Meet the Family (Part 6)

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To recap, my mum now has more time away from my abusive grandmother. She has a job as a secretary at the local village garage working for Sam Gurney. Through her work she had the opportunity to make more friends, both male and female, and often went out in the evenings to avoid spending time with my grandmother. She always told Granddad where she was going, who she was going with and what time she'd be home. Granddad was an alcoholic thanks to my grandmother and didn't want to return home either so he was happy to wait around after the pub closed to walk Mum home safely. There weren't any street lights and even then, back in the late 1940's and early 1950's it was not considered a good idea for females to be out after dark on their own. On Mum's days off she and some of her friends would hook up with a couple of boys who were mechanics at the garage and take a motorbike ride out to King's Lynn, some 50 miles away, where they'd spend the evening at the motorcycle racing track or just heading to the coast and spending a day enjoying the sea air. At the time, not many people had telephones so a lot of the local farmers and residents, who got their vehicles serviced at the garage and got their fuel there, would pop into the office and ask if Mum would make a phone call for them. One of the funniest calls was to a vet about a farmer's pig. The farmer wouldn't speak to the vet himself as he didn't like phones so Mum had to relay a message. The vet asked whether the pig was a boar or a sow. It was a sow. He then asked what the problem was. The farmer said that there was something 'wrong with her boobs and she had a rash on her belly;. Needless to say, Mum had to paraphrase! In the village there was a granary owned by Tom Cook. He not only owned the property at Coltishall but also owned the flour mill at Aldborough. The garage often filled the granary's lorries with fuel so Mum got to know the granary staff and drivers quite well. In 1950 a driver turned up on the forecourt with his lorry to fill up before he started on his deliveries but, when he got back in, the lorry wouldn't start. The mechanics said they'd work on it during the day and let the granary know when it was ready. Fortunately, there was another lorry available back at the granary so he left the keys at the garage and walked back to get a different one. He asked Mum if she'd phone Aldborough granary when the lorry was ready and they'd try and get someone out to pick it up. The lorry was ready mid afternoon so Mum phoned Aldborough and the receptionist, having checked with the manager, said that it'd be picked up within the hour by the manager in person. Mum was in the reception area when the manager turned up and saw a slim, good looking man, wearing a trilby hat and dressed immaculately in a grey suit. He said he'd come to pick up the lorry but he'd need to leave his car there overnight and would then get a lift in one of the lorries the next day to pick it up. While he waited to speak to the mechanics Mum made him a cup of tea and they got talking. He told her his name was Bert and that he often popped over to the granary at Coltishall so he may well see her again. Bert left after thanking Mum for the pleasant conversation and the cup of tea. Mum went back into the office and one of the junior typists asked about the lovely man that Mum had been talking to. The girls in the office had all decided that Bert looked like the famous actor, Michael Wilding. Although Mum didn't say anything, she'd been rather smitten by Bert and looked forward to him returning the next day to collect his car. Bert returned for his car and popped into the office to talk to Mum. At the end of the conversation Bert asked if Mum had a boyfriend. She said not so he asked if she'd meet him for a picnic lunch down by the local river the following day. Mum said she would. The following day Mum walked down to the river with her packed lunch and found Bert sitting on a bench feeding the ducks. They were both very at ease with each other and made a date for that weekend. They would go to King's Lynn motorcycle racing with Mum's usual gang and it was agreed that he'd also pick up her friends Audrey and Dorothy in his car. Mum couldn't believe he was such a gentleman but she got to know him very well indeed as he was the man she'd marry and who became my father. For your information, the photo is of Michael Wilding and my profile picture of the riverside is where Mum and Dad had their first picnic.