WEDNESDAY
AUGUST 23, 1961 - LONDON,ENGLAND
Seems like I lost several
days along the way. When we drive a lot, this often happens. Called Trudy &
she’s moved to Essex. I’ll try again later. Mr. & Mrs. W. Brown,
“The Willows”, Crossing, Essex, England.
THURSDAY
AUGUST 24, 1961 - LONDON,ENGLAND
Had breakfast &
Charles hit the sack & is trying to catch up on his sleep. We hope to go to
the Palladium tonite, if we get seats,
more later. Mailed all pkgs. home, also borrowed camera, to Bateaux, (1 to Carole & Joyce pkg). George Price arrived with the
Palladium tickets, good show,
lovely clothes, but we did miss some of the dialect. Had dinner and drinks,
good time (visited several pubs). While parked alongside our hotel, someone
came too close to our car & scratched the full length of it - Beasts.
FRIDAY
AUGUST 25, 1961 - LONDON,ENGLAND
We drove all over London
to get our car looked at, no luck. Finally went to General Motors head office
& mgr. there tried, still no luck. Later had lunch at Keens near “Fleet
St.” not bad, but not as good as 3 years ago. We went to a local show, can‘t
remember the name of the picture. Later we went to Romford with George Price for the weekend to visit his family and
daughter, Sandy & Ray Moody, 2 daughters, 1 son.
SATURDAY AUGUST
26, 1961 - ROMFORD, ENGLAND
Wonderful family. They
received us like long lost relatives. Ray was especially nice & quite talented.
Sandy was sweet & cordial. We spent 3 nites with them (Brunchcoat). They took us to many of the quaint pubs only to this part of the
country. Had our first taste of cockles (ugh). One taste was enough. Sandy gave me 2 antique
teaspoons & a china shoe (very old). Chas., George, Ray & I went to the public
market but no antiques today.
We drove to Brighton today
with George and the Moody’s to pick up the 2 girls & to meet the other daughter,
Connie Kennedy. It was a long drive but well worth it as we found Brighton all
the things one reads about. All but the beach, no sand there, just stones.
Lovely bldgs., pier fun zones, dancing. etc., etc. Connie & Doug Kennedy were very nice, we
had dinner here & tea & they joined us at the beach. Doug gave me a
very old India coin, one that I will have appraised. We drove back to Harold Wood with the Moody’s & stayed the night.
We left here early to
drive to Cressing near Braintree where we hoped to find Trudy & Walt Brown. Yep, they‘re
here OK & in a new pub called the “Willows”, about 600 years old,
quaint, but nice and comfy.
We spent 3 wonderful days here, met 2 grandchildren
& enjoyed the pub. We learned to play darts the ole English way, met some
nice people here too. Poor Jim lost a dart game to me & me an amateur. He
was a good sport & wants to play again tomorrow. Chas. bought beer for all
the boys in the bar.
TUESDAY AUGUST 29, 1961 - CRESSING, ENGLAND
Really nice weather here.
I finally did a big wash & have all of Chas. shirts cleaned & ironed. We
went to Braintree shopping. Small town
nearby. We helped Trudy & Walt around the pub. Had dinner, tea, etc. Eat,
eat all the time here. Jim came back again & wanted to play darts with me.
I tried to put him off but he insisted & sure enough I beat him again. He
just doesn’t believe that I never played before. Then later we played doubles
& Trudy & I won from Jim & Walt. Then on dominoes, Jim & I won
from Chas. & Walt.
WEDNESDAY
AUGUST 30, 1961 - CRESSING, ENGLAND
We got up early, packed
& got breakfast & ready to leave. I took some shots of the gang &
said our goodbyes & we‘re soon on the road to So. Wales to see old George
Morgan. We drove the No. Ring Road around London, A40 through Oxford, Gloucester & then into Pontypool where we had a rough time getting a room. We finally got the
last one in town but never did get in touch with George. Met a nice student.
Lionel Bassel, who joined us & tried to help us find George. No luck so far.
We’ll try again in the AM. Beer & beddie.
THURSDAY AUGUST
31, 1961 – PONTYPOOL & NEWPORT,SOUTH WALES
Early this AM we made a
final stab to see George Morgan, our Ypres friend. So Chas. went to the police
& the captain assigned us a cadet to help find him & the way to his
house. This we did & here he was. He joined us for lunch & got us to
stay another night as there will be a mkt. day in Newport in the AM & we‘re
still looking for goodies. So today we drove just for the ride to Newport & Cardiff & back. Chas. took a nap & we watched TV in the
lounge. Also had tea in the lounge. Now it‘s evening. Chas. is up & we‘re going to decide what
to do with ourselves until bedtime. I wrote 5 letters today Chuck, Carole,
Bill, Jay & Claire Robertson... good day‘s work. The weather is superb
here. We watched TV for a while in the hotel, took a walk through town &
later returned to the hotel & had some beer & in walked Lionel Bassel,
our friend from last nite. Talked to a lot of people, had fun & to bed after
a few beers.
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 1, 1961 - PONTYPOOL & NEWPORT,SOUTH WALES
Got up early & George
was in the lobby waiting to take us to the market for antiques so off to Newport we went & we hit the jackpot. First of all George gave me
as a gift a very old sugar bowl, some horsebrasses & other trinkets,
plus 3 brass plaques, an ashtray for Chas. & new candlesticks & Welsh woman
thermometer. At the market he bought me 2 copper kettles, a spit arm & some
horse brasses (about £7 in
all). We hated to let him do it but he insisted. Chas. and I bought at Newport
market: horse brasses Pound 1/7,
3 milk jugs pounds 2, pewter stein 6/, copper water bottle 15/, samovar (copper) £3, 2 plates, 7 horns (copper) £13/10/0. George
drove out of town about 12 miles & we let him off at a bus station. It was
hard saying good -bye to the old fellow. He sure got a kick out of being with
us again. We drove on until we came to Chesterfield where we‘re spending the nite. Sheffield is about 12 miles away, next town.
SATURDAY
SEPTEMBER 2, 1961, - DONCASTER, ENGLAND
We’re heading north and
gradually to Glasgow & the boat home. It will be a few days yet. We stopped
in Doncaster & went to the public market & were able to pick up 1
copper kettle for 37/6, a good one & a good deal. There was nothing more of
interest. We drove on to Morpeth & got a nice room but
before we got here we stopped for gas right across from an antique shoppe where
I bought a brass water can & 2 pair brass candle holders. Also a good deal
pound 3/10 (Gateshead, England). Also
bought 2 bone china flower ornaments for gifts at home $1.00 each. I hate to
mention this but it’s been dark ever since we headed north & Scotland &
right now it’s thunder, rain & lightening. I’m delighted that we are off
the road & in where it’s warm. I suppose we’re heading for the same old cold
weather in Scotland. In Darlington I bought an all-around pale green dress (£5 reduced from £7/10).
Clothes are expensive here (£5/=$1200).
Saturday Eve. – Still heading
north on A1 & it won‘t be long
before we’re in Scotland. We spent a couple of hours in the hotel pub. Boy what
a bunch of characters, I never saw so much beer pumped in one eve, before all 3
bars were loaded. Guess we’ll sleep late in the AM. This is a nice room &
we might just as well enjoy it to the hilt since it’s Sunday & there will
be no antiques for sale anywhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment