Email correspondance between Gordon fielding and his granddaughter, Holly in 2020.
Dear Holly,
First, about your granddad Peter was like when he was young.
My early recollection was of him constantly playing the piano. He started having a piano teacher, but soon Peter could play better than his teacher, so Mum and Dad had to find someone else. I seem to remember it being the Cathedral Organist, as he joined the choir - I think it was in 1937. He didn't bother with me too much until around 1940, when I had grown quicker than him and caught him up. He loved to play cricket and football, but his asthma meant that he got short of breath after playing for a while. He could run faster than me, but a could pass him when he got short of breath and had to slow down. He also had eczema, but so did Ruth and Paul. For some reason It missed me.
Peter was upset that he didn't go to the Grammar School. However, he had private lessons and got through so that he could start work in the Pathology Laboratory at the Hospital He stayed in that area of work and eventually became the Head of the Lab. Regarding Peter's leisure time, when younger it was mainly football and cricket, but as he got older he started to take an interest in girls. He never had a problem getting a girlfriend. He once had a problem because he had arranged to go with two, by mistake, so he persuaded me to go and tell one of them that he had a bad cold. She didn't believe me, and when I offered to take her she laughed and said I was too young. Peter sometimes had a little too much to drink, so I had to walk him along the road for a while before going into our home. Also, sometimes when we went out, there would be a piano there, and he would sit down and play all sorts of lively music. Put a copy of a piece of music in front of him and he could play it, regardless of how hard it was. Such talent!
He went out with a nurse called Glynis, she was Welsh, from LLanberis. When he decided to switch to another young lady, she scratched his face rather badly. The new girlfriend was Joyce, who he eventually married. I could go on, but I think that will do for now.
So, regarding the RAF. Just after the war, all young men had to join either the army or the Air Force or the Navy for 2 years - it was called National Service. I joined when I was 18, in 1951. I
Was 18. The first thing that happened was having a medical to make sure that you were fit and healthy. You were then given you uniform and various other things like a mug and knife, fork and spoon. Then it was a haircut, even though you had just had one. My hair was rather short after that. We were then taken by lorry to the place where we would spend the next 2 months learning how to march and keep in step with each other. We were inspected every week and some were sent to have a wash and another haircut. We learnt how to salute the Officers and call them all Sir, the others who were teaching us 'drill' shouted at us all the time. They checked our beds and if they thought they were even very slightly untidy, they would throw the mattress and anything on it onto the floor. They spent much of their time shouting at us.
When that was over it was decided what technical training we were each to have. The officer asked me what I did before joining the RAF, I said 'A bank clerk' So he decided that I should be a radar mechanic (Your dad will tell you what radar is). Off I went (in the back of an RAF lorry to the training centre, which was a disused air force base, that is no aircraft, just wooden huts. I was then told that I wouldn't be learning about radar, but I was to be trained to repair the radios used in aircraft to communicate when flying. It was an 18 week course. Life was still very strict. It was decided at one time that we would go out on overnight 'manoeuvres. (Ask your dad what those are). We were sent to a hill and positioned around the top, and waited for some of the 'enemy' to attack us. Nothing happened all night and we went back the following morning - straight back onto learning about radio repairing.
We got paid four shillings (20p) per day. Things were much cheaper in those days, but as we weren’t allowed out very often there was nothing to spend it on.
That year (1951), there was a celebration called The Festival of Britain. It was held in London throughout the year. Sheila's father took her to it (by car). I went one weekend which I was allowed out. I 'hitched' a lift to London by someone in a really old car, which would only go up to 40 mph. It was a long journey. Coming back was even worse. The car I was in crashed and I had to get a lift from someone else (I didn't travel all the way there and back in the cars, I caught a train part of the way. (After I met Sheila, we sometimes exchanged stories about the Exhibition, we both remembered it well.)
On completing my training, I was sent to air base in Yorkshire. I spent the rest of my 2 years checking the radios, if they had a fault I would replace them and test again. Sometimes I was allowed to fly in the aircraft to do the checking. The seats in the aircraft were all metal. No passengers of course, the aircraft were quite old and were originally used for bombing Germany. The aircraft were Wellington and Lancaster bombers and were used for training the aircrew.
I often managed to get home at weekends. I had a friend doing the same work as I was who had a motor bike. He was professional footballer, over 6ft (2metres) tall. He was on Manchester City playing staff. The lift he gave consisted of me sitting on the back of his machine and holding while we crossed from Yorkshire to Manchester, there I caught the train to Blackburn. The journey was repeated the opposite direction on the Sunday evening. I had a girlfriend in Blackburn who was a model. She was all beauty and not much between the ears. (brain). After I left the air force I finished with her and then met Sheila - the best thing that ever happened to me.
