Lesley's story chapter two

Leaving school and starting work

Easter 1961 came and I left school and got ready to go into the big wide world. My dad was well known at Ericsson’s being a charge hand electrical engineer and he managed to get me a job as an office junior in one of the huge departments assembling phones. This department had its offices up in a balcony and my dad went to see the manager, Mr. Shaw. They needed a new junior to run errands and do the filing and Mr. Shaw told dad I could start the following week.

So there I was, extremely nervous and meeting a dozen or so folks who worked in the office. The young woman who was moving on showed me all the things I needed to know including how to collect the urn full of tea for the office. I followed her around various departments, collecting mail, getting to know the names of various folks, learning how to file away papers and answer the phone. Soon after I joined the company the name was changed from Ericsson’s to Plessy.

After a couple of years a big change happened. Our department was going to be the first to use computers. They were enormous things, the size of a washing machine and there were three of them. We were taught how to type in numbers and letters and very stiff sheets of cards were put inside and printed, they were about A6 size.

After another year we moved to a new department in a brand new six story building – Crumbs.

It had a moving open lift called a paternoster. You had to have your wits about you stepping in and out.

Those 3 years at Ericsson’s/Plessy were both good and bad times.

On Friday evenings a group of us would go to the Plessy Club where there was a live band playing, called The Mark Bristol Four. We also danced to the latest music on the Juke Box and I was introduced to Babycham!!!!

They were innocent times, not at all like today.

The problem with being so innocent was being chatted up by various men who worked in the offices and the factory floor. Sometimes I hadn’t a clue what they were saying and I felt stupid and silly. If I mentioned it to my dad he just said “You want to grow up a bit” and was no use at all.

In the early years of working at Plessy I met my second boyfriend, Michael Johnson. He worked on the factory floor assembling telephones from various parts that moved around on conveyer belts. Our office was on the balcony overlooking the factory floor and one of my jobs was to collect mail from various departments which meant I used to pass by Michael on my journeys. I felt very grown up now being nearly sixteen, and having a lovely ponytail which I loved decorating with ribbons, feathers and beads. With a nice blouse and skirt and heeled shoes too.

We got to chat when it was tea break time, and after some time he asked me if I would like to join him on the department’s bus trip to Skegness.

Well of course I said “yes, I’d love to”, so a few weeks later we met up at the bus which was parked outside the factory. I’d never done anything like this before and I was quite nervous but he was nice and chatty and we got on quite well, discussing our families and what music we liked.

There was a big football match between the factory folk and it was altogether an enjoyable day.

Michael was a couple of years older than me. And seemed a lot more grown up, but we continued meeting and going to the cinema.

In the meantime as I mentioned earlier, mum had half a dozen factory workers who left their bikes at the back of our house for sixpence a week and one of them was a young lad called Paul Salmon and I got to know him when he collected his bike. He seemed more ‘my type’ whatever that was so I preferred Paul to Michael and we both agreed amicably to stop dating.

I was quite relieved because I felt more comfortable with Paul, than Michael. Paul seemed a very confident young man and he took me home to meet his mum and dad on quite a few occasions. We used to go for walks and visit the cinema. On our first visit to the cinema, which was the first time I’d been with a boyfriend, Paul bought me a box of Maltesers.

He suggested we went upstairs. I was quite nervous as I knew ‘things can happen’ once you are seated. I began to unwrap the Maltesers whilst walking up the stairs and the consequence was I pulled the cellophane too hard and they all bounced down the stairs. I was mortified! Paul thought it was hilarious, but hey-ho we did finally enjoy the film – I can’t remember what it was though.

I dated Paul for about a year, then one day at Paul’s home the family were discussing the future wedding of Paul’s older brother.

The discussions over the details continued, then suddenly his mum said to me that they wanted me to be one of the bridesmaids.

I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t know Paul’s brother well, and I had only met his fiancée a couple of times. I said I would think about it. The following weekend Paul’s brother came to our house on his scooter, he said he’d come to pick me up to discuss bridesmaid matters. When I got to his house there was a lot going on about the wedding. I felt very uncomfortable and just didn’t know what to say. I told them I didn’t want to be a bridesmaid as I didn’t know them well. There was uproar! Folks saying this and that, in the end I flung my cup of tea down and said “I am going home”. And that was the end of that, and Paul stopped leaving his bike at our house too.

