Chapter 8 - Doreen Weston

Picking up where you left off two and one quarter years previously was the new challenge. Getting back into the workforce on a daily basis was the easiest part, and then what to do afterwards? Most of the pals who where part of life after work had moved on to other things, like different friends, some of them girlfriends or even wives. So it was a question of going around knocking on doors, (there were no telephones in those days), to see who was still available to chum about with on evenings. One such fellow boy scout buddy, John Weston, filled the void and was very conveniently located at the end of the same street, which was also on the main bus route so easy to hop onto a tram or bus to go to the movies or into Middlesbrough for the First division football matches. Also, being over the legal age requirement for drinking we sometimes called into a pub for light refreshments in a pint glass. At the end of summer John Weston who was an apprentice joiner at Tees-side bridge and Engineering works was involved in night school classes so I was back looking for some company to spend time with during the evening hours, and I didn’t have far to look, in fact she was right there living in the same house, his sister Doreen Weston, and as they say “the rest is history.”  This year will be our 58^th year of marriage.

During the days of courting we often went out as a foursome, and eventually John found himself a wife to be (and still is) and part of our entertainment was going to dances. I know John did not relish the dancing part nearly as much as Doreen and I, but he stuck in there gamely. One of the regular events was at the “Oddfellows Hall” in Normanby each Saturday and sometimes a midweek Wednesday was also come dancing night. The resident band was Bert Smith and the boys and the house was usually packed. Two of the features of the program were progressive dance routines were men took the outside circle and the Ladies the inner circle and after completing the format the lady was passed onto the next gent and the whole thing was repeated with a new partner ad infinitum and mostly it went on until you came back to the partner you started with. The other routine was simply that the ladies had the choice to ask the man to dance rather than the normal way. One particular girl who loved this idea used to make a beeline for me and ask me for the dance. This became quite amusing to everyone in our group except me and my only escape route was to go to into the Gents washroom when they announced “Ladies Call” and return when the music stopped. I was nervous that one time she might even burst through the door. Even to this day Doreen will mention the name “Margaret Pengilley” my persistent pursuer to get my attention.

School Prefects - circa 1945

(Left to Right)Rear – T. Jones, T. Taylor, F. White, A. Forester, D Close, K. Twite

Middle – G. Anderson, J. Humphies, D. Weston (Doreen), E. Green, D. Jones

Front – D. Tonkin, B. Bousefield (Bessie), J. Buckton, Pat Walters

Doreen and I became engaged which lasted three and one half years mostly because it took that long to save enough for a down payment on a house in Ormesby Village. The house was owned by one of my scoutmasters Charlie Anderson and who was moving to the west side of England as advised by the family doctor because of his wife’s health. A fellow Roll Turner, Ted Westcough encouraged me to have a regular paycheck deduction amount paid directly into a bank account for this purpose and I am always grateful for the good piece of advice.

Work was plentiful and overtime and Roll Turning went hand in hand especially when I was transferred to #6 mill. The circumstances of which are interesting. Two of the Roll Turners in #6 mill at the time, both Scots, named McLean and Laidlaw were both working a double shift 2:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. and then 10: 00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. They were allowed a half hour meal break between the shift change time so they went into town to the local pub for a few pints and some fish and chips. On the way back to work they broke into the newsagent’s shop that was situated very close to the works entrance and stole a large quantity of cigarettes. I don’t think there would have been any cash around at that time of night and they probably thought they had a good alibi as they were supposed to be at work however, someone passing saw what was going on and went to the gatekeepers shed who phoned the police who caught them in the act. They got a month in jail for their trouble and fired from their jobs so that was how I got moved into the rail mill which now was two men short. One of the men in the shop came up with a little amusing ditty to befit the incident and I quote, “Thirty days hath September, April, June and November, also Laidlaw & McLean.” 

At that time the rail mill was extremely busy with an export order for Iran. Shipping tens of thousands of tons of 45 kg rails for the National Railway of Iran. Every rail produced had a brand rolled into the web of the rail, which stated the size, weight, month and year of manufacture and the name of producer. Nobody could speak Arabic so they provided us with a stencil to mark this information onto the roll backwards of course so that when it came off the mill it was readable to them.

Such was the nature of the work that it was common for us to work alternate Sundays paid at double time plus two double shifts every week. Including the overtime premiums we averaged 100 hours paid for on one week and 88 hours paid for on the alternate week. When you know that one week only has 168 hours in it, (7 days x 24 = 168), you can imagine how much time was spent at work. This all happened so quickly that 6^th Dec 1952 came around rapidly and I remember asking for time off for the wedding which was reluctantly granted. We moved into the semi-detached house with an attached wood garage construction built by Charlie Anderson. A baby girl whom we named, Janet, joined eleven months later.

Shirley Bland, Eileen Weston, Doreen Bland, Joyce Baxtrem