One day, one of the aircraft mechanics pulled a wrong leaver on one of the aircraft in a hanger (big open building where the aircraft were taken for work on them). He jettisoned the fuel and it spread all over a large area. We had to evacuate very quickly in case it caught fire and exploded.
On another occasion, an aircraft was coming in to land. There was a road just before where the aircraft would be coming down onto the runway further on. Traffic lights were used to stop cars from travelling when the aircraft came down. One time, a couple in their car stopped just where the aircraft went over. The wheels on the aircraft hit the car and killed the couple. There was a big enquiry. But they should have taken notice of the red light. I think after that they also installed a barrier which came down when the lights went red.
There were also quite a lot of American airmen stationed with us. They had lots more money than us. I used to babysit for one of their officers when he and his wife went out for an evening. Don't know what I would have done if the baby had woken up.
That all went on until February 1933. We were then all lined up for checking how smart we all looked. Some of us were picked our (including me) We were told we were to go on special training as it was the Queen's Coronation in the May and we were to take part in it. I pointed out that I would have been due to complete my 2 years before then and so I would be unavailable. I was replaced by someone else. Pity in some ways, I would have enjoyed the occasion.
And then I was released and came home.
Hope that it alright for you . Let me know if there is anything which isn't quite clear. I have just typed it as I remember things.
Love,
Uncle Gordon
(9 April 2020 at 21:33:32 BST)
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Thanks Holly.
I am doing this in stages, which may seem a little out of joint at times as they often inter-relate
So first, I will concentrate on my Grandfather. I'll link Auntie Dorothy in with my Mum & Dad.
The earliest I know of my Father was that he lived somewhere near Inkerman Street in Blackburn. His mother died when he was young, and his father married again to a woman who Peter and I looked at her photo and decided to call her the wicked witch from the West (as in the film Alice in Wonderland). From what I can gather, she was not very nice to dad and his sister Auntie Dorothy. On one occasion, they sat down for a meal, and as it was served, dad saw what it was and said, oh that again. The next thing he knew he was on the floor, having been knocked down there by his father saying 'show more respect to your mother'. Even though she wasn't his real mother. Neither my dad nor auntie Dorothy ever spoke about her to neither Peter nor me. We used to go to visit auntie Dorothy and Granddad on Sunday afternoons (not every one though). Grandfather would sit in the corner smoking a pipe. It used to smell horrible. When we had our tea, I used to sit opposite a mirror which I could look at myself in. Once or twice I pulled funny faces at myself, and after that Auntie Dorothy always covered it up when we sat down to eat, The also had a manual sewing machine, which didn't work, so we were allowed to play with it. It had a flat sort of pedal which one pushed up and down with your feet, but that was disconnected from the machine when we were there. Peter and I were rather mischievous! We also went to visit the man who lived next door. He had been in the army during the First World War, and still had his uniform which Peter and I would try on and pretend to march round the room. We were only young, I was probably between 5 and 7. We always had to walk, we lived in London Road, the other side of town. I think my Grandfather lived until around 1947/48. Another memory of him was once at home. He was visiting us, and he caught me swinging on the stairs. He asked me what I thought I was doing, and he told me to get out of the way. He then proceeded to swing like I had been doing, and said that was how I should do it. I believe he was a good footballer when young and had a trial to see if he could join Blackburn Rovers. He didn't join them though, instead he joined Blackburn Olympic Football team (Sheila's father was connected with Blackburn Rovers - have a book which belonged to him and is date 1926. If you remind me, I will show it to you next time you come and visit. Grandfather Fielding was a good singer. He sang Bass (that's the bottom part) and had a good voice. I believe he was still singing when I was very small. I don't remember him singing as I was too young. He was in St John's Festival Choir and sang at the church services there. Incidentally, I believe that St John's Church has recently burnt down.
That is about all I can remember about him. He died just about the time I went to the Grammar School, that was in 1944 (During the war)
My next session will be about my Mum and Dad and Auntie Dorothy (my Dad's sister).
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I left off my writing at the time when Father went to fight Hitler - from a distance. As his trade was as a woodworking machinist, he was sent to learn how to repair aircraft. As these were metal, he soon learnt how to deal with it and the various parts requiring attention. For a while we didn’t hear much from him, and at that time much of the correspondence was opened and checked to make sure nothing was being written that shouldn’t be from a security point of view. I think that to start with, that included where he was and what he was doing.
