Chapter 10 - Return To England

As the plan to return to England progressed we concentrated on saving as much as possible and with John Weston’s help started looking for a house to be built in readiness for our homecoming set to be July/August 1960. John found a small site being developed by the owner of the land at the top of Ormesby bank in the village of Nunthorpe. It was an ideal spot high above the spewing soot and smoke of Dorman Long and others that could be seen below and about 5 miles away. The site would hold about 20 dwellings; mostly bungalows and we were able to choose a plan that fitted the bill after making some changes to the interior layout. John got the wheels turning with Building society, Solicitors, etc. and the only hang-up was that the home was not ready on time, which was common occurrence with builders in England. So we had to spend some extra time with Doreen’s brother John, his wife Eileen and their daughter Lynda who was about a year younger than Janet and of course Derek. The kids all got along fine and as we had a car, had some great days out in the countryside and the seaside.

We traveled from Redcliff to Bulawayo by car with George and Sheena Kerr our good friends for all the time spent in Rhodesia and were to board the train to Capetown the next day. One of the places to see in Bulawayo was Matopos that is where the body of Cecil John Rhodes was buried. The area was called World’s View and was high above the city, with a magnificent view all around.

The worlds view close to Cecil Rhodes grave

Table Mountain

The train journey was three long days and two nights sleeping in the carriage before reaching the outskirts of Capetown and the winding descent down through the wine growing hillsides of the city that was spectacular to see. We had arranged to spend 4 days on board the ship moored alongside the wharf and using it as a hotel before it was due to sail back to Southampton. This time was spent touring the area with a girl who had lived in the same street as Doreen in Grangetown and had married a South African boy who worked for Berkley Scale Corporation. She had two children as had we and we spent each day with her and the kids seeing all the sights. The most memorable of which was the cable ride to the top of Table Mountain and its view of where the Indian Ocean meets with the Atlantic. It was a lovely city back then which was 50 years ago and one felt very safe and secure. I can remember going into a second hand jewelers shop and buying a diamond and ruby ring for Doreen as a memento of the visit. The girl’s name was Mary Lupton and one of the days there were some fishermen drawing a cart with fish for sale. 

Snoek is a well-loved braai fish by South Africans

Mary suggested we might like to try some “Snoek” obviously a South African name, which was a very large version of the English Mackerel. So that is what we had for dinner that day and it was indeed good eating as we both love fish. It reminds me of some of the fish available from the store in Rhodesian which we had weekly. 

Two of the names were Kingklip and 74. I do not know where they or their names came from but the fish themselves were very good. I never heard of a fish called by a number before, I bet there is an interesting story behind that!

We do have some pictures of the visit all colour slides which were popular at the time but do not stand the test of time very well. I have had some success scanning slides and converting them into pictures on the computer many of them of the grandchildren growing up in Oshawa and Niagara Falls, Canada. All too soon it was time to board the Edinburgh Castle one of the ships of the Union Castle line sailing out of Southampton on the south coast of England. The line had many ships all named after castles built in the British Isles and some were more tonnage than the KGV that was 35,000 tons. I think on the postcard we have of the Edinburgh Castle it is listed as 28,000 tons. We also have the ships passenger list, which has every passengers name and profession in print and whether or not they were first class passengers. 

Oh those Brits and their class distinction rules. 

This might be a good time to insert the origin of the word “POSH” which is an acronym meaning, Port Outbound Starboard Home. The word was coined in the days of British rule in India when they had thousands of troops stationed in the country in various cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, and of course the huge Naval base at Trincomalee on the island of Ceylon as it was then. The army officers whose wives would visit them in India to escape the British winter would book a cabin on the port side of the ship on the outward journey and a cabin on the starboard side for the homeward journey. There was no air conditioning system at that time; Mr. Carrier had not invented it yet. So by doing that they avoided the heat of the day from the sun, which made them feel more comfortable for the trip. There was of course an added cost applied for this change and the wealthier people, like officers in the British Army, who could afford to pay this were called POSH people, and the word was added to the English language. 

The two-week experience on shipboard was only interrupted by a brief stop at the island of Madeira, (under Portuguese rule); we anchored in the harbour and were ferried ashore by boats for shopping and sightseeing for about 5 hours. One of the welcoming events were native kids in small fishing boats which would pull alongside the ship and then dive for coins thrown by passengers on the liner into the ocean for them to retrieve. It was soon apparent that they could immediately distinguish silver coins from the common copper English penny and they would ignore the small value coins in favour of the half crowns and florins. I mistakenly thought that the coins being of heavy metal would sink like a stone to the bottom but they flattened out and gently moved from side to side on their way to the bottom in an arcing motion, which making it fairly easy for them to capture and put into their bags tied around their waists. The young boys put on quite an entertaining show such as grasping the coins with their teeth instead of fingers and pretending to miss the coin and then swim further down and make a second but successful attempt at getting it. The stores ashore were well stocked and of course one of the favourite items for sale was bottles of Madeira wine or sherry. Upon entering each shop one was offered a tray with glasses of sherry (one for each member of your party) including the children who were 6 ½ and 3 ½ years old at the time, an interesting custom. They would encourage you to drink what the kids did not have. I think that the softening up was supposed to make it easier to get into your wallet or purse and encourage you to buy more stuff. The island itself was beautiful with flowering trees and park like settings everywhere. We took a Mercedes taxi for a round the island tour and of course the weather was perfect.

