The Village Boy's Tale Part 1
The CBB -> Cookies & Drabbles
#1: The Village Boy's Tale Part 1 Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 9:23 am

Friday 1st January 1943

The Vicar gave me this diary for Christmas to write in each day for this year. He said when I am older I will be glad to remember when I was young though I can’t imagine it and he has kept a diary since he was 10 years old. He’s ever so old now at least forty. He was given 2 diaries for Christmas so gave me one of them. He is a strange old bloke. I cant stand his wife. I dont know what I shall write in this for nothing ever happens here. I will hide it so Auntie wont see it. She would think it a waste of my time to be writing in books when I could be doing something useful as she would say.

I shall start by writing about me. I am an orphan. I live with me Auntie Bertha. Shes really me mums auntie so she should be called great aunt but I call her Auntie and she is very kind to take me in or I should have gone into a home.

I am 12 years old and go to the village school. I dont know what else to write.

Friday 15th January 1943

We went back to school last week. Its so boring with the same old lessons and I get pushed in the playground if I finish too soon and show some of the other boys up.

There are no new books in the library. They say there wont be till the war is over. They say there are more important things to make than books. Ive read all the books over and over again. I got a lend of a book by Charles Dickens last week. Im only reading a few pages at a time to make it last. Its about an orphan boy in London. Ive just got to the bit where he is visiting a strange old woman who has a beautiful girl living with her and its a bit sloppy at the moment, though it gets better and has lots of adventures which will surprise me so she says.

My dad had all the books by Charles Dickens in a special little bookcase, He said he bought them one at a time from a man who travelled round selling them. Then when you had got them all, you got the bookcase for free. I dont know what happened to them after he died. There were lots of them. He used to read to me, not those books but ones about some children who had a boat and went camping on an island. Ive still got the first one. Its called Swallows and Amazons and sometimes I imagine that Im John who was the oldest of the boys. I like their mum. I can imagine me mum being just like her. My dad met the father of the man what wrote it when he was at college in Leeds. He was a teacher in the college. There were lots of the books all about sailing and camping. I wish I could do that. I wish I had brothers and sisters.

Aunties calling me to run an errand now so I must go.

Last edited by patmac on Wed Nov 24, 2004 12:24 pm; edited 2 times in total

 

#2:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 9:41 am

This looks really good Pat - it's Reg isn't it?


Love the phrasing and the comments about the vicar's wife! Laughing

 

#3:  Author: keren,  PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 11:15 am

this is really nice

 

#4:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 11:49 am

Well guessed, Lesley. this particular bunny has been biting for around 6 months - so long that I lost confidence in it so thanks to Rachael for encouragement and proof reading!

 

#5:  Author: Nicci, Location: UK PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 1:12 pm

Oh wonderful - are we going to get some insight into what makes Reg who he is?

Thanks Patmac - this drabble has long been needed.

 

#6:  Author: Ray, Location: Bristol, England PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 1:20 pm

I had a feeling, from the title, it was going to be Reg - and it is, and it's also wonderful. I love the little touches in the writing (though I have to disagree with the assessment of THAT particular Dickens' work...but then again, Reg isn't going to have to spend two years analysing it... [no, I'm not bitter about that at all...])

Very much looking forward to seeing more.

Ray *thanking Rachael for the prodding* *and wondering if it's too soon to start chanting*

 

#7:  Author: Kat, Location: Swansea PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 1:48 pm

Yeah, I was right!

Thanks Pat. Hope to see lots more of this Smile

 

#8:  Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 2:35 pm

This looks brilliant PatMac (and Rachael)


when will we get some more? - please

 

#9:  Author: Carolyn P, Location: Lancaster, England PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 5:16 pm

What a great idea Patmac, thanks for finally posting it. (Does the fact that you've had it on the boil for so long mean that there is already lots written???)

*ever hopeful*

 

#10:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 5:18 pm

What a great idea - a young Reg drabble! Very Happy

It looks great Patmac. Glad you finally got round to posting it.

*pulls up comfy sofa to wait for next bit*

 

#11:  Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!! PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 8:08 pm

PatMac, this looks great so far!
Lots more please!!

 

#12:  Author: Helen P, Location: Cheshire PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 9:49 pm

Oooh, this looks good Pat!

I'm looking forward to getting more insight into Reg's character.

 

#13:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:00 pm

Oooh, this looks great PatMac.

 

#14:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 11:27 pm

Saturday 16th January 1943

We had to muck out the cows this morning. I shall be glad when they go out in the fields again. I helped Auntie move the hen house to a new area. It was raining and we both got very wet.

This is written on Sunday. I nearly didnt put that but thought it would be cheating to pretend I remembered.

Sunday 17th January 1943

After Sunday School, this morning, I rode me bike up to Many Bushes and Debby said Miss Phoebe was ill today and couldn’t be disturbed, but Miss Phoebe heard me and called down for me to come up. She did look so poorly that I didn’t stay but a minute and went down and brought the coal and wood in for Debby. Debby pretends to be cross all the time but shes not. Shes really kind and sent me off with a slice of bread and jam what she made herself last year to eat on the way home. It was gooseberry jam. I helped her pick the gooseberries from the garden across the lane from them. The house is empty so we didn’t want them to go to waste.

I just went home and was in all day because it was raining. I couldnt even listen to the radio because there wasnt time to take the battery to be charged yesterday.

I read some more of Great Expectations today.

Monday 18th January 1943

I took the battery to be charged on the way to school and then got it back after school. Its very heavy and it meant I couldnt use me bike.

After school I went up to Miss Phoebes, though it was getting dark. She was a bit better and downstairs again. She does look poorly though. Debby says these attacks come and go and the weather makes them worse. Its something she had when she was about my age that has left her like this. Sort of like rheumaticks only worse. We talked a bit about Great Expectations. Its ever so nice to talk about a book to someone. Auntie doesnt read any trashy books as she calls them. I dont think Great Expectations is trashy. I wonder if our teacher has read it. I better not ask or he will say Im showing off.

 

#15:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 12:03 am

Thank you PatMac. Nice to see Reg and Phoebe Very HappyVery Happy

 

#16:  Author: Ellie, Location: Lincolnshire PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 2:43 am

Thanks Patmac, It's good to see te young Reg, I'm looking forward to seeing more of this.
Are you planning to go right up to the engagement?