At home, Peter was now 11 years old, I was 8, and Ruth a mere 4. Peter sat his 11plus exam , which would decide which school he would move on to. Maths wasn’t Peter’s strong point, and much of the exam was based on maths. Peter failed to get to the Grammar School and it took him quite a while to get over it. He went to St Peter’s (aptly named for him) Secondary school He made friends with Jack Smethurst – a friendship which lasted throughout their lives. Peter developed into a teenager which gave him an appeal to young ladies. He wasn’t averse to taking advantage – in the nicest possible way of course. His music and piano playing continued to flourish and improve.
Mother was finding it difficult to cope with the cost of feeding her hungry children. .She took in a ‘lodger’ who paid for bed and breakfast. We saw little of him, but he started wandering a little round the house in a state of undress. So he went elsewhere. I think the next lodger was an army cadet –I think he was training to be an officer eventually. He started to tease Peter quite a lot, so he disappeared after a few months. Next were two girls who had evacuated from London. They seemed quite old to me, but I would guess they were in their early 20’s. They would often go out dancing etc in the evenings. I can remember that they couldn’t get smart stockings, so they painted a line up the back of each leg to make it look like they had stockings on. One of them was called Pauline, the other was Ethel. Ethel was the talker, but Pauline was fairly quiet – she was very attractive, as far as I can remember – she certainly made an impression on a 10 year old.
Father started to come home occasionally. He then got moved to an RAF station on the Isle of Man. That cut down his visits. He always had to bring his rifle with him, but no Ammunition. He let me hold it, but it was rather heavy for a 10 year old.
Just going back a little, in 1940, Peter had joined the Cathedral choir. That involved attending rehearsals and serviced twice during Monday to Thursday, plus a longer rehearsal on Friday, one on Saturday morning, and then rehearsal and service on Sunday morning and evening. Quite demanding, but it tended to keep us out of trouble.
In late 1940, I was taken down to the Cathedral for an audition, to see if I was at the stage when I could join the choir –it was also to check if I had a reasonable singing voice. I stood in front of a piano and sang the first verse of ‘There is a green hill far away, etc. There followed a discussion out of my earshot, and father marched off with me, saying ‘You have to have your tonsils removed’ . I wasn’t sure what tonsils were, but it sounded ominous. I was taken to the Doctor – a Doctor Pendlebury, who was a regular member of the congregation at the Cathedral. He agreed, and a Dr Wishart removed them at the Blackburn Infirmary. Not a pleasant experience. I then joined the choir, and made friends with several others of my age – several, for example Ralph Robinson and Alan Holden, have remained friends until the present times.
Early in 1940, a system of rationing the purchase of food and clothing. Mother was issued with ration books for each of the family, apart from Father of course. I seem to remember that a bar of chocolate (and not a very large one0 was 2 weeks ration. Mother said it was good for our teeth not to eat too many sweets – I can’t remember being at all impressed with that. As far as food was concerned, it was all very basic. Weekdays consisted mainly of bread, butter and jam. The allowance for jam was a smallish 1lb jar per month. Not much for growing lads. There was very little fruit. Apples and pears were sometimes available, and were quite a treat.. Clothes had to last well – boys wore short trousers until they were 14 years old’ Not very pleasant in the winter, particularly when there was snow and frost. We seemed to get more snow in those days compared with now.
Just before father went away, he had taken me up to the top of the hill above Blackburn, and pointed to a glow in the distance. He said that was Manchester on fire from the bombs dropped by the German air force. As it was around 30 miles away, it must have been quite a devastation. Apparently, they were trying to destroy the factories which were making equipment and armaments for the war effort.
Note. I’ll continue later, but send this part now to you, and send to the other folk later when it is longer.
Gordon
(25 May 2020 at 21:15:53 BST)
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Becky, another instalment for Holly. After this, things change as we are well into our teens and different interests come along (girls).I have tended to go back and forward a little as some things cover a period of time. Hope you don’t get confused with it. Someday I will rearrange, if I can. The next session will show us as we all get older with changing activities and interests.
We are now into the mid 1940’s. The war in Europe is over, but there is still Japan fighting – a lot of which took place in the jungles around Burma. As far as day to day life was concerned, little had changed. All things were still rationed and lots of things were still in short supply. And of course, as a family, we didn’t have much money to spare. Mother often went without things so that we got a little more. She was very generous when she could be .I seem to remember that she did some part time work to help out.
By now, Peter was firmly established at the Pathology Laboratory at Queens Park Hospital. I was in my second year at the Grammar School, but not getting very good reports. My excuse was that I was finding it difficult with so much time taken up by the Cathedral. We were supposed to study three subjects, each for about half an hour. On choir days, I didn’t get home until around 6.30, and then had my tea before studying. I would go into what we called the front room. By now, the piano was back in the living room, and an old lady lived in the front room. As she was rather deaf, that was ideal for me .Sometimes, she would chat, and she really was quite interesting. She was born in 1865, so by this time she would be around 80 years old. She talked about when she was little and that was quite interesting. She saw soldiers who had been fighting in the Crimean war against the Russians.
