A 1960s Childhood in Northampton – Part 5 School Days (Senior School)

The Front Door 44 Derngate

Main school finally released us from the dreaded hats! It was a big change for us and the school buildings felt very big and confusing. Through the lower part of the school there were two forms per year group with about twenty five pupils in each form, but when we got to main school there were three forms per year group with about thirty pupils in each form. Our numbers were swelled by pupils from county schools who had passed their eleven plus exam and gained a place at the school under the government direct grant scheme. Much to my relief I was not able to sit the eleven plus because I lived in the borough, I don’t know if the borough had already abandoned the eleven plus or if those who passed were sent to a different school, but only county pupils came to our school.

Platform shoes were in fashion at that time and I’d had my first pair of shoes with a (very small) platform the previous year when I was a Towerfield pupil. I had a new pair of shoes for the start of the new term in main school, they had a slightly higher platform and I was very pleased with them but I was less pleased with the rest of my uniform. My mum had made sure that I had everything I needed for school; during the holidays we’d made our usual trip to Sanderson’s and I had endured the usual ordeal of trying on countless garments to ensure that I had sufficient room for growth.  I had two new skirts, white blouses, two jumpers, a new blazer and a new winter coat as well as an aertex shirt, wrap over skirt and a track suit for PE, all with neatly sewn name tags. At the time I had no idea how expensive the uniform must have been or how much time it must have taken my mum to sew all those name tags into my clothes, I must have seemed so ungrateful.  When the term started one of the new girls called Sally had a lovely fashionable skirt with a hemline a couple of inches below the knee.  I longed to have a skirt like hers, but I knew that it would be ages before I grew out of my new skirts. I had to wait a whole year before I was allowed to buy a more fashionable skirt for school. 

Dunlop Blue Flash

Slide Rule

As well as the new items of uniform, my kit list included a hockey stick, hockey boots and a tennis racket (with cover and press), so after our trip to Sanderson’s we went to Collins Sports shop in Gold Street to buy the sports equipment. I wonder if my mum knew what a waste of money they would prove to be, I was absolutely useless at tennis and I detested hockey. There was one other item of essential equipment that we had to buy, a slide rule for maths lessons. It was very well made and it came in a rigid plastic case. I liked maths a lot better than sport and I became quite fond of my slide rule.

The School Gates

Each morning we would enter the school through the big blue double gates on Derngate and walk down the ramp into the cloakrooms which seemed to be under the school. Mr Powell who taught Biology was my Upper Third teacher; our classroom was the Biology Lab at the top of the science block which was a modern building on the Albion Place side of the school grounds. At the back of the room there were glass fronted cabinets with assorted specimens preserved in jars. We got plenty of exercise going up and down stairs and walking to and from the various school buildings for our lessons, but it wasn’t a hardship we just got on with it. We had so much to learn, there were stairs for going up and not down and vice versa, there were doors which we were not allowed to use and there was a lawn which we were forbidden to walk on, but we soon got used to the school routines. Like most pupils I was afraid of Miss Lightburn our headmistress, and in awe of her deputy Miss Harrison, but I can honestly say that I only remember one teacher being unkind and unfair, and she didn’t last very long.

The School Hall

We had prayers every morning in the assembly hall; it was a very formal event. When we had all filed into the hall Miss Lightburn entered through the glass doors at the back of the hall and walked briskly to the stage with the head girl trotting along behind her. We usually began with a hymn, my favourites were ‘Oh Jesus I have promised’ and ‘When a knight won his spurs in the stories of old’. Then there would be a Bible reading a few words from Miss Lightburn and a prayer. At that point the glass doors at the back would be opened and the late comers would file in (trying not to notice Miss Lightburn’s disapproving stare) before the notices were read. 

In the Lower Fourth we discovered the pleasures of Latin with Mr McNicholas, he was as tall as Mr Powell was short, and he was exceptionally clever, I liked him but I wasn’t so sure about Latin. The stories about Caecilius and his family in our Latin text books didn’t really interest me, they seemed to be mostly about slave girls, werewolves and a dog called Cerberus. The Lower Forth also brought us the joys of Domestic Science lessons, definitely not my favourite part of the week. The Domestic Science Room was below the Art Room in the Cripps Block - a modern uninspiring building in the lower part of the school grounds near Victoria Promenade. It was torture to me to be so close to the Art Room as I would much rather have been in an art lesson. Domestic Science was unbelievably boring and when we were allowed to cook we were forced to make things that we would never eat and never cook again. One of the first things we cooked was Eggs Mornay, my family were used to good plain food, not ‘messes up stuff’ as my grandmother would have called it. I also recall making lemon curd; I have never made it again since then. Thankfully we made choices about our O Level subjects at the end of the Lower Forth and I dropped my least favourite subjects, Chemistry and Domestic Science. Oddly I quite liked Physics and Biology but I hated Chemistry.

