Autobiography of
Harper JohnPettypiece
(1921-2002)
Table of Contents
Part One – TheChildhood Years 1921-1932
Part Two – The Loveof Music 1925-2002
Part Three – GrowingUp in Forest 1925-1939
Part Four – Servicein the Navy 1940-1945
Part Five – MeetingJoan Taylor and the End of the War 1945
Part Six – TheReturn to Canada After the War 1945-1946
Part Seven – SettlingDown in Forest 1946-1950
Part Eight – Introductionto the Baha’i Faith and Development 1951-1960
Part Nine – Vacationsof the Early 60s to Western Canada and U.S. 1960-1963
Part Ten – Vacationsof the Mid 60s to Northeastern U.S. 1964-1966
Part Eleven – Canada’sCentennial Year to the End of the Decade 1967-1970
Part Twelve – Introto Iceland, Deciding to Pioneer and Two Weddings 1971-1972
Part Thirteen – Pioneeringto Iceland 1972-1975
Part Fourteen – Conferencesand Lots of Travel 1973-1975
Part Fifteen – AdventuresExploring Iceland 1974-1975
Part Sixteen – NewBeginnings and Adventures in England and Paris 1976
Part Seventeen – Oakham andSide Trips 1976-1978
Part Eighteen – A Changeof Direction and a Wealth of History 1978
Part Nineteen – Glastonburyand Lots of History 1978-1980
Part Twenty – HolidaysAround Britain 1979-1981
Part Twenty-One – Homeless andHolidays Outside Britain 1980-1982
Part Twenty-Two – More Travels AroundBritain 1981-1983
Part Twenty-Three – Time to Return toCanada 1983-1985
Part Twenty-Four – Illness andUniversity 1985-1986
Part Twenty-Five – A Trip Back toEngland 1986
Part Twenty-Six – Holidays inOntario, Alberta and B.C. 1987-1988
Part Twenty-Seven – Side Trips AroundOntario and a Trip to Winnipeg 1989-1992
Part Twenty-Eight – A Holiday in PrinceEdward Island 1993
Part Twenty-Nine – Short Trips, GoldenAnniversary, Graduation, Failing Health 1994-98
Part Thirty – Recollectionsof Childhood
Note: Thesedivisions/parts are somewhat arbitrary and were not part of the originalmanuscript. Also there may be manyspelling errors especially with place names I’m not familiar with. The autobiography was written in 1998-99approximately 3-4 years prior to his passing.His health continued to deteriorate and he was effectively bed-riddenfor the last year of his life.
PartOne – The Childhood Years
I was born, so I have been told, early in the morning on November 15th,1921 in a house on the corner of Broadway and McNab Streets in Forest, in the County of Lambton,Ontario. My parents were Victor and Leila Pettypiecewho were married in Corunna in June of the previous year. My father was born in 1898, a son of Henryand Madeline Pettypiece of Forest; he was oneof seven children, only three of whom survived adolescence, my aunt Eleanor whowas a spinster, and uncle Lister, a Catholic priest. My mother was the daughter of Samuel andSarah Harper, also of Forest. She had a brother Fred, and a sister Agnes.Fred remained a bachelor but Agnes was married to Edgar Chafe of St. John’s, Newfoundlandand was the mother of two boys, Gerald and Gordon, my only first cousins.
Before I was a year old, my parents moved to the Comfort Terrace, aquadraplex on Jefferson Streetacross from the tennis courts. Iremember very little of that period, only vague images but I can remember mysister Reinette, who was born there in 1924.I don’t remember her as a baby, only as a toddler. While there, I’m told I had the usualchildhood diseases, chicken pox, measles and whooping cough.
In 1925 or 26 we bought a house on Prince Street opposite the publicschool. It was in this house that I grewup and lived in until World War Two. Itcost $2,000 and I remember being told we had to borrow the down payment and ittook fifteen years to pay off the mortgage.During the 1930’s it was all we could do to pay the interest, never mindany of the principal. The house did nothave any indoor plumbing, and I remember as a youngster, I would take my littlewagon down to the corner where there was a public pump and collect water. I also used to have to go to the creameryaround the corner every couple of days for a block of ice for the icebox. I can remember Saturday night was bath nightand a tub of water was heated on the coal stove, which would do for both me andmy sister.
We had a stove in the kitchen, which served for cooking and also one inthe living room, whose pipe went up through a hole in the ceiling to the halland then curved through my bedroom to the chimney. Dad would get up in the winter and stoke upthe fire so that we could huddle around the stove pipe while we gotdressed. These pipes had to be takendown every spring and be cleaned out and re-assembled every autumn.
I have unpleasant memories also of having to use the outside privy inthe winter after dad had shoveled a path through the snow. I can also remember, vaguely, of beingcircumcised on the kitchen table.
In September of 1927 my other sister Ruth was born, but for this birthmy mother went to St. Joseph’s Hospital in London. In those days a confinement lasted about tendays, so we did not see our new sister until she arrived home. By the time I had started to school, livingacross the street made it very handy.
I am now going to give a few general impressions of the rest of the1920’s. I can’t recall any chronologicalorder, keeping in mind that by the summer of 1930 I was still only eight yearsold.
One of the first improvements made to the house was the installation ofwater, which made a big difference. Acentral heating system had to wait until the late thirties. The inside toilet and bath made a greatdifference to our comfort.
I can remember my mother (who taught school before she was married)reading poetry to me before I started to school. There were the Longfellow poems of Hiawathaand Evangeline and others by Tennyson, Wordsworth, and Lowell; also someShakespeare. She also taught me simplesums and reading at this time, and I started in Grade One (Junior Primer it wascalled in those days). I know I was ableto skip some grades and this is why I was able to start into high school in 1933(11 years old).
Other memories of the twenties include winter; the streets were filledwith horse drawn sleighs since all automobiles had to be put up on blocks inthe winter with tires removed and radiators drained; antifreeze had not beeninvented. There were half a dozenblacksmith shops in Forest at that time. In the spring the streets were quite muddy.
The skating rink was on PrinceSt. across the road from our house and they usedto hold skating carnivals every year at which I went dressed once as HenryVIII. There was always live music forskating on Saturday night.
Summers included swimming in Hickory Creek – it was not polluted thenalthough we had to pick off the bloodsuckers when we came out. It was where I learned to swim.
I can remember my parents taking us to London once a year to buy shoes. We went on the train leaving Forest at 6:30 in the morning. We would change trains at Lucan Crossing tocatch the one coming down from Goderich.
My parents also took us to the Toronto Exhibition a couple oftimes. I can’t remember much about thesetrips except for the extravagant pageant at the grandstand followed byfireworks. One such pageant was aboutMontezuma and another about the British Empire. It was on one of these trips to Toronto I saw my firsttalking picture. I don’t know the nameof the film, I guess I was too impressed by the sound. I had seen a couple of silent movies at thelocal Kineto Theatre, “Noah’s Ark”and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.
Not many people had automobiles; we did not even have a radio or aphonograph, but at some point we did get a wind up victrola, and an uprightpiano for me to take some lessons from Mabel Dunlop a local teacher who had herATCM. I would be about 8 I believe.
I can remember downtown in Forest. My grandfather was owner of the Forest FreePress and my father worked there and one other person, Morley Shepherd. I can remember a hotel with hitching postsand a horse water trough outside. I canremember the grocery stores where you went up a couple of steps and the grocerwaited on you across the counter. I canremember a harness shop. I can rememberan ice cream parlour with wire-backed chairs and a soda fountain. I can remember the Town Hall where theChatauqua travelling shows used to come every year.
There were several blacksmiths, a couple of whom did car repairs aswell. A couple of gas stations where theproprietor would pump the gas for you, you could buy a gallon for a quarter.
It was during these years I formed my impressions of music. There was no distinction between such termsas so-called classical and popular. Myfolks used to sing these songs popular when he was growing up: By the Light of the Silvery Moon,Yip-I-Addy-I-Ay, Come Josephine in My Flying Machine, Trail of the LonesomePine and others. I particularly rememberThe Irish Jubilee. He would also reciteRobert Service poems.
When the victrola arrived there was a varied selection of records, fromOh By Jingo and the Little Red Schoolhouse, to Rhapsody in Blue and Poet and Peanut. There was also a Mozart and part of aTchaikovsky Symphony. I had most of themmemorized. When I started piano lessonsI learned more about Chopin and Bach, etc.
We used to visit occasionally friends of our parents. At Reg Roche’s place on Broadway next toAngela Hannum’s I became acquainted with comics such as Buster Brown and TheKatzenjammer Kids. At O’Donnell’s out inthe country we went once and they had some new records such as Piccolo Pete andThe Two Black Crows.
It seems that in those times we knew everyone in our town of about 1700people. We didn’t know them allpersonally but we knew who they were and where they lived. We lived between two widows, Mrs. Ida Brandon the north and Mrs. Wichman on the south.Both seemed really ancient to me and I particularly remember the latterbecause she had a pet parrot, the only one in town. We had a dog, a collie called Pal. I think he died of old age at some point. I think everybody had a porch on their house.
