The Whitstable Years – Part One
That year, 1970, we started to look for somewhere to live in Whitstable, leaving Liz to fend for herself in Dulwich. Directly we saw 46 Downs Avenue we knew it was the right place, such a lovely outlook, but on a hill?! Photos (206/207) are some pictures of the front and back of the house. Photo 208 is an unusual aerial view of the house amongst our neighbours houses; up to No. 52 on the left and half of No. 44 to the right. Photo 209 was taken from a bedroom window looking over the back garden with the cemetery and hills beyond and finally the Swale estuary. Photos (210/213) are later pictures of Doug and I at the front door, the road outside, roses in the front garden and the back garden from an upstairs window.
We had a lot of trouble getting in as the people selling, the Figgs, could not find a house they could afford in Gravesend where they were moving to be nearer to his work. So we stored our furniture and moved in with Sally and Clive as our Woodwarde Road house sold so quickly. We were two months waiting and directly the Figgs moved out we moved in. The next day the weather changed from summer to winter being November so we were lucky.
Chris came and helped us settle in so it was marvellous and we soon felt at home, gas central heating, colour television, luxury. Liz and David came down most weekends and stayed the night, it did not take them long, so that was nice.
On the 23rd November Madeleine had a heart attack, her second, and died in hospital which was another shock, life seemed to be full of shocks.
By Christmas it was snowing, Liz came down and we went to midnight mass, spent Christmas Day at Clive and Sally’s and Boxing Day here with Chris, Shirley, Paul and the rest of the family.
1971
In June 1971 Anthony was born, the last of the boys, and completed Sally and Clive’s family of four, originally they had contemplated eight!! Photo 214 is of the whole family taken when Anthony was a baby and Photo 215 is another of him when a baby. Photo 216 was taken, as you can see, some time later.
Lex Malcolm died in hospital in August and we went up to Dulwich for the funeral.
Our days were now filled with All Saints church, Doug having soon joined the choir and me involved in flower arranging and washing the church linen. Photos (217/220) are some views of the church, an outside view from the graveyard, and inside of the altar with the end of the choir stalls, with two others showing Christmas decorations with flowers, some of which I did.
Apart from the church there were also many visits to see the family in Tankerton, frequently calling in to see Gracie on the way.
Young Chris poked a stick in the roof of his mouth and had to have stitches, which must have been very uncomfortable. Old Chris did the very same thing when he was about three, but did not need stitches thank goodness. It is always boys who do this sort of thing.
1972
1972 was the year of the power cuts and we bought an oil lamp which we have never had to use since, I am glad to say.
Rene had a terrible operation in March to try and make it easier for her to eat, but it was useless and she never got any better.
The family went on holiday to Cornwall in July and we went to Bobby’s in August. We tried walking to Rene and Frank’s over the downs, which turned out to be quite a long way and landed us at Kenley. We finished the last bit by bus up the hill to Caterham. Photo 221 is a rather nice pictorial memory of Rene and Frank, which was taken some years earlier at some wedding or other. Anyway that was the last time I saw Rene because sadly she died in October after yet another operation, which was almost unnecessary, as she was dying anyway.
I had heard that our old neighbour from Woodwarde Road, Mr. Arney had died in September of cancer of the throat and although I heard from another former neighbour, Lyn Gray, that Mrs. Arney was still alive at that time and over 90, I have never heard since as to when she died. I also never heard whether Winnie Knight, our old neighbour from the war years when we were in Kingswood, was alive, alas just silence.
Life was not all misery though, and we enjoyed the choir dinner and dance at the Marine Hotel with Chris and Shirley. Nevertheless the sadness caught up with us again when we heard that Doris had died of cancer in Cape Town just after Christmas ’72. She had requested that her ashes should be scattered in the sea, a wish that Alan carried out with much difficulty. Photo 222 is a nice memory of Doris together with Harold and Alan.
