Chapter 12

Louise and Ian's plan to marry prompted us to move to a smaller house. Bunny was still with us, his stay in Liverpool was to be extended and he was negotiating the purchase of a flat in New Brighton. For our move we favoured Neston or Heswall and eventually settled for a bungalow to be built on a small estate in Neston. Inevitably the bungalow was not complete by the promised date and as we had to let our buyer have possession, we were homeless. Fortunately this was the during the school holidays and Doreen and Nicholas were able to live at the cottage. I stayed with Bunny in his flat Monday to Friday and in the cottage at weekends. Bunny and I were both fond of "end of the pier" type shows, and went several times to the summer show at the Floral Pavilion. The principal artiste, Mavis White was well known on Merseyside as the "Tiddlywinkie girl." Our new bungalow was situated on a rather awkward L shaped plot which included about twelve mature pine trees along one boundary. This soon revealed Doreen's flair for making a garden. Her skill, and my labour soon turned the plot into an attractive garden with "secret" corners, making the most of what was quite a small area. When we moved in we had the pleasure of seeing red squirrels in the pine trees. Sadly some neighbouring trees were felled, interrupting their "run" and they disappeared. Louise and Ian had started their married life in a new bungalow in Great Ayton, a pretty village on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. It was about 10 miles from Ian's work at ICI Billingham.

With Louise married, and Nicholas at Grammar school, Doreen felt that she would like a job, but did not wish to return to nursing. Louise, who was an executive officer in the civil service, suggested the department of employment, and she was accepted at the Ellesmere Port office. When her appointment was to be confirmed, her school certificate "pass level" in English was not admissible. Nicholas suggested that she should take an 'O' level, for which she sat among teenagers at Wirral Grammar School for Girls, and was awarded a first. Doreen enjoyed working for the department. The fact that most of her colleagues were younger than her, ensured that she remained young at heart.

Hal and Dorothy Watson were good friends and neighbours. Hal was in charge of installation of cellars and dispensing equipment for Higson's Brewery. We were invited to several opening nights at pubs and clubs, none of us were "drinkers," but we had some very pleasant evenings, one in particular at Everton Football Club with a star cabaret. I was surprised at the engineering involved in beer storage and dispensing.

We had two cats, brother and sister, Fred and Mabel. Mabel began to disappear for a couple of days. Doreen saw a notice in a local shop, "Home wanted for a Tabby cat." The description exactly matched Mabel. Doreen called the telephone number on the card to be told she is not here now. "I know," said Doreen, "she is here."

I was called for jury service at Chester Crown Court, which I found fascinating. Observing several motoring cases in court, before I was called to be part of a jury convinced me that the skill of the lawyer has more bearing on the verdict than whether the accused is innocent or guilty. On the one case in which I was involved, we failed to agree a verdict and the case went for retrial. I have often wondered about the final verdict.

Although I had weathered the stressful period at Norco, I still felt unsettled and was still looking for an alternative. I was short-listed for many interesting posts, but I was now on the wrong side of fifty. I was eventually offered, and accepted, a position as Contracts Engineer with Millers Engineering of Wrexham. With this small private company, I was involved in the design and installation of services (steam, fats, molasses, etc.) for feed mills for Bibby's in Shrewsbury and Crosfields in Nantwich. By this time, I had made quite a name for myself in the industry not least for my experience in liquids handling at Norco. Unfortunately, the company encountered cash-flow problems and went into receivership. It was on the point of being sold as a going concern, when Mr Heath's three day week caused the prospective buyer to withdraw.

I was offered a similar post with Callow Engineering of Skelmersdale which I was pleased to accept. Once again I was involved with services, this time for two feed mills in Bridgewater. Callow were specialists in pneumatic conveying, and I was quite proud of a system, designed and engineered for RHM Southampton, which conveyed flour at one hundred tons her hour from the mill to the automatic packaging plant. One hundred horse power blowers conveyed the flour some six hundred feet through six inch diameter pipe lines.

Louise and Ian had their first daughter, Kate, before moving to Stokesley, a small town three miles from Great Ayton. After Nicola and Robert were born they returned to settle in a family house with a large garden in Great Ayton.

Nicholas acquired his first motorbike, a "Honda 90," which he bought in pieces for six pounds. He then graduated to a "Honda 175" and finally a "Honda 250." One Christmas night Doreen and I were relaxing after a hectic day. The telephone rang to inform us that Nicholas was in Clatterbridge Hospital, the policeman's comforting words to Doreen were, "I don't think he is too bad, he is able to speak." At that moment I realised what I must have put my poor mother through in earlier days. He had made rather too many social calls and had run out of road - his injury, a fractured collar bone. Fortunately for Nicholas, the policeman who found him was also a motorcyclist, obviously with the Christmas spirit, and no action was taken against him. After success in his 'O' levels, he failed to apply himself to his 'A' levels with the inevitable result. He decided on a student apprenticeship in building construction with John Laing, for whom he worked on contracts as diverse as a theatre in Mold to a nurses home in Leicester, taking a sandwich course for Higher National Diploma at Huddersfield Technical college.

Driving to Skelmersdale, thirty miles through the heart of Liverpool, with some twenty sets of traffic lights, became very tedious, and we decided to look for a house nearer the factory. Many weekends were spent scouring the countryside, and we eventually bought a bungalow in Eccleston, near Chorley, to which we were due to move three days after Nicholas's 21st birthday.

The weather on the day of the birthday party was a repeat of the day on which he was born. The party was held at home, the catering on this occasion being handled by Ian's brother, Frank. The young were able to dance in the house, with the "oldies" in the garden where it was still warm at one o'clock in the morning. The following day some children were playing in a hedge, quite close to our garden, which they accidentally set on fire. We called the fire brigade, who arrived hot and sooty, having been called to many heath fires during the morning. With help from Nick's friends the fire was then under control. When offered a drink, the firemen could hardly believe what they were hearing when given the choice of draft beer or draft lager! As our move to Eccleston was to be three days later, not as much as a teaspoon had been packed, three hard days work followed, still in scorching conditions.

Living in real Lancashire was a new experience. Nowhere have I met friendlier people. On the day we moved to Eccleston two trays of tea appeared almost before the furniture van had parked. Doreen was enchanted with the markets. There were so many, and all quite distinctive. I remember Bolton in particular, every kind of creature that lives in the sea was available in the fish section. The country around us was delightful and belied the "satanic mills" image. One of our favourite spots was White Coppice, where a little cricket ground, encircled by rolling hills, was reflected in a lake which was surrounded by bluebells in the spring. Doreen was able to transfer to the Skelmersdale office of the D of E and we travelled to and from work in one car. Driving home together at the end of the working day was a new and pleasant experience. Although we only lived in Eccleston for two years, Doreen completely transformed an indifferent garden.

One Sunday evening, when we were preparing to leave after a weekend at the cottage, we suddenly decided that we would like to have it extended and make it our home. I drew up the necessary plans , and sought planning permission and estimates. After many frustrations in finding a builder, work was started in spring 1978. At the same time we learned that Bunny was suffering from cancer from which he was to die shortly afterwards. I missed him very much, we had become very close in recent years.