My best friend Pam had a grandma who lived at the top end of our street. So occasionally I would go with her to visit her gran. Her gran had, for many years, had a lodger to help with her finances. Her current lodger was Len/Lenny who was staying there and I got to know him quite well as he worked at Plessey too. He would come to the Plessey club with us from time to time, and after a while he asked me if I would like to go out with him for a Chinese meal. This was long before Chinese food had become as popular as it is today. I was eighteen at the time and Len Browne was ten years older and I found out he had been in the Royal Navy too. He was tall and had very curly hair and good looking too. After a few Chinese meals and drinks in the Plessey club he took me to meet his mum and dad who lived in Sherwood, on the outskirts of Nottingham. His mum worked at Jessops as a carpet fitter and she never really took to me.

Here I was an innocent 18 year old and here was her son who’d had quite a life (which I didn’t know at the time). When I took him to meet my mum and dad, they liked him straight away, especially my mum.

Lenny and I dated for about a year, then he rented a flat on the next street to us so we could have some ‘time on our own’. After a few weeks he proposed to me and mum and dad were happy with that. So we arranged our wedding for March 1965. We were married at Beeston Parish Church, my bridesmaids were Chrissie and my friend Pam.

Our reception was held at Hand’s Café in Beeston and we had a lovely meal. After the meal the head waiter came to tell us there was another wedding party about to come in as they had booked the next available time. So we all had to leave suddenly and Lenny and I were left standing on the pavement outside waiting for a taxi to pick us up!

We had booked a long week-end at Weymouth for our honeymoon so we phoned another taxi to collect us from my home in an hour to enable us to change into our ‘going away’ clothes. Just one or two folks came to see us off, and when we arrived at Weymouth we went straight to our hotel. Lenny’s family came from Weymouth, his parents had moved to Nottingham to enable his dad work in the local coal mine, and his uncle also had a pub in Lenton. I met the rest of the family who were very welcoming, especially his auntie Sylvie and her three sons.

One of his other Aunties, Hilda, ran the British Legion there with her husband and in later years we had quite a few holidays in Weymouth and I met the other members of his family.

In the first summer of our married life I became pregnant and gave birth to a 9lb. baby boy the following February.

We named him Simon Gareth, the name ‘Gareth’ came from a young fisherman in Whitby. I didn’t know him personally, but I loved the name Gareth. My mum and dad’s neighbour Vera helped with the delivery, she was lovely. My mum didn’t want to have anything to do with it. Chrissie was away at the time seeing her boyfriend who lived near Liverpool.

Simon was a lovely happy baby and loved by all the family I loved taking him for walks down by the river and every Tuesday we would go to my mum and dad’s for lunch. Nine months later we were offered a two bedroom flat in Stapleford, it was just two stories high, and in a very nice area. After moving house Lenny went to my mum and dad’s house for his dinner every day. Our new home had a balcony that joined with our next door neighbours. They were a lovely couple, Joan and David and they always made a lot of fuss over Simon. After three more years I became pregnant again, and we found out that the council were building a brand new estate in Chilwell so we applied for a house there and were successful with our application so whilst I was carrying our next child we moved to Gayrigg Court.

Can you believe it, we had three bedrooms, a toilet upstairs and downstairs, a lounge, a dining room, and a lovely porch too – heaven.

Chrissie was at home with me when I went into labour a few weeks after the move. She was so lovely and caring and so was my Irish midwife. Christian Ashley was six and a half pound at birth. We named him after Dr. Christian Barnard, and Ashley after a young boy who was killed in the Aberfan disaster.

Christian proved to be a sickly little babe and at six weeks old was taken in to hospital with Pyloric Stenosis. Bless him, he couldn’t help being poorly and his big brother Simon was a blessing because he took to Christian straight away, and there has never been an ounce of jealousy anywhere. They were great brothers to each other and Simon could always pacify Christian if he became cross over anything.

Now both are married, Simon to Jo, and they have two children Millie and Leo, and Christian to Linda, and both are happy and live close by. But more about that later.

When the boys were toddlers I became a helper at a nearby playgroup. After a couple of years I became a teacher and went to night school to learn all about the workings of a play group and how to run one. I received a small wage which was most useful at the time.

The boys did well at school especially English and Art. Simon loved football and Christian did some amazing drawings, quite a few of which were pinned up at school. I loved the long summer school holidays. As Chrissie lived nearby too we made dens in the garden for the boys and their numerous friends who lived around Gayrigg Court. One week in August there was a big play event on the local park. I was a part of the team who arranged all sorts of activities and games, Cricket, Rounders, Competitions for drawing and making things.

