many years later.
Once I was more mature I went back to Lambourne Church and I often read the lesson. Dad was brilliant in teaching me to do it properly. He used to sit in the back of the Church when I practiced. He would say, speak clearly, know and understand what you are ready and speak slowly. As a result I loved doing it and people could hear and comprehend me.
A pottery Cross and Chalice were commissioned for the Chapel of Ease. Mum offered to collect it for the Rector. Mum and I went in her Mini Countryman (Classic Mini estate with the decorative wood on the back). I think this was in 1964 or 1966. We collected the Cross and Chalice and I remember sitting in the back with my hand into the boot area holding tightly on to the cross so that no harm came to it. Mum bought another matching Chalice to have as an ornamental goblet on the delft shelf at home. Sadly, I heard that the Chapel Cross and Chalice were broken many years later.
Once I was more mature I went back to Lambourne Church and I often read the lesson. Dad was brilliant in teaching me to do it properly. He used to sit in the back of the Church when I practiced. He would say, speak clearly, know and understand what you are ready and speak slowly. As a result I loved doing it and people could hear and comprehend me.
Colonel Lockwood always came to Church; he would drive from Bishops Hall across the track which his ancestor Lord Lambourne used.
After Church there was usually Sherry at the Hall courtesy of Steven and Brenda.
Back at home lunch was at 1 pm and was often a Chicken. Mum and Dad had special clippers to cut the bones when carving. Sometimes we had Beef or Pork. After the washing up Mum and /dad fell asleep in front of the fire and I generally played with my toy cars on the patterned carpet (unfitted)n in the Lounge.
The shops were all shut on Sundays and it seemed to me that the world itself closed down for the whole day.
Part 15
Dad’s Father was especially a stickler for time and Sunday lunch had to be on the table at 1 pm. We used to ourselves that was whether it was cooked or not! IAs a child I always found Sunday afternoons to be the worst time of the week as after a big lunch everyone fell asleep in the lounge, generally in front of a roaring fire and I was bored.
Dining
We never had TV dinners! It wasn’t until I was about 30 years old that I went to a friend’s house for a meal and he said that it would be more pleasant to eat sitting on the sofa.
At home we ate in the Dining Room. Originally that room was the front right hand side of the house with a Front window to the West and a side window to the South. Later, after my Brother had got married and left home, we used the larger room to the front left. The kitchen was at the back of the house to the right so neither abutted the kitchen. However Mum had a three tier oak tea trolley which she used to bring much of the food in to the dining room. In the 1970’s she also had a Hostess Trolley which kept food warm in the dining room.
As my parents were born in the earlier part of the 20th Century they followed the Edwardian and to some extent the Victorian ideals of their parents and possibly Grandparents.
Dad’s Father was especially a stickler for time and Sunday lunch had to be on the table at 1 pm. We used to ourselves that was whether it was cooked or not! IAs a child I always found Sunday afternoons to be the worst time of the week as after a big lunch everyone fell asleep in the lounge, generally in front of a roaring fire and I was bored.
There was a strict order as to places at the table. Tables were always rectangular and even though the table we had when I was growing up only accommodated 6 people around it, the Head of the household sat at the top of the table. Dad was the head of the household and to his right on the long side sat Mum. That was the place reserved for the special person in the household or for an honoured guest. I sat on the left hand long side. My elder brother sat at the far end.
The table was replaced by a much larger one in the 1970’s but the same unwritten rules applied.
There was a yellow Formica topped table in the kitchen and once again Dad sat at the head of that and Mum to his right. There I sat further down on the right.
There was a large conservatory which was used as a summer sitting and dining room. The end nearer the kitchen had a large Formica topped table and as per the ‘rule’, Dad sat at the head and Mum to his right. There, I sat on the left as I did in the dining room.
When Mum, Dad, my partner and I all moved to the farmhouse in Suffolk, Dad sat at the head of the table and I was on his right with Mum on the left and my partner nest to me. When Dad died, I took the place at head of the table, Mum to my left and my partner to my right. When my brother and sister-in-law came for a meal at my current home, he sat at the head of the table, my sister-in-law to his right and I was on the left. It all seems so formal now but those so called rules seemed important then.
The larger table was in the family home when my Parents sold the house. The buyer of the house offered a lot of money for the table as it was still fashionable then to have grand dining tables. Nowadays’ we would be lucky to get even a small sum for the table as styles of living have moved on.
Part 16
House designs
The conservatory table was often filled with the house models I made out of Lego. There were all different styles from Mock Tudor to Georgian to contemporary. When I was older and owned my own home I made Lego models of the three main homes in my life so far.
The first such model was of Marrables, the detached bungalow I bought in Hoe Lane, Abridge. I wanted to obtain planning permission to convert the loft to first floor bedrooms. In addition to the plans I took a Lego model to Epping Forest District Council Planning office. This showed the first floor as I envisioned. The planning Officers had never had an application with a lego model and soon staff gathered to see it. I was granted planning permission and the houses stands to this day much as my Lego model.
I used the same idea when I obtained planning permission to extend Serens Hall, the Suffolk farmhouse we all moved to in 1996. Not surprisingly, there is a Lego model of my current home.