The back of 44 Derngate

My Upper Fourth classroom was the Geography room, a bright airy room in the main school building with French doors leading out to the garden. I remember that one day I accidentally stapled my thumb during a Geography lesson, but I was so afraid of Mrs Durham our Geography teacher that I chose to suffer in silence with the staple stuck in my thumb rather than admit that I had been fiddling with my stapler. I later found that Mrs Durham had a very kind heart. 

It was during our Upper Forth year that some of the girls began to have boyfriends and to go to discos. Looking back I think some of the girls who had come from mixed primary schools were a lot more comfortable with boys than those of us who had attended a single sex school since we were four years old. I had no time for boys, when I wasn’t at school I spent most of my time riding and taking care of my horse. I couldn’t see why some of my friends found scruffy lads in smelly Afghan coats attractive - I had a keen sense of smell and those coats stank, especially if it had been raining  

The Lower Fifth year was wonderful, we had the cellar classroom, I loved that room, it was tucked away beyond our cloakrooms at the end of a gloomy corridor, it felt almost dungeon like in the corridor, but the classroom felt special, it was our room tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the school and no one came to bother us. Mrs Haynes was our class teacher, she taught one of the less able French groups and I made quite sure that I got into her group and stayed there, she was a fantastic teacher. Mrs Vestergaard who was head of French, taught me for the first two years in main school. She was a very elegant woman and I don’t recall her ever shouting at us or telling us off sternly, but for some reason I found her terrifying, I didn’t enjoy being in her French group and I was much happier when I was moved into the other group.

Fiona, me, Fiona and Caroline

The uniform changed slightly at the start of the Lower Fifth year, we kept our navy skirts but our ties and white shirts gave way to open neck blue blouses worn with blue jumpers. We also had very nice winter coats. I was pleased by the change, but the blouse (which had to be bought from Sandersons) proved very challenging to wear. The blouse had a stiff collar which was not intended to be worn open without a tie and my short neck made matters worse, it was a constant battle to prevent the collar from touching my ears!

I was sad to leave Mrs Haynes and our cellar classroom, but the Upper Fifth year, spent in one of the mobile classrooms with Miss Williams was a good experience. The mobile classrooms were fairly new and very pleasant, tucked away in the beautiful school grounds. I had known Miss Williams since kindergarten, but I only found out she was human when she was my form teacher - she was superb. She was a PE teacher with a boundless enthusiasm for sport (which didn’t endear her to me) but she was also a very good geography teacher, I enjoyed her lessons and I can still remember many of the mnemonics that she taught us to help us to remember important information.

I did not enjoy gym and dance lessons because even in the senior part of the school we had to wear horrible aertex blouses and navy blue knickers, which made me feel very exposed. For hockey, netball, tennis and other outdoor games we wore short wrap over skirts. Our playing fields were at the bottom of Church Way so we were taken there by coach, for hockey in the winter months and athletics in the summer. It is hard to choose which I liked least! The worst part of all was that we had to change on the coach in order to save time, I am sure such things would not be allowed these days. Every item of clothing and PE kit had to be named with an embroidered name tape sewn on neatly – a very time consuming job. I don’t remember this being checked at Spring Hill but further up the school, we had regular inspections to ensure that all our clothing was labelled.

It is hard to say that I had a favourite teacher, because there were a number of interesting and inspirational people at the school. I still remember many of my teachers with affection and gratitude. The unforgettable Mr Fiddes taught art, he was a very good teacher, I loved his lessons and I realise now that as well as sharing very sound advice, he taught us to think for ourselves and to have the confidence to express our opinions.  Miss Elliott-Binns who taught Divinity (and so much more!) was an amazing lady, she never shied away from difficult questions and her answers showed surprising insight and understanding. I remember Father Fred Baker; he was the school chaplain and Rector of St Edmunds church. He used to take us for very occasional lessons, I am not sure what for, but I remember he told good jokes and could stand on his head. I remember Miss Smith who taught English (and despaired of my spelling) because she introduced us to poets and authors that I still enjoy reading, John Betjeman, Ted Hughes, James Kirkup, Charles Causley, Saki, E M Forster, Katherine Mansfield, D.H. Lawrence and many others.

I have so many memories of school life. On Ascension Day we all walked to All Saints Church for a special service which always included the hymn 'Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of Creation'. Every year I seemed to end up sitting behind a pillar! We had the Gift Service before Christmas when we all brought toys. For reasons that were never clear to me we always sang 'O Come all Ye Faithful' in Latin. When the weather was too bad for us to go outside for games we sometimes played French cricket in the hall and at the end of term games lessons were abandoned in favour of 'shipwreck’ in the gym. Another end of term ritual was cleaning our desks, we had to bring in our own polish and a duster. Perhaps my best memories are of ordinary days, sitting in the area outside the gym enjoying a hot chocolate from the drinks machine on a cold day and sitting in a shady spot in the garden on a hot summer day. In my Upper Fifth Year taking my turn to run the Spine and Jacket book shop at lunchtimes (under the watchful eye of Mrs Tresias). Most of all I remember the people, inspirational teachers, the gardener who kept the grounds looking beautiful, and my friends. 

