From Marriage to the End of the War: Edie’s War – Part One
1932 was the year of our wedding. I left the office with a present of a sewing machine, which was very useful in making my clothes. Unfortunately Grandma was taken very ill just before our wedding day and had to have a night nurse. Father was persuaded not to cancel the wedding, so for the first time Mother had caterers to do the refreshments.
So finally after a four year engagement waiting for two of my sisters and my brother to get married, Doug and I had a lovely wedding at the Catholic Apostolic Church in Camberwell on the 4th June 1932. Eric Powell was Doug’s best man, and we had a full choir and communion, too long for some of the guests. As there was a big crowd Father hired a coach to take everybody back to “Mount Edgcumbe”. Doug’s family and relations, were old friends, so everybody knew one another, which made it very jolly, even though the weather was not very nice, rather cold in fact. Photo 76 and Photo 77 are some of our official wedding pictures and Photo 78 and Photo 81 are a few of the pictures taken by members of the family.
As we were travelling to the West Country we did not have much time. So after a rather short reception we said goodbye to Grandma not expecting to see her again and made a hectic exit. Doug carried out by four males and me sneaking out the back way, and were taken to Waterloo by car. Grandma of course got better and did not die until 1935.
After a long train journey to Barnstaple, we caught a bus to some remote spot on the moor, hoping to be picked up by a taxi ordered to take us to Woody Bay Hotel on the coast of North Devon a few miles from Lynton and Lynmouth. It turned up promptly luckily, as by this time it was raining and misty and we were glad to be given a meal of hot soup and cold snack when we arrived, and were dumped in a room full of people for coffee, rather an ordeal. Photo 82 shows the hotel as it is at the present time – taken by Chris in 1991.
It turned out the next day that there were three couples also on honeymoon, apart from one elderly spinster and one bachelor, poor man – see Photo 83, Photo 84, Photo 85 and Photo 86.
This hotel was a wonderful spot in the trees, but we could see the sea from our bedroom window – Photo 87. We had many lovely walks through this heavenly part of North Devon, including walking up the river Lyn to Watersmeet, fantastic, and through the Valley of the Rocks, also we had some kindly car rides to various tea houses, including the “Hunters Inn” for strawberries and Devonshire cream.
After this dream honeymoon we spent the next six years in our large maisonette at 3A Manor Mount in Forest Hill – Photo 88. This maisonette had two large rooms upstairs, sitting room and bedroom, and downstairs the semi basement had one large room at the front, empty except for a billiard table, which Uncle Jim gave us for a wedding present. The table had a covered top so it could be used for meals. The maisonette had a comfortable breakfast room, with a coke fire, which we used for most of our own meals, and there was a small kitchen with an old fashioned walk in pantry. The bathroom had an old fashioned geyser, a modern device in those days. There was half a garden for our use. This home only cost us 30/-shillings, old money, and was eventually actually reduced to 25/-shillings. The owner, a local builder even used to redecorate it for us without charge.
One of the first things we did was to have a celebration dinner for the four parents, and various Aunts and Uncles. Later on we had an “American party”, meaning bring your own food and drink, for the younger members of our family and friends. Soon after we had musical evenings, mainly for church friends, and after choir practice various young men from the choir came in for tea and cake. Then we fooled about to the music on the radio. This became a weekly event. Our home was quite near “Mount Edgcumbe”, so we often visited, and there were many family picnics in the garden on bank holidays etc. Photo 89 is a good example of one of those picnics.
Soon after our wedding and honeymoon, we were invited by Doug’s cousin Vera (nee Jones) and her husband Eddie Edmonds, an Australian, to spend a weekend with them on Wallasea, near the river Crouch in Essex. Where they lived was almost like an island, covered with dykes, and to get there you had to row across the river. There was only one house on this place – Photo 90, which they lived in with their three children – Photo 91, and next to it was a school house where Vera taught a few local children, including her own. They had to use pump water – Photo 92, which was so salty that tea tasted awful, and walking upstairs was quite dangerous as you had to duck your head to escape the low ceiling. The bed we slept in had a terrible bumpy mattress, but we survived, being young at the time.
Doug went shooting with Eddie – Photo 93, who was a little bit boastful about his ability but missed his target, whereas Doug hit his. I think he thought that Doug would not be very good at the sport, but he was better than he realised. But Eddie was a very likeable and kind man – Photo 94 is of him with his two youngest children.