My own Homes in Abridge
For my first home of my own, I bought 1 Maryons Terrace from Mr Tarling. It was in The Chase / Chapel Chase off the London Road. My brother had warned me that prices were rising fast and I did look at a smaller end of terrace close by for £11,000. I paid £21,000 for the two up, two down end of terrace which included what he had used as allotment land opposite. There was a lean-to extension which contained a bath with a removable lid over it which served as a work top. There was a Gas Cooker and some cupboards. The toilet was an additional lean-to approached only from outside. It was a year before I could move in and that was after i had put a two storey rear extension on and a side lobby plus a full bathroom, toilet, fitted kitchen and new windows throughout. I know that I spent £15,000 on it but it was superb. I had been working at Harrods Estate Office and the year before my colleague had paid £21,000 for a 3 bedroom house in Montpelier Place, Knightsbridge. Just before I bought my cottage in Abridge I was tempted to buy a 2 bedroom cottage also in Montpelier Place for £35,000. I stayed with Abridge as I loved the village and I wanted to remain near Mum and Dad. I didn't ever really fly the nest as will be apparent later.
My second home was a 3 bedroom 19650's Semi detached house..
My third home was a gorgeous two bedroom detached bungalow in Hoe Lane. I bought Braklen in 1986 and changed its name to Marrables. Braklen was an anagram of the names of the owners who had it built in 1954. Marrables was the name of the owner of the field recorded in the 19th Century Tithe Map on which it and the other properties were built. Marrables was in a half an acre of garden with a lawns near the property and a wooded area at the Western End... tbc
Part 18
The Lavenham Connection
My Uncle Colin (Mum’s brother) had various jobs through has lifetime. These ranged from being a Director of Ronson which was a company making high end cigarette lighters, to running a Post Office, to painting white lines on the road when times were hard. A successful job was when he was in the Wool Secretariat. He was sent to Lavenham which was one of the most prosperous Wool Towns in Mediaeval times. There is still a strong connection with Wool and the Swan Hotel in Lavenham has the Wool Hall as part of its premises.
Colin told Mum how lovely the village was and being only about an hour and a half drive from Abridge we visited it often from 1968 when I was 14 years old. Dad came occasionally when he could make time from work commitments. Generally it was Mum and I. We always stayed at The Swan and we stayed there so often that Mum even wrote down a list of her favourite rooms.
There was a leaded light oak showcase in one of the Lounges at The Swan where pottery model cottages were displayed for sale. We almost always bought at least one cottages. The cottages were marked Mudlen End and as time went on we learned that they were made in Felsham, Suffolk. Later there was an authorised version marked Lark Rise. In later years they were so popular that there were various unauthorised copies and downright fakes. s bought by either me or my Mother in an around Lavenham in Suffolk. The original potter was James Hart who lived at the house called Mudlen End. He decorated as well as produced the early cottages. Later the cottages were decorated by a team of painters, often working in their own home. The majority of the cottages were of Suffolk properties or Suffolk style but he also made Cotswold Cottages as well as some of Brittany and places in America.
Mum and I eventually met James Hart at his home although in time he had commercial premises away from home. The cottages always retained the personal touch and to this day are a very happy reminder of happy times in Lavenham and touring around locally. We loved the area so much that in 1996 we moved as a family to Milden, near Brent Eleigh and in later years I downsized to Lavenham.
Part 19
This was before the days of computers and when applicants wanted to view a property they were either accompanied by an Estate Office staff member or they were given a large slip of paper. This was called an 'Order to View' and we had them on tear-off pads. We would write the name of the applicant on it so they could show it to the property owner when they arrived at the house or flat. This way they could prove they were who they said they were.
My first Job
Due to my interest in Architecture a family friend took me to the Greater London Council Architect’s office for a day of work experience. I did not like the monolithic buildings they were designing and instead of gaining more experience at a more bespoke private practice Architect’s office, I abandoned the idea.
Mum’s Cousin Derek had been an Estate Agent and was a qualified Chartered Surveyor. In fact it was he who ran the family property company in latter years.
Through the Cottage Homes Drapery Trade Charity, Mum was friendly with the Managing Director of Harrods. As a result I got an interview for their Estate Office. I immediately took to it. I started in 1972 in the lettings department and I remember sharing a Taxi with International Film and singing stars on two occasions. The first time was two such stars together and the second time just me and him.
This was before the days of computers and when applicants wanted to view a property they were either accompanied by an Estate Office staff member or they were given a large slip of paper. This was called an 'Order to View' and we had them on tear-off pads. We would write the name of the applicant on it so they could show it to the property owner when they arrived at the house or flat. This way they could prove they were who they said they were.
One of my first tasks in the lettings department was to inspect a London flat where the tenant or tenants had left and taken most of the furniture and contents with them. The only thing left was an antique Stick Barometer which I had to bring back with me on the bus to Harrods Estate Offices. I was about 18 years old and I remember clearly waiting at the bus stop clutching the barometer. Somehow as the bus approached, the lower part fell off and to this day I can see the bottom of this valuable antique in the road by the curb as the large bus wheel rolled over it and squashed it flat. I was mortified and explained what had happened when I took the remains of the barometer into the office. I think it was just added to the list of missing items.
Part 20
Part 20
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