Mother did some gardening in our back yard. We had a grape vine on one side withhollyhocks. On the other, the shadyside, there were violets, lily of the valley, jack-in-the-pulpit and a peartree. The Pettypiece house on Albert St. hadtrumpet vines shading the porch.
My public school teachers were Frances Hubbard, Jessie O’Brien, RuthNeelands and Alex Salisbury. Beside thekids I knew from school, I knew some from the country. This was through church. I was raised a Roman Catholic, and us kidsattended mass every Sunday from the time we were old enough to understand andwent through 1st communion and confirmation. Forest wasnot a parish but a mission, and the priest, Fr. Houlkes came every Sunday fromCorunna. Aunt Nora played the organ andat some point I started singing in the choir.
Through church I got to know the Hubbard family and the Forbes. Their kids went to country schools. The Hubbards had 2 boys (Bob and Tom) and 3girls (Winifred, Geneveire, & Cuthaine).The Forbes had a boy and a girl.The boy, Wilfred, eventually became the father of Barbara who marriedour son Geoffrey.
On the Pettypiece side, my aunt Nora lived with my grandparents. She never married – apparently her boy friendwas killed when he was quite young. Ialso vaguely remember my dad’s aunt Sara who lived there at that time. I must have been only 3 or 4 years oldbecause she died in 1925. It was there Iused to collect comic strips from the London Free Press, particularly onecalled Minute Movies. I also met two ofmy grandfather’s brothers. At one timethere was a picture of Reinette and myself at a tea party there. She was 2 and I was 5.
At the Harpers’ I can recall they had a cellar with an outsidedoor. They kept their wood supplythere. They also kept chickens & Ican remember my grandfather killing one after chasing it around the yard. He was janitor at the high school and hestayed there until the mid-thirties (in his 70’s). My grandmother baked her own bread and welooked forward to that which she gave us covered with butter and brownsugar. We also were given dishes ofmaple syrup, which they made themselves.One time we went next door to Charles Taylor’s to listen to his radio. It was quite large with 2 wet cell batteriesand we heard the Dempsey-Tunney fight.He only had one set of earphones and we had to take turns. The loudspeaker had not yet been invented.
It was at the Harpers’ that I met some of my maternal relatives,mother’s sister Agnes and her husband, the Snowdons and great great uncle CesarMcLeod. They had a parlour where nobodywent without permission. It had oldfashioned plush furniture and was kept dark most of the time. This is where they kept uncle Fred’s photos;he travelled all over the world as a marine radio operator.
Aunt Nora played golf at that time and occasionally took me to thetown’s 9-hole golf course with her.Also, although she didn’t have a car, one of her friends did and sheinvited me on a couple of car rides, one to Kettle Point, and the other to GrandBend. This latter trip took all day andI went along with these three women. Westopped half way for tea. The roadthrough the Pinery at that time made quite an impression; it was not paved ofcourse (few roads were) and the trees hugged the road on both sides – it waslike driving through the woods.
Part Two – The Love of Music
My earliest introduction tomusic was a piano at my grandfather’s.Aunt Nora had a player piano at first with a few rolls. I couldn’t have been more than four or five. I would try to pick out tunes with one finger,and the player piano was replaced early on with an ordinary upright. I started piano lessons with Mabel Dunlopwhen I was about 8 or 9 and continued until I passed my Grade VIII of theT.C.M. I also took and passed two yearsof elementary theory.
I can remember my father singingsongs of the early part of the century and from this probably grew my interestin popular music. Songs like “The IrishJubilee”, “Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon”, & “The Little Red Schoolhouse”were among dozens I got to know. From mymother’s mother, who belonged to the Gospel Hall, I learned all the Gospelhymns and some of the U.S. Civil War songs, and sometimes on Sundays we wouldgo to Mass in the morning and the Gospel Hall in the evening. My parents were a mixed marriage and this isprobably why we grew up in a religiously tolerant environment.
When I was about 9, a boys’junior band was started in town under the direction of Frank Freele who had agrocery cum barber shop on King St. I begged my father to let me join and heeventually relented and bought me a cornet and I began lessons. The boys’ band used to play concerts at GrandBend on Sundays in the summer and at many of the fall fairs in the area. One year we competed at the TorontoExhibition and that summer the committee of which my father was a member renteda cottage at Hillsborofor a week during which we rehearsed the test piece every day. I can’t remember whether we came first orlast.
Meanwhile, I had joined thelocal library and among the books I borrowed was one of stories from theoperas. I didn’t know the music but Iwas fascinated with the stories.
The boys’ band disbanded when Iwas about 12 and the senior band, the Forest Excelsior Band, acquired a newbandmaster, Steve Vowden who had been trained at Kneller Hall in England. The second year he was here he persuaded meto learn the oboe. Within a year I wasplaying in the Excelsior Band, along with two or three other kids my age. We competed at the Toronto Ex 2 or 3 times,staying at the Gladstone Hotel near the Exhibition grounds. The last year (the year the war broke outduring the Ex) the dance bands of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Guy Lombardowere all there.
The Band used to raise money,before I joined, was by renting the steamer Tachmoo, which sailed from Sarnia to Belle Isle& Detroit on a Sunday. They wouldsell tickets all the way from Ailsa Craig to Sarniaand a train would take everyone to Sarniaand the band would play during the trip.However the steamer sank the year I joined the Band, and for the rest ofdecade they produced Minstrel Shows each fall in which I participated.
Around 1930 my parents rented acottage at Hillsborofor two weeks up the hill on the north side of Hickory Creek. The following 2 or 3 years they took acottage there but next to the dance hall.It had a store that opened every day and sold pop and candy, etc. andtwice-a-week dances were held with a live dance orchestra. I learned all the latest popular songs thisway. We would stay a month in thecottage that had no electricals and no running water. My father would go into town to work everyday and return at night with Malcolm Gray who had a tent near the cottage and aModel T Ford which had to be left at the top of the hill at night because itcouldn’t make it up the hill.
Every day we would have to walkto Isaac’s farm up on the LakeshoreRoad for milk and sometimes fresh eggs. Often us kids would walk from Hillsboro all the way toCedar Point or Blue Point. There wasnothing between except Gallie’s Fisheries where we stop and rest. We took our lunch and were quite unsupervisedby adults. In fact as young kids wewould wander all over by ourselves, never feeling threatened at all.
Through the band, and alsothrough our phonograph’s few records, I became acquainted with some classicaland semi-classical pieces.
When I was about 14 or 15 twothings occurred which increased my desire to learn more about music. We acquired a radio and I would listen to theN.Y. Philharmonic concerts every Sunday afternoon, and the Ford Sunday EveningHour, which played shorter classics such as overtures and tone poems. At the same time I got to know EuniceMcDonald who was in a class ahead of me at high school and who, with two othergirls from Thedford, Peggy Powell & Marion Carmichael, boarded in townduring the week. Eunice was interestedin opera and had a aunt who was a professional singer. About the time I started collecting miniaturescores and operatic vocal scores.
I also got to know Anita Carson-Dowdingof Arkona whose daughter Betty Carson attended Forest High School. She played the violin and knew the composerof the Bells of St. Mary’s when she was a girl in England.
Just before the war I had myfirst stage experiences. I was in a highschool play “The Marriage Proposal” by Chekov with Howard Brown & InezPowell. Howard and I were piano pupilsof Mabel Dunlop and played together at the Kiwanis Music Festival in Sarnia. The other was in the chorus of “HMSPinafore”, put on by Ruth Walters. Whenthe production went over well and taken out of town, one of the principles,Arnold Keast, broke his leg, and I took over the part of Dick Deadege because Iwas the only one who knew the part.
During the thirties, the ForestExcelsior Band put on minstrel shows (now not politically correct) to raisemoney as mentioned earlier. Severalthings stand out in my memory. Forexample, Don Livingston was always the interlocutor; Charlie May was always anendman, and usually was too drunk to remember the words of his songs; GeorgeHarvey, a local Cornishman, would get his annual bath and shave and sing one ofGilbert & Sullivan’s patter songs, all of which he knew by heart; ArnoldKeast sang comic songs of the Al Jolson type; and I gave recitations.
The Excelsior Band played at theToronto Ex several years, the last time being in 1939. At one of these, I played the glockenspiel aswell as the oboe but I don’t remember either the test pieces or whether we wonany prizes. This was the fair that Ifirst appeared in an interview on demonstration television, which had not yetbecome commercial in Canada. This didn’t happen til after the war.
One time when I was 10 or 11, Iplayed a cornet solo at a band festival in Waterloo.I did not place in a class of about 15 players. One thing I remember there was Gordon Chafefalling out of a boat on the river when he had a cast on his leg. I also took part in piano competitions at theSarnia Kiwanis Music Festival and did come first on a few occasions there.
It was in 1936-37 I beganlistening to the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday afternoons faithfully till Ijoined the navy, and intermittently up to present day.
In 1938-39 I attended the University of Toronto at St. Michael’s College. I took courses at the Conservatory inharmony, counterpoint, history and ear training, and among my teachers were Dr.Healy Willam, and Dr. Leo Smith. On oneoccasion we were invited to Sir Ernest McMillan’s home. As well, I played in the U of T band, playingat football games in London, Kingston& Montreal,as well as at home. I also sang in theSt. Mike’s choir and learned to read Gregorian Chant.