The cabin was spacious and had it’s own window, well porthole, that was located next to the same deck as the dining room, which was ideal as the children had to eat earlier than the rest of the passengers for the evening meal so it was convenient for us to check on them during that time. For the other meals we were all at the same table. It seemed very odd looking around the dining room for the first time it was half empty and as the days went by a few more faces would appear in attendance until by the end of the voyage the seats would all be filled. The waiter explained that it was normal as about half of the passengers would suffer from imaginary seasickness and could not face food for the first few days of the voyage. There was a program of daily events such as ring toss; shuffleboard, dances, movies, ping-pong and a form of lottery where you had to guess how many miles the ship would travel in the twenty-four hour period. The nearest to the actual received the cash prizes, so there was always something going on for amusement and the rest of the time was used up trying to keep Derek out of mischief.

R.M.S. EDINBURGH CASTLE

From CapeTown, 8^th July, 1906

The trip had one incident on about the third day out of Capetown we had finished supper and called to have an evening drink in the bar and there was one hell of bang as all the bottles and glasses on the bar top went sliding off the end and smashed onto the deck. The people at second sitting were all wearing the food in their laps and again lots of dishes ended up on the deck broken. For a couple of days after that the tables had fold up flaps in place to prevent another mess but everything was okay. It was caused by what they called Cape Rollers, extra large waves, which are common in that area of the ocean. I had to dash down to the cabin to check that the kids were all right and hadn’t been thrown out of the bunks. It was the only scare we had and the infamous Bay of Biscay, which can be rough, was just like a mill pond the days we passed through it and on into the English Channel and then the port of Southampton without any trouble. 

Middlesbrough Railway Station

Then it was on the train to London and a transfer to Kings Cross station and the frozen north of Yorkshire. Actually, it was the middle of summer and the weather was quite pleasant. All of the Weston family gathered at the Middlesbrough station to meet us. After all the hellos, Janet said who was now almost 7 years old, asked why her Gran was speaking Scottish? Of course she had not seen Gran Weston for over 4 years and the dialect must have sounded strange at first. 

Sarah Jane Bland (Mum), Sister Enid, Brother George, 

 Aunty Winn, Shirley Bland, Brother John  

We all had to stay with John & Eileen at first which was as arranged but ended up being longer than expected as the new bungalow was not ready for occupation, typical of builders schedule in the UK. However, we eventually moved in to 3 Hillcrest Drive in the village of Nunthorpe at the top of Ormesby bank, to begin life back in England. I went back to the same Steelworks which I had worked at previously but in a new mill which had been taken from Germany as spoils of war and as I knew most of the fellow tradesmen we just fitted right in and it was a good shop to work in. I do recall going in to work on the 2 till 10 shift one November day in the ever present cold drizzle which had persisted for 5 days or more and thinking to myself, “What the heck am I doing back in this climate,” but the answer to that had already been decided. Having left the employ of Dorman Long I was now considered a new employee upon my return and was subjected to a Trade Union agreement which provided a pay bonus for workers with 5 years and 10 years of continuous service who received 10 shillings weekly for 5 years and one pound per week for 10 years. My now having no years of service on record this did not exactly endear me again to Trade Unions who negotiated these raises especially when it became apparent that working on any piece of equipment a roll used in the mill which had a series of grooves to be machined into it, one end was defined as the finishing end and the other was defined as the roughing!  I found myself always being scheduled to work on the finishing end and receiving one pound less per week than some other guy who had been working there many years before I had left in the first place, but who were ill prepared to do the quality of work anyway. I can see how such an agreement was negotiated as most all of the Union officials were of advanced years of age and immediately eligible to benefit and it was also in the employers best interest to encourage trained tradesmen not to leave their employ.

  

After being back only a little over one year there became a vacancy for the job of lead hand, which I applied for and got. Then after a similar amount of time the Shop Foreman sadly suffered a heart attack and died, so I was offered Foreman’s job, which was a staff salaried position. This released me from being a Union member forever, which I was not at all unhappy about.