 

#17:  Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:28 am

Looks interesting! But I don't know about Reg -- I'd re-read Swallows & Amazons several dozen times before resorting to Great Expectations. Smile

 

#18:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 6:16 am

Thanks Pat - poor Reg, not able to talk to his teacher about his books.

 

#19:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 7:34 am

Thanks for the encouragement. If it ever gets as far as the engagement it will be in several sections, all different, and will take quite a while. Needless to say, some sections are coming easier than others and not always in posting order. You know how it is ..... Confused
Tuesday 19th January 1943

Not much happened today. We did sums and some history and there was football this afternoon.

I’ve just been reading what I’ve wrote and noticed that I haven’t been using the little tick like a comma in the air that shows when you shorten words or when you show something belongs to something else. I can’t remember what it is called but I must remember to use it. I was surprised that what I wrote is quite interesting.

I’ll write a little more about me. My mum came from Garnham and worked in a shop in Garnley. Her Mum were Auntie’s sister, Mabel. She were my Grandma and she died before I was born. Mum met me Dad in the shop. I don’t remember her because she died when I was born. I don’t know why. I’ve got a snap of her with me Dad just after they were married. They went on a holiday to Scarborough and the picture shows them on the sand. It must have been a sunny day because she has her eyes all screwed up but she’s laughing. I like to look at the picture but it makes me sad as well because I never met her. I’ll go there one day and see where the picture was taken.

Auntie’s calling up the stairs to me to put the lamp out or I’ll ruin me eyes reading at night. I wish she wouldn’t fuss.

I did remember the ticks.

 

#20:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:21 am

This looks really good PatMac! Very Happy

 

#21:  Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!! PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:58 am

Really interesting Pat, I'm looking forward to a different perspective on Reg

 

#22:  Author: Rachael,  PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 11:08 am

Glad you're posting it Patmac! Very Happy

*thinks this drabble should be required reading for all Reg detractors!! Wink *

 

#23:  Author: Ray, Location: Bristol, England PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 11:09 am

Rachael wrote:
Glad you're posting it Patmac! Very Happy

*thinks this drabble should be required reading for all Reg detractors!! Wink *


Definitely! I said it before, but I'm going to say it again: patmac, this is great. Really great Smile

Ray *eager for more* *also LOVED the 'little ticks' comments Very Happy*

 

#24:  Author: Emily, Location: Land of White Coats and Stethoscopes. PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 11:56 am

Oh Pat, this is smashing!! Lovely idea, please may we have years' and years' and years' worth?!

 

#25:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 1:55 pm

Thank you PatMac this is really good, I'm glad you posted it and look forward to seeing things through Reg's eyes.

 

#26:  Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 5:02 pm

Hey, I like this! At last we get to find out more about Reg! And from quite a different perspective - great!

 

#27:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 5:25 pm

Just a short bit now but there may be a bit more before bed.


Wednesday 27th January 1943

I haven’t wrote in here for ages. I really got interested in Great Expectations, but I skipped a few bits that were just descriptions and kept forgetting everything to read it. Auntie got really cross and said I was to take it back and not get any more books if I didn’t do my chores. She even said she’d go and see Miss Phoebe herself if I didn’t mend my ways.

Anyway I’ve kept in her good books for a week and finished reading Great Expectations. We went into Garnley to get me new boots on Saturday because I’ve grown out of me old ones. They are a size too big and I have to wear 2 pairs of socks till I grow into them. We have to be careful because of the coupons and I grow too fast. Auntie let down my trousers too. They were much too short. You can only just see where the crease was and Auntie says that will go with a few washes and anyway nobody cares what a boy like me looks like.

It’s funny how growing happens. I don’t feel any different and then suddenly I’m longer. I wonder how my body knows what to do. All the bits at each side grow together and although my legs are too long now they both grow the same length. Auntie says as I get older my body will grow to match. I’d love to know how it works.

I nearly forgot. On the news tonight it said that the Americans have started bombing Germany. Maybe the war will finish soon and we’ll get some new books.

That little tick is an apostrophe. I looked in the grammar book and found the word.

 

#28:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 5:44 pm

You really have captured Reg's boyish character well!
Looking forward to more!

 

#29:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 6:16 pm

Thanks Patmac. *loving Reg in this*

 

#30:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 6:17 pm

This is great, thanks Patmac. Smile

I love that we're seeing an insight into Reg as a child. Gives him a whole new dimension....

 

#31:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 6:53 pm

Thanks Pat, lovely seeing an innocent Reg. Very Happy

 

#32:  Author: Ellie, Location: Lincolnshire PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 7:02 pm

I love seeing Reg like this - loved the 'little ticks' as well, it will be so interesting to see him grow up.

 

#33:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 11:31 pm

Sunday 31st January 1943

I went up to see Miss Phoebe in the afternoon. She is doing some ever so pretty sewing. I took Great Expectations back and she gave me a lend of another book. It is called Kim and is the story of an Irish boy who is an orphan in India and grows up as an Indian instead of a white boy. She wouldn’t tell me any more of the story but said it is good. It’s by Rudyard Kipling. We read a poem called IF in reading last term that was wrote by him and I liked it so much I learned it off by heart. I told Miss Phoebe about it then and she knew it too and we recited it together and then we both laughed. This book was her dad’s. She calls him her father. He died the year before last, all unexpected like and not long after they moved here. She misses him a lot like I do my dad. I can tell because sometimes when she talks about him her voice goes all funny and she blows her nose so she won’t cry.

Her dad was a musician and played the cello. He was on the wireless sometimes and Auntie and I listened to him once. He played some music by a Russian man called Rac-something. It was just someone I forget the name on a piano and Mr Wychcote on the cello. It was lovely. Auntie liked it too. He had a run in with Mrs Hart, the Vicar’s wife and everyone had a good laugh at that.

Miss Phoebe says I must learn to speak a bit more proper. I mix up some words like me and my and if I really want to leave Garnham some day and make something of myself (I nearly put meself there) that sort of thing will matter. She’s said it before and I got quite upset because I thought she was being all posh but I’ve thought about it and we talked about it again today and I said all right you tell me and I’ll try but I cant talk like that in Garnham or they’ll say I’m getting above myself.

I’m just sort of wondering. Great Expectations and Kim are both about orphans. I wonder if Miss Phoebe is choosing the books because of that. Well, she is one too so I suppose it doesn’t matter. Her mum died when she was a little babe so she doesn’t remember her. Maybe that’s why we get on so well.