I attended Toronto SymphonyOrchestra rehearsals and got to know a few of the members, including HaroldGomberg, first oboist, who gave me free lessons for part of the winter. He went on to play with the N.Y. Phil andwent with Pierre Aquley to Franceto pursue his studies of baroque embellishment.
Also in Toronto, I saw my first operas, a travellinggroup of the San Carlo Company who did Carmen, Faust and the Barber ofSeville. I also saw the Ballet Russe deMonte Carlo in Gaite Parisienne and Coppelia.In addition, a recital by Bidu Sayno and an all-Strauss concert by thePhiladelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy.I also saw a performance of Plangiatte’s operetta “The Chimes ofNormandy”. George Emerson was a guestconductor.
The TSO was not the first time Ihad heard a live symphony orchestra.They had come to the Grand Theatre in London somewhat earlier and they played theCesar Franche Symphony in D minor. Itwas quite thrilling experience.
I joined the Royal Canadian Navyin May 1940, and had very little to do with music while there. I applied to transfer to the Navy Band whileat Esquimalt when they formed one but wasturned down, but I got to know some of the players, including Gordon Poole withwhom I kept in touch till the 1960’s when he joined the Toronto SymphonyOrchestra.
I occasionally heard dance bandswho played for the forces, such as Cab Calloway and Hal McIntyre, as well asthe Navy Show. What little music I heardwas on the radio in the Sally Ann at Halifaxwhere I had meals from time to time.
When I got leave the first timein Ireland, I went to London, where I saw “LaBoheme”, also Arthur Asky in “The Lone Rachet”, and Lupino Lane in “For Me and My Gal”.
In February 1945, the ship I wason, the Orkney, was in collision with a freighter in the IrishSea during the blackout. Wehad to put in to Liverpool for a Court of Inquiry. It was during this period I met Joan Taylor,who I married in June. We met at aroller rink and on our first date we went to hear the Liverpool Philharmonic,where we could get seats for only a shilling as a member of the armedforces. We attended several of theseconcerts while in Liverpool (for 6 weeks)under either Sir Adrian Bonet or Sir John Barbirolli. We also saw “La Traviata” at the EmpireTheatre.
After we were married we livedin Greenich, Scotlanduntil I returned to Canadaearly in 1946. We often went into Glasgow where we heardconcerts by the Scottish Orchestra as well as several of the G & Soperettas on the stage. We also saw WillFyfe in a pantomine, and two musicals, “Rose Marie” and “No No Nanette”.
I returned to Canada in Mayof 1946 and Joan followed on the Queen Mary in August. While waiting to return to Canada, we stayed a few days in London, and I saw Barber of Seville. We lived in Dartmouthand I got hold of a record player and borrowed records through Keilor Bentley whoworked in a music store in Halifax and who cameto visit in MarionHeights a few times.
Returning to Forestin 1947, I began playing baritone in the band since I didn’t have an oboe. When Steve Vowden left Forestto join the RCAF band when the war broke out, various members held the bandtogether until a permanent bandmaster could be found. I took it over myself for a year or so. Bob Shannon, a bassoonist from Sarnia, and a formermember of the boys’ band, became bandmaster but he died suddenly a couple ofyears later. He told a newly formedcommunity orchestra in Sarniathat I played oboe so I had to buy one through George VanValkenburg who hadconnections with Boosy & Hawkes. Istill have it.
Following Bob Shannon, BertBoco*ck of Parkhill was hired. He alsoplayed in the London Symphony and he asked me to come and play French Horn withthem; they needed a 4th horn player but not oboe. I played for two years with them under BruceSharp, including concerts in Chatham. A highlight of this period was a performanceof Handel’s “Messiah” under Sir Ernest McMillan in the London area with a huge chorus.
A few years later, anInternational Symphony was formed from the Sarnia & Port Huron communityorchestras, with which I stayed for about 13 years under a variety of 1stoboists and conductors. I got to play alarge number of works which was an incredible experience, including “AfterimLaFaire”, selections from “Le Coq d’Or”, “Songs of the Aivergne”, “AppalachianSpring”, and “Rodeo”, some Brahms, Wagner, Bartok and many others.
Meanwhile in the late 40’s, Imet Harry Keane of Keane’s Ontario Furniture.We made a trip to Cleveland,there and back same day, to see the Metropolitan Opera do “Don Giavanni” withEzro Pinza. The following year, we wentfor four days and saw five operas – “Rigoletto” with Jussi Bjoertz & LilyPons & Leonard Warren; “L’Elisir d’Amore” with Patrice Munsel; “MadameButterfly” with Dorothy Kigsten & John Brownlee; “Othello” with LiciaAlbanese and Roman Vinsy.
Joan and I went to Detroit in the early 50’sto see some opera with the Carl Rosa Company with Tito Gobbi and FerrerasTagliaria. We saw “Rigoletto”, “Tosca”,“Andrea Chenier” and “Turandot”, both the latter the first time we had heardthem. We saw one more opera togetherabout 1959 when we went with the Thiers to MapleLeafGardens to see “Aida” with ZinhaMilanov, Robert Merrill, Maria del Monaco, Blanche Theban, and Jerome Hines.
In 1952, I put on a show at theTown Hall called “Broadway Revue”, using members of the Agenda Club, a group ofgirls who had done shows during the war to raise money for the troops, and theExcelsior Band. The show containednumbers from musicals from “The Mikado” to “The King and I”. Artistically it was a success, financiallynot. While doing this I went to Detroit with a group tosee “Guys and Dolls” with Allan Jones and Vivian Blaine. The only other musical I had seen was on ourway home from Halifax in 1947 when Joan & Isaw “Oklahoma”on Broadway. In 1953 while visitingAldie Robarts in St. Catharines, he took us tosee “Annie Get Your Gun” in NiagaraFalls. Wewaited until 1970 when we went to see “Fiddler on the Roof” in Port Huron, to see another stage musical.
During the 50’s, we came intoLondon several times to see shows at the Grand Theatre, among them “La Boheme”,the Canadian National Ballet in “Swan Lake”, “Nutcracker” and “Giselle” &“Pineapple Poll”, some of these with the Wiens from Thedford. He had been a German POW during the warhaving served with Rommel in North Africa and came to Canada afterthe war. His kids went to ForestHighSchool. In 1952, we visited Aldie Robart’sparents in Forest Hill and they took us to the ballet which included “FancyFree”, among others.
We also saw plays during thistime, “Rain”, “Tobacco Road”, “Bell,Book & Candle” with Joan Bennett and Zachary Scott. Also Purple Patches did “Li’l Abner”. They performed at the Grand in those days.
In the late 50’s, Joan and I andDon Thiers attended a performance in Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, of theMetropolitan Opera performance of “Aida” with Linda Milarov, Robert Merrill,Mario del Monaco and Blanche Theboge.
Later in the 60’s, myself andone of the violinists from the International Symphony were selected to attend aweek-long community orchestra workshop in Stratfordwhere we played every day under such conductors as Walter Susskind and VictorFeldbull. We played Brahms, Hindsmith,Skostakovich and Schumann in a concert at the end of the week. During the week, a conference of contemporarycomposers took place and we were privileged to attend a concert with composerssuch as Ray Hairie, Ernest Kreach, and Eilyard Varese took part. It was the first time I had heard Varise’s“Deserto” performed live, as well as Villa Asbos “Bacebians Brasibiers No. 5”as a tribute to the South American who had died recently.
We also went to Stratford once to see Lorne Greene &Lloyd Bodener in “Julius Caesar” in the tent before the theatre was built.
In 1971 we attended the Baha’iOceanic Conference in Iceland& while there among the entertainers were Seals & Crofts and NormanBailey. We talked to Seals & Croftsat the airport on the way home and we visited the Baileys in England when wewent there.
In the spring of 1972, I had toreturn material to the National Baha’i Headquarters in Torontosince we planned to pioneer to Iceland. While in Toronto,I called Ruth Morowitz whom we had met a few years earlier at Darsts in ColborneTownship. She invited me to dinner & had a chanceto talk to the husband Oscar Morowitz, a famous Canadian composer. They arranged for me to attend a performanceof “Die Walpver” with Norman Bailey as Wotar and Maureen Forrester asFricka. After the performance, I wentbackstage & talked to the performers as I was a guest of Emma Homburger,the wife of the manager of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
In August 1972 we went to Iceland. During our time there I joined the ReykjavikCity Band through Sverrir Sveinsson, a foreman at my place of work & acornet player. The second year GardarCortes formed the Reykjavik Symphony Orchestra as a community type orchestra asa compliment to the National Symphony.We played generally easier pieces but in our last year there we played“Trial by Jury” and Mendelssohn’s “Elijah”, the former in Icelandic, the latterin English. We took the overtures tovarious communities, e.g. Selfoss, and then in the spring went on a tour,playing in Varmahlid, Dalvik and Myvatn.The G & S we recorded for a professor on Icelandic television.