Simon and Christian left junior school with good reports. Simon went to Chilwell Olympia, and later Christian went to Bramcote Hills. Simon joined the School football team and played regularly, Christian took up boxing and we saw him fight in The Commodore on one occasion.

Christian used to bring home some great treats when he did cooking once a week (there were also occasions when he came home empty handed after selling his products on the school bus!)

Bramcote had a swimming pool which was used by the local schools.

We used to go down to Weymouth every summer in our car which we had when Simon was a baby and stay with Auntie Sylvia. As the beach was nearby, we spent lazy days building sandcastles and playing cricket.

Life ticked over until I realised that things were not ‘right’ between me and Lenny even though we didn’t argue.

I was told things by various folks about Len that I really didn’t believe but then Chrissie told me one or two things. Not to go into too much detail I felt it was better for Lenny to leave us and he didn’t disagree over that.

Soon after he left I decided to move out of the house, but not too far away as I didn’t want the boys to lose contact with their friends. So I did a swap with a couple just five minutes away in the older part of the estate which was close to farm fields.

A new life had begun.

I settled in quite well, but the boys found it difficult at first.

I continued with my keep-fit classes which helped to keep me sane most of the time.

I had started doing keep-fit at home with two or three other mums who were my friends, then I had an idea.

I saw Mr Barnes the headmaster of the local junior school where both boys had attended and asked him if it was possible to hire the school hall once a week to teach keep-fit to other mums. He said of course I could and that became a big thing in my life for many years.

I looked forward to it, and spent much of my spare time in the week, making up routines to my favourite records, I loved it and my ladies did too.

Chrissie and I had attended keep-fit classes at Plessy, along with Judo and trampoline classes before the children came along which kept me in good stead to lead my keep-fit classes.

One of the dad’s I had met, and danced with at the Jubilee Party and I had much in common. I was now single again, but he wasn’t, but it turned out that he was in an unhappy relationship with a job that took him out on the road for most of the week, and one day he invited me out in the car as he was on a business meeting and we enjoyed each other’s company. Over the next months we grew closer together and as he was in a most unhappy marriage, he decided to do something about it.

He didn’t want it to be a ‘nasty’ separation he did it amicably, letting his wife keep the house, and promised to help financially as his daughter was at college and preparing to go to university.

And so after much sorting out, Keith (yes it was him) moved in with me and the boys.

Keith’s dad was finding looking after his allotment in Stapleford rather difficult, so Keith took over half of it and he loved it being out in the open air. Occasionally the boys came to help too.

We bought a second hand chest freezer to enable us to store all the large amount of vegetables we were growing. Keith also visited the Nottingham Cattle Market with his dad on Saturday mornings to buy chickens and rabbits which he prepared and also went into the chest freezer to help feed us during a difficult time financially. Simon went with them on one occasion.

The next big event happened in February 1981 when Keith’s decree absolute came through so without hesitation we booked a wedding at the Bulwell registry office for the following week (Valentine’s Day).

The only vacant slot was 9.30am so we agreed, and all the family came along with friends from Keith’s company and his squash club who made an archway of squash rackets.

We had planned a reception at home that evening, but it seemed sad to leave everybody there so we suggested going to a café on a nearby industrial estate called ‘The Big Apple’ that we had often frequented.

When we arrived unannounced the manager was pleased to have a full house at that time in the morning. So he put up the closed sign and served us all with bacon sandwiches or a full breakfast. He even opened the small bar at the back and presented us with a bottle of champagne – Magic!

The next period of my life was full of ups and downs.

Simon was spending time with his mates, playing football, cricket etc.

And he and Chris both saw their dad at week-ends and continued to go on holiday to Weymouth each year with him.

But they could not settle with the current arrangements, and both moved out for various reasons.

By the end of the year Chris had gone to live with his dad and his wife Lorna. Simon followed him two years later, so now we were on our own.

In 1984 the boy’s dad and Lorna decided to move to East Leake to run a post office. How or why this happened I have no idea. They asked us if Chris could stay with us while they sorted things out, We worried that the boys were being used as pawns whenever it suited them to have them or not. Simon also came to stay with us again to study for his ‘A’ levels, but as we had already booked our first proper holiday in Torquay, my mum and dad said Simon could stay with them to continue his studies while we were away.

In 1985 we went on our first overseas holiday.

The holiday was a big adventure for us both, going abroad on a plane and passports too.