The school grounds c1920s were little changed in 1970s

Derngate was a happy, friendly place, Mr Fiddes once described it as an ivory tower and of course he was right, but I am grateful for those years. For me school was a safe, protected and predictable environment at a time when my home life was dominated by worry and uncertainty. A lot was expected of us but I think that was a good thing for me, I probably needed to be pushed in order to do my best, but school wasn’t just about results. I did better than anyone expected in my exams but more importantly I left school with a wealth of poetry in my head, passion for history, a love of art, a desire to read and a need to write, and all those things have remained with me ever since.

My Life Story by Colin Lloyd - Part 5

Before I start on my next part, I would like to mention that Frank, Mary (Northampton Past admin) and I went out photographing all the newsagents in the villages that I delivered to and out of 14 only 4 were still trading. Virtually all the others have been converted into private houses. At East Haddon there is no shop at all now and their nearest shop is Ravensthorpe. When we got to Long Buckby I had quite a shock as the newsagents shop hasn’t been altered since I used to deliver there in the 1970's.

In 1988 I took Margaret, her Mum and my wife Betty to Brighton to the Butlins Hotel for a week’s holiday. Little did I realise that three years later Margaret and I would marry. When I went to pick them up they had ordered a breakfast for me at the hotel. I didn't tell them I had just eaten one at a cafe around the corner from the hotel, so I ate that one as well. As we were about to leave, an old gentleman came and asked me if I knew the way out of Brighton I asked him where he was going and he said Nottingham. I told him to follow me to the M1 as I was going through London because of the roadworks on the M25. I told him not to "jump" any lights as I would keep sight of him in my mirrors. When we arrived at the services on the M1 he told me that it had been the experience of a life time.

Now as I said I had eight weeks holiday and after three weeks I decided to look for another job so I applied for a job with Compass Security at British Timken and was accepted. It turned out to be quite interesting. During the day most of our time was spent in the gate house but after 4.30 in the afternoon we took over the switchboard and we were receiving calls from all over the world. At night we did patrols both inside and outside the building. It seemed rather strange patrolling inside the factory when people were working. We also had to check on the social club and make sure everything was locked up and secure. There were two gatehouses, one at the main entrance where the workers went in and out of the factory and the other was nearer to Bants Lane. That was where lorries had to go to be weighed.

Great Russell Street

Compass also had security contract with the Chronicle and Echo. This was a job that no one seemed to want because it was said to be too boring, so I volunteered. Okay, there was not much to do during the day except opening the side gates for the lorries to deliver the reels of paper and then to let them out through the top gates in Great Russell St. At night, when everyone had finished, I would go to the library and get a bound volume of the Northampton Independent. They had all of them in yearly volumes from the early 1900's I would take it down to the gatehouse and read through it. If I found anything of interest, I would turn the corner of the page down and then, at about four in the morning, I would go and photocopy it. By the time I had finished I had six albums full of photographs of old Northampton. That is how I became interested in the history of Northampton yet while I was at school I hated history. When Alan Burnham brought out his first books of Northampton Past, I was fortunate, in as much as I managed to get him to sign them for me

By this time my wife had become more difficult to live with. She was causing trouble with the neighbours and I was being left to sort things out and this is how I became involved with Margaret, who was to become my third wife.

Manfield Hospital

One day I had a phone call from my wife to say that Margaret's mum had fallen off the front doorstep. As Margaret was working at Plessey at the time, I rang the company and explained what had happened. She came home and we subsequently discovered that her mother had broken her hip and had been taken to hospital. She was later transferred to Manfield Hospital.

By this time things were getting worse at home, my wife wouldn’t clean the house and after several arguments between us, she took an overdose and was taken to hospital. After she was discharged, she went to the doctors surgery where she was given her some tablets. I came home from work one particular Friday evening and she had vanished, not for the first time. I rang my daughter Jennifer in tears, not knowing which way to turn. She told me to pack some clothes and to get over to Sawston, where she was living. As I was packing my wife came in and asked what was I doing. I told her I had had enough and I was going to leave her.

Before I left, I went over and told Margaret what was happening and told her that I would ring her. I eventually arrived at Jennifer's at about eight thirty. Although my wife would not clean the house, she would do anything to help anyone, for example when my mother was alive, she would visit her at home, in Hardingstone, at least twice a week even in the snow. If mum needed anything, she would go into town to get it. I was very grateful for this.

As it was Friday night when I arrived at my daughter’s house, I rang the Chronicle & Echo the following morning and explained the situation I was in. At lunchtime, I received a phone call from the Chronicle saying my manager would ring me on Monday.