Among highlights of our fouryears in Iceland were attending concerts at the Haskalabio of the NationalSymphony and getting to know many of the players; attending a concert &recital backstage with Vladimir Ashkenazy and Reasta Tebaldi who sang about 9encores with Ashkenazy at the piano; talking to Leon Goossens, outstandingBritish oboist; attending live performances of “Coppelia” at the NationalTheatre and “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Austurbaejarbio; the Victor Borgeconcert.
In 1976, we moved to England. I didn’t get much chance to play there untilwe moved to Somersetwhere they already had an orchestra. Isometimes played at their annual meetings and once I played for a performanceof Haydn’s “Nelson” in Glastonbury;I also got a chance to play in a wind ensemble.
While in Somersetwe got to see a lot of stage musicals: Fiddler on the Roof, South Pacific, MyFair Lady, Show Boat, Merry Widow, A Night in Venice, Orpheus in the Underworld, The DesertSong, Die Fledermaus, The Sorcerer. Ialso saw Macbeth and Fra Deavolo at the Strode in Shepton Mallet. Over in LondonI went to see The Grand duch*ess at Sadlers Wells. I also took Tim once to see the Tremoloes inconcert. Carl took part in “Joseph andthe Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in Wells Cathedral with Vicki and Asgeirwere in England.
When we first went to England, wetook the kids to see “Arsenic and Old Lace”.I had already seen “The Mousetrap” and “Happy as a Handbag”, a musicalabout World War II.
We returned to Canada in 1983and rented a house on McLaryStreet. Ayear later we bought a condo on Southdale and I started taking a course inMusic History at the Universityof Western Ontario. I only took it for interest since I wasn’tplaying any more and couldn’t take a music degree without a performancecapability. The second year I tookAstronomy and an opera course but had to drop out of the latter when I wentinto hospital for my emphysema for a week and missed my class presentation. The next year I took a course in Bibliography& Research Technique and got to be familiar with the library. From then on, I started taking opera coursesand theory courses and the university introduced an arts degree in music and Ipursued that from then on. I also tookcourses in composition, history and orchestration. From time to time I would have some of thekids over to watch some of my operatic videos.In all there have been 9 or 10 come over.
One year I went with some of myclassmates to see Berg’s “Wozzech” at the O’Keefe Centre in Toronto with Alan Monk.
I began collecting operaticvideos during this time and have accumulated over 100 operas on tape. Most have been taken off television, but Ihave copied some and bought some. I alsohave a good collection of miscellaneous music videos including ballet, concertsand profiles of musicians.
I graduated in 1996, a yearafter our 50th wedding anniversary, and since I had only just gotout of hospital at convocation time, the dean and associate dean came to thehouse for the presentation. Four of ourkids and their families were present and it received good press in thepaper. As a result I received cards andletters from many people, some of whom I had not seen for 50 years.
While at the university, I hadthe privilege of meeting some world famous musicians including Philip Gosset,the musicologist; Stanley Sadie, the editor of Grove’s Encyclopedia of Music;Theodore Burg and his wife of COC; and the granddaughter of Geacoveo Puccini.
During this period in London we have been ableto see many musicals, most put on by the university. Among them have been Gilbert and Sullivan’s“Gondoliers”, “Princess Ida”, “Patience”, and “Ruddigose”. Others were “The King and I”, “Brigadoon”, “Guysand Dolls”, “Cabaret”, “How to Succeed in Business Without Trying”, “Fiddler onthe Roof”, “The Music Man”, “Evita” and “The Pyjama Game”.
They also produced VaughnWilliams’ “Rides to the Sea”, Mozart’s “Impressio”, and Bernstein’s “Candide”,as well as excerpts from various operas.There were many other concerts as well, both by the UWO Symphony, UWOChorus, and various faculty members’ concerts.
One year we had season’s ticketsfor Orchestra London. They were good butwe didn’t care much for Centennial Hall, although we also went to see “Forty-second Street”there in which one member of my class took part.
PartThree – Growing Up in Forest
As near as I can recall, thefirst time I was ever outside Forest was whenmy Aunt Nora took me to Kettle Point when I was about 4 years old. I also went with her to Grand Bend. She did not have a car but one of her friendsdid and on the trip to Grand Bend (it seemed to me at the time it was all day),we stopped about half way through the Pinery at a tea room calledRimbedost. My recollection was of a dirtroad through the woods but I don’t remember Grand Bend at all. During the twenties we used to go into London once a year on thetrain to buy shoes. The train left Forest at 6:30 am and we changed trains at LucanCrossing. On one of these trips we wentout to SpringbankPark on a streetcar. They had a merry-go-round, aminiature train and a roller coaster there then.
I also remember going to Windsor but I don’tremember how we got there. We took astreet car or trolley to Amherstburg to visit some of my grandfather’s family. We also went to the Toronto Exhibition bytrain a couple of times during the twenties as mentioned earlier and on one ofthese trips, I saw my first talking picture.I had seen a couple of silent movies earlier at the Kineto Theatre inForest: “Noah’s Ark”and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.
It was around 1930 when werented a cottage at Hillsborofor a couple of weeks. It was on top ofthe hill on the east side of Hickory Creek, quite a walk down to the store orto swim.
When I was 6 or 7, I went to thedentist to have one of my baby teeth taken out by Dr. Walters. His office was above Laurie’s Hardware Storeon the corner of King & Main Streets.When I was 10, I broke my collar bone fooling around at recess atschool. The bone was set by Dr. Smithdowntown, and I was off school for a month.I’m told I hollered loud enough to be heard down the street because Iwouldn’t take any anaesthetic.
Birthday parties were a rarity. Ihad one during my growing up years and only attended about three. One of the earliest was when I was in FirstBook. Frank Alpaugh’s father drove theSarnia Bus and at his party we went for a bus ride, I think to Ipperwash.
There was, and still is, a fallfair held in Forest every year, and we felt itto be one of the highlights of the year.While in public school each class would dress up to illustrate one themeand we would march from the school to the fair grounds. When I got older these marches which drew fromrural schools all over the area, were discontinued but I still marched, firstas a member of the Boys Band and later with the Excelsior Band. We would also play from time to time duringthe fair. As members of the band wewould often be invited to other fairs, such as Exeter, Parkhill, Seaforth and manyothers. The Boys Band also used to playconcerts at Grand Bend on Sundays in the summer. The Senior Band also played Sunday eveningconcerts on the band stand. On oneoccasion during the fair when I was 8 or 9 I talked my father into letting mego up in an airplane. In those days,barn-stormers used to travel from fair to fair, put on shows includingparachute jumps and take people for rides.I went up in an open air biplane for about ten minutes at a cost of$2.00
I was taken to London a couple of times during the early 30’s,by Bob Horne, father of one of my schoolmates.I can remember seeing the movies “Trader Horn” and “Wonder Bar”.
In exchange my father took me& young Bob to Detroitto see baseball games a couple of years in a row. We stayed with one of his friends and duringour time there we saw all the teams in the American League and some of thelegendary baseball stars including: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. There were 8 teams in the league thenincluding the Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns. We also saw movies, e.g. “San Francisco” and “Poppy” with W.C.Fields. In those days the big movietheatres had stage shows as well and we saw Fred Waring and Shep Fields danceorchestra. I had only been to Detroit once before; itwas on the steamer Tashmoo on the band excursion to Belle Isle.
The first time dad took me to Detroit to a ball game westayed at Jack Barke’s place. He wasfrom Forest but worked at one of the autoplants. On Sunday morning he took me upto station WJR in the Fisher Bldg. and saw Uncle Walt read the funnies over theradio. Uncle Walt read the comics everySunday. We also stayed and watched adramatic program and enjoyed watching them do the sound effects while theactors read their lines. We also went tothe Fox Theatre and saw Fred Waring and the Pennyloanias.
In the 1930’s the road from Forest to the end of the 9 miles at Highway 22 waspaved. It was during summer, cars wererouted around Forest and we would sit at mygrandmother Harper’s and keep track of all the different license plates wespotted. In those days an airplane was anovelty and we rushed out to see whenever one went over. They didn’t fly very high then. A highlight was seeing the dirigible R-100 goover on its way to Chicago.
While in high school I startedgoing with Eunice McDonald and one summer she took me to visit her cousin in Toledo, Ohio. I can remember seeing a movie “Gold Diggersof 1935” but not much else of the trip.
Every year the 5 schools in thearea held track and field meets. In thelocal meets I won medals four years.High School teachers were Jessie Saunders, Irene Reton, Angela Hammer,Albert Williams & J. Stevens principal.
During the summers in highschool I would get a job. One year Iworked for Bob Horne, who kept bees, in various localities and collected thehoney from the hives and extracted it in a building on one of the farms. One year I worked two weeks at the basketfactory at 15c an hour. I made enoughfor spending money at the Toronto Fair where I went with the band. Another year I worked at the Canning Factory(Aylmer) whichwas very busy in the summer. I got 25can hour and some days we would work as much as 15 hours in a day. The next day we wouldn’t be called in at all. I worked through the spinach and pea season.
Living so close to Lake Huron, we usedto go to the beach often, other than our holidays at the cottage. My earliest recollection was riding to Hillsboro on the handlebars of a bicycle with Gerry Chafe.Later we would sometimes walk there and back. Once I walked to Cedar Point. Later we would get rides to Ipperwash wherethey had a dance casino and we’d listen to records on the juke box.