 

#34:  Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 11:41 pm

This is lovely, Patmac - it's fascinating to see Reg analysing why he and Phoebe are close and worrying about talking 'proper'.

 

#35:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 11:59 am

This is great PatMac, its lovely to see Reg thinking about getting out of Garnham and thinking about speaking better but worying what people will think of him.

 

#36:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 4:36 pm

I know Reg has never been one of my favourite characters, but it's good to see him being given some depth here.

 

#37:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 5:58 pm

Lovely to see young Reg thirsting after knowledge here.

Thanks PatMac

Liz

 

#38:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 6:26 pm

Sunday 14th February 1943

It’s been horrid since I last wrote. Mr Jaycott is looking to take a boy on as Bert has gone for a soldier. Auntie wants to talk to him about me going to work for him when I leave school. That is next year. She says it is the best farm round here. If she got in now she says I could work for him at weekends and in the holidays till then and she doesn’t think it matters if I take time off from school when he needs me in between. I don’t want to do farm work. I want to be a teacher like my Dad. He wanted to be a doctor but said teachering was the next best thing and so he did that. I know I can’t be a doctor so I want to do the same.

We have had this row before and I just gived in because it was a long time away but it is not now and if she does that I will never get out of it and that will be my life till I am an old man. It might be different if I owned my own farm even though it is hard work but Bert will come home after the war and he will take over the farm when Mr Jaycott dies so I will be a farm labourer all my life.

Auntie says it is no good getting above myself. She says that is what my mum did and look where it got her dead at 26. I got really upset at that and rushed out and hid in the old shed. It took me ages to stop shaking for I was so upset that I cried and I haven’t done that since that Joe Taylor pushed me off my bike and I cut my knee real bad and that was years ago when I was a little lad.

Anyway when I was more calm like I thought about it and in the end I went in and said if she spoke to Mr Jaycott I would run away. She told me not to be so daft for where would I run to. I just said that she would have to wait and see for she would find out soon enough. Then I said goodnight and came up to my room.

That was the middle of last week and she’s not said any more about Jaycott’s though she has gone on and on about how I am ungrateful and how much she has done for me and how I would have gone into a home if she hadn’t taken me in. She says I belong here and it doesn’t do people good to move away to foreign parts. I know all that but it is hard to be grateful all the time. She did say she were sorry she said that about my mum but she were upset that something would happen to me if I moved away, She cried a bit and I’ve never seen her do that before.

Anyway she has kept me busy all the time so I don’t have time to read. If she thinks I will forget about it she is wrong.

I haven’t even been let go up to see Miss Phoebe. I hope she doesn’t think I don’t want to go and see her. I shan’t give in though.

 

#39:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 6:29 pm

love 'teachering'

Thanks PatMac

Liz

 

#40:  Author: Helen P, Location: Cheshire PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 8:39 pm

I'm so enjoying this Pat! You have captured Reg so very well Very Happy

There are too many good bits since I last read this to quote them all!

 

#41:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 9:20 pm

Thank you Patmac. Loving Reg in this!

 

#42:  Author: Carolyn P, Location: Lancaster, England PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 9:44 pm

Thanks Patmac, it is good to see the struggle Reg had, and it certainly makes him more sympathetic.

 

#43:  Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 10:16 pm

Thanks, Patmac!

Especially liked that Russian guy, "Rac-something."

Also teachering as the next best thing to doctoring -- has Reg been reading EBD, or what? Laughing
(prefer the teachering, myself)

 

#44:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 10:26 pm

Thanks for this Pat, I'm loving Reg and Pheobe's relationship!

 

#45:  Author: Ray, Location: Bristol, England PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 10:36 pm

Much amused by the idea of the Russian, Rac-someone being 'lovely'. Very much love the last piece. It captures everything so beautifully.

Can't wait for more, please, Pat Smile

Ray *the Reg fan*

 

#46:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 5:19 am

That was lovely - thank you Pat.

 

#47:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:13 am

Thank you Pat.

 

#48:  Author: Joey, Location: Cambridge PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 5:58 pm

This is super, patmac.

I've never understood the anti-Reg brigade - he's lovely.

More please!

 

#49:  Author: Ellie, Location: Lincolnshire PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 6:04 pm

Poor Reg. I'll admit I hadn't really given his side of the story much thought - I think EBD used him as a device to show the Maynards being magnaminous (sp?) but it must have been horrible for him.
Thanks for showing this side of the story, Patmac.

 

#50:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 6:20 pm

Thanks to all and sundry for the encouragement. I said this had been fementing for about six months but I think it has been wandering around in my subconscious since I read Rescue for the first time - which is when most of you were a twinkle in your Daddys' eyes! Since I was around 8 or 9 at the time that is a long while. I remember being slightly incensed towards the end that the Maynards seemed to just write him off once they had paid for his schooling. When he reappeared and got engaged, I was pleased. Then, after joining CBB and realising how unlikely the scenario was, this started hatching.


Sunday 21st February 1943

Auntie hasn’t said any more.

I was let go up to Miss Phoebe’s today. I didn’t tell her all of it because she can’t do nothing about it but she seemed to understand and was telling me about other people who have had to wait to do what they want. I felt a bit bad because she has it worse than I do what with her being a cripple and having no family at all. When she’s so nice I don’t know what to say and I get sort of quiet and then I go away. I wish I knew how to say what I really think but I don’t. I think sometimes I make her think I’m all cross and touchy.

I know Auntie just wants what she thinks is best for me. She thinks it’s better to know your place in life. I don’t think it is though.


Monday 22nd February 1943

Mrs Bowers has heard that Doris has been killed in an explosion in the factory where she worked. She went for war work as soon as the war started and went to a factory at Aycliffe where they filled bullets with explosives. You could hear her wailing all up the street. That Mrs Hart what Debby calls the sodger went round and tried to tell her she had died in a noble cause. Silly old woman. That wasn’t any help. Anyway Mr Bowers showed her the door. Auntie told me all this when I came home from school. She was upset too because she had known Doris since she was a bairn. They say there will only be a service for her, no funeral because she is buried in a grave with all the other girls who died.

Wednesday 24th February 1943

Our Headmaster told me to stay behind after school today. He said was something wrong because I am not doing very well in school. At first he was cross and said he would speak to Auntie if I didn’t do better because he knows I can. Last year I would have been upset but now I don’t care and was a bit cheeky.