On the Sunday, I decided to go over and pick up the remainder of my clothes. I took my grandson Aron with me as I knew my wife would not cause a scene with him there. After I had loaded up the car she asked if we wanted to stay but I said Aron was tired and I would take him home. This was a lie, as I had arranged to meet Margaret at Manfield Hospital and after visiting her mum she would come over and meet Jennifer. Whilst we were at the hospital, the other ladies in mum's ward thought the world of Aron and really made a fuss of him. After Jennifer had met Margaret I drove her back to Northampton before returning to Sawston.

It was about ten o’clock one Monday morning when I received a telephone call from the manager of a company named Compass, offering me a post at Ciba Geigy at Whittlesford, which was only a fifteen minutes drive from Sawston. I accepted the offer. It was situated at Junction 9 of the M11, opposite Duxford airfield and museum. This was a very interesting job, gatehouse duties during the day and patrolling the premises through the night. There were always two of us on duty at night and four during the day, due to the volume of traffic. At night I used to take Jennifer's black Labrador with me, which I always took on the outdoor patrols with me.

When there was a show on at Duxford Air Museum, if we were fortunate enough to be working on the day shift, we were often able to watch the various aircraft practising. It was great to see the vintage aircraft in flight.

Jennifer was expecting her second child when I arrived and on the eighteenth she went into labour. While her husband was taking her to hospital, I took Aron over to see friends at Cambridge.

Duke Street

Luke was born on the nineteenth and we went to see them. When we arrived the sister said we could not go in but I told another white lie saying I had driven all the way from Northampton and had to be back for six o'clock to start work she relented and let us in. Back in Northampton, Margaret's mum stayed in hospital for three months and when she came out, they moved from Salcey Street to a two bedroom flat in Duke Street, opposite to where I lived.

In March I decided to move back to Northampton and managed to get a bed sit in Charles Street, just above where Margaret and her mother lived so spent most of my time with them only going back to my bedsit to sleep while I continued to work at the Chronicle and Echo

One afternoon when I was in their flat, I looked out of the window and could see thick black smoke. My first thoughts were that it was the Chronicle & Echo. I went there as quickly as I could and discovered that it wasn't the Chron. While I was there, the phone rang and it was one of the reporters asking if we knew where the fire was. I dashed up onto the roof and I could see that it was coming firm the Brackmills area. I went back downstairs and phoned the reporter to tell him. It turned out that the fire was at British Pepper and Spice

On the 25th of May 1989 my brother Malcolm became Mayor of Northampton and I received an invitation (sorry summons) to attend the annual Mayor Making Ceremony at 11 am at the Guildhall. As I stated before, my parents had adopted Malcolm when he was eight years old. In his speech he said he wished they could have been there to see him but unfortunately they had died before the occasion. I felt very proud.

By this time Margaret’s Mum was in a wheel chair but would not go out in it in case people stared at her. On Carnival Day I said I would take her down to the Savoy to watch it and she would see Malcolm. She reluctantly agreed and off we went as the Carnival went past she said he waved to me but I knew he was waving to everyone. Whilst we were there Margaret's brother and his wife came down and after the carnival had passed by, we all went home for tea.

The Garibaldi

After we had finished our tea, I offered to take Mum around town centre that Sunday as it wouldn't be crowded and she could have a look round, as she hadn't been to town for some time. On the day, we went to the market and back up Abington Street. I thought it would probably take about an hour but she wanted to look in every shop and it finished up taking two hours. On the way home we went into the Garibaldi in Balliff Street, as I had arranged to meet Margaret there at about eight o'clock. There was young girl in there who was also in a wheelchair and mum really enjoyed herself. Once she had got used to going out in the wheelchair we couldn't keep her in.

Chronicle and Echo

I left the Chronicle & Echo in the early 1990 when they decided to reduce our wages. I went to G M Lighting as a security guard but was there for only 3 months before I applied for a job as gatehouse security at M F I. for me, it turned out to be a very good move. The lorry drivers from France used to bring in duty free beer and brandy which was very helpful, to say the least.

In the meantime, while Malcolm was The Mayor, Princess Diana came to Northampton to receive the Freedom of the Borough. After first attending a service at St Sepulchres Church, they then went on to the Guildhall where she received the Freedom of the Borough Scroll and then took the salute at a march past. I asked Malcolm what she said to him , He said when they came out of the church she said "isn't that church cold"

Margaret and I never went out without taking Mum with us. One day we went to Bognor Regis to visit my aunt. On the way back Mum wanted to go to the loo so I drove into Newbury and found a pub. I went in and explained our situation and they were very obliging. I have never seen a person on a Zimmer Frame run so fast but she made it ok.

