The year I was born 1935 round the corner from the Malt shovel in coventry street off the Willenhall Road Wolverhampton I never thought all these years later I would be writing this page on the Internet and publishing all the pictures and videos which you will find later, the first part will be up to joining the army at eighteen for 2 years. Just before my eighteenth birthday I received a letter asking me to report to the army barracks in Honiton Devon sending me a one way rail ticket, I had to leave in 2 days so the next night I went out with the lads for a pint I didn't know when or how long it would be before I saw them again, they were all having their call up papers at the same time as me, arriving at Heath field army training camp it was on the left hand side of the A.30 trunk road, about a mile west of Honiton a truck was waiting for us at the station there was about 10 of us going to the same camp, a corporal shouted move your bodies a get on the truck, at camp that's when the fun started we where marched in 2 ranks on to a parade ground for a pep talk and we where given tickets for a drinking mug, uniforms, boots, etc, and a ticket for a hair cut, in the barbers I sat down and said just a trim please, short back and sides I got and I mean short, six weeks training done me the world of good I came out fit and ready for anything, hope you find this story interesting and Informative. You will find lots of pictures and videos on the site later.
After my six weeks training I was transferred to 14 command workshops Ashford Kent. After some weeks I had to go to Mill Hill in London for a trade test I was there about a week. About a week or 10 days later I was asked to hand my pay book into the office, when it was returned to me, I had been upgraded from craftsman to craftsman 1st class, and my pay went up accordingly. A lot of things happened over the next 2 years that changed my life, after some time arriving at the camp I was put on guard and I was put on town patrol with 5 others who were on guard with me, we were supposed to keep the army blokes from the camp out of the local dance hall because of trouble they had from the week before we went In to see if any had got in, we finished up in the bar by about ten o'clock the place was full of army blokes, that is when I first met a seventeen year old from South Willesborough just outside of Ashford, I spotted her on the dance floor and when she came off I walked over and said would you like a dance she said yes and we had a dance "army boots and all" I said would you like to go to the pictures to- morrow night she said yes to make sure she turned up I put one of her earrings in my pocket and the next night I waited outside the pictures for my date.
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Yes I'm please to say she did turn up I walked her home to South Willesborough about 3 miles I thought I hope I can get back to camp before midnight, If you were late you would be on a charge and you would be confined to camp for seven days, anyway by the time we got to Willesborough and arranged to meet again and she asked me If I would like to meet her family some time, I said ok how about the weekend she said ok. It was way past midnight, when I got back to camp instead of going through the main camp I got over the fence at the back of the camp, the billet was in darkness. Not been in bed 3 hours and the billet door burst open and a corporal shouted get outside with your full pack on and get on the parade ground, by now it was about 4 o'clock what a shock we had when he said we are going away for 4 days on maneuvers, I thought there goes my weekend, we assembled on the parade ground with about 80 others, a officer shouted the orders ! as you can see we have 12 lorries on the road opposite I want 18 men in each one, we are going out of camp for 4 days and 4 nights a French airborne unit are being parachuted into the Kent country side to get into our camp and steal some documents, It is our job to find them arrest them and deliver them to our base camp which we will be setting up to-night you will find out where in the next hours we have no idea where they will be dropped, we are going to a place about 15 miles away we will travel about 9 miles then one man will be dropped off then one every mile after ten minutes of being dropped off walk in the direction the lorries you will find instructions on your way and keep your ears and eyes open. I was number 12 to be dropped off it was dark not a bit off light any were not even a moon, I started to walk after about half a hour I heard someone say who goes there, its me brummie "they called me that in camp" I said, it was my mate, he said a load of army blokes had just crossed the road and they are in that field up the lane and they are French there is no way I am getting involved in that lot, we carried on up the lane and we caught up with some others from camp they were all sitting in a group we all sat there until it got light, about 6am we heard the noise of lorries it was our lot a officer shouted get aboard we drove about half a hour and we unloaded they had set up a H.Q. in the middle of the countryside they had 5 French airborne in hand cuffs they had questioned them for 4 hours. We were ordered to scout the countryside for the next 2 days and and bring any French army blokes to the H.Q. for questioning we were given rations and set off in groups 4 in different directions, we spent most of the time in the local pubs, one pub we went in the gaffer said there are some French army blokes the bar so we went in and finished up playing them darts. After 2 days we headed back to the H.Q. what they had set up when we got there one officer said we are going back to camp we loaded on to the lorries, when we got back to camp the French airborne had already been an stolen the documents what a waste of a week that was.