1973
In 1973 Trissie went into Margate Sea Bathing Hospital to have a hip operation and I went into Whitstable and Tankerton hospital to have a wart out, what a fuss. Triss recovered very well and managed to walk after it, but unfortunately her other hip got worse.
In June Doug wanted to go to the Founders Day Centenary at Dulwich College and the Willsons kindly put us up for the weekend. Photo 223 is of tea in the Willson’s garden when Charles and Evelyn Butterfield visited, they are on either side of me, with three of the Willson’s (Phyllis, Joan, and Owen). No sign of Doug but he must have taken the picture.
We had a founders day lunch at Dulwich College and watched cricket there, and then Liz and David turned up and we had to go and look at one of Doug’s old classrooms, but we did not meet many of his old school mates, anyhow it was a lovely day, and we went back with Liz for tea at her flat nearby in West Dulwich.
After we came home we heard the awful news that Mr. Hope, a neighbour, had drowned off The Street with the young boy who lived next door to him, and Mr. Hope was a life guard. In July another local man, Mr. Barr drowned, a strong swimmer, so Whitstable is not such a safe place for bathing after all, as the Street can be quite dangerous because of the strong current. It is still a lovely spot to look at though, as the really nice Photo 224 that was taken by Clive shows
In July Sally’s family went to Norway for their holiday in their Dormobile. Quite an experience with so young a family.
The choir had an outing to Boughton Aluph where they sang evensong in the church which is famed for it’s sound. Apart from one large house this church is practically alone in a field, extraordinary. But at Crundale, which is on a hill with a wonderful view over the Wye Valley, there is a church all alone surrounded by meadows, with sheep grazing. Strange where they built churches in days gone by. There was one at Eastwell and near Stelling Minnis which Triss and John attended but they had to walk about 1 1/2 miles to get there.
David and Liz flew to Bulgaria for their holiday and Chris and Co. went to Cornwall. We did not seem to go anywhere but Bobby came to stay for a week and then Frank for a day or two. He had moved to Woking to be near Michael, but he did not seem to be very happy there and eventually Michael and his wife Valerie sadly broke up and parted.
1974
That year Liz started a new job at Occidental Engineering and eventually David and her became engaged and went to Polperro on holiday, Photo 225 is of them in our back garden at about that time. We, as usual, went to Bobby’s.
In July Dick died of cancer and we went to Bembridge for the funeral and stayed at the Elms Hotel. Dolly insisted we stay a few more days and paid for it, much to Doug’s embarrassment. It was rather a nice place though as can be seen from Photo 226 and Photo 227 of us with Dolly
Sally’s family went to Cornwall and Chris and Co. flew to Guernsey for their holidays that year.
Liz and David’s Banns were read in church and they got married on the 26th October, and Chris acted as David’s best man, with Shirley as maid of honour to Liz – see photos (228/229). Sally and Clive held the reception in their house at Liz’s request and all went well. Trissie and Audrey were coming to the wedding but a blocked chimney caused Triss to pass out on the kitchen floor and landed her in hospital.
Liz and David went to Majorca for their honeymoon and then settled in at 59 Frankswood Avenue, Petts Wood. They had a lot of repairs and alterations to do in a much neglected house.
1975
In 1975 I visited Trissie periodically to do a little work for her because she was getting rather feeble and John was always pleased to see me.
Doug sang in the Brahms Requiem in Canterbury Cathedral and we had some lovely picnics in the Dormobile at Eastwell, Westwell and Crundale with Sally’s family.
In July they went camping at Whitecliff Bay, I.O.W. and booked a flat for us in Gainsborough Court for September which turned out very nice, only it rained rather a lot. David kindly drove us down on their way to Dorset. Dolly gave a party for us as Bobby was staying with her in Bembridge at the time. One day we had a good view of an American aircraft carrier, an enormous thing, with helicopters lined up on deck, an extraordinary sight. David met us at Portsmouth on our way back and drove us home.
