1960s PRIVATE LIFE

0109 Burton move 

I suppose our house move to Burton was just about the most complex we ever made.  As I had to start the job almost immediately, and we needed the money, I was forced to go down there and stay in a hotel for the first couple of months -- coming home at weekends.  This lasted until we managed to sell our Knutsford house. 

In the meantime I was by myself in a hotel on the outskirts of Burton. Even having the sold Knutsford house, as our new one was still not ready, we had to move into temporary accommodation in Lichfield.  Thus, half of our furniture went into store and half was used to furnish a small flat. Fortunately we had bunk beds for the children, since this flat only had two bedrooms. 

Pat was out most of the day. She had to take Sarah to her new school and Miles to his new playgroup. Unfortunately Miles finished at lunchtime and Pat then had to keep him busy before she collected Sarah.  Their favourite haunt, with chips for lunch, was the ten pin bowl just by the bridge over the Trent; since this also had a games arcade.

The reason for the length of time it took us was that we were waiting for our house to be built.  On the other hand, this gave us the opportunity to make the modifications we wanted.  It was, for the first time for us, a four-bedroom/two-bathroom, house.  It was actually in Burton on Trent itself, and probably was the most expensive house there.  It was at the top of a little estate, Hillcrest Avenue, which overlooked the Trent; to the Peak District in the distance.  It was expensive for Burton – at £10,000. But the estate was in nice setting, surrounded by school playing fields, where the children used to play when we eventually moved in.

As I have said, upstairs it had four good-sized bedrooms with a main bathroom and an en-suite off our bedroom; which was one of the largest bedrooms we ever had.

Downstairs it had a reasonable sized living-room and a separate dining-room. The kitchen was relatively large -- though it was still not large enough to eat in.  We made a significant change by converting the integral garage, on the front of the house, into a playroom.  Also the various rooms - playroom, living room and dining room - all had wide openings which could be closed off with louvred doors.  The idea was that we could, however, open them all to provide one large space for the children's play or for parties -- not that we had many of these.

The living room, looking out to the garden

To replace the garage we had a separate (large) single garage in the garden with a carport in front of it alongside the house.

 The patio

Behind the house, with French doors opening onto it from the living room, was a large patio. In theory it should have been ideal for the children; if I only had been there to play with them. Indeed occasionally, very occasionally, I played football with them on the patio.

Behind that, eventually, was a landscaped garden that we had a professional landscape gardener produce – the only time I have used professional help in this way.  Because the ground rose steeply, we had two levels with a massive rockery and waterfall between them. Something like to 20 tonnes of stone went into the rockery; in the process breaking the arm of one of the workmen.  It was a nice idea except that the waterfall, as it fell, was blown back into the rock-face and then disappeared. So we had to keep topping up the water.

  Our only professionally landscaped garden

The main aspect of Burton was, though, that BTR took so much of my time that I rarely saw the children.  In fact I can only remember going anywhere with them once; which was to Twycross zoo.

A rare occasion with the family

I didn't even go on holiday with them. Pat went into local hospital for a week, to rest from a slipped disc, so my parents had to take the children to the cottage by themselves.  Miles showed his mettle, since he managed to bite my aunt Ethel in the leg and was violently sick all over the car on the way back.  Back at home, Sarah managed her own minor catastrophe when she rode her bike onto a patch of tar that was being laid; and fell off, scarring her face. Miles, separately, rode into the tar on his tricycle and Pat got a recurrence of her slipped disc - which put her into hospital – rushing to get him out!

As I have said, Sarah went to the local school, where Miles joined her later.  Miles established something of a record when he first started school.  He managed to get himself stood in a corner, not just on his first day at school but during his first assembly at the school! 

Overall, though, I can scarcely remember any social life with my family while I was working at BTR.  I certainly had a separate social life of my own, entertaining other people from BTR. My favourite restaurant was nearby in Sudbury, where there was a small restaurant with less than a dozen covers.  The wife was Belgian and cooked superb Belgian cuisine. But I cannot remember ever going out with my family, not even to the cinema or shopping at the weekend.

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