We flew to Athens, then were taken by bus to Piraeus where we caught a ferry to Aegina where we stayed for two weeks in the village of Aghia Marina. It was a joy from beginning to end. The most beautiful little village, and our apartment was in a three story block of six. The beach was small and cute and had a tavern right on the sand itself. Our first taste of Greece and it was certainly very tasty! The village had just a few little shops, a beautiful jewellery shop and one or two souvenir shops selling beautiful leather handbags, we were two very happy people.

We also caught the ferry back to Athens and spent a day sightseeing in the city.

Back home, Sharon had graduated with a 2-1 and went to live in Croydon. Simon and Chris had moved to Stapleford with their dad and Lorna as the post office venture had failed.

Keith in the meantime handed over 21 Gayrigg Court to his ex-wife Margaret but bless him he continued to maintain it all for her for quite a few years. In later years Sharon married Mark and they chose to buy the house knowing that it would be a good investment for the future.

In August Simon failed in two of his ‘A’ levels and stayed on at school for another year. In the following year Simon met Sally Ann who lived in Beeston with her widowed mum Iris, and in April we took them for dinner to the Savoy Hotel to celebrate Simon’s birthday.

After a while Simon moved again this time to lodge with Iris and Sally Ann. Happiness at long last for him.

We had become good friends with our Vicar John Williams, his wife Liz and all the family and so we were invited to the wedding of their son David to Donna

At the end of 1985 Lorna visited us to tell us that she and Len were to separate, and Chris came back to live with us. But in 1986 after the divorce Len managed to obtain a council flat at The Flatts in Chilwell and Chris decided to share it with him and so moved out again.

In 1987 Simon and Chris had a joint birthday party (Simon 21 and Chris 18) at the Chilwell Olympia then we returned to Aegina for a second holiday there before attending the party at The Greyhound to celebrate Simon and Sally Ann’s engagement with the family.

In November we arrived home from shopping to find Christian on our doorstep, distraught with all his belongings.

He told us that Len had thrown him out as he had a new partner with a daughter who wanted to move in and the flat only had two bedrooms, so of course he moved back in with us. That evening Keith took Christian to the Nurseryman for a drink and asked him what he wanted in his life. Chris said he wanted a place of his own where he could shut the door and be himself. So to cut a long story short, we worked out our finances and made an offer for 27 Lawrence Street, Stapleford. A three bedroomed terrace house.

Chris moved in in January 1988 and we both felt that at long last Christian had peace in his heart and could say that Lawrence Street was his.

Keith and I were relieved to be able to help him and know that he was now settled.

A month later our friend Allyson Bennett moved in as a lodger to help with the rent.

In February I went into the QMC for a few days to have a hysterectomy.

I then came home to take things easy for a few weeks.

In March of that year our dear friend Donna, David’s wife, collapsed and died of a brain haemorrhage, she was 26 weeks pregnant. It was a huge shock to all the church fellowship as you can imagine.

John and Liz were devastated and it took them a very long time to recover from the awfulness of it all.

Some brighter news was on the way. In April Keith’s nephew Lee, the son of his brother Terry was married to Sharron. However it turned out to be a very ‘upsy-downsy relationship, and was always a tricky marriage.

In June Simon finally finished his three years at Alsager and when he came home he moved into the third bedroom of 27 Lawrence Street with Chris, as the relationship with Sally Ann had ended.

Also in June, Keith and I had a flight in a small plane from Hucknall aerodrome. What a ride that was going all over Nottingham and seeing our church, our house, and the City Ground from the air. A never to be forgotten experience.

In July we returned to Greece, this time to Scala in Keffalonia and made great friends with our Thomson Rep. Kay. It was so exciting and we loved every minute of it. We stayed in The Scala Hotel, a small B&B right on the beach and had evening meals in the local tavernas. MAGICAL!

When we returned Keith hired a 4 ton lorry and moved Sharon’s things to Beckenham as she had obtained a job in the area, the first of many moves that she was to have over the years.

One Sunday morning we came home from church to find a RSJ sticking out of our lounge wall with brick and plaster all over the fireplace.

Apparently Barrie next door had met an Irish builder in the Inham Nook pub who had offered to knock out his dividing wall and replace it with the RSJ, but he had his measurements wrong. When Keith went round to see him he said “I thought it was a bit too long” and offered to come round and make good the damage, Keith refused his offer and did it himself.

When Barry returned home he came to apologise and found it hard to look us in the face. Keith remained very calm and said to Barry that being good neighbours was more important than a bit of plastering and tidying up.

During that summer Keith decorated and repaired the exterior of 21 Gayrigg Court. Also at that time Simon introduced us to his new girlfriend Ann who he had met at Alsager, she found a job and a place to live in the area.