Another time, we went to see Jennifer's husband's family who lived in Mablethorpe. We took our next door neighbour Phyllis and her dog Tina. During the journey home, as we were approaching Market Deeping Mum, Phyllis and Tina were asleep in the back of the car. We came to a level crossing which I passed over a little on the fast side which made the car bounce a bit. This made all of them jump, including the dog but they were ok.

Phyllis was a brilliant neighbour. If ever Margaret and I wanted to go out she would come and keep Mum company. We usually went out for a meal on Saturday evening and we always took Phyllis with us.

One New Years Eve we went over to the Locks Pub at Welton where we were enjoyed ourselves enormously. We had taken Mum with us and I expected her to get a bit tired, so about 1am I asked her if she wanted to go home. Her reply was somewhat surprising as she said "no I’m enjoying myself". We eventually managed to drag her away at three o'clock in the morning...

Christmas at M F I meant that we had Christmas dinner served to us by management which was always very enjoyable.

At Mum's, we inevitably had all the family round for a party.

Before going into my next part I must mention the wild life I used to see. At G M Lighting, whilst watching cctv during the night, we would see foxes, hares, and rabbits but it was at M F I that I saw the best, all kinds of birds, bluetits, chaffinches and the like. We used to put nuts out for them and the squirrels used to come and steal them so we eventually put bowls of nuts near to the gatehouse where we could sit and watch them enjoy themselves.

By the end of 1990, Margaret and I had decided to get married and we set the date for early 1991. We were married at the Guildhall on the 21st January, with my brother and Margaret's sister as witnesses. All my family attended including my granddaughter Angie, who was in foster care. Her foster mother accompanied her. The only one not there was my middle daughter Denise. She had married my ex wife's brother and I gave her away but it was awkward, as her mother was there and I had to sit next to her at the reception. We didn't speak and after the toasts I went to the other end of the room to get away. We sent them an invitation to our wedding but they didn't reply and I haven't seen her since their wedding. When we came out of the Guildhall the bells were ringing at All Saints so for us, that made the day.

The reception was held at the Polish Club in Craven Street. One of our neighbours did the buffet and also made the cake. When we arrived, the decorations were still in place from the Polish New Year celebrations, so that really made it look great. After the reception mum went to stay with Margaret's sister for the night whilst Margaret and I spent the night in a hotel
After settling in at the hotel, we went for a meal at the Locks Pub at Welton. One of the barmaids there had attended our wedding and taken some photographs and when we arrived they were in an album with a miniature wedding cake and a bottle of wine so that made the event even more special.

Margaret's brother Derek was concerned, before we got married, that we would put Mum in a home but we were able to assure him that we were going to look after her thus putting his mind at rest.

The same year, Margaret's niece Michelle got married at Buckingham. We attended the wedding along with Mum. The bridesmaids wore yellow and Michelle's sister, Kerry, was chief bridesmaid and as she stood outside the church on the grass she said" I feel like a bloody daffodil".

In July we decided to take Mum on holiday and decided to go to Newquay in Cornwall We took the country route and stopped at the Little Chef at Taunton Dene for the night so as to break the journey for Mum. The staff there told us about a good pub which was nearly five miles from the Little Chef, called the White Swan. It was very good and they made us very welcome. The following morning we left Taunton at about nine thirty and arrived at our destination at about half past one. Our hotel in Newquay was called the Kilbernie and as supper wasn't until 7:00pm, we decided to have some sandwiches and a drink before we unpacked and got settled in.

We went for a walk along the cliffs and Mum seemed to be really enjoying herself. The hotel dining room was amazing with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and the food was very good too. By the time we had finished our meal mother was feeling tired so I waited in the bar while Margaret put her to bed and then joined me down stairs for a drink. That was our first night.

In the bedroom was a sign saying please do not feed the seagulls as our room over looked the cliffs. The following morning there was a tap tap on the window and when I drew the curtain there was a seagull sitting on the sill. Margaret had some biscuits so she broke some and fed the bird and after that it was back every morning at the same time.

Every night except Saturdays the hotel had live entertainment which included line dancing.

On Sunday we decided to go for a walk around the town as we had never been there before. Our stroll meant that we had a good look round the town centre before we went down to the harbour. It was beautiful and very peaceful. We found somewhere to have a lunchtime snack and by about two o'clock, as mum was feeling tired, we went back to the hotel so she could have a rest before dinner. Margaret and I had a drink in the bar.

That Monday, we decided to take Mum to the zoo. When we arrived there I asked for 2 adults and a pensioner and the lady said wheel chair and pushers were admitted to the zoo free of charge. So I asked for 2 adults she told me that I was a wheelchair pusher so only Margaret had to pay. After leaving the zoo we went for a walk around the flower gardens, Mum loved that.

During the week we traveled all around the area, Mevagissy, Polperro and Fowey. It nearly broke my back pushing mother up the hill in Fowey.