Pastimes among others were:gathering hickory nuts out in the country in the fall; once we went for walnutsat Geo. Lougheed’s farm. He was a cousinof my mother & was the local milkman.I also went with the mailmen on all the rural routes around Forest, and too on Gerry Chafe’s bread route all over thelocal countryside.
While in high school for two orthree years in the fall I would go out into the country to gather hickory nuts,once with a kid from school, John Marburg.Once I collected coalnuts but they weren’t very good. When I was smaller you could get beechnutsnear the Forest cemetery. You can’t do this anymore – the hickory,coalnut and beech trees are all gone.
At one point I sent forinformation on taxidermy, and also a flying school at Lincoln, Nebraska. I was interested in model planes and built severalflying models; I got to know Bruce Lister who lived on a farm in Bosanquet Twp.and was bit of an expert on model airplanes.Once I had a chemistry set and made some chlorine gas and nearly chokedmyself.
The last year at high school Iwent to Torontofor 2 weeks in summer to look for a job and was unsuccessful. One place I went was the deHaviland aircraftfactory, which was out in the country then.It was a long walk from the end of the street car line. That fall I went to the U. of T. One weekend there I hitch hiked to Buffalo for the weekend, just to say I’d been there, noother reason, but it was the first time I had seen Niagara Falls. It was also the first time I had ever been ina bar. In Ontario we had been in parlors but nobars. Forest did not have a beer parlor;Thedford had the closest and Sarniawas the closest liquor store.
On Sundays in Toronto there was nothing open there except afew restaurants and some museums. Ioften rode the different street car lines to familiarize myself with the cityand I also visited the RoyalOntarioMuseumand Casa Loma. One Sunday I walked fromthe university to the waterfront and back.I lived in residence at St. Michael’s College.
One evening I went to see “Romeo& Juliet” at the Hart House Theatre put on by students. I also went to a dance at the roof garden ofthe Royal York Hotel to which I had been invited by a girl I knew in asorority. I had to rent a set of tailsand a car (Eunice had taught me how to drive on the roads around Thedford), aswell as a corsage.
In 1939 the King and Queen cameto Canada. The closest they came was London and arrangements were made to take allthe school kids by bus to see them. TheForest Band was invited to play at the Rectory St. Station, the site allottedto Forest.However the tour ran late and the train did not stop at Rectory St. The kids were disappointed so the buses tookthem all the way to Niagara Falls,their next stop. My sister got to seethem but I did not as the band returned to Forest.
The war broke out while theywere here at the Toronto Fair so they cut short their visit and returned to England. I applied to join the Navy and stayed homeand waited until I was called. I canremember listening on the radio to the progress of the Battle of the River Plate when the Graf Speewas sunk. During the 30’s we were ableto hear speeches by both Hitler and Mussolini on radio.
Uncle Fred had heard Hitlerspeak in Hamburgduring the early thirties when he sailed with the Hamburg-American Line. He travelled a great deal and prior to thathad sailed to Alaska and the Middle East andto India. He stopped going to Germany in the middle thirties, and made twomore trips before the war, one to Indonesiaand Thailand, and one to Angola. He sent me stamps from both trips. I collected stamps and also baseball cards,which came in bubble gum. Cigarettesalso included collectors cards, I can remember golf cards and poker hands. My dad collected the poker hands and was ableto get several premiums including a card table and chairs and a bridge lamp.
In the early thirties, theadvertisers were much more imaginative and generous than today when they spendall their money on television. One ofthe earliest were the cigarette manufacturers who placed cards in theircigarette packages. One I remember usedcards with poker hands, which my father collected. There were two in a pack of 25 for a quarterand one in a 10 cent pack of ten. If youcollected the full set they could be redeemed for prizes and I know my dad gota card table, a floor lamp and an umbrella for a specified number of sets intheir catalogue. Even earlier one of thecompanies put golf cards in their packages; a full set was of the 18 holes. Also Moirs chocolate bars each contained a cardwith a letter on it and if you could spell, for example “Moirs XXX HardCenters”, you would get a 2 lb. box of chocolates free. Needless to say, the X’s were the hardest tofind.
Every box of cereal had a prizein it and every box of soap had a tea towel or a face cloth. Some contained dishes. All of the kids radio programs had clubs youcould join for free by sending in a wrapper from their product. I joined the Little Orphan Annie secretsociety and received a code book and a ring and every night on the programthere would be a secret message which we had to decode.
Then came the bubble gumcards. Each penny package of bubble gumcontained a card of a sports star, movie star, pirates and plane cards, orother topics of interest which could be collected into sets, and traded withothers. It was always fun to trade a LouGehrig for a Hank Greenburg, or a Greta Garbo for a Clara Bow. You could buy a lot for a quarter in thosedays.
One time I was persuaded to sellneedles or garden seeds and after selling so many we would get prizes. It wasn’t hard to sell when you are 8 or 9because everyone tends to humour you.
PartFour – Service in the Navy
In the spring of 1940 I receivedmy call-up from the Navy and was told to report to the Naval Barracks in London for aphysical. My dad came with me, and thatafternoon I was on a train for Vancouver withorders to report to HMCS Nadia in Esquimalt,BC on May 6. This was the first time I would so far fromhome. The furthest I had been wasbetween Montreal and Toledo.I had a berth on the train and woke up the next morning in Northern Ontario.In 1940 the trains ran on steam and we stopped every couple of hours for10 minutes while they took on water.
We had stops for an hour or morein Winnipeg and Edmonton, and I sent home postcards. In Vancouverwe took the ferry to Victoria, about an 8 hourtrip and on arrival in Victoriawere met by a truck which took us to the naval base.
After being fitted out with allour gear and assigned a home in the Frobisher Block we went on basic trainingfor 6 weeks. This consisted of a 2 or 3mile run before breakfast after tying up our hammocks. Then we had marching drill, gunnery lessons,seamanship, naval history, and so on. Wewere allowed to go ashore (into town) on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday orSunday and one weekend in three. We werein what they called red, white & blue watches.
On the completion of basictraining we had to choose a branch and I chose to train in visualsignalling. It was a nine month courseand we had to learn signalling with flags, semaphore and lights, which involvedboth naval and international signalling codes with flags and also Morse codefor lights.
At Christmas we had our firstleave and I got home to Forest for the holiday. We had another leave on completion of thecourse and back home this time there was nothing to do since everyone I knewhad joined the services. I took off andhitch hiked into the States. I wentfirst to Chicago, then to St. Louis, then wentsouth through Arkansas & Memphis, and back home through Louisville and Cincinatti. It was surprisingly easy and cost me verylittle because I was in uniform.
Half way through the course, thenavy was expanding so rapidly that some of us went on what they called ‘lodging& compensation’, and we had to find accommodation off the base and wereallotted extra pay to cover it. I waslucky and found lodging along with two others in the class with an aunt of oneof them. The house was in Victoria and not farfrom where our instructor, Leading Signalman Crevey, an old veteran of theRoyal Navy who was called up as an instructor when the war broke out. Every third weekend, I with others, would goto Vancouverand it was there that I met Barb Roweman, whom I thought of as a girlfriend. I would stay with her family andshe would show me around Vancouver & Stanley Park, once up to CapilanoCanyon.She came over to Victoria once on avisit to picnic on BowenIsland.
One Sunday I took a train tripup the island to Courtney on a Catholic youth outing. Other days off we would go to Beacon HillParkor GorgePark, which was quite pleasant.
On my return from leave I, amongothers, were assigned to HMCS Prince Robert and joined it at Vancouver.Within a day or two we saw a large number of soldiers coming on boardand we set sail not knowing where we were going. We were accompanied by a New Zealand troopship, the Awatea, and the firstland we sighted was Hawaii. We docked in Honolulu but were not allowed ashore,although some hula girls came down to the dock to entertain us. We left the next morning, still not knowingour destination.
Two weeks later after crossingthe International Date Line we entered the San Bernardino Straits and afterpassing CorregidorIsland entered ManilaBay in the Philippines. We were still not allowed ashore as we didn’tknow our final destination but there were plenty of rumours. There was a Japanese merchant ship in theharbour. Three days later I celebrated my 20th birthday and wearrived in Hong Kong. Here we were finally allowed ashore. We had one day from 11 in the morning until 8the next morning. We slept in the ChinaFleet Club and the rest of the time we wandered about, took a rickshaw ride,took the ferry over to Kowloonand took the mountain railway up to the top.
We stayed four days anddisembarked the soldiers. The days wewere not ashore we talked with the sanpan people who thronged the harbour, andI bought a white dress uniform made to measure which cost me $10.00.
On our way home we stopped againin Manila butno shore leave. Two weeks later wearrived in Honoluluand were allowed ashore till midnight.We spent the time wandering around, shopping for souvenirs, and I wentout to WaikikiBeach and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. This was Friday, December 5th,1941. We sailed next morning for Vancouver and on Sunday morning we started getting signalsabout the Japanese bombing PearlHarbour and that we were at war with Japan. We arrived back in Canada five days later. After a few days we were ordered to patrol inthe area of the Aleutian Islands and we hadthe worst weather I have experienced in the Navy. Ocean swells were rising thirty feet and itwas impossible to do anything. Wecouldn’t keep utensils on the table in spite of the fact that mess tables hadbuilt up edges. Anything not tied downrolled all over the deck and it rained most of the time. After about three weeks we came back to Esquimalt.