All the family settled into the new home and lifestyle back in England. We had a small car, a Morris Minor, affectionately called Wum, from the letters on the license plate. Derek liked the sound wum wum as being like a car revving the engine. Doreen became involved with Eileen with dressmaking and alterations and they had a room rented from Pilly, AKA, Mrs. Pilgrim who was the local newsagent living on Ormesby Bank and within walking distance for each of them to get to. We joined a country club in Marton and regularly attended dances on Saturday evenings with John & Eileen for a couple of drinks and a quick trip into Middlesboro, to the local Chinese Restaurant.

I had never owned a car or driven in England, so I was advised before leaving Rhodesia to apply for a visitor to Great Britain driver’s license, which was valid for one year. During which time I could drive without a licensed driver accompanying me and not be required to display the “L” plates on front and rear bumpers as all learner drivers were made to do. This made it very convenient to get around without waiting about at bus stops. This part I found quite amusing. I applied to have a driver’s test to obtain a regular license to drive in England. So I drove myself to the examination office to take the test without a licensed driver with me and with no “L” plates, signifying learner. The amusing part was if I had failed the test I would have been able to get back in the car and drive off because the visitor to Britain license was still valid, however that embarrassing moment did not happen thank goodness, quite an ironic situation though.

   

We took a holiday in London for a week and visited all the places of interest in the city plus a trip to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court the palace of Henry the eighth. We stayed at a nice B&B guesthouse and since we were out all day, bought our lunches. For dinner we had lot of real English fish and chip.      

I was advised to remove the rotor arm from the distributor cap each evening when we parked the car in the street in front of the house, so I did just that and kept it in my pocket until we went off again the next morning. We all enjoyed the visit to the Capital and one of the theatres had the “Sound of Music” playing on the stage at that time which was another treat to be enjoyed. 

The steel industry was beginning to slow down and a feeling of uneasiness crept into everyone’s mind once again. There was some internal conflict of personality between the foreman and his assistant in #6 mill. The assistant foreman was the son of one of the board of directors of the company and got the job for exactly that reason. However, they were just not getting along so the Roll shops manager came up with his solution to the matter. He transferred me laterally to #6 mill as shop foreman and made the then foreman step down to my assistant. I thought this was an unfair, underhanded move and a cowardly way to handle the matter.  After all, he had been my foreman when I had left to go to Rhodesia some 9 years or more previously, and was more than well qualified in his job. These kind of political tactics make me cringe.  The director’s son he transferred to #9 mill and promoted my assistant to shop foreman to make room for him. The only small amount of satisfaction I got came some 18 months later when I left to come to Canada and pulled up the anchor once again. It must have been an embarrassment for the manager to have to take a man from the shop floor and make him into the shop foreman thus playing leap frog over the assistant foreman whom I have nothing but good to say about and treated me just fine through our time together. The sweetest part was the guy he chose from the shop floor was one of my best friends so he got a nice easy ride into retirement, which was great since he was not in the best of health having suffered with Diabetes for many years.

Ship's Inn,  Marske 

Early in the year of 1966 we moved house from Nunthorpe to the seaside village of Marske. This was partly because financially it was beneficial and freed up some cash flow and also because we were had good friends living directly across the street whom I got to know from work as Bert was the foreman in the locomotive shop and we had lunches together along with a number of other foremen from various other departments in the steel plant. Bert's wife Amy and Doreen also hit it off together, so we had many happy times together mostly at the local, Ship Inn, and another favourite place, the Ellerby Hotel a few miles down the Whitby Road in the village of Ellerby. On occasions we would pile five people in each of our cars making up a party of ten for a night out. Marske was a friendly little village and we got to know many other people through Bert and Amy, I also had two cousins who also lived in Marske and both worked at, yes you guessed it. The move was also convenient for Bert and I to car pool to work on alternate weeks both being on the same hours.

The house being bungalow style with one huge bedroom upstairs was much larger than the one we moved from at Nunthorpe. Even though it was a semi detached it was more convenient for a growing family and also had a detached brick garage plus a large garden area that backed onto farmland with places for the rabbits and Janet's dog, Ricky "AKA" (little brown alligator). Sadly though the location became a problem for Doreen who on many occasions completely lost her voice because of the proximity of the North Sea and when the fog came rolling in off the ocean it took her voice with it. After consulting medical advice, the only solution offered became, "you will have to move inland a few miles." The cliffs were only about three hundred yards from the garden gate and of course in the winter the problem was much more severe. Derek really liked the area and spent many hours down on the beach chatting to the fishermen and was always happy to go when the tide was in to buy a couple of crabs or a codfish from them. Fish and crabs were also usually available for purchase in the Ship Inn from the fishermen. As fortune would have it we did not have to move inland at all because of another job opportunity appeared in the local gazette to which I immediately responded and received a prompt reply.