I told him that she wouldn’t care and would probably be happy if I didn’t do well because she thinks education gives me ideas so I don’t see no point in working hard.

He thought for a minute and then said that this is not the end of the world and when I am 21 I can do what I like. I said that is so long and it will be too late. He said that is not true and even if I have to go for farm work I can read and study in the evenings. I don’t think he understands that if I work 12 hours each day doing hard work I will too tired to read at night and anyway I don’t know what to read to help me get on but I didn’t say that.

He looked a bit sad and patted me on the shoulder and said something will turn up. I think he knows he can’t do nothing. I hope he doesn’t speak to Auntie again like he did last year because she’ll be sure to go on about it.

 

#51:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 6:22 pm

*Shiny*

Thanks PatMac Very Happy

Liz

 

#52:  Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 6:25 pm

Poor Reg, not being able to take any comfort from his teacher's encouragement. I'm glad we know it ends happily!

 

#53:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:01 pm

Thanks for that Pat - it's so true to life.

 

#54:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:17 pm

Pat, this is wonderful

 

#55:  Author: Carolyn P, Location: Lancaster, England PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:25 pm

Loving this Patmac. There must have been so many children trapped like this.

 

#56:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:01 pm

Thanks PatMac, what the headmaster was saying reminded me of my Gran's education, she only got to go to grammer school because the teachers went to her house and told her parents that it would be a crime to not let her go.
More soon please!

 

#57:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:55 pm

Thanks Patmac. Poor Reg Sad

 

#58:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 7:39 am

Cazx wrote:
what the headmaster was saying reminded me of my Gran's education, she only got to go to grammer school because the teachers went to her house and told her parents that it would be a crime to not let her go.


It happened to my mother too. But her father said no. She wanted to be a teacher and never was.

 

#59:  Author: Bookwormsarah, Location: Cambridge, UK PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 4:26 pm

This is lovely, a real insight into a character who I now remember liking in Rescue. Must reread...

My Grandad won a scholarship to Grammar School (in the East End of London in the early 1930s) but his mother couldn't afford the uniform so he had to leave at 14 and get a job. My Mum left school at 18, completed a Masters degree in '97 and is now doing her PhD!

 

#60:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:31 pm

That evening

“Are you alright, love?” said Mrs Bulmer, with a worried expression on her face. “You’re late home.”

Her husband thankfully shrugged off his long coat and accepted the cup of tea she offered.

“It’s young Reg Entwhistle,” he said as he sank gratefully into his chair by the fire.

“I had to have him into the study after school. He’s just not working. He’s bright and could go far but his Auntie thinks he should stay in Garnham and work on a farm. No dear!” he held up his hand as his wife started to interrupt him, indignation written on her face. “I understand her point of view. Lots of youngsters show promise and don’t fulfil it. Remember Tony Butcher. He went to the grammar school and then failed his School Certificate. He never settled and ended up getting into trouble after he went thieving with a gang from Leeds. Then there was Annie Fletcher. She went off to Keighley and ended up having a baby. She didn’t know any better. I’m sure it was the shame that caused her father to have that stroke. Lots of the youngsters who have gone away have found life hard.

Mrs Thirtle thinks that anyone who leaves their roots will go wrong, or die of course like Reg’s mother did. She’s lost all her family and I think Reg is probably her only kin. Don't forget, we've lost people who've gone away to the bombing as well.

It’s not black and white. Even today, near the middle of the 20th century, places like Garnham are very insular and sheltered. Lots of the youngsters want the bright lights and, what they think is easy money in a bit city but they are not prepared for it,

Mrs Thirtle is a product of her upbringing. She wants what is best for the boy, by her lights but ……

 

#61:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:40 pm

That was a nice interlude Pat, Thanks Very Happy

 

#62:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:53 pm

Awww,thanks Pat. *feeling sorry for Reg*

 

#63:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:23 pm

but what????

Thanks

Liz

 

#64:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 7:53 pm

Glad to see people can see the potential in Reg.

Am gripped by this Pat.
Looking forward to next bit
Thanks Very Happy

 

#65:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:36 pm

Lovely little interlude - but the teacher must have felt so frustrated about the bright pupils.

 

#66:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 10:12 pm

Saturday 27th February 1943

Joe (he’s my mate at school) came to our house and we went up the hill behind the cottage to fly our kites. There wasn’t a lot of wind but enough. We made them ourselves. I forgot to write about them before. We got some willow sticks and lashed them with string to make a cross, then we begged some ticking, that’s the sort of cloth you use for pillows to hold the feathers in so they don’t stick through and prick. It’s good and stiff. Auntie had some pieces that were too small for pillows and she gave them to me. We cut them in a diamond shape and stuck holes in the corners with a pointed knife. We had a lot of bother fixing them to the sticks because they have to be stretched real tight so the sticks bend It took all one afternoon to whittle the sticks to a point so we could get the ticking on. Joe cut his thumb, but he sucked it for a bit and it stopped bleeding.

I nicked some scraps from the rag box to make the bows on the tail and we begged some twine from the farm up the road. It was real fun making them and we had a real laugh.

Anyway, we went up the field, like I said, and we ran and ran with them. It’s harder than it looks but lovely to see them fly. There’s a sort of feeling in the string that you can feel through your fingers. Our clogs got real muddy and it was right up our socks.

Then Joe fell in the ditch and came out covered all over with mud. I rolled on the ground laughing, he looked so funny. Once we got over it, we flew them some more and the mud dried off on his clothes. I said he’d better come and let Auntie brush as much off as she could or else his mother would bray him when he got home.

We went down and I left Joe outside while I told Auntie what had happened. She came out and laughed when she saw him and said he would have to be put in the trough to get really clean. He looked a bit down at that but she got a brush and got the worst off, though I expect he still got into trouble. Auntie sent him off with a piece of bread and jam to cheer him up and she laughed on and off all evening about it.

 

#67:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 10:23 pm

Aww it does seem that Reg's Aunt is nice, it's just that she doesnt believe that he can or should better himself. Thanks for the update!

 

#68:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 11:07 pm

*giggles* Lovely, thank you Pat.

 

#69:  Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!! PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 11:40 pm

Awwww!!! Thank you Pat! that was a lovely scene!