After a few weeks I was assignedto HMCS Kelowna, a newly commissioned minesweeper, at Prince Rupert. I was given my trained operators badge andwas in charge of two signalmen on the ship.I travelled to Vancouver and then boardeda passenger steamer for the trip to PrinceRupert. Thetrip took three days and we sailed the inside passage. We stopped and were able to go ashore twice,once at Bella Bella and once at OceanFalls. These communities’ only contact with theoutside at that time was by sea although they have roads now. I particularly was struck by the wooden streets.
On arrival in PrinceAlbert I went on board the Kelownaand spent the next six months sweeping for imaginary mines around the entranceto the harbour, two weeks out and five days in port. On one occasion in port I met with BobRawlings from Forest who was stationed at anRCAF base at Terrace, about 25 miles inland.On another occasion the ship put into Port Simpson, an Indian villageand we went ashore and sampled some home made beer. It was a friendly ship and the captain threwa party on one of our terms in harbour.
At the end of the summer I wastaken off and drafted to St. Hyacinth,Quebec, where the Navy had theirsignal school for a V-S3 course. On theway I was given 30 days leave and went back home for awhile. This time I decided to go hitch hiking againthrough the States. This time it waseven better as the USwas in the war now. I got a ride as faras Wapabearton, Ohio at a large truck stop. I found it was easier getting rides withtruckers at stops than on the road. Ipicked up a ride which took me through Cincinatti, Nashvilleto Huntsville, Alabama.I hitched from there to Birmingham,through to Montgomery and Mobile.There I headed west through Biloxi & Gulfport, Miss. to New Orleans.
I spent a few days in New Orleans sight seeing,including Canal St.,Barec St.,The French Quarter (le vieux carre), the levees, and above groundcemeteries. I entered over the longbridge over Lake Pontchartrain. From there I headed north and got a ridethrough Natchezto Port Gibrar. I was stuck there andhad to spend the night in a rooming house.The next day I headed north to Memphisand Beale Street. On this trip I had seen my first pecan treesand cotton fields.
I crossed the Mississippithere and went to St. Louis. I had been having such good luck that I thenheaded west to Kansas City, then north by Leavenworth to Omaha. Then back to Chicagothrough Des Moines and Davenport.Luckily I got a ride there direct to Port Huron and then home. I took no luggage, only a razor and toothbrush,and about 25 dollars. I would stay atYMCA dormitories for a quarter and would wash out socks and underwearovernight. Many of the people I rodewith insisted on buying my meals and I arrived home still with money in mypocket.
The course at St. Hyacinthe lasted six weeks and it wasintensive. The base was outside the townand when we took leave we walked in. Oneweekend some of us went into Montreal,about 25 miles away. One night I wentinto town and saw a movie in French with Ray Milland and John Wayne, nosubtitles of course, but I got so I understood a lot of it. It was in St. Hyacinthe that I met Jeaime Gervais; sheworked at Woolworth’s and we went out a few times.
We finished the course andreceived our V/S 3 rating and almost immediately were drafted to HMCS Stadaconaat Halifax. It was winter and the weather was wet andmiserable. I got my promotion to ActingLeading Signalman and was drafted to HMCS Annapolis, an old four-funnelex-American destroyer from World War I that was part of a ships-for-bases dealmade with England,50 destroyers for bases on British soil.Canada got a numberof them, six of which were considered not safe to cross the Atlantic. We were on the Halifaxto mid-Atlantic run and it was my first winter on the NorthAtlantic and it was miserable.The mess decks always had water on the floor, the decks were coveredwith ice and it was foggy most of the time.We would put into St. John’s,Newfoundland, on the way back.
St. John’swas not part of Canadathen and they had their own money, although they would take any currency,Canadian, American, British or French.The first time in we went ashore at night of course; it was dark and thecity was blacked out, so it was difficult getting around and I didn’t see whatthe town looked like.
After a couple of trips on the Annapolis it came in for a refit (the NorthAtlantic played havoc with the rivets) and I was drafted backashore. I was shortly drafted to acorvette, the Quesnel, and we were put on the triangle run, escorting convoysfrom Boston,Halifax & St. Johns to mid-ocean. Iwas ashore once in Bostonbut did little except sight-seeing. Iwas in St. Johnsa couple of times and was able to look up one family of Chafes, relatives of myaunt Agnes, who had me up for dinner. Ialso met Charlie Ross, who later owned the Dresden paper, and we played cards togetheron one occasion.
After a few trips the ship wentinto Pictou, N.S. for refit. We were in there for 3 months and I stayedwith the ship for that time. I had 30days leave during that time and went home.For the remainder there was no need to stay on board in the evening, butone night in three I had to don belt and garters and armband and go on shorepatrol. It was a pretty soft job becausethere was never any trouble – a third of the ship’s company would be on longleave at all times. One weekend I spentin Truro, aboutan hour away by train.
At the end of the refit I wassent back to Halifaxwhere I spent some time. It was here Imet Kidor Bentley, a young fellow who worked in a music store and we spent sometime together. Earlier in the year I hadspent a weekend at Frank Burus’ home in Kentville – he was publisher of theKentville Advertiser and my father had met him at a newspaper convention andarranged it.
Eventually I received notice togo back to St. Hyacinthefor a V/S 2 course. The Canadian Navywas expanding very rapidly and there was a shortage of non-commissionedofficers. At the conclusion of thecourse we were confirmed in our Leading Signalman rating and given the actingrank of Yeoman of Signals. On this tour,I learned that the girl I had met before, became engaged to Bob Wales, one ofmy friends with whom I had been with since joining the Navy, and who hadinvited me to stop off at his home in Winnipegon my way back to Esquimalt after one of myleaves.
On returning to Halifax we were all sent to newly built shipsin various parts of the country. Myassignment was HMCS Orkney, which was being built at Esquimaltshipyards. I was there in January andwas one of the first compliments to arrive.My job at this point was to draw all the necessary supplies for thecommemorative branch and get all the code books up to date, ready for commissioning. It was strictly a day job as workmen werestill working on the ship. A couple ofweekends I went to Vancouver. I had learned that Barb had got married and Ivisited her and her husband. By the timeof commissioning the full complement was on board and I found I was in chargeof all signalmen, coders, and wireless telegraphers. I had a Leading Telegrapher and a LeadingCoder under me. At the time ofcommissioning I had to climb to the top of the mast to fix the commissioningpennant which would be unfurled at the proper moment.
A few days after this wereceived our orders to report to Halifax. We set sail and headed south. One of our Leading Torpedomen contractedappendicitis on the trip and we had to put into Corinto, Nicaraguaso he could get attention at the American hospital. There was no dock there; we had to anchor andsome of us were allowed to go ashore by boat.We only had about six hours but it proved quite interesting. Nothing was open but bars and the post officeas they take siesta in the afternoons.The streets were not paved but were of sand and met hardly anyone, noneof whom could speak English.
Our next port of call was the Panama Canal. Ittook all day to go through the canal and when we reached Cristobal we went infor a boiler cleaning which meant a 5 day layover. One day a friend and I took a bus ride to Panama City, a distanceof about 50 miles, to say I was able to travel from coast to coast and back thesame day and enjoy the scenery along the route.One thing I remember of Cristobal and its sister city Bulboa was thatthe bars never closed; they did not even have proper doors, just the swingingkind.
On leaving Panama we sailed up through the strait between Cuba and Haitiand put into the U.S. Navy base at Norfolk,Virginia where we were fitted forthe latest radar. We were there threedays and although I went ashore I don’t remember much except for the enormoussize of the navy yard there.
On reaching Halifaxwe, the Orkney, were assigned as the Senior Officers’ ship of Escort Group 16,at the head of a few new frigates, including Thetford Mines, Ste. Therese, LaHulloise andMagog. While working in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Magog was damaged by a torpedoand was effectively out of the war. Theremaining ships went to New Yorkwhere we received more radar gear at the Staten Island Navy Yard. I went ashore once into the city and went tothe Stage One Canteen which was pretty empty.Nobody famous there, also went to Jack Dempsey’s Bar. Then a few of us went to Coney Island wherewe rode the roller coaster and dodgem cars late into the night until it wastime to go back to the ship.
From there we went to Bermudawhere we spent six weeks on working up exercises, based mostly at the BritishNaval Base at Hamilton and also a couple of days at St. Georges. We were ashore quite often and the weatherwas beautiful as it was May.
Back in Canada, our escort group went on patrol in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.It was comparatively uneventful, but we went into Gaspe for five days for a boiler cleaning andone evening I went to a social club and played bridge. I had to quickly recall my French in order toplay. Later we put into Sydney,and while on day leave one of the stewards whose home was in Glace Bay, took meby bus to the ruins of the fortress of Louisburg. There was nothing there then except ablockhouse, which was used as a museum.On returning to Sydney we found our shipshad been recalled to Halifaxand we had to catch up with it by motor launch.My most vivid memory of Sydneyat night was the fires of the blast furnaces at the steel mills, which weregoing 24 hours a day.
