| Before I start this section I have
realised that I missed something out. (Well! What a surprise.) At 17 I began a
27-year romance with the hair dye bottle. I became a redhead - every shade you
can imagine. |
| Also when I was 17 I joined
Civil Defence, the Dad's army of the time. We were trained to cope with
disasters and nuclear attack. I'm not sure what would have happened if a real
situation arose. I started off in the ambulance section. I was learning to
drive an ambulance when I went out that fateful night with Nancy and Marion. (I
never did learn how to drive it properly - my dad was the instructor and we
just argued through each lesson). |
| We three went to the
Nimbus, a small dance hall over Stones department store in Romford market.
During the interval on my third visit, this boy came over to me and started to
talk. Somewhere during the conversation I told him that I drove an ambulance.
He turned to his mate, Ted, and told him. That was at 8.45pm on March
17th.1958. I never did pass my test to drive the ambulance but I impressed that
boy enough to have been with him ever since. |
| There was a dance at the
Nimbus every Saturday. Both John and I went each week - separately. (What!
Spend another 2/6?). Marion, Nancy and I got to know a lot of other teenagers
there. Many of these came from Harold Hill as well and, as John was a bit
backward at coming forward, one of this crowd was the first boy I ever kissed.
Phil Gort took me 'home' by train, I hasten to add I lived NOWHERE near a
station , then a bus to Billy Martin's house where he called a taxi for me and
sent me home, alone . Over the next couple of years I had a great deal of fun
with Billy's crowd. I went out (?) with John for 5 1/2 years, during which time
he was completely unromantic. I thought that he was coming up for his 18th
birthday when I met him - I was devastated to find out that he was approaching
his SIXTEENTH. I thought it was terrible to go out with someone younger but I
was well and truly hooked on him. |
| Let me explain
"unromantic". He would not turn up on various occasions, was not averse to
getting a mate to take me home, never bought me anything or said anything
really romantic. I was still determined to stick with him. On his 16th birthday
he could ride his motorbike on the roads. I really liked travelling pillion.
After he passed his test, my Dad said I wasn't to go on the bike until he had
been assured that John was a good rider. Off they went: Dad gave us his
approval - he never did find out that I had been riding pillion even before
John's test. (Totally illegal! Do not copy this idea!). |
| After 10 months John
decided to call it a day. I was so unhappy but had to accept it; at the same
time I made my mind up to keep in contact. I used to arrange something at least
every six weeks. I managed this for almost two years. When I was 18 I went on
my first holiday (the only time that I had been on "holiday" before was in
1954, with my mum, Nan and brother, on Canvey Island. This was the year after
the floods and we lasted three days.) I went to Caister holiday camp with Val
and two other girls. It cost the princely sum of £8.10/- ; full board for
a week. We had to get there by train and coach. I had a smashing time. |
| Although I was
set on John I still went on the odd (sometimes very odd) date. At Caister I met
Ron McNamara. He is etched into my memory for one reason - his job. He was an
'arf-sole wiper ! That really WAS his occupation; actually I'll admit that it
should be spelt half sole but the H wasn't pronounced. (He helped to make men's
shoes) One fine day in 1959 Marion, Nancy and I went to Southend for some fun.
We wore tight, white, button through skirts and cotton blazers (jacket). The
only individual feature was the colour of our blazers - 1 red, 1 green and 1
turquoise. We thought we were the bees knees! We went into a recording booth
that was situated along the Front and 'cut' a record- "Lollipop" a pop song of
the time sung by the Mudlarks. I should like to hear our record again but have
no idea where it went. |
| Southend was very different
then - many features have disappeared - the boating pool, the go-cart track etc
have long since gone. The Kursal had been a famous amusement park for many
years. My mum and dad had been there before the war. This is where we 3 landed
up that day. We went onto the Rotor. This was a huge cylinder that spun very,
very quickly and pinned anyone in it to the wall. As it got faster the buttons
popped of my skirt - 1, 2, 3 - until there was just one holding it up. Until
the Rotor stopped I was unable to do anything. The rest of the day was spent
with safety pins holding my skirt together. We met 4 boys (yes, FOUR - one had
to be the driver!) and all seven of us piled into a very old car. Off we went
and finally made it home. I realise now that this was a dead, dodgy thing to go
but it was fun then! |
| By March, 1960, I (and most
of the others on my table) had had enough of the Provident. Jobs were
plentiful; I gave my notice in and went to a recruitment agency. A prospective
employer rang whilst I was filling in my details - I was sent for an interview
with that caller. Thus began almost five, very happy, years working for S. R.