Lets go back a few years first from 1935 to 1953 that's up to me going into the army. The early years was spent here Bushbury Hill School. I spent the next the next fifteen years here learning to grow up that was about all I learnt, all I wanted was to leave school and get a job. I did leave school at 15 and went to work at Chillington with my Dad on the Willenhall Road for about twelve months from there I had a few jobs in Wolverhampton. Edwards and Sons Stafford Street, and a few more before I got a job at a car body shop on the Bilston Road until I went in the army. I went in the army with a trade. Car sprayer and coach painter. Back to this story later.
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Demobilisation
Over the next year I spent more and more time over Willesborough at Irene's home. I will never forget every Sunday night the Mother in-law would make me a bag of beef dripping sandwiches to take back to camp, the lads at camp would be waiting for me they looked forward to Sunday nights. But all I was waiting for was to get demobed and get back home. A year later I came out of the army and went back home to the West Midlands and Woverhampton, I traveled back to Ashford many times to see Irene and her family, and after another 12 months we decided to get married and Irene agreed to make her life in Wolverhampton with me.
We got Married in Willesborough Ashford, all my family traveled down for the big day, we had a great day, and we went to Blackpool for our honeymoon the same night.
We had our Golden Wedding last year 2006 I will be be back later with more stories.
The concluding part to my story, as you will remember I came out of the army got married to Irene and we moved back to my home town Wolverhampton not far from the Blackcountry Museum which was Established in 1975, the Black Country Museum is a wonderful collection of history and heritage from the Black Country region. There are many buildings and the site now incorporates some 26 acres of residential and industrial property of the time, including live demonstrations and staff in period costumes in the shops and houses. The whole experience is like stepping into a time warp. You really need a whole day here. I did as you can see opposite. The museum shows how people lived and worked around the 18th century to the present day. An electric tramway system is in operation and many of the buses and vehicles are seen in working operation throughout the year. Coal was mined here, and visitors can take a tour down a coal mine and see what life was like. The visitor centre at the entrance takes you back in time and provides information about the Black Country region. There is a gift shop, a real working pub I had a couple of pints in there not a bad pint, a restaurant and canal trips. A walk round the village takes you back in time. See how the locals shopped and the goods that they purchased. Call in at the sweetshop or the bakery and sample their products. You may like to see what an old school classroom looked like or watch a silent movie at the cinema. The Black country museum has gone to a lot of trouble to provide a realistic insight into our past. This has to be on your list of places to visit in the West Midlands. Children will enjoy it its great as well as the adults. Back to the never ending story. For the first 3 years we lived with my Mother and Dad we had 2 rooms with them on the Underhill Estate until we got a flat in Wednesfield. After six years we became proud parents of our Son Stuart and 46 years later we are still proud of him, I had various job in the town mostly in the motor body trade car repair and spraying all very unhealthy jobs I must say. When we moved to Wednesfield I got a job at the Yale in Waddens Brook Lane they used to build forklift trucks after a short while I became foreman over the preparation and spraying dept. I worked there for 20 years until I moved to the Seamless Steel Tube later to become Weldless Steel Tube also Waddens brook Lane I worked there until I retired at 60 through ill health. Where did all those years go, It makes you wonder. But that is not the end of our story. At 72 we have a very good life, we go were we want, when we want. You will find plenty of videos and pictures on the site later. I will be coming back to the story now and again. So keep coming back to have a look.
In the early years we used to go down Ashford every holiday to visit Irene's family, and one time I remember when I took them all out for a drink in a old Ford Consul I bought for £150 in Wolverhampton, the Mother and Father in-law got in the back and the father in-law said "take it easy" because he knew I liked a drink, I did them days the first stop was the Bull in Hothfield I had a few pints in there and we set off for the next pub. I finished up driving down this dark lane it was like driving down a road to nowhere the Mother in-law said we should have stayed at home and the Father in-law shouted from the back never again. Any way the road started to get bumpy by this time it was very dark and to make it worse the lights did not work I had not checked them before we left Wolverhampton. I only bought the car the day before. I went for a while and the Father in-law shouted stop this car and let me get out, I stopped and the Farther in-law shouted we are on the Main railway line from Canterbury to Margate we all jumped out of the car pushed it off the line turned it round and I drove, off I don't think they ever came out for a drink with me again. All our parents are no long with us. Many more stories to tell keep checking now and again. Let us come foreward for a while it is now 2011. Stuart my Son is 50 next month he is married to Karen. We have 2 grandchildren Samantha our grandaughter is 19 and our grandson Kurt who is 12. Samantha is currently touring the country with Dreamcoats and Pettycoats she is playing the lead role as Laura, you will find a link to her website on the links page on the site. I have just started this story again so a lot more to come.
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YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE IT BUT 6YEARS HAVE PASSED I LOST ALL MY WEB SITE AND I HAVE JUST GOT IT BACK AND UP AND RUNNING. SO KEEP CHECKING