On returning to Halifax,we were changed to Sea Opps Escort Group 25 based at Londonderry, NorthernIreland escorting a convoy on the way.
By the time we reached the U.K., it was September, D-Day had already takenplace so we missed that event, but we immediately went on escort duty aroundthe British Isles, and very rarely put into port before we returned to Londonderry. Wecircum-navigated the island several times in the lanes that were swept clear ofmines. On one occasion we were sent outto the mid-Atlantic near the Canary Islands todeal with a submarine attack on a convoy.We arrived in time, but the sub was sunk by torpedo aircraft. One night we put into Portsmouthand another time in January, we went into Scapa Flowin the Orkneys for a couple of days. Iwent ashore once to the petty officers mess at the naval base and it wasmiserably cold and damp. We had tohuddle around a stove in the centre while we drank our beer.
One time some of us went toBuncrana on the Free State Border. Wealso carried out night A/S exercises at a tactical centre in Limavady outsideDevry. I walked around the old walls andseveral times we went drinking in the Catholic area where they had connectionsin the Free Stateand were able to get eggs and steak which were unavailable in N.I.
At Christmas we were given aweeks leave and I went to London. I took the train to Larne where I took theferry to Stranracs. The train to London was very crowdedand had to stand much of the time. I gota room in Earls Courtand took the underground to the centre every day, visited the sights (Tower of London,Mme. Trusauds, KewGarden and BritishMuseum), and went toshows. One night the underground went onstrike and I had to walk back to EarlsCourt.
On one occasion we wereescorting a convoy through the Minch, between Scotlandand the Outer Hebrides when the captainthought we had a submarine contact. Wewere about to carry out a depth charge attack when the Navigator rushed up tothe bridge to inform us we were over a minefield.
In February we were escorting aconvoy from Loch Erve to Milford Haven when we ran into one of the ships in theconvoy off Angleseg. We were badlydamaged but the freighter was worse. Wesignalled for tugs from Liverpool to assistthe freighter but we were able to come in under our own steam. We tied up at the Gladstone docks in Seaforth and there learnedwe would have to remain there to participate in a court of inquiry. Liverpoolwas the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief Western Approaches. I had to attend but was never called totestify.
PartFive – Meeting Joan Taylor and the End of the War
As a petty officer, I did nothave to stand watch, so I was able to go ashore every night. We came into the city on an elevated train tothe Pier Head, the centre of the city on the Mersey.
Whether it was the first orsecond night ashore, a couple of friends and myself had a few drinks anddecided to go roller skating, something I had never done before or since. It was there that I met a girl called JoanTaylor and she and a friend accompanied us back to the Pier Head to catch ourtrain. I managed to get her phone numberwhere she worked. This was February 14th,1945.
The next day I called her andasked for a date. She agreed and when Isuggested several things to do, she opted for a concert of the LiverpoolPhilharmonic. For the next three weeksor so we saw each other nearly every night, attending concerts, movies and anoccasional stage shows and trips. Aftershe got to know me a little better, she invited me to her home where I met herparents, and on one occasion I missed the last street car downtown and had to walkmiles back to the ship.
At the end of the inquiry Iasked Joan to marry me and she agreed although no date was set. The result of the inquiry was that ourcommanding officer received a reprimand and lost his command. We got a new captain, who joined us after therefit, and were ordered to Dunstaffsax, just outside Oban, Scotland, forthis. It took six weeks and there wasnot much to do in Oban. Every secondweekend I took a train to Liverpool, which wasan interesting trip. It took so long (Ihad to change at Glasgow)that I only had a few hours with Joan before I had to return.
On completion of the refit, wedid working up exercises at Kyle of Lochelah and anti-submarine exercises atCampbelltown. Previously we had done similarexercises at Tobermory on the Isle of Mell but we never got ashore at any ofthem. We then returned to Londonderry for more exercises at the tactical room. While we were undergoing refit some of ourpeople joined one of the other ships of the group who took over senior officerand while there, there was a Lodgebog accident and several were killedincluding my leading telegrapher, Jimmy Friend.While we were in ‘Derry I took a weekend in Belfast and visited their graves in thecemetery there. I also visited GloriaHollowell, a Wren I met in Londonderry and whowas restationed. She was from Manchester and was anofficers’ cook and engaged to a Canadian airman. The only reason I mention this was because afew years after the war, she turned up in Forestas Gloria Anderson, with her husband as new owners of the Forest Golf Course.
We eventually set sail again andwhile refuelling at Moville on Lough Foyle, we were rammed by another Canadianfrigate and had to return to Londonderry. While there, V-E Day was announced and Ispent the afternoon on a long walk. Afew days later we were told we were being transferred to Canada forservice in the Pacific but had the choice of volunteering. I decided to request a transfer and calledJoan in Liverpool and told her I would begoing ashore for the purpose of getting married. I guess she was surprised but agreed.
Over the next few days, severalGerman submarines began turning up in ‘Derry having surrendered on orders from Germany.
Eventually I was posted to HMCSNiobe in Greenoch, Scotland,catching a boat from Belfast. I was immediately sent to an R & R campwhere I stayed for several weeks. Whilethere I learned how to make felt flowers and leather tooling. Our only duties were to keep the camp clean. We were provided from time to time withtours. Once we went to Ayr, Bobby Burnscountry, another time to Hamiltonand David Livingston’s home. We alsotook a trip to the Trossacks and Loch Katrine but it was so foggy we saw verylittle.
In June I got 30 days marriageleave and went to Liverpool where arrangementswere made for the wedding. We made daytrips to Southport and Blackpool. We also visited some of her relatives in the Liverpool area. Wewere married in HaytonParishChurchwith a fellow I met in Greenoch, Robert Ferguson, standing up for me and hersister Florence,as bridesmaid. We went on our honeymoonto Lythan St. Annes, near Blackpool.
Shortly after returning to Liverpool, we went to Greenach and the first day or twowe stayed in a rooming house downtown until I found a room closer toNiobe. We were only there for a coupleof weeks when I found they were going to start closing down the base and I wasslated to return to Canadaon the Princher, a Canadian aircraft carrier.I avoided that by believing Joan was pregnant which proved to befalse. I was moved to the signal officewhere I was in charge, and Joan and I moved into the Boag’s where we had alarge living room with a hole in the wall for a bed, a fireplace and a piano.
When V-J day arrived in August,the entire ship’s company was treated to a boat cruise on the Kyles ofBute. We also continued to receive bustrips to various places including StirlingCastle and Bamodbeen, Loch Lamond and DumbartonCastle where we climbed the steps to thetop. One weekend Joan and I spent in Edinburgh where we ran into Bob Fuller from Ravenswood in EdinburghCastle.We also walked the Royal Mile to HolyroodPalaceand St. Gile’s Church where John Knox preached.
Every three months I would get aweek’s leave and on these occasions we went back to Liverpool. We didn’t stay there however and went to York on one occasion and walked the walls there, and toNottingham where we ran into a Canadian from Exeter, Ont. in the Trip to JerusalemInn. We also went to Chester and walked the walls there as well.
The personnel at Niobe becamegradually depleted as they returned to Canada, eventually closing thesignals office, when I was placed on duty on the telephone switchboard for thelast six weeks or so I was there. Niobewas eventually closed and Joan and I packed up and went to Liverpool where Iawaited my sailing orders for Canada.
While we were still in Greenoch,we often went into Glasgowfor the evening as there was either a bus or a train about every halfhour. On one of these trips, we stood upfor the wedding of one of our navy friends at the Registrar’s Office there.
PartSix – The Return to CanadaAfter the End of the War
We were at Joan’s home for aboutthree weeks when I got my orders to report to Londonfor repatriation to Canada. We were on a brief holiday in Coernasoon whenit arrived so I had not much time or money either.
When I arrived I found that wehad four or five days to kill.
I got a bed at the CanadianLegion hostel which cost a shilling a night and spent a lot of the timewandering around London. I managed to see a performance of “The Barberof Seville” in the fourth balcony at Sadlers Wells for a shilling and alsovisited several famous pubs including Dirty Dicks, the Bull and Bash and onethat used to be frequented by Charles Dickens.
Eventually we were notified ofour sailing orders. We got a train from Victoria station for Southampton where we boarded the Ilede France for Halifax. There were 90 naval ratings being repatriatedamong several thousand soldiers, and it took about a week to cross the Atlantic. Onarrival we reported to HMCS Stadacona and immediately went on a 30-day leave,my first in Canadafor 2 years.
When I got back to Halifax I was sent to theNaval Air Station in Dartsmouth and several of us communication ratings (I wasnow a confirmed Leading Signalman) were stationed at a radar base for navalaircraft out in the bush. Our dutieswere to track and communicate with the planes when they were on exercises. Many days it was foggy or raining and therewere no flights so it was a pretty easy job.We ate and slept out there preparing our own meals so there was not alot of variety. I wrote to Joan nearlyevery day and she wrote as well.