In October 1988 Keith was licenced as a Reader in the Church of England at Southwell Minster, a very moving event, and I was very proud of Keith. He’d worked and studied very hard for three years, and I was amazed at the change in him and his thinking from when we first met. It was a lovely feeling that we could talk and discuss our Christian faith. We also loved our bible study evenings at the various homes of our group members. Revd. John Williams was also proud of what Keith had achieved too.

He had nurtured Keith throughout his training and was happy to see how it had all come to fruition.

Together we had so much enjoyment getting involved in various activities in church and made many loyal friends over the years.

In November Sharon and her friend Helen left to spend some time in Australia.

Life ticked on, and in April 1989 my Grandma died.

Gladys was always known to us young ones as ‘Mamma’, but we didn’t grieve much as she wasn’t particularly liked by the family. I know that she was Jackie’s mum, but we later found out that her husband wasn’t Jackie’s dad. Mamma lived a life of betting and gambling around Hyson Green, and was up to lots of shenanigans. I remember at her funeral at St. Paul’s, Radford Road my lovely uncle Cyril (know affectionally as ‘Sqidge’ to Chrissie and me) whispered words to me which were in effect, “Thank goodness she has gone”. It’s sad isn’t it how certain people leave bad legacies.

In June 1989 Keith and I returned to the Greek Islands, this time to Samos. A lovely time of making friends and enjoying the history of the island.

In September Sharon began a new job in Wetherby, working in Public Advertising. She and Mark moved into a lovely terraced cottage in Boston Spa, previously the manse of the Methodist Church opposite. It was surrounded by lovely countryside, and the town had a super coffee house which we have visited many times, even after they moved out of the village. Simon and Ann spent Christmas at Ann’s family home in Scotland.

Moving on to 1990, Keith wrote to my brother Mike in February in an attempt to reconcile a family dispute. It seemed that Ken Varley, my Auntie Jackie’s husband had quite an opinion on many things, one being he didn’t like Keith and never took to him. He didn’t seem to care that it upset me greatly because before Keith came along I was very fond of him and Jackie and they stayed with us for many Christmases’ when I was living at 27 Gayrigg Court. Ken couldn’t cope with another voice and other opinions, and Keith had many strong views on the world and how it should be. My dad agreed with Ken on all this and Mike and his wife Jackie joined in with the dislike of Keith. I couldn’t understand all of this ‘carry on’ and Keith tried on several occasions to put things right, but my family didn’t want to know. It seemed my dad and Ken’s opinions mattered more to the rest of the family and it split the family in two. What a bunch of twerps they were! We went our separate ways for quite a long time.

March 16th 1990 was a memorable day as Christian celebrated his 21st birthday and I was made redundant because Leisurefields closed down.

I had an interview with Debenhams but no joy, then the Leisurefields shop re-opened as a ladies wear shop called First Choice and I went back to work there.

The following month Simon and Ann announced their engagement, they planned to marry the following year.

In May my wage packet containing £70 was stolen. I had placed it on the stairs as I was busy serving customers and workmen were working upstairs preventing me from getting into the staff room.

The house at 27 Lawrence Street had a new tenant, a young lad named Sheridan. He was a part-time soldier.

Later in May Yeoman’s Camping moved into a vacant store at the far end of Beeston High Road, and the manager was Geoff, who was my previous manager at Leisurefields so I joined him there. We had many happy years there with Kerry and Kate. (Kerry became our ‘Angel delivery Service’ in 2020 during the pandemic. More later….)

Our dear friends John and Liz Williams left Christ Church for another ministry in Pearlthorpe, a small village north of Nottingham. Much quieter for them than busy Christ Church.

In June Keith and I returned to the Greek island of Keffalonia, a beautiful island that we both fell in love with and returned to on several occasions. We stayed in a little B&B right by the sea and enjoyed many Greek meals in the local tavernas.

When we returned we learned that my dear Nannie Bradley, Dad’s mum, had died.

She lived in Beeston in our early years and then after her divorce from Edward Kitching Bradley (aka The Colonel) she re-married to our lovely Uncle Jack and they ran a pub called The Wheel in Branston, a small village in the Vale of Belvoir. Jack also worked for Lord John, The Duke of Rutland who lived in Belvoir Castle.

We loved her dearly and she really took a shine to Keith when we visited her in her flat in Melton Mowbray where she lived after being widowed.