Then Trissie was taken ill in October and had to go into hospital again, so John came to stay with us and was remarkably good, but it was quite a strain looking after him. Audrey and Neal had bought a large house at Kingsgate to house them and Triss and John as well. So after Triss came out of hospital Sally took us all down there. Triss was still in bed and apparently never got better and went into Margate Hospital where she died on the 23rd November. Alan brought Phyl down for the funeral and Sheila’s husband Eric took the service.
Then Audrey and Neal were left with the problem of John, who was quite senile and caused many troubles and eventually the poor man was put into St. Augustines Hospital which was a dreadful place.
Meanwhile, Chris, Shirley and Paul flew to Sarawak for four weeks over Christmas, and we had David and Liz and Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs on Christmas Day and Boxing Day at Clive and Sally’s.
1976
Sally took me to see John occasionally and the one time Doug came with us it was a miracle to see John’s face, full of recognition. We took him for a walk in the hospital grounds but after that he seemed to go downhill and died in April.
In June David and Liz went for their holiday to the Greek Islands and we started our holidays at “Two Trees”, Bembridge – see Photo 230 and Photo 231 of the owner Mrs Williams who was such a good cook. We were taken and brought back by Chris. That June the weather was so hot we could only walk to Dolly’s hut with our lunch and stayed there all day until it cooled down, then paddled a bit and walked back, the temperature was in the 90’s.
The Powells from New Zealand arrived that month and stayed at Clive and Sally’s while they went to Cornwall, so we saw a good deal of them.
There was a party at Chris and Shirley’s for his 40th birthday in August. We also had a lovely picnic at Hernhill on the village green with Chris and Sally’s respective families – see Photo 232 – (no Clive, as he took the picture).
Eric and Sheila Bryant moved from Wilmslow, Cheshire to Ashford, Kent and stayed the night with us on the way. Photo 233 is of them and family taken at the front of our house. They had returned to England from Utila, a small island off Honduras, where they had endured hurricanes and sadly lost their small boy through drowning.
There was a family dinner at Wye in October and we spent our usual Christmas at Clive and Sally’s and Boxing Day here with all the family.
1977
In 1977 Liz left Occidental Engineering because she was expecting a baby and Peter David was born on the 9th May and we visited them on the 20th when photos (234/235) were taken.
Chris took us to see Edgar and Amy who were living in a rented property in Tunbridge Wells this time and Doug sang in a concert with Ashford School at the Cathedral. Then it was a case of we visit Liz or they visit us, and Bobby stayed for a few days so we organised a family gathering to see her.
In July we were off to “Two Trees” again and Liz and David wanted to come for a week, but Mrs. Williams made a muck of it and had not got any room for them. So we offered to sleep out to let them have our room, and Dolly’s sister offered us a bed, so kind of her. It was strange walking back to breakfast in the early morning, but it gave us an appetite. Photo 236 is of me with Liz and David in the garden of “Two Trees”. While they were there David took us to see Win and Jack, a lovely journey over the downs to Yarmouth, the ferry to Lymington and on to Hordle. A lovely day and Peter was so good in his carrycot. Photo 237 is of us all in front of Win and Jack’s bungalow at Hordle taken that day.
In August Chris and Co. flew to Jersey for their holidays that year. Bobby arranged two family gatherings, one for the Powell’s and then one for the Roskilly’s. Very gallant of her and very enjoyable, not easy for a big family to meet very often. Photos (238/241) are of the Roskilly gathering in the garden of her bungalow at Riddlesdown near Purley.
In September Jackie and Alan invited us to their silver wedding party, so we travelled up to York with Frank and Bobby. We were met at the station by Alan and they made us stay on for a few days after the celebrations. Photo 242 is of York Minster and Photo 243 is of me and Bobby with Phyllis who lived with Jackie and Alan. We were taken out by them through wonderful country. On one trip we went over the Dales to Scarborough and onwards to Robin Hood Bay, where we had tea, and then back to York, a terrific journey, so kind of them.