She also told me that she went to Liverpool to see the soldiers go off to fight in the Boer War. That was in the 1890’s. A long time ago. You will probably guess that she was often more interesting to. listen to than my homework. She also used to sing some of the songs and recite lyrics from those days.
It didn’t help when I was trying to do my homework – with my fingers in my ears..
Time came for final exams – 1948, these were collectively called The School Certificate. I had 9 subjects to deal with, and the German and French exams included having to have a dialogue with the teacher – these were known as the oral exams (obviously).I still have the certificate that I received showing my results. Most were alright, except chemistry which was a disaster – I wasn’t very good
at that. Results came out in the August, and then back to school. I didn’t see much of Peter during this time. I was only 13/15, whereas he was 16/18. Much older!
We had a dog, he was a Labrador and got the name Brutus – someone must have been reading Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. We also had a cat which had the name Monty – he was named by Mother after General Montgomery who was a British Army General who led the fighting in North Africa –and beat the Germans. Brutus often had a habit of getting out when a door was left open. He would disappear and not come back for quite a while. Goodness knows what he got up to. I am not sure over what period we had them. Peter and I had a spell when we got up early and went out for a run. Brutus came with us to start with, but soon refused to come very soon after – he obviously preferred to have his own activities – we never found out what he got up to on his own..
Of course there was another event around this time which was quite important. Peter, Ruth and I were called together by Mother and Father, and we were told that there was something important we should know. It was that mother was expecting another child. The three of us reacted in totally different ways. Peter went to the piano and started playing music by Beethoven, I said we can’t afford another child, and Ruth started crying because she was so pleased – a typical reaction!
Paul was born in 1947. I had another year to go at school, and Peter was in the Path Lab. Ruth was still at Junior school. Mum had the baby in the hospital where Peter was working. Mum and baby came home, and we had a little brother who was named Paul William.
It was around this time, perhaps a bit earlier, that Peter and I visited a lady who we called Auntie Queenie, who lived in Heysham, on the outskirts of Morecambe. She had been an actress at some time, and on one occasion we went to the Theatre to watch her in a play. Peter and I stayed with her for several days but on one occasion Peter took down several daggers with were on the wall and slept with them under his pillow. Auntie Queenie found out, and that was the end of the visits for Peter. He wasn’t bothered. I still went, but it wasn’t the same on my own. I was only about 12, but I would take a bus from Blackburn to Preston, another to Lancaster, and then one to Morecambe. I then walked a couple of miles to Heysham. She had plenty of books to read. I remember one called The Wooden Tops. It was about creatures that could make people disappear and they were going round London getting rid of people. On one occasion they only half did it and a dog finished up without its tail. The hero, a young boy, found out how to get rid of them etc, etc, and the dog got its tail beck. I didn’t like her food, but I had to eat it or I was kept in. That taught me to appreciate my Mother’s food!
Peter and I had to get used to father being at home. He was much stricter than mother and we had to learn not to misbehave if there was any likelihood of father finding out. This applied particularly regarding the Cathedral Choir. If we misbehaved, not only did we get into trouble there, but also at home when father found out – which he usually did.
Grandfather Fielding lived in Mosley street, which was the other side of town from London Road. Sometimes, on a Sunday afternoon we would walk across town in the afternoon for tea, before going back into the town centre for the Evening service at the Cathedral. By this time, Peter was not singing soprano, I think he sang Alto with the choirmen – and that was Sundays only. On one occasion we were going to grandfather’s, with me in choir suit, which was all black with long trousers. Some boys were pointing at me and laughing so I decided to go and have a few choice words with them, but they ran off.
The Sunday meal at Grandfathers was rather more strict than at home. I always sat opposite a mirror, and I started pulling funny faces into the mirror. After that, the mirror was always covered up before the meal. The house was fairly basic. It had stone floors at ground level and an outside toilet. I don’t know about the rooms upstairs as we were not allowed up them. Grandfather sat in a rocking chair, smoking a pipe with quite a lot of smoke coming out. It didn’t smell very nice. I sometimes went out to visit a man who had been in the army during the first world war. He showed me his uniform and badges.
Of course, visiting was always by foot, so that kept us fit.
I was now 13/14, Peter was 16/17 and Ruth was 9/10, although some of the above was a little later. A little over a year later led to a lot of change. And Paul had arrived. That is for the next episode.
Hope you enjoy it.
Gordon
(30 June 2020 at 21:23:02 BST)