 

#70:  Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 12:34 am

Typical boys Very Happy

and lovely that his Aunt finds it funny - obviously getting covered in mud is better than wasting your time indoors reading.

Can understand (to a point) that she wants what she thinks is best for him, not what is/would actually be best

 

#71:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 8:12 am

Thanks for that Pat -nice to see Reg's Aunt in a more sympathetic light. I suppose, considering she was probably around fiftyish that her attitude was understandable - she had been born during Victoria's reign and at that time you 'knew your place'.

 

#72:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 8:37 am

I'm away this weekend. We'e off to a party in Hampshire. I'll post some extra now.

Sunday 28th February 1943

It was foggy and wet all day and I had a cold so couldn’t go out so I will write about my dad.

His dad that’s my granda were a doctor in Lancashire. I’m called Reginald after him. He died when my dad was young. What my dad really wanted was to be a doctor but that is very dear to do and takes years and years so he went to a college in Leeds and learned to be a teacher. He was tall and some people say I look like him. Sometimes Auntie says you are your father all over again. That’s when I’ve been reading and not doing my chores. He met my mum and stayed in Yorkshire and went to teach at Garnley Grammar School. I went with him once to see the school. I would have gone there if I had got the scholarship when I was 11 but I had tonsils and adenoids and missed the exam.

Miss Phoebe has lent me a book about the Wars of the Roses. We did it in school but that was just history with Kings and things. I hadn’t realised till I read it how people still remember them and my name is still laughed at here because they say it is foreign. Miss Phoebe says that is partly the cricket! We don’t have the County Championships now because of the war but it was Yorkshire or Lancashire every time. I don’t care. I’m proud to have both counties through my mum and my dad. Some day I’ll go to Lancashire and see where he came from.

I think he was sad after mum died though he tried to be fun for me. I remember sitting on his knee when he was marking lessons. I must have been about 3 then. In the holidays he liked walking on the moors and knew all the birds. He showed me how to make some of the birds calls and how to make a whistle out of willow twigs.

When I was really little I rode on his shoulders and we went miles. We took our snap with us, bread and butter and a boiled egg or some cheese and an apple. We always took a bottle of water. As I got bigger I walked most of it too and we would lie down in the heather and watch the birds and animals. He had some glasses like long tubes that you could look through and things looked real near. I don’t know what happened to them when he died. I wish I had them now.

We used to go right up to the top of the moors where you can see the sea. He promised me he would take me right to the sea one day.

When I was 5 I had my first bike and he taught me to ride it and got his old bike out and we rode out on Sundays.

It’s time to put my lamp out and I will try and finish this bit tomorrow.

Thursday 4th March 1943

Still nothing is being said about going for farm work. I am just keeping quiet and being good in the hope that she will forget. But I don’t think she will.

Now I will write some more about my dad. I don’t remember him talking about my mum. I wish he had so I would know a bit more about her. I think it he was too sad because she died.

Auntie Sarah came to live with us after I was born and looked after us. She was my Dad’s sister and younger than dad. She was a good cook, they said, and kept the house clean but she wasn’t my mum and didn’t want to be. She was courting and he didn’t like me. I didn’t know why then but now I know it was because she wouldn’t leave my dad alone with me and get married.

I was 7 when dad didn’t come home one teatime. Auntie Sarah was getting cross because the tea was spoiling and in the end we had ours and she put dad's tea between 2 plates over a saucepan with boiling water in it to keep hot. I remember it was shepherds pie and carrots.

She sent me upstairs to get changed into my pyjamas and I heard her answer a knock at the front door. No one ever came to the front door and it had 2 bolts which stuck and then she had a job getting the door open. I crept out onto the landing and peeped round the top of the stairs. There was a policeman in the hall. He said something I couldn’t hear and all of a sudden Auntie Sarah sat down on the hall chair and threw her apron up over her face and screamed. She started wailing and sobbing and making ever so horrid a noise. I was scared and went back into the bedroom and shut the door. I sat on the floor in the corner and I got cold and shivery.

It seemed ages and I think it was about an hour before anyone came to find me and I didn’t dare go down.

Mrs Bewes from next door came in to find me and seeing me sitting shivering she took the eiderdown from the bed and wrapped it round me. She pulled me over to the bed and sat down beside me. I was really scared now because she was crying as well. She just said Your da is dead. Just like that. I didn’t want to believe her but I knew it had to be true.

If a pan boils dry the smell still makes me feel sick and if Auntie is boiling a pudding I always keep checking the water. She says I am barmy but I can’t help it.

I can’t write any more of this now. It gives me a pain in my chest and my belly goes all funny. That is why I can’t write.

 

#73:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 8:55 am

Crying or Very sad Oh, poor Reg.

That is so true to a kids thoughts, especially the association with the smell.

Thanks Pat. Have a marvellous time in Hampshire Very Happy Very Happy

 

#74:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 9:23 am

Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad Poor Reg.

Hope you have a good weekend though Pat Smile

 

#75:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 9:47 am

This really belongs with the last 2 so thought I would post it now.

Sunday 7th March 1943

I was sick on Friday and couldn’t go to school. Auntie kept on about what had I eaten from somewhere else and had I got a pain in the right side of my belly. I kept saying I was all right but she was worried.

I was better Saturday and went out on my bike up on the moors. I just wanted to be by myself. I rode right up to Grosmont and then on up on to Grosmont Moor. There was snow on the ground and I was riding along rough tracks. I passed the High Bride Stones without stopping and went right to the top. Some of it I had to walk. I went right up. Then I left my bike and walked along with no shelter from the wind. It made my eyes water. I could see Whitby and the sea at times along the way. I wanted to see the sea. I don’t know why but I felt better when I saw it. I sat and ate my bread and cheese.

Then I turned and went back.

 

#76:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 9:54 am

Poor Reg Sad
Enjoy the party!

 

#77:  Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!! PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 8:24 pm

Thank you Patmac!!!

Poor little Reg!

And have a lovely time at the party!

 

#78:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 2:15 am

Thanks Pat - such a sad little life for poor Reg.

 

#79:  Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US PostPosted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 3:41 am

Lovely portrayal of Reg's father. You can see why Reg still feels sick over the loss...

Thanks, Pat. Enjoy the weekend!