On one occasion she told Keith “don’t get married, stay as you are. Jack and I were very happy together but we had to get married to be able to run the pub. Things were never the same after that.” But I didn’t believe her really. Uncle Jack was very tall and a true gentleman

Nannie was born Gwen Stevenson but we have found no connection with Keith’s family. She was a true lady and loved by many.

Meanwhile Allison left 27 Lawrence Street to take a degree in Ripon College looking to enter the ministry.

In October we had a week’s holiday in a cottage in Belford, a small town in Northumbria. The local parish church was nearby so we chose to visit the Sunday service. When we entered we were asked if any of us could play the organ as they were without an organist, and as none of us could the service would be unaccompanied. We were also asked which communion service we would like (rite A or B) as apart from the four of us there was only the vicar and the church warden.

The service took less than half an hour and as we left Keith shook hands with the vicar and asked him why there was no sermon. His reply still resonates today. “Oh they don’t go for that round here”

In November we attended Anne’s graduation at Crewe and met her parents and other family members.

In December we began looking to move, and Simon and Ann were interested in buying 182, Berry’s the estate agents valued it at £45,000 which seems ridiculous when you look at today’s prices.

Because Simon and Ann arranged a mortgage with the Halifax our house search became more urgent and after several disappointments we fell in love with 24 Brookland Drive and made an offer of £67,000 which was accepted. We signed the contract on February 14th 1991, our 10th wedding anniversary and moved in in March with Woodstock.

Simon and Ann moved in to 182 the next day, and Chris moved in with them too.

In June we returned to Greece this time to the island of Thassos. We really had fallen in love with Greece. In those days Greece was still a new place to visit, the little towns and villages were just a joy and the Greek folk were so pleased to see us. We so enjoyed joining in with their traditions and dancing, also to have a holiday where the sun always shone was a bonus. At first we rented a scooter or motor bike then later a 4X4 and travel around the islands and visit amazing tiny white churches full of the most wonderful treasures.

In July after returning to work at Yeoman’s Camping I experienced something you only normally see on TV detective series.

A man walked into the Nottingham branch of Yeoman’s, killed the manager Sheila Egner by hitting her over the head and took the cash drawer from the till.

As you can imagine all at the Beeston branch were in total shock, and just couldn’t take it in.

I was the last person to speak to Sheila on that fateful day, about 20 minutes before it all happened.

I was questioned by the police as they needed to know every minute detail.

It was a very upsetting time altogether and it took us all ages to come to terms with it. There were times after that when on lunch breaks we were in the shop on our own in the store and our local PC used to pop in to keep an eye on things. We attended her memorial service a few weeks later. They never did catch the man who did it!

Later in the year I was having problems with my back and so in September my doctor advised me to give up teaching my keep-fit class which I had done for over fourteen years.

I was heartbroken as I just loved planning the sessions, and “my girls” were all long term friends and neighbours – a very sad time for me, and an end to a fun-loving era.

At the same time Simon and Ann were “Having Problems” and so she moved to Long Eaton. It was the end of the relationship and I never did find out the reason why – and I suppose it wasn’t really my business.

In October we spent a week in Camelford, Cornwall with Chrissie and Dave and stayed in a lovely bungalow. When we arrived we were greeted with some chocolates and a bottle of wine. We travelled all over Cornwall visiting Falmouth, Truro and Land’s End and many other places.

I remember a lovely café in Land’s End where we had a delicious cream tea. On our journeys we visited John Betjeman’s grave in a very small graveyard and a small church, and Jamaica Inn made famous by Daphne du Maurier. It was a wonderful week in which we did so much.

1991 ended on a sad note when in December our lovely black cat Woodstock died. My doctor was visiting me at home, but when she saw Woodstock looking so poorly she dealt with him first, because she was a cat lover, and she made sure he died peacefully.

In June 1992 we returned to Scala, Keffalonia and we stayed in Scala Hotel again run by Peter and Sophia. This time with Chrissie and Dave They are such good company and we all get on so well, it’s such a quiet peaceful place too.

Keith loved to go out windsurfing and we played endless ball games on the beach. We have some great photographs and slides of all our adventures which are stored on the computer.

One incident that happened concerned my teddy bear Buster.

Early one morning Keith and I went birdwatching and while we were away Chrissie kidnapped Buster, my teddy bear who came with us everywhere and he even had his own passport (yes he did).

Chrissie pretended she hadn’t a clue as to where he was. Later he was lowered on a rope from their veranda on to ours! And yes I DID chuckle at it all. It was just one of the many ’Things’ that happened to Buster over the years.

He really was one of the family. Such wonderful happy memories.