One day we decided to visit the miniature village just outside Newquay. When we got there we paid full price for us and Mum got in half price. The following day we went to St Agnes where there was another miniature village. As we had been given vouchers to get in half price, it turned out that Mum got in for nothing and we only had to pay half price for Margaret and me.

We also went to Peranporth on the way back from St Agnes and I took Mum down on to the sand. We had only been there for a little while when I suddenly realised I was getting stuck luckily another gentleman was there and he helped me to pull Mum out.

After we left Newquay, to come home, we stopped at Taunton again and went to the same pub we had visited the week before.

In 1991 we all went up to my granddaughter who was in care at the time. And we also went down to the New Forest so mother could see the ponies and then went down to Milford on sea so she could see the Needles on the Isle of Wight. We were quite busy throughout 1991 the pub at Welton had closed so for our meals out, we decided to try the Wharf at Bugbrooke. Mother really liked it there.

On Sunday afternoons I used to take Mum and Uncle Bill out for a ride whilst Aunty Phyllis used to walk across the Racecourse to our flat and help Margaret get the tea ready. Now Uncle Bill had only seen hayricks before and he could not understand why they were wrapped in plastic. One Sunday, after we had just left Leamington Spa, we came up a hill and round a roundabout, there was a cafe. I pulled in and went inside to order and explained about mum and uncle and, bless her, the waitress brought our order out on a tray, complete silver service, it was a very nice touch.

One day we decided to take mother up to Matlock, in Derbyshire, so she could see all the scenery. Unfortunately she fell asleep and when we got to Matlock, I parked up and Mum woke up and asked "what god forsaken hole is this" but when we took her into town she brightened up, looking in the shops and walking by the river where we found a cafe and had a bite to eat.

Another laugh we had was when Mum's granddaughter Carol brought her son Scott down, he was only five years old. He went under the chair to stroke the cat and it scratched him. He went and told his Mum, came back, bent down and said "I'm bringing my gun and going to shoot your head off".

Christmas we took Mum over to the Wharf for Christmas dinner it was beautifully set out with all the trimmings including crackers; she was well pleased. On Mother's Day we decided to take Mum over to the Wharf and we invited an old gentleman who lived in the same block of flats he was 99 years old. He brought Mum a box of chocolates. When we arrived there was a party going on for an old lady. After we had our meal Frank went over and asked how old she was, they told him she was 94 and he said you are only a spring chicken they asked me how old he was and were surprised when I told them he was 99.

He was still swimming at the age of eighty and Anglia News came down and filmed him .They gave him a video of it and as he didn't have a video player so he came in to watch it. He celebrated his 100th birthday on 27th Jan 1993, the day Margaret's mother died. All the cobblers team came to see him when he was in St Edmund's Hospital as he once played for them, the year, I do not know!

We took my Mum to Whipsnade zoo and also down to Bognor Regis to see my Aunt Gladys in 1992.

We went down to Newquay again in 1992 but mother slipped in the bathroom at the Little Chef and was in so much pain they sent for the doctor he said we should get her home and get her x-rayed so we had to cancel the holiday. When we got home it revealed she had chipped her coxis bone.

That same year, Mum went to the toilet and slipped over, resulting in the zimmer frame jamming against the door so I couldn't open it. I had to call the fire brigade and when they came, they thought they would have to take the door off the hinges but then one of them, who was quite a bit smaller than the others said that he thought he could get through the bathroom window, which he did He was, though, worried about the mud down the wall but I told him that the cat made more mess coming in and out. Mum was taken for a check up and everything was fine.

Also Margaret developed C.T.S. (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) in her right hand and when we went to the doctor he told her that the waiting list for an operation was about a year. As I was working for M F I, I had medical insurance with H S A (a private medical company) so I told him to go through that company. We saw the consultant on the following Thursday and she had the operation on the Monday at St Matthews Nursing Home. When I went to pick her up the first thing she wanted was a cigarette and by the time she got home she had got through three. As it was her right hand she could not do very much for herself, so I helped out all I could. This went on for about six weeks but I didn't mind.

In the meantime, Margaret's Mum had been getting weaker and had to go to hospital twice. The second time was after she caught her heel and after being home for a week it began to go sceptic. At our doctors surgery there was a certain doctor who kept saying she should be in a home. One night, I had to call out the doctor and made it quite clear that we did not want this particular doctor to call on her. Within two days we received a letter from the surgery informing us that we had been removed from their list.

We enrolled with Dr Woolmore in Billing Road who surprisingly was the same doctor who had dealt with my children when we lived in Edith St. It wasn't too long before we had to call him out to see Mother. As soon as he had examined her, he sent for a district nurse who turned up the following morning. When the nurse saw mother he said "I'll be back in an hour" and when he came back he had with him a special mattress for mum. He also arranged for us to see a social worker so that we could get respite care. This meant that Mother went to Collingtree Nursing Home for what we thought would be for about two weeks. Mum always said that it was me that put her in there and sometimes she would not talk to me. When this happened I would wander off and talk to some of the other residents but she always got Margaret to fetch me back. We went to have Christmas dinner with her but she kept falling asleep.