On the Sunday we went for a picnic up the Crouch in their rowing boat with a rigged up sail, for a picnic on the riverside – Photo 95 – which was quite fun. Altogether the weekend was quite an experience. Their eldest daughter Jill was actually one of my bridesmaids with her cousin Shirley, the daughter of Vera’s sister Phyllis Pitcher – both being shown in our wedding photo.
Doug being a junior staff member of a bank, had holidays at peculiar times, and so the following year, 1933, our holidays were a week in May and a week in October. So in May we arranged to stay in the “Crab and Lobster” at Bembridge, which was a truly rural fisherman’s pub in those days, but upstairs they had nice rooms, and the landlords wife we knew was a good cook. Rob Butterfield, a church friend and the organists son, had his holidays at the same time, so came with us. Actually it was good fun, but Rob would never come down into the bar, because of the smoky atmosphere.
One day we decided to walk to Ventnor, because Rob was going to visit a friend in a sanatorium. We planned to walk back up the steps called Jacob’s ladder and over the Boniface Downs, but found it was further than we realised, and took us over two hours, so we were very late for dinner and I had blisters. Photo 96, Photo 97, Photo 98 and Photo 99 are some of our snaps from this holiday.
In June my sister Bobby was the last of us to get married. She and Eric Powell were married on the 10th June 1933, and this time Doug was able to return the compliment by being best man to Eric. Photo 100 was their official wedding picture.
Father used to go and stay in a hydro in Matlock, nearly every year, for the waters, and this year he invited Frank and Rene, Doug and I to go with him and Mother for our October holiday. Wonderful place and wonderful food, but Doug or I did not try any of the steam baths, but Frank did, although I do not think he thought much of it really. We did not walk much because of Mother’s bad legs, but I wished we could have gone to see Chatsworth House, which we could see in the distance. Photo 101, Photo 102, Photo 103 and Photo 104 are a few snaps we took at the time.
In 1934, if I remember rightly, Winnie arranged a holiday in Porth, near Newquay in Cornwall. We stayed in a boarding house with our church friends, Basil and Esther Wood, Eric and Bobby and Winnie herself. It was so near the sea and down the road Trissie and John and their two girls, Audrey and Sheila, were staying in a cottage at the same time. Newquay was to our left and to the right was a large bay, called Watergate Bay, where we tried our skill at surfing, not very successfully I am afraid. Unfortunately it rained a lot that year, so there were many card games played, all the same it was a jolly holiday and as Photo 105, Photo 106 and Photo 107 show we were not indoors all the time.
In 1935 I think we boarded together with Rene and Frank at Bembridge, but judging by the pictures, Eric’s brother John Powell and his wife Margaret were staying somewhere nearby, and Mother and Father must have been staying with the Hapgood’s, as we seemed to be picnicking together a great deal. Photo 108, Photo 109, Photo 110, Photo 111, Photo 112 and Photo 113 are all of this holiday.
Early in 1936 I found I was pregnant and Christopher was eventually born on the 14th August, so no holiday for us that year. Rob Butterfield was Godfather to Chris who was christened in September, Photo 114 was taken that day, and I seem to be rather amused at something, but I do not remember what it was.
As far as I can recall, we did not have a holiday in 1937, presumably as our life then was taken up with our first baby. Photo 115 and Photo 116 are of Chris in his early years, gradually growing up, taken at “Mount Edgecumbe” – the second with Doris and her two boys, Denzil and Alan, Bobby must have also been there as Graham is also in the picture – Father is also in the background. In Photo 117 Chris is at the back of Manor Mount.
In 1938 we did have a holiday, and this year we rented a house in Wittering with Phyllis and Pip and their two children, and hired someone to do the work and cooking. I seem to remember that Bobby and Eric and Graham came down part of the time. So there were four children, and Chris, being only two, kept running into the sea with all his clothes on. This was a typical seaside holiday, bathing, paddling and sand castles and a few tears. I recall that Graham broke a small pane of glass in the door and the overflow pipes got blocked up. Photo 118, Photo 119, Photo 120, Photo 121, Photo 122 and Photo 123 are of this holiday.
Sadly, shortly after this holiday, Father died at the end of July 1938 and life changed a bit. Mother didn’t want to leave “Mount Edgcumbe”, so we decided to move there and live separately in our own rooms, but share food together with Mother and Winnie. This arrangement worked well. Christopher had four mothers, including the maid Elizabeth – see Photo 124 – and we had lots of fun with other members of the family in the garden – Photo 125 and Photo 126.