 

#80:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 10:05 am

Loving Reg in this - he's such a sensitive kid

Have a good weekend PatMac

Liz

 

#81:  Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2004 7:57 pm

Brilliant story Pat. Have only managed to catch up with this now. Love seeing things from Reg's point of view. You are really fleshing him out as a character.

 

#82:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 5:43 pm

Had a great weekend. The party was for Alan's nephew. He was 40 and claimed he missed his 21st through study and his 30th through children so had a big bash for his 40th. We stayed in the hotel where the party was held which was a blessing! We drove home yesterday after the 'Hangover Brunch' and I had to get Alan to the train station for 7 a.m. this morning to go to London so I am a bit shattered. Especially as I shall be picking him up at 11 p.m. tonight. *Feeling incoherent and mushy*

Sunday 4th April 1943

That’s nearly a month I’ve missed writing. I felt better after I’d been up on the moors that day and I’ve been doing my best at school.

Miss Phoebe was ill again and the doctor from the big hospital came out to see her. He’s called Dr Mitchell and he came in a big car. I watched him come up Tedders Bank from the den I’ve made in the garden of The Witchens. That’s the house across the road from Many Bushes and it’s been empty for a long while. It’s one of the places I go when I want to be by myself and I wait there sometimes to see if Miss Phoebe comes out into the garden. Debbie thinks I make her tired sometimes and won’t let me go in so I wait there and if Debbie wheels her out I go across all casual like. If I see Debbie go out I go across and get in the kitchen window.

Saturday 17th April 1943

Next week is Easter and we get a holiday from school. It seems ages since Christmas. I was saying that to Miss Phoebe and she got a big old book out and showed me how Easter changes each year and how it is worked out. It is worked out from the way the moon goes round the earth in 28 days. That is called the Lunar month. Lunar means moon. This year it is the latest we can get. She’s got a book for everything lots of them all in bookcases. She lets me look at any of them but I always go and wash my hands in the scullery first. She laughs a bit at that but it would be terrible to dirty one.

I’m singing a solo at church on Easter Sunday.

During the Easter Holidays Miss Phoebe is going to give me some lessons if she is well enough. Auntie thinks I’m going to help Debbie by digging the vegetable patch. I will do some of that too as a thank you because I haven’t got anything else to give. It will keep me in Debbie’s good books too.

We put the cows out in the field this morning and mucked out the barn and washed it all down so it won’t smell when the hot weather comes. The buckets of water were really heavy but Auntie can’t do as much now as she used to and I’m getting bigger so I can help her more.

I heard Mrs Baker in the shop say that Auntie is warm but ever so tight with her money.. She was gossiping with Miss Armitage. They didn’t know I was there at first because the door wasn’t latched so the bell didn’t ring when I went in. They stopped talking when they saw me and I pretended I hadn’t heard. I thought about it some and warm means someone is not short of money so I don’t understand because Auntie says she has to be careful and can’t afford any extras. I know she has money in the bank because I have been into Garnley with her and she has told me to go and amuse myself while she does errands and then I saw her go into the bank. Once I saw Mr Cheeseman, the bank manager come out to the door with her and shake her hand and sort of bow. I don’t think he would have done that if she was poor. I can’t ask her about it because I’d just get a clip round the ears and she would be cross for days.

I worried sometimes if I am being selfish wanting to go for a teacher because I should support Auntie by going to work as soon as I can and stay here to look after her but if she is not really short of money that makes it different. When I have finished at college and got a job teaching I will have lots of money and can pay her back for all she has spent on me.

There I’ve wrote a lot today to make up for not writing for so long.

 

#83:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 6:30 pm

This is such a lovely gentle drabble

Thanks PatMac

Liz

 

#84:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 7:04 pm

Thanks Pat.

Glad you had a lovely weekend too.

 

#85:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 8:50 pm

Lovely, thank you Pat.

 

#86:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 8:53 pm

Thanks PatMac, glad you had a good weekend.

 

#87:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 9:13 pm

Thanks, PatMac, the weekend sounded great.

 

#88:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 9:55 pm

Awwww this Reg is so sweet!
Glad you had a good weekend!

 

#89:  Author: Miss Di, Location: Newcastle, NSW PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:55 am

Now I'm wondering if Auntie is pinching Dregs - opps I mean Reg's - fortune. Gosh I have a nasty suspicious mind

 

#90:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 12:04 pm

Thank you Pat, this is lovely.

 

#91:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:03 pm

Sunday 25th April 1943

I took six eggs up to Many Bushes this afternoon now the hens are laying again. Auntie said it was only fair because we’ve had their peelings for the chicken mash all winter. In the towns they only get 1 egg a week on the rations. Debby was real pleased. She had just used up the last she put down in isinglass for the winter. She gave me a pot of gooseberry jam for auntie in swap. Auntie was pleased with it because she doesn’t have any gooseberry bushes and anyway we didn’t have enough sugar to make much jam last year. She says she will keep it for Sundays.

Miss Phoebe was expecting me and we had our first little lesson. Really she was finding out what I do know already. She says my reading is good and I just need to read more so I get lots of practice. My spelling is good too. I was always good at that and always get 10/10 for spelling. My sums are good as far as I know them but there are lots of things they don’t do at school. I suppose they think we will never need them. She’s going to show me some of them and she has got all her old school books still so we can work through them. She has all the books because she never went to a proper school but had a teacher come to the house because she was ill.

She is still going on about talking proper. She said that everyone talks differently to different people. I didn’t really understand at first but she explained it really well. It’s like rude to use long words to people who don’t understand them because it makes them feel stupid and you look stuck up. She said I shouldn’t make people feel small if I know more than them. I said I learned that the hard way at school because you get pushed and hit if you do. Then she said its like being an actor. If an actor is pretending to be a working man he will talk like one and if he is a toff (she said gentleman) then he will talk like one. But you can’t tell what he’s really like from when he’s acting.

Wednesday 28th April 1943

Miss Phoebe got out a book today called a Thesaurus. It has a list of lots of words and other words that mean the same. She said that it’s good to use different words instead of always using the same. She’s lent it to me and I’m going to use it when I write in here for practice. She was showing me about sentences too. I make mine too long and don’t use commas much. I can practice that here too.

She had me write a made up story. Then we looked at it and went through all the mistakes I made. I didn’t like that she found so many but I know this is a real good chance to learn some more that I can’t learn at school. I haven’t given up the idea of going for a teacher but I still don’t see how it will happen.