On New Year’s Eve Dr. Woolemoore was called and he immediately ordered her to hospital. Gangrene had set in and on the same night her leg was amputated. Margaret and her Sister stayed with her all day. When she came to in the morning, she was delirious telling Margaret and me to go to school.
She returned to Collingtree but was getting weaker Margaret and her brother Derek took it in turns staying all day and all night.

I was at work when one of the security team came to tell me to go to Collingtree but when I arrived there Mum had passed away. The date was 27th January 1993. When we got home I told the family I would do the running round for them. The funeral was at St Sepulchres and burial at Kingsthorpe Cemetery.

So ended two and a half years of happiness and sadness...

My Life Story By Colin Lloyd - Part 1

The early years, from birth, to the age of eleven.

I was born on the 1st of March 1936, my parents were Arthur and Beatrice Lloyd who were married in 1926.

The wedding of Arthur and Beatrice Lloyd, 1926.

Beatrice with Colin

I was baptised at St Sepulchre’s Church and as a baby we first lived in Hunter Street. I do not remember much about that but mum told me we had a dog that slept under the pram and would not let anyone near me.
My memories really start when we moved to number 57 Raeburn Rd. Up to the start of the war we always used to go to Ramsgate for our holidays and mum told me that one year we were sitting by the paddling pool when mum went to get some ice cream, she told dad to watch me, he did but I fell into the pool! When mum came back she had to take me back to the digs and get clean clothes. I also remember getting sun burnt and getting covered in calamine lotion.

Dad joined the army in 1939 and was stationed near Nottingham and then to Derby.

For the first three years we decided to take in evacuees, the first couple were blind but I don't remember much about them. The next evacuee called Dennis, I had a tricycle and he used to ride on the bar at the back. Dad had an allotment in Kingsthorpe Grove and we used to cut through the field which is now Fairway to get to it. One day as we were going through I saw two parachutes coming down. Two tiger moths had collided, Dennis jumped onto the back and we went up to Bective School where one of them had crashed into the playground. We did stay in touch and after the war, Dennis used to come down on holidays.

Arthur Lloyd

When dad moved to Derby he met a family that used to put us up so we could spend time with him. They had a chalet at Langley Mill where we used to go and go into the woods to see the charcoal makers. Dad was a lovely cook; his trifles were something to die for.
Before I start on my school days I would like to say something about my grandparents, mum's mum was Edith Horton and her dad was George Horton. George was born in 1878 and Edith was born in 1887. When World War 1 broke out George volunteered and joined the 7th battalion Northamptonshire Regiment and served in Flanders and France. 

George and Edith Horton

He sent quite a few lace postcards to grandma and his son, my Uncle Bill. I now have these in an album & the medals he received are now in Abington Park museum. He was shot in the hand and he left the army in 1920.In 1927 whilst working on a roof he fell and died from a fractured skull. I have his death certificate and the compensation my grandma received.

I was also page boy to both my uncle and mum's sister Gladys.

School days

I started at Raeburn Road primary; I didn't stay there long because I was bullied, not by other children but by a certain teacher. I then went to Notre Dame in Abington Street until I was eight. Whilst I was there I made friends with a girl whose parents owned Franklins Gardens Hotel and I often went down there with her. They had a monkey in the kitchen in a cage also there was a swimming pool and one day we went to have a look at it only to find there was a big toad in it!

I had to leave at the age of eight and I went to a private school in Kettering Road church rooms opposite St Mathews Church. Whilst I was there I had an accident whilst running down Wallace Road, I tripped and fell, when I got home my wellington was half full of blood, I had taken my kneecap off! It then turned sceptic and I was in a wheelchair for three months so mum used to push me to school and then come and fetch me home. I stayed at that school for about a year and then I went to Kingsthorpe Grove until I was eleven. I was nine years old when dad was demobbed.

Dad was a great supporter of rugby and every home game England played at Twickenham he would take me. We would leave early in the morning and he would take me to all the museums and the sites to see, including the tower of London, monuments, St Pauls, and the Houses of Parliament. Then we would go to the match. When that finished we would go back to London for tea and go to a show at night. I remember going to see Julie Andrews; she was only 13 and sang with her mum and dad, Ted and Barbara.

I had my first cycle at the age of nine and dad and I often went for a ride on Sunday mornings to visit friends who lived in Great Houghton and Sunday afternoon we would go for a walk up Harlestone Firs with mum's brother, Uncle Bill. I taught myself to swim and joined the swimming club. Swimming became a large part of my life. Each Sunday morning dad and I would go to The Mounts Baths at eight o'clock and meet my Uncle Ted along with my cousins Edward and Stafford. We would spend about an hour in the pool and then come home to a full English breakfast.

