[2014] MISFORTUNE IN THE 1980s

9133 Ashford 2 - Ashford Life

Whilst I was working at ComputerLand I was so busy that I saw almost nothing of our new house in Ashford, and much the same was true when I later joined Mentor.  However, in between the two, after ComputerLand fell apart and I was out of work for six months, the position was very different.

Paradoxically, the periods when I had been out of work have been happiest of my life -- I don't know what that says about work. I had always thought that I enjoyed my work but maybe that was an illusion.

It was a pleasure, therefore, to stroll out -- along Ashford High Street, which was just the other side of the roundabout by our house, to do our regular shopping.  In particular there was an excellent greengrocer. It had all vegetables I might ever have wanted and they were of a very high quality. Further up there was a small supermarket, which was rather rundown and of much lower quality.  But it was just pleasant strolling up the street in the sunshine, fortunately it was summertime, and enjoying the relaxing experience after all the previous traumas.

At the time our friends, John and Marie Louise, were still living in England. Soon after that they moved to Sweden.  At the time, though, they had a house on the other side of Staines. A regular pattern developed, which was that I and Pat used to meet Marie Louise for lunch in the bakery in Staines.  It wasn't too expensive, and it was again a nice day out.                               

Best of all was the fact that Windsor Great Park was not too far away.  We took many trips up there. As it was spring when we started, the Valley Gardens were full of rhododendrons in bloom.  We used to go there quite often and walk through this wonderful floral display. Later, when I was about to join the University, I used to go up there and take my work to do in these beautiful surroundings.

We also used to take a longer walks through the Great Park. It was on one of these that we had our second encounter with Diana. She was riding a horse, accompanying a visitor and with an equerry alongside.  It was only years later that we realised the equerry was at that time her lover!  She was very pleasant and said the hello to us, though not much more.  She seemed very shy, turning her eyes down in exactly the same way she did when she was being interviewed on television; so it wasn't affectation, it was genuine. What was the surprising, fascinating, thing was that she was wearing heavy evening make up.  It was beautiful, but was almost plastered on; which was very surprising when she was already so beautiful, and she was only taking a morning ride through countryside. 

While we were in Ashford our other ‘contact’ with royalty was initiated by Marie Louise, who was Swedish and as such fascinated by Royals.  Thus it was the time of Royal Ascot, and all we had to do was to go down in this country road to be where the royal family changed from their cars into the open horse-drawn carriages. It was interesting in as much as the royal family were just a few feet away from us and you could see and hear everything that they were doing.  Some people would die for that, but I am a Republican.  Even so, it was interesting to see them at such close quarters.  It was, I suppose, also a perfect place for an assassination!

The only other time I saw the Queen at such close quarters was when she was going down the River Thames to celebrate P&O's 150th birthday. I just happened to be at the landing stage by the Festival Hall when she boarded the barge, and she passed just a few feet from me.  She looked no different to when she appeared on television -- so in that respect it was no great experience.  What was hilarious, though, was what happened as she got ready to depart on this barge, for her trip down the river party. It was a double-decker with the Queen sitting upstairs, in a drawing-room with glass sides. Thus, as the barge was ready to pull out, all down the river the various training ships brought their cadets to the salute; and all of them stood rigid in that position.  Unfortunately, the first thing that had to happen was that the royal standard had to be displayed -- the Queen simply couldn't move without that.  The boatswain pulled the rope to crack it open; except, unfortunately, he just pulled it off the mast.

For the next 20 minutes there was absolute chaos amongst the staff at the front of the boat, as they all tried to get this flag fast to the mast.  They simply couldn't leave until this had happened. The chaos continued.  It was worthy of any Keystone Cops movie, with people tripping over each other. They pulled time and time again to try and crack it open. But all attempts failed. It really was absolutely hilarious, until they eventually managed to tie it on with some string, and the barge departed downstream.  All this time the Queen, sitting upstairs with her guests, was quietly sipping sherry; without giving any sign of noticing the chaos all around. But, eventually, after 20 minutes the barge departed and the cadets all down the river eventually could stand down. Their arms must have ached for weeks afterwards.

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