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walked along the banks of the Swan River and found a delightful quiet spot at Rocky Bay with attendant Swans.

Their final weekend was staying with us in Cherokee Village and enjoying the pool and lounging on our deck talking in the evening.

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This, our annual get together to swap family news and events was a real pleasant way to have fun together.

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The Photos tell some of the stories.

The purpose of their visit was to attend the wedding of a friend in Perth. I joined them in Fremantle for lunch with Bob and Jan.

In October it was to celebrate birthdays of Emma, Jacob, and Bob (Stanley) their grandfather who became 80. The photos show the process of making a special birthday cake for Emma. This was a corporate effort with Christ cutting out the template for the icing and Kim, Emma, and Ken making and baking the cake.

Also, took a walk to the lake Goollelal where there was a major fight between some male coots over a female. Anne’s new camera made all the difference in catching the action.

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[See image gallery at kenandannejourney.com]

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Tension and excitement was in the air as we arose at 4:00am to make the 6:00am flight from Perth. The day before was a celebration day for us all as we recognised Nick was on a new adventure and long awaited phase of his life.

The post Nick leaves Perth for Melbourne appeared first on Reflections on life.

The photos, taken in August 2018 by Guy WIlson show some features of the building and it’s interior 

[See image gallery at kenandannejourney.com]

Photo 01 – Wilson Family Home

We moved to the shop in Michaelmas 1957. It was quite a wrench leaving the farm; but a matter of necessity to fulfil the requirements of living accommodation for a growing family and a more reliable source of income than a significantly reduced farm at Birchington. This photo was taken in 1958 as Rachel, in the photo is about eight years old and the whole from canopy had been replaced by then. Parked in front is the Ford donkey (van) that for many years was our means of transport near and far.

The stands shown, were later replaced by long trolleys on wheels that could be moved into the shop at night without being dismantled.

Next door to the right became a fishmongers shop owned by Jesse Skinner and his right-hand man, Felix, who lived above the shop with his wife. Next to this was a second-hand furniture shop run by the Holdie family with some amazing tales to be told.

Photo 02 – East Cliff Hotel

On the left hand side was the East End Hotel (see Photo 12), a public house owned by the brewery. On a weekly basis there was a delivery of wooden barrels of beer from Maidstone, which were dumped from the truck onto hessian mats and then rolled down the hatch into the cellar.

The remaining Photos are all taken from the rear of the property and described here.

Photo 03 – Laundry / Bathroom

When we arrived, the yard in the foreground was completely full of empty boxes loaned by various farmers and wholesalers each bearing a deposit. There was no room to move. There was also a small strip of garden similar covered with boxes. Over time these were all returned to their rightful owners and space cleared to be a working environment.

In the corner of the garden closest to the garage, we mounted a tall pole, with a hook, and had a hook made to screen on the windows shown to carry a rope pulley that served as a washing line. This was loads from the bathroom window.

Photo 04 – Back Door and Yard

This was the entry to a very small kitchen where all our meal preparation took place. It had a small bench, cooker, and sink with hot water supply and some filled cupboards. (No fridge). Adjacent to this was the dining room where most of our family meals were held. Small table and folding chairs to minimise the space requirements.

Photo 05 / 06 – Side Yard and Kitchen Windows

This was working space which was totally covered with a broken down wooden framed glass house. Activities included preparation of vegetables, chopping kindling wood, cooking beetroot in a gas copper, and so much more… to be sold in the shop.

The wooden structure was subsequently removed, as un-safe, and replaced by a new Aluminium Glazing bars supplied by SAV Warner, a manufacturer friend from Croydon, and paid for by a close friend, Marjorie Groundwater(nee Dale) who were frequent visitors to all of our homes. It was truly a useful working space. The lower window, now a doorway, leads into the shop. In our day, the shop was split into two parts, the sales area and the office behind. (It is now a single space).

Photo 07 – Stairs and Cellar

The Stairs connected all levels of the property of which there are five:

The Cellar

The cellar was accessed via wooden steps beneath the main stair case shown in the Photo. There were three parts:

• The Coal hole with access from a grating in the street for use of the coal merchant. At the seaward end a thick wall of concrete that was supposedly a blocked off tunnel to the sea (in the past used by smugglers to bring contraband to the shop)
• The main area accessed also by a grating in the street that most likely was used historically for sending suppliers to the cellar (as next door in the Public House). This area also contained a freezer, containing Frozen Vegetables, and all the floor space completely taken up with cases of canned Beans, Peas, Mixed Veg, and carrots. These were supplied from the cannery in Faversham at knock down prices in season.
• Another area accessed through a rough hole in the wall under the office also filled with these cartons.