 

#92:  Author: Joey, Location: Cambridge PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:43 pm

Thank you, Patmac! I'm really enjoying this. I never understood why people don't like Reg, and it's lovely to learn some of his background.

 

#93:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 8:46 pm

Thanks Pat!

 

#94:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 10:36 pm

Lovely update! I really like the way you are portraying Pheobe and Reg's friendship.

 

#95:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:35 pm

Thank you Pat Very Happy

 

#96:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 9:29 am

Thank you Pat!

 

#97:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 7:19 pm

Sunday 9th May 1943

I had some more lessons during the holidays and I wish I could go to learn from Miss Phoebe every day. I learned a lot and she says I am a quick learner. I told her it is because she is a good teacher and she tells me why I should do something, not just to do it because she says so. She went sort of pink and said “You flatterer, I wish I could teach you better.”

Debbie was pleased I dug all the vegetable patch for her. I dug all our one too during the holidays and Auntie was pleased as well. She didn’t ask me to do it but I thought with her bad back I should do it now instead. She is getting old too. I put the sticks up for the peas and beans in both patches. I felt quite good when I’d done them both, sort of satisfied because they looked all neat and tidy.

Lots of the boys are off school working most days and nobody says anything about it. Auntie doesn’t make me do that anyway.

The weather is wet and windy again. All the old people are muttering about it being the worst April and May ever.

Tuesday 11th May 1943

That chap, Mr Burthill, has been upsetting Miss Phoebe again. She got another letter from the agent offering even more money for the cello. She doesn’t want to sell it for it was her dad’s.

Debbie says she should sell it because it would give her more money but she doesn’t understand how Miss Phoebe feels. I do. If I had something of my Dad’s I wouldn’t sell it even for a lot of money and I told her so. She all teared up and said she knew I would understand.

 

#98:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 7:23 pm

Oh bless Reg!! No wonder Pheobe adored him.

Also pleased to note from title that there will be more that one 'Part' to this tale

Thanks so much Pat Very Happy

 

#99:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 7:23 pm

Ahhh! He's such a thoughtful lad, isn't he?

 

#100:  Author: Ellie, Location: Lincolnshire PostPosted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 8:42 pm

Thanks Patmac, this is lovely.

And I'm glad you had a great weekend.

 

#101:  Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!! PostPosted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 8:56 pm

Pat, your Reg is very very sweet!

 

#102:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:59 pm

Agrees with Vikki!
Thanks Pat!

 

#103:  Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 12:52 am

Very nice, Pat! Smile

 

#104:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 10:37 am

Lovely, thanks Pat!

 

#105:  Author: keren,  PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:10 am

Joey wrote:
Thank you, Patmac! I'm really enjoying this. I never understood why people don't like Reg, and it's lovely to learn some of his background.


I think many of the people who don't like him, don't like the person who courts len in the last books.
But in the Rescue he is a nice boy.
One of the problems for readers is not seeing him again till he meets len

 

#106:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 7:35 pm

Sunday 16th May 1943

It’s raining again so I can write lots today. I suppose I had better tell about when my dad died. I never finished that.

I don’t remember a lot of it except I was kept off school and all the neighbours came round. His coffin was in the front room but it wasn’t open like some people do. I was glad of that. I had just a black armband round my coat because Auntie Sarah said it would be a waste of money to buy black for me.

I didn’t go to the funeral because Auntie Sarah said I was too young. I stayed with Mrs Bewes and took my toy cars round and played while she sewed. Afterwards, everyone came back to our house and had tea and Auntie Sarah was all weepy and people were saying what would she do now. She said she didn’t know but I think I guessed even then that she would get married and go away now my dad was dead. I wondered what would happen to me.

Anyway, after a few weeks, she told me I was going to live in Garnham with my mother’s auntie and she was getting married and going to Canada and couldn’t take me with her. I know it was because Alfred (that was her young man) didn’t want me.

It was only a few weeks later that I came home from school and she had packed my things and Auntie Bertha, her what I live with now, came to Garnley next day and we met in the High Street. I didn't really remember her, though when we got to her house I remembered that. She was all in black and I thought it was for my Dad but she just always wears black. She looked me up and down and said “So this is the lad. He looks as if he wants a bit of feeding up.”

 

#107:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 8:02 pm

Poor Reg - don't think much of his Aunt Sarah. Crying or Very sad

 

#108:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 10:48 pm

How mean of his Aunt to leave with what was practilly a stranger!

 

#109:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:45 am

Poor Reg.

Hopefully he'll be happier with Aunt Bertha than he would have been with Aunt Sarah.

Liz

 

#110:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:37 am

Not impressed with Aunt Sarah! Can just imagine Reg's first impresson of Aunt Bertha - he must have been terrified!!

cheers Pat Smile

 

#111:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:35 am

Poor Reg Sad

Thanks Pat.

 

#112:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:19 pm

Monday 17th May 1943

I’ll just finish this bit.

I think Auntie Bertha was a bit fed up about it because they had an argument right there and then. Auntie said is this all he’s got? What about his dad’s things, it was his house and Auntie Sarah said something about giving up 7 years of her life and she was owed something. I was too scared and frightened to listen properly because I thought Auntie Bertha was cross with me and that didn’t seem a good start. She wasn’t though. She said “Don’t worry, lad. I’ll see you right. You just sit on that box while I sort it.”

She turned to Auntie Sarah and she looked real grim at her. “You come with me.” She said “We’ll see about sorting it out properly. You’ll not get away with this.” And I was left with the parcels and boxes and they went across the Square to see the solicitor, still arguing. Auntie Sarah was all red and cross and Auntie Bertha looked grim and determined and grabbed her arm and marched her off across the road. I think Auntie Sarah was scared. They didn’t tell me what happened but, when they came back, Auntie Sarah was real cross and Auntie Bertha looked satisfied.

Then Auntie Sarah said goodbye and she went off, never looking back to wave. Auntie Bertha and I went and met the cart that brings the groceries to the shop and we came here on that. Auntie Bertha said this is my home now.

Auntie Sarah did get married and go to Canada but she’s very hard up. She writes at Christmas every year and it’s always moans. Auntie says serve her right. The house was sold and all dad’s things, except what I suppose Auntie Sarah took on the quiet. Auntie Bertha says the money is in the bank and will give me a little income when I’m older but I can’t touch it till I’m twenty one. I hope I can use some of it to go to college to be a teacher.

