About me
My early years were spent in London where the ubiquitous bombsites in Islington were my playgrounds. Here, I could make up myriad stories with my friends, some of which were made into short plays for my patient mother to watch, who must have had a million other jobs to do.
I took my 11+ exams and neither failed nor passed. Typical. There were Central schools in London for children like me, so that’s where I went, walking a mile or two and travelling on the underground on my own to get there.
Two years later we moved to Hatfield where there were no Central schools. I was given the choice of being at the bottom of a grammar school or the top of a secondary modern school. I made the wrong decision. Being near the top of my school meant that I didn’t have to work much, and hooray! the headmaster didn’t believe in exams. (In the class above me was the singer and songwriter, Donovan Leitch!)
I left with no qualifications so I attended Welwyn Garden City College of Further Education where I could get an ‘O’ level in English — my favourite subject — and where I could also learnt shorthand and typing. In those days it was classed as ‘something to fall back on.’
I went to work at The English Speaking Union, just off Berkeley Square in London. This was a great place — a very posh club filled with chandeliers. I was a shorthand-typist and at three o’clock every day we were taken below-stairs, bosses included, and given bread and jam and a cup of tea as a daily treat. I certainly knew how to live!
However, being someone’s secretary was not for me. I wanted to write. Anything and everything — well, nothing too intellectual, of course!
My next job was working (again, shorthand-typing) in the advertisement department for History Today, a subsidiary of the Financial Times. The smell of newspaper and the sound of the old-fashioned printing press was intoxicating.
I was physically nearer to where I wanted to be (Fleet Street) but there was nothing creative for me to do at History Today, and I’m afraid adverts were not particularly exciting. I wanted to be on the editorial side but there was fat-chance of that with only one ‘O’ level. So, every lunch break I would call in at each newspaper and magazine office asking for an interview. I became quite good at interviews but didn’t get anywhere with my dream of a writing career. That was until I met an editor at Fleetway Magazines. He kindly put my name forward to join NATSOPA — the National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants. This entitled me to receive their magazine which included job vacancies.
Happy days! I got a job as a junior reporter for The Christian Newspaper which was based in Bush House, the then headquarters of the BBC World Service. My proudest moment was when the printing of the front page was held for me. I had to attend an interview given by Billy Graham’s wife, Ruth, which took place on the day we went to press. I wrote my article on the train on the way to the printers. I felt very important! My worse moment was taking an iconic photo of Billy Graham flanked either side by two bishops (can’t remember who). The newspaper was relying on this photo, but I had forgotten to put a film in the camera. Well, this must have happened to others, mustn’t it?
Next job was as a scriptwriter for Polystyle Publications, eventually writing thirteen stories each week for two children’s comics Pippin and Playland. This involved creating stories usually in six or eight blocks with, for the artist, a description of the picture to appear above the words. It was the most fun I had ever had and the workplace was filled with laughter and jokes (you can never be miserable writing children’s stories).
I left to get married and we moved to Bedford where I worked on a freelance basis for Polystyle for a couple of years, but it just wasn’t the same.
At the age of forty I went to evening classes to obtain ‘A’ level English — just for the pure pleasure of it. Here, I was introduced to Shakespeare which I have loved ever since and often go to his plays with friend and fellow writer, Wendy Turner, see wendyturner.org.uk. I learnt to read The Wife of Bath in Middle English and would have loved to have read the rest of Chaucer’s work but never have — one day, perhaps. I also discovered my now favourite book, Under Milk Wood, by Dylan Thomas. How I wish I could conjure up atmospheres and dialogue like that.
I have lived in Harpenden for over forty years now, and I’m joined with Hudson, my independent-minded miniature dachshund. I have two sons, Glenn and Mark, and two grandsons, Charlie and Jack, both taller than me! See further headings to read about Glenn and Mark’s current creativities. We all have pets and have decided that all their names start with the letter H (I can’t remember why!) — that’s all except Fig, Mark’s tortoise. So, we have Harper, Hendrix, Honey, Herbie and, of course, Hudson. Nieces and nephews have Harley, Hazel, and probably many more, the names of which now escape me.
I love my garden, photography and travel, and I’ve been to over thirty countries to date, so there’s still lots to see. I enjoy solo travel and have been on my own to most of Europe, Canada and Japan, preferring to organize holidays myself rather than go with groups. I know there are still many more adventures awaiting me.