Over the months after our arrival, all this excess stock was sold off and not replaced. Rather, because the cellar floor (concrete) was cool at night, we would spread lettuce, cabbage, and other green produce across the floor and sprinkle with water to rehashes up for the following days sale.

Where storage was required, wooden orange and apple boxes were used all around the walls. In those days oranges and apples came from Australia, New Zealand, and Africa packed in wooden crates and individually wrapped in tissue papers.

The Shop

The Shop consisted of the street canopy area, shop area, and a back office. On the left hand side was a window that opened and used as a Floristry area. Mum learnt the floristry trade under the tutelage of a Florist in Westgate (Mrs Freak), who was a cockney and thrived on the hustle and bustle of the London flower markets from which she purchased stock by personal visits (sometimes with Mum) in the early hours of the morning. We were members of an international floristry group through which we obtained orders for funerals and weddings from people in other parts of the world.

The rest of the shop was devoted to Fruit and Vegetables (mainly displayed and sold from the street displays, and a variety of groceries and frozen foods. Part of the furniture was a hand operated cash register (nick-named “the jewish piano”).  Saturday morning was the busiest time and I remember following customers round the shop selecting goods and mentally  adding the prices together and immediately providing the total on conclusion. (this was in pounds, shillings, pence and farthings) – No calculators)

The back office was the admin hub where telephone orders were taken  

Photos 08 – – 12 The Living Space

 The downstairs dining room (well kitchen) was very small and not suitable whenever we had guests (which was frequent).  The main The window above is on the second floor, and was the main bedroom used by our parents (John and Muriel). The window above (the third floor) was used by Kenneth and frequently vacated by him with the arrival of guests for the weekend (and sometimes for weeks on end). In the from to the top floor were two other bedrooms occupied by Rachel, and Guy and Nicholas (and Ken when out of his own room).

On Friday, 17 August 2018, 22:12:27 BST, Guy R Wilson <guy@guyrwilson.com> wrote:

 

 

128 was our home from 1957 to 1967

Julia, David, Rachel, Margaret and I visited the property which is undergoing renovation.

The garage was full of old timber.

I didn’t go into the cellar.

The little toilet was empty and the WC is now in the bathroom.

The lean-to at the rear has gone.

The glasshouse that Mr and Mrs Groundwater paid for is no longer there.  Mrs Groundwater was a great friend of our mother.  I can’t remember her maiden name.  What was it Kenneth?  Marjory Something?

 

My mind went back to Mrs Grant and the cockney woman who stole money from the till.  The lady from Wilderness Hill with the rather jolly disabled husband –  Mrs what was her name?  Single syllable.

 

Then there was Mr Steve Allen the prisoner of War in a Japanese concentration camp with his wife who worked in the shop with Ethel Abraham.

 

Trip down memory lane!!

 

Guy

 

Hi Guy

 

Thanks for the photos of 128. Just what I need for our story. The names you are missing are artillery who was a hugenot. We also had Sheila and Renee Holiday both of whom were land army girls on the farm. Sheila was at Dad’s memorial service and came back with us afterwards. I think she has since then died.

 

Steve Allen came with us from the farm where his main occupation was hoeing. He was an expert at that. He kept a stash of comics Beano and Dandy in a cupboard in the garage for us to secretly read.

 

There was also Ron Hazelton at the shop whom we inherited from Jenkins the previous owner. Ron was a bus driver with East Kent Road Car Company. He drove the van and chopped kindling wood. One day, when I was learning to drive he got out of the driver’s seat to be greeted with an uproar of laughter from a passing bus the driver of which had spotted the L plates on the van.

He later took on the contract of driving every day from Thanet to Dungeness power station taking construction workers. He would start the run outside our house in upper Dane road at 5.30am.

One Sunday morning in in late 60s we set off to The 6am meeting. We were late so he gave us a lift in the bus to the corner of Dane Park.

 

I am on the train just now going to a training meeting for Cursillo retreat weekend in October. Lookup Cursillo Perth for more information.

 

Keep the memories coming with photos. I am really looking for these as part of my website story.