Scott, Stratten. Stockbrokers. I earned six pounds a week to start with, 10/-
less than I was earning at the Provident by then. I was keeping accounts on
"jobbers ledgers" I was in my element; the books had to be balanced every two
weeks. Working with figures was sheer delight. |
| I worked in Draper's
Gardens, Throgmorton Avenue, in a Victorian building with Victorian furniture.
When Drapers Gardens was demolished the Nat West Building replaced it. Liane's
husband, Mark, worked there after they were married. There were 20 people
working at Scott,Stratten, including the five partners. The day began at
9.30a.m. and finished when the manager said so. This was usually about five
o'clock but sometimes earlier. If we worked past 5. 30 it was classed as
overtime. |
| When Christmas came around
in 1960, two of the staff went to the pub on the corner and didn't come back.
So two more were sent to get them - they didn't return. This continued until 12
rather drunken members of Scott Stratten were in the Throgmorton Arms. We were
banned from going out all together from then on! When the temperature reached
65 F. the partners would pay for everyone to have icecream. |
| In August of
1961 the office moved into Moorhouse, the first skyscraper around. It seemed
enormous then - all 13 stories of it. Most of the staff helped with the move
that Saturday; I wore trousers, a fact that sticks in my mind. No female EVER
wore trousers for work, neither did she ever go bare legged. Stockings and
suspenders were everyday wear - I found them very uncomfortable. On the fashion
front, Mods and Rockers were in full swing - usually against each other. Mods
were very smart, wore Italian suits, neat hair and often rode scooters (Vespas
or Lambrettas) Rockers, on the other hand, wore bikers' clothes, had greasy
hair and rode motorbikes. Bank holidays saw many big fights between rival
factions. Not everyone who wore mod or rocker gear was trouble, just some. I
remember buying a hobble skirt, a straight skirt with a tight band around the
bottom. Mine was so tight that I couldn't bend my knees; the only way I could
board the bus was by hanging onto the pole and heaving myself onto the
platform. |
| Bouffant hairdos were the
thing. Hair was backcombed until it almost stood on end. When I had my hair
set, it meant hard plastic rollers, hair dried, brushed, lacquered and then
sleeping(?) without getting it messed up. Cost of this torture - 7/6d. (371/2p)
Sleeping with the rollers IN was an alternative. Agony! Makeup was definitely
NOT understated. I wore thick eyeliner that flicked up from the corners,
sometimes TWICE like Neffertiti. I remember that when mascara with fibres to
thicken it came on to the market, I bought one at lunchtime and used it all up
by the time I went home. I could hardly open my eyes. |
| Right, back to everyday
living. In 1960 I was bridesmaid at Marion's wedding. Needless to say, John
turned up extremely late, by which time I was enjoying myself with the best
man. (Whose girlfriend was none too happy). I think that John was a bit
surprised - something made him say "see you on Tuesday". He had never made a
definite date before. Life continued much the same as before except I didn't
have to find excuses to see him. We got engaged in August 1961 - yet other
romantic occasion. We sat in the van that John used for work, in Romford town
hall car park, on market day, at lunchtime. He gave me my ring and that was
that. We went to Val's wedding in March 1962 and Ted and Kath's the following
week. John was best man at this one, I'm happy to say that they are still
married and remain our friends. I had bought a white "bucket" hat for these
weddings; unfortunately, when I got to Val's, I discovered that my bouffant
hairstyle was to big to put it on. |
| When John was almost 21 we
began to look for a house to buy. Our limit was £3,100. Only John's wages
were considered when getting a mortgage; women still didn't count for much.
There was very little around Romford that was worth buying, so we decided to
buy a place in Hullbridge, where Val was living. We bought a chalet in Ashdene
Close for £3,275 - well over our limit. Property prices rose by £25
a time. If we had wanted a coloured bath suite (pink, blue, yellow) it would
have cost an extra £28; we had white. Hullbridge was still mostly fields,
we had bought a house that wouldn't be ready for almost a year; in actual fact,
we had bought a drawing of our house. |
| THE ONLY THING LEFT TO DO WAS 'GET
MARRIED' |
|
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