Meet the Family (Part 5)

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You now know about my mum's unfortunate childhood but, once she became more independent her life became a little easier. She went out and about with her friends and even went into the nearby city of Norwich without Grandma. Unfortunately, as her teen years were during and just after the Second World War, Norwich was not the best place to go for entertainment as it had been bombed quite badly but, nonetheless, it got Mum away from Grandma. It was during her teens that Mum realised that Granddad was an alcoholic which had obviously come about from being married to Grandma. Sadly, because Grandma spent a lot of the housekeeping money on clothes for herself and because Granddad spent what money he had left over at the local pub - The White Horse - they found themselves unable to maintain their lovely home with an orchard. There was a family, the Jordans, who had set up quite a few car showrooms in the area and wanted to start up a car scrap yard so Ben Jordan bought the house and it's orchard and said he'd find Mum's family an alternative house to rent. Unfortunately, the house was run down with an outside toilet which didn't flush but had to be emptied via a honey cart - a man would come and empty the toilet and put the waste into his cart. The house was very damp but, as Granddad knew he couldn't afford to stay in their old house, he had to accept. It wasn't even in a particularly nice area as it was at the entrance to a business, Norgate's. Mr Norgate did building work, sold farm vehicles such as combines and tractors and was an undertaker. However, despite the area and the house itself Mum was happier there than she had been in their old house. Now she was older and had a bike she and her friends, went on long bike rides and often cycled the 15 miles or so to the seaside town of Cromer. When she was 16 she was told that she was going to be attending Norwich Secretarial College. At the time, she had no idea how Grandma and Granddad could afford it but, of course, it was paid for by her true grandfather. Grandma had always been jealous of Mum as it was obvious Granddad loved Mum more than her and things came to a head on Christmas Day 1946. Grandma, Granddad and Mum had been invited to Grandma's sister Nell's house for the day. The day began well with everybody cheerful but, during the afternoon, Granddad noticed that Nell had hung some mistletoe on the ceiling in the sitting room and Granddad, having a great sense of humour, grabbed Mum as she entered the room, dragged her under the mistletoe and gave her a kiss ... as fathers do! It all kicked off ... Grandma accused Granddad of having an affair with my mum and stormed out of the house. Nell went after her and told her to stop acting like a jealous child and that it was a ridiculous thing to say. If she'd wanted to have it out with Granddad then she should have waited until they got home. Granddad and Mum were mortified and, as Grandma could be spiteful towards Mum, Granddad suggested that Mum stay at Nell's for a couple of days until he'd sorted things out at home. Mum returned home on New Year's Eve but, from then on, spent as little time on her own with Grandma as possible. Mr Norgate had an orchard in his builder's yard and the entrance to it was opposite Mum's front door so she asked if she could keep a few chickens in there and plant some flowers and veg. He was delighted for her to do so as it looked more cheery when people came to the funeral parlour. Grandma got involved in the garden with Mum and they got along well enough but Mum didn't trust her behind closed doors. Mum finished her secretarial course and immediately got a job at a the village garage as a shorthand typist. She loved it there as it meant that five days a week during daylight hours, she was away from Grandma. The garage was owned by a local wealthy landowner, Sam Gurney. He was a member of the Gurney family who formed Gurney's Bank which later became Barclays. Once again, it was evident that she had got the job thanks to her real grandfather although Mum didn't know that at the time. Mum worked there from 1948 to 1955 and I suspect she would have worked there longer if it hadn't been for my father! Their meeting shouldn't have happened but that's another story!