 

www.kenandannejourney.com

 

 

Love you all

 

Blessing and Peace 

 

 

Ken Wilson tssf

 

On 18 Aug 2018, at 20:45, Rachel Samways <rmsamways@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hello Guy

I’ve only just looked at the photos – how odd to see it all again! Is the whole pub being refurbished and the accommodation too?

Rachel

We only went into 128 so I am not sure.

I think 130 and 132 are now private houses not a pub.

Everything has changed.

The back room with the fire behind the shop has been included in the shop area with the wall being removed and the doorframe.

No changes to any rooms except the toilet and bathroom.

There is central heating now with radiators all over the place.

No Courtier stove in the lounge.

There was a fireplace in the kitchen which I did not remember.

No glasshouse with leaks.

No bath full of lettuce.

No copper boiling up the beetroot.

Xx

 

 

The post 128 Northdown Road Cliftonville Revisited appeared first on Reflections on life.

The following photos reflect the story of my quick trip mainly focused on Margate; but with the opportunity to see Uncles and Aunts in Suffolk, Kettering, and London for the last time.

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We went to Bury St Edmunds, Saxmundham, and then on to Aldeburgh by the sea. Then to Woodbridge and East bergholt on the way back to Margate.

The trip was in Guy’s new found camper van. The following photos represent Guy’s photo shoot of the trip.

Chedburgh, Suffolk

The village of Chedburgh its on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds. We visited Janet who we have not met for about 40 years. Our reunion was a special occasion with many memories to share and family history to catch up with. Janet is the daughter of Keith and Rachel Shepherd and has a brother Anthony. Their home in Great Bealings was a wonderful place for holidays when we were children.

Bury St Edmunds

We camped over night in a caravan park set in the middle of a Pine Forest of about 8000 Acres. The buildings and environment is heritage listed and the owner / developer has restored all the Link and Timber buildings from their ruins (often buried in the ground) to be a picturesque site.

It was our first night in the camper van, a little bit of a lottery, but a quiet night with bright stars over head was a beautiful setting for introduction to Suffolk.

In the morning we had a look at Bury St Edmunds, the castle and cathedral and town centre. Had lunch at the Corn Exchange and hit the road towards our destination, Aldeburgh. Along the way the luxuries of Suffolk country lanes and little traffic.

Bury has three memories for me

1. The town where Uncle Bob served his farming apprenticeship with the Macomb family
2. The sugar beet processing factory to which we shipped, by railway, truck loads of  sugar beet from Birchington in the early part of 1950’s
3. James and Alison Tennant lived here for a while and I visited them in 2004, while Nicholas was in hospital.

Saxtead Green Post Mill is a place that I visited when staying in Great Bealings. The family occupying in at that time (circa 1959) were known to us and were restoring the Mill to working order for public display.

We finally landed in Aldeburgh and took an evening stroll along the pebble beach at the going down of the sun.

Aldeburgh to East Bergholt

Aldeburgh

The home town for the Wade family and the Newson family. It is a place that I have visited many times and memories go back to a visit with my mother, Muriel, to visit her grandmother, Granny Wade.

We stayed with Samuel and Rachel Newson, my great aunt, and Janet’s grandmother and enjoyed their garden, so well kept by Uncle Sam as he was a professional gardener in the town.

Aldeburgh Town has been modernised over time; but the beautiful feeling of sleepy seaside remains. The sound of sea on shingle is special especially during the night and audible from the caravan park near the beach. The fisher community has dwindled significantly so that there are only 2 – 3 places that fresh fish (and other sea food) is available. The landmarks remain including the Moot Hall, Look out, and Lifeboat station that has played such an important role in the life of ocean going people.

Town Steps and Pump are central features reflecting the history of Aldeburgh. In particular, my mother recalled to my sister Rachel, on their last visit in 1998 to the Seat where Granny Wade sat and other haunts that were so familiar. Fawcett Road appears to have been the centre of their universe including home and meeting room for the brethren fellowship with was also centre of their lives.

Elisabeth Garret Anderson Home

Guy and I wandered the streets looking for the church and were met by an ageing gentlemen who invited us into his home garden. He retired to Aldeburgh in 1988 and purchased half of the home originally built by Elisabeth Garret Anderson. It is worth looking into the Website (hyperlinked above) as she is a very interesting and important character as a Physician, the first woman to be admitted to membership of the British Medical Association.