Now we come to 1947, the year when Britain was battered by one of the worst winters ever. I can't remember exactly when it started but we were still living in Raeburn Rd. Living opposite us was a blind couple called Mr and Mrs Freeman. The night before one blizzard, I went over and cleared all the snow away from their front. Next morning when I woke up you couldn't even see their front door. We couldn't get to school for about four weeks and the snow hung about until the end of March.

In April I started as a choir boy at Holy Trinity Church but I didn't stay there too long as it was too cold! Eventually I became a choirboy at All Saints in the town centre. The vicar was canon Trevor Lewis and our choir master was Mr. Richardson Jones. At Harvest Time all the apples, which were brought to the church, were shared out between the choirboys and the rest of the fruit went to the General Hospital for the children. At Christmas time we had three parties to go to. The first one was just for the choirboys. We had tea in the Co-op Restaurant in The Ridings before going on to the New Theatre to see the pantomime. The second was at the Masonic Club in Princes Street. We gave a carol concert and they put on a big tea for us. The final one was the Sunday school party; We were always invited to that. We also got paid for funerals, weddings and any high services, such as the Assize Service.

By September I had passed the eleven plus exam and started at the Technical High School in St. Georges Avenue, next to the Technical College. This is where I started to learn rugby which was something I really enjoyed.

At the same time we moved from Raeburn Rd to Vernon Terrace where mum and dad took over the off licence on the corner of Vernon Terrace and Stockley Street. Opposite was the Granby Arms and on the other corner was a grocery shop owned by Mr Scrivener.


Dad got a dog, Judy; she slept in a beer barrel in the yard. She was a good guard dog because when the men came to deliver the beer she would let them go down to the cellar and then stand at the top and not let them up again! It was the same for the dustmen, she would let them in and then pin them up against the back door. In the end they had to come to the shop and make sure the dog was inside. One day we had a salesman come into the shop, Judy was laying under the counter and mum told the man she wasn't interested but he wouldn’t take no for an answer, so mum just said, “Judy”, she shot round the counter and the salesman ran off with his suitcase, up the street with the dog running after him. He never came back.

Christmas 1947 Mr Richardson Jones was ill so after church four of us decided to go to see him. There were four girls with us, after going into see him we came out and I said "come on lets go round to my house" When we got there I said “can I bring my friends in”? Afterwards mum said she didn't think it was going to stop with the eight of us going in.

1949 was a quiet year really. I spent a lot of time in the summer swimming down the Midsummer Meadow baths. I liked it there. The water was always warm because it came from the cooling towers. I also used to go to Cogenhoe Mill, to go swimming in the river. I also spent a lot of time over at Wicksteed Park ,on the cycle track. The roads were quite quiet back then. In the evenings I always helped mum clean the shop as dad was working as a part time barman. By the end of the year my voice had started to break, I stuck it out until after Christmas and then I left the choir.

I joined the sea cadets in March and became Bosun’s Mate as well as playing the bass drum in the band. I also started swimming for the cadets and I won the regional and the area finals in the backstroke heats. When it came to the all England races I came fourth. After taking part in the swimming I went straight to Portland for a fortnight at H M S Osprey, we went on board H M S Vanguard which was a battle ship, and H M S Indomitable which was an aircraft carrier.

HMS Vanguard

HMS Indomitable

When I came back from Portland we prepared to go to Market Harborough to the Festival of Boats, this was the first Inland Waterways show. On Friday night the motor boats left Weston mill for the show. We went in a 27 ft whaler and were hoping to row and sail it but we hit a snag! The oars were 12ft long and the bridges too low for us to sail! In the end we walked along the tow-path, towing it from Northampton to Blisworth and then rowing it from Blisworth to Norton, where we turned off onto the Leicester Arm to Foxton. Still towing it we turned right to Market Harborough, total distance 49 miles and 41 locks.

We had left Saturday morning and we passed the motor boats about nine o'clock at night and carried on until 2 am. We slept under a ground sheet that night. It was dry and clear and it was the night of a meteor storm and we lay there watching the shooting stars. We had to go through two tunnels and the only way we could do that was by paddling. We had a bugler in the front with a torch to warn any boat coming through but never met any. We arrived in Market Harborough about dinner time on Sunday. The rest of the day we spent towing the motor boats through the weed as it clogged their propellers up. There was a competition for the most adventurous journey and we shared it with a chap who came all the way from Kings Lynn. Whilst we were there the BBC news came down and filmed us going on board the festival queen’s boat. When we got home it was shown every day for a week, the breakdown worked out to be 49 miles and 41 locks. On the way back we were being towed by our chief petty officer's father when we went past a body in the canal. Apparently it was a tramp who they think mistook the weed for grass and walked into it he had been in the canal for a week. It was also that year we had the official opening of the headquarters by a rear admiral.