And here I am.

 

#113:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:32 pm

Good for Aunt Bertha! What a nasty person Reg's Aunt Sarah sounds - she's got what she deserves!

 

#114:  Author: Carolyn P, Location: Lancaster, England PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:03 pm

Hope it's all still there for Reg.

 

#115:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:22 pm

Friday 21st May 1943

We had some exciting war news the other day. The RAF bombed some dams in Germany that were important for the Germans. It was on the 6 o’clock news and on the front page of the paper. We don’t have a paper because Auntie says they are a waste and if it is important it will be on the wireless but Miss Armitage has a paper called the Telegraph every day and she cut out the front page and put it up in the shop for everyone to read. I went in for some things for Auntie and someone called out “Here’s young Reg. Let him through and he can read it out to us all.” She grabbed my arm and pushed me to the front and I had to read it twice because more people came in.

Everyone was saying perhaps the war will be over soon and getting excited. I do hope so.

Monday 24th May 1943

I’m real bored and nothing ever happens here. I wish there were some new people move here but I don’t suppose there ever will.

Thursday 1st July 1943

Auntie says that the Witchens has been taken for the summer by a family. She was talking to Mr Bowyers who is the agent for the Summerskills who used to live there. Its been empty for years and needs a lot of work done on it.

 

#116:  Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!! PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:24 pm

Glad Auntie Bertha stood up for Reg's rights!

 

#117:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:30 pm

Ah, good for Reg - he has no idea how much that family will change his life!

 

#118:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 12:55 am

Hurrah for Auntie Bertha!

 

#119:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 10:18 pm

Monday 5th July 1943

The family what have took the Witchens come from somewhere down south. It’s a doctor’s family and they’re coming for 2 months. Auntie says they must have more money than sense.

I wonder if I will get to meet them. It’s just over the lane from Miss Phoebe so I’m sure to see them. It would be nice to meet new people. I wonder if they will have any boys my age. They probably wouldn’t want him to play with a village lad anyway.

Sunday 11th July 1943

All the talk in the village is about the new people coming to the Witchens. The roof is being mended and Mrs Purvis and Lily are cleaning it all out. They are even having new distemper right through. Mr Jaycott has got an order for milk for all August and most of September. It is exciting.

Friday 30th July 1943

They are here.


End of Part 1

 

#120:  Author: pim, Location: St Andrews (right next to the beach) PostPosted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 11:37 pm

Thank you Pat Very Happy

*eagerly awaiting part 2*

 

#121:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 11:57 pm

How lovely - Reg's Aunt's comment is priceless! Very Happy

 

#122:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 11:58 pm

Afterword.

I felt I should say here that a lot of Reg's experience is taken from the real life of my Uncle Walter, who was not a blood relative but a friend of my Dad.

Sadly, there were no Maynards to rescue him.

Please raise your glasses to the many, many people who did not achieve their potential and to those for whom this is still true.

 

#123:  Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2004 12:06 am

Cheers


Gladly PatMac.

 

#124:  Author: Kate, Location: Ireland PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2004 1:02 am

Cheers *raises glass*

Aww. I really like Reg now.

I've always thought I'd like Reg more if his name wasn't Reg Entwhistle. Which is a bit silly, but there you are. But I like him in this. Smile

 

#125:  Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2004 12:04 pm

Cheers

I was just thinking the other day about people I know who are teachers or otherwise in *educated* jobs, but whose parents were manual labourers, and how hard it must have been for those parents watching their children succeed when they were denied the opportunity.

I'm just rereading Rexcue and was amazed that we meet Reg right at the beginning with Pheobe and then not until after Pheobe is taken to the San, when we have to assume that he is quite friendly with them all by this point.

Really good to have more about him (and Auntie - who I now like much more than I did previously) Pat - I can't wait for Part 2.

 

#126:  Author: Sophoife, Location: down under Down Under PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2004 12:06 pm

Cheers me four

and me too on the Entwhistle name thing... Rolling Eyes

BTW is there a transcript of Jo to the Rescue available?

 

#127:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2004 2:12 pm

Thanks PatMac

*also raising glass Cheers *

and looking forward to part II Very Happy

Liz

 

#128:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2004 2:16 pm

Thank you, PatMac. I'll raise a glass too.

 

#129:  Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2004 10:37 pm

Cheers

Especially those priced out of higher education by the introduction of tuition fees and the prospect of top-up fees.

Thanks Patmac!

 

#130:  Author: Ellie, Location: Lincolnshire PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:01 am

Thanks for that PatMac - now liking both Reg and his Aunt, she obviously wanted to do her best for him, even if she did have rather limited ambitions.

 

#131:  Author: Lisa_T, Location: Belfast PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 3:31 am

Auntie Patmac, can't believe I've only just read this!!! Embarassed Embarassed I love it and will be following the other parts!!!

 

#132:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 7:26 am

Thank you for the kind comments, everyone Embarassed . It's one of those that more or less wrote itself in my head and it was more a case of tightening it up and shortening it than struggling through the writing. I'm really glad you like it and thanks again to Rachael (who did not gloat, please note, uto Shocked )

 

#133:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 9:04 am

Lovely ending to part one! I'm so glad that Reg's Aunt Bertha stood up for him! Very Happy

 

#134:  Author: Rachael,  PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 10:22 am

*g*
(In fairness, Uto already has me, Patmac!! Laughing )

Well, now Part 1 is complete, I'll just say what I said to Pat earlier - this is brilliant and should be made compulsory reading for anyone who doesn't like Reg. It's a fascinating insight into where the boy came from - brilliantly observed down to every last detail and a wonderfully sympathetic portrayal of a much maligned character!! Very Happy

*raising glass to both those who have not achieved their potential and to Pat for a great fill-in*
Cheers

 

#135:  Author: keren,  PostPosted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 10:55 am

His aunt was also maligned a bit, and here we see how she is making a real effort to do her best (as she understands it) for him.
Being a teacher at the time would have been a good step up.

 

#136:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Thu Nov 25, 2004 11:17 am

Cheers

Thank you Pat! Also looking forward to Part 2.

I have just read Rescue fr the first time while away for a few days and this now fits in so well.

 

#137:  Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2004 10:32 pm

Patmac have just got round to reading the end of this. It is fantastic. Really true to it's time and I am sure it happened to many people.

Off to find part 2!

 

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