The photos show the garden as now with an amazing Wisteria plant growing up the corner stone of the building. All the gardens were well manicured and clearly the delight of the present owner. The rose bush shown was a cutting from the next door neighbour who brought a cutting back from Assisi in recognition of Saint Francis.

Aldeburgh Church

We found the church to be a wonderful place of beauty and quietness. Filled with the whole history of Aldeburgh and its surrounding countryside. The burial place of Benjamin Britten and other famous musical fraternity for which the town is famous. We were hunting for grave sites or records of family members only finding one (See Photo). Aunt Connie was buried here; but the rest of the family are most likely in public cemeteries as not part of the Church of England.

Woodbridge

Country town on the River Orwell close to Ipswich and on the way out of Aldeburgh to civilisation. It was late afternoon when we arrived and had such fun parking the camper van (with no brakes) on the outskirts of town. Then lots of walking to get in. The place was quite familiar to me with the town hall in the centre and the docks and tide mill along the river. I recall when the Thames Barges were tied up to the wharf loading and unloading their goods for the local community. We were too late to look over the Tide Mill. This is quite an extraordinary arrangement used for milling flour based on the water being retained from an ebbing tide in a pond that could keep the mill working. Many of the shops that used to be there have been replaced by wholesale supermarkets. However the Fiddle Shop was amazing.

Woodbridge Fiddle Shop

Opposite the Town Hall this shop trades in Violins, Violas, and other stringed instruments mainly to repair and restore to better than new. It was a remarkable working shop and attracted attention to a real working set of tradesman. Guy bought violin strings and a secondhand case.

East Bergholt

Pretty little village on the southern boundary of Suffolk with Essex. There is a pub and one shop and the Parish Church (with Bell cage). The first time I went there was with Kenneth Skinner in 1960 and saw two Franciscan Friars walking along the street. The place intrigued me at the time and I have been back several times since. On this occasion, we parked the camper van and walked to the church and past it. Met a gentleman. coming out of his terraced home who then directed, guided, us to the lane leading to the location of several of the painting sites of John Constable. We therefore walked to Flatford and back and looked at the calm waters of Flatford Mill and, as usual, were struck by the stillness of the water and the amazing reflections that are made of all the surrounding tress, sky, buildings, etc… Such an amazing place of quietness.

Parish Church and Bell Cage

The Bells are housed in a wooden structure on the ground beside the church and run by hand. See the Web site for more details. We were told that the bells would ring the next day. As we were about to leave they all started up. With earmuffs and camera Guy and I got quite close to the action and wow what a feast. It topped off there trip with a real buzz and vivid memory never to be forgotten

Return to Margate

Return to Margate vis Dartford Crossing with no major mishaps or wrong turning arriving back to Red House and a welcome home. from Margaret about 11:30 pm. Intrepid brothers returned home safely.

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Paul has Mini-Stroke

Paul awoke in the morning after very heavy sleeping and was unable to work with his right hand. Rachel detected all the signs of a mini-stroke; during breakfast he was not himself and a few minutes later had a fall. We were unable to lift him; so called an Ambulance. On arrival, great care was taken by the crew who determined that he should go to Northampton Hospital for further assessment and treatment.

He was admitted and diagnosed with a small stroke. As at 3rd June 2018 he was still there and improving significantly with growing use of his right hand and almost back to normal.

I was happy to be available to Rachel at a time of need. A rare opportunity for me as I live in Australia.

Visit Julia at Luton

I went to Luton Town to meet up with Julia for lunch. It was great to catch up with her family news and progress of David and University and Rachel at High School struggling with GCSE examinations.

Had a pub lunch and then took my journey to Gatwick on Thames Link service with plenty of time on my hands.

Gatwick to Perth

Very early arrival at Gatwick Airport, before the check in time. So was able to have some tea and write a few E-Mails to various friends and make final phone calls to use up some of the credits on giffgaff.com SIM Card.

On the Dubai to Perth I travelled in a Boeing 777-300ER with plenty of space so that I had three seats to convert into a modestly comfortable bed. Got about 6 – 8 hours sleep during the 18 hours journey.

Also read half of the Railway Children by Edith Nesbit. A wonderful story of the children whose father was jailed improperly for spying and they had to live as a family on a very poor but exciting home in the country. Worth Reading.

Arrived home in Perth with Rapid exit through formalities and met by Anne who arrived just as I came out of the building.

Great to be home and in familiar surroundings once more.

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