While I was waiting for her Iarranged to meet Reinette who was stationed with the Wrens in Halifax and thatevening made a long distance phone call back to Forest to talk to Ruth who washome after spending a couple of summers during the war as a farmerette.
It was not long before Ireceived word that Joan had received her sailing orders, substituting for a warbride who had to cancel. She was to sailon the Queen Mary to arrive in Halifaxthe first week in August. The navalpublic relations office made arrangements for me to meet the ship and get heroff before general debarkation. Theysupplied us with a hotel room for the night and train tickets for another30-day leave to take her back to Forest.
On our way we stopped in Toronto to attend thewedding of Frank and Gertrude Edwards who was stationed with me at the RCN AirStation. We went on to Forestwhere we spent the time getting acquainted.On my return to Halifax Joan remained with my parents until I was ableto find a place to live in Dartmouth.
I found a room on the mainstreet about halfway between downtown Dartmouthand the naval air station. It had a bedin it and we managed to find some orange crates, which we used forfurniture. There was only one kitchenwhich we had to share with the lady of the house. After a few weeks Gert and Frank came andtook a room upstairs. We shared ourmeals and they would sometimes come down and play cards while we all sat on thebed. One day I was exercising on the bedand I stepped and put my foot through the window. We were terrified to tell the landlady, buteven worse it was cold outside and a broken window didn’t help.
As soon as we could we foundanother place. This one had two rooms, abedroom and a kitchen. The bedroom wasonly slightly larger than the bed and this made it awkward when it rained asthere was a small leak in the roof. Thetoilet was outside and one windy night the roof blew off open to theweather. It was on MarionHeights,and it was half of a flimsily built shack on top of a hill, and it enabled usto hear everything that went on in the other half and I presume viceversa. We got our water from awell. The only advantages were we hadour own kitchen and I could walk to work through a hole in the fence of the airbase. By this time I was put in chargeof the signal office at the base. Myduties were to compile and distribute all the messages each morning and takethem personally to the commanding officer who would make replies or not as he sawfit. He generally went home before noonand therefore there was no need for me to remain. It was pretty easy. Even the signalling was done by teletypewhich sent and received encoded messages which were decoded by placing theappropriate insert in it each day.
In early spring we decided tobuy a car, used one of which were starting to become available the first timesince the war started. They weregenerally gone by ten o’clock of the morning the paper came out. Eventually we bought a 1932 Chrysler forabout $500 which I had in the bank in Forestand which my parents sent to me. Itwasn’t much but at last we were mobile.We visited the Gunns whom we had known in Scotland,and the Laytons; he was a yeoman of signals and I had gone to school with himback in Forest and had joined the navy a fewyears before the war broke out.
We also took a trip one Sundayto Peggy’s Cove which was well known from calendars, etc. At that time the roads were not paved and onour way home we got stuck in the mud along with several others. We were eventually rescued. Occasionally we took the ferry over to Halifax but would often drive around BedfordBasin. One time I visited the Orkney which wasanchored in BedfordBasin waiting to be soldor scrapped.
The car was no great shakes; itcouldn’t even make it up the hill at MarionHeights. I had to leave it at the bottom, but it wasnice to drive my own first car and the first time I had driven since the firstyear of the war, when one time I rented a car in Vancouverand I took Barb up to CapilanoCanyon. In those days it was not a tourist trap likeit is now and we were the only ones on the swing bridge.
My time in the navy expired onMay 6th after seven years, and we decided to drive back to Forest carrying all our worldly possessions in the backseat. It was a very interesting andeventful trip. The first hitch came atthe American border at Calais,Maine. The customs man determined to make us removeevery thing in the back until he was satisfied, and then made us put it allback ourselves.
One night we spent in a cabin inthe Mainewoods with no inside facilities. Theydidn’t have motels in those days. In Boston we got lost andhad to make a right turn where we didn’t want to since we were in the wronglane. Out of Bostonwe joined the Merritt Parkway,one of the first controlled access highways built by Rooseveltduring the depression. We eventuallyarrived in New York on the Hudson Parkway and found a bed andbreakfast in the Bronx not far from FordhamUniversity.
In New York we did all the tourist things. We went to the Automat; we had a dinner atthe Waldorf Astoria. We went to the topof the EmpireStateBuilding and we saw a show at RadioCityMusic Hall. We also went to see a hit musical “Oklahoma” at the St.JamesTheatreon 42nd Street. It was in its fifth year and another newmusical was playing across the street, “Annie Get Your Gun” which was sold outfor the next four months. We didn’tdrive in New York;we took the subway.
Driving was an education in itselfsince we had to add oil every time we stopped for gas, and one window wasbroken. When we left NewYork we headed for NiagaraFalls where we stayed with the Snowdons who werecousins of my mother, and whom I had met before. We stayed a couple of days and one nightthere was a disturbance. Fred Snowdongot up and discovered someone had stolen our car. However it didn’t get far as it ran out ofgas before it got far and the thieves were apprehended.
We eventually arrived home butthe car was on its last legs. Later thatmonth we went to Ingersoll for the baptism of Reinette & Pete’s firstchild, Ruth Ann. Unfortunately, the carthrew a piston rod and we had to dispose of it there for $100 which wasn’t badsince we only paid $500 for it in the first place and it got us and our thingshome and gave us an interesting trip in the bargain.
PartSeven – Settling Down in Forest
I went to work in the Free Pressfor $25 a week and we rented our first house, a bungalow on King Street belonging to a Mrs.Kemp. We spent the first winterthere. In the meantime we had started afamily since Paul had been born in July.It was while we were living there that we had our first Hallowe’en in Canada. Ron and Laura Taylor came over and Ron and Idressed up and went out about ten or eleven o’clock while the girls lookedafter the two babies. Joan had met Laurain Englandbefore coming over and they both came on the Queen Mary. They occasionally came over and we’d playpoker for pennies.
By spring we were finding thecottage too small for a grocery bag and we rented the downstairs apartment atAunt Nora’s on Albert Street. We stayed there nearly two years and for partof the time the upstairs was occupied by Ken Simpson and his wife; he had goneto school with Ruth and they also had a young baby. The Boones were there when we first moved inbut they weren’t there long.
For the next ten or twelve yearsa lot of things happened but I have no recollection of either sequence orduration. One of my first memories wasDad hiring Nifty Shepherd to drive us to Amherstburg where Joan met Aunt Minaand her son, Charlie Smith. I can’tremember if we met anyone else that trip.
I met Harry Keene on one of mytrips to Londonwhile we were living at Aunt Nora’s place; I remember because he lent me someoperatic recordings and I played them there.It must have been during this period that I went to Cleveland twice to see the MetropolitanOpera. Shortly after this I startedplaying in the London Symphony. I playedfourth horn and had to buy one; I did this for two years and we practiced atBeale Collegiate.
We had a chance to buy a cottageon McHenry Streetand dad loaned us the down payment, the house costing about $3,000. The property had a small market garden on itcontaining a couple of rows, full length of the lot, of raspberry canes and twoor three rows of strawberries. We grewenough that we were able to supply Boyd’s grocery store during the season. We also grew tomatoes, green beans andcarrots and there were three cherry trees.One year we grew potatoes, successfully, but we could have bought themcheaper. Another time we grew corn andcantelope. Geoff was born while we werethere and it began to get too small. Weconsidered building an addition but it never happened.
While on McHenry Street, Joan’s girlfriend, JoanRobinson, visited us and we met her in Montreal. Bernie Hopper took a shine to her and afterher visit, he drove her back to Montreal,accompanied by Joan. Bernie met herbecause he and I used to play golf nearly every Sunday. In fact one year we became members of Oakwoodat Grand Bend. We also played othercourses in the area including Sarnia, Bright’sGrove, Petrolia and Strathroy as well as Forestand Indian Hills when it opened.
Every couple of years we triedto take a holiday for a week or so and we would borrow Mom’s car. The first trip was to Quebec City and the eastern townships. We visited Windsorand Thetford Mines and also Mr. & Mrs. Bob Wales in St.Jean. She wasthe former Jeanne Gervais from St. Hyacinth.Another time we took the ferry from Tobermory to ManitoulinIslandand by the time we got to Little Current, the generator was shot. We were stuck there for the weekend since thepart could not be replaced until the garage could get a new one from Sudbury. We also went one weekend to Montrealwith Ruth when we went to St. Joseph’sAbatory.
Another time we rented a cottagenear Huntsville,which we discovered later was the same Colonial Bay Resort that we have visitedtwice since. We got there because myparents had holidayed in that area previously.While there I played golf at a couple of courses including Windemere. The cottage had electricity but no insidefacilities and one night I went out to the toilet and surprised a skunk. We both retreated in a hurry. The cottage also had a rowboat and we wentrowing on the lake a couple of times.
We also had the opportunity togo on a couple of conventions with the Ont. Weekly Newspapers Association. One was to Wigwassen over on an island in LakeRosseau. I played golf at Windune once on that tripwhile Joan went with the ladies to Port Carling.
Another one was on the OntarioNorthern Railway. We boarded at Toronto and travellednorth. The newspaper people had thewhole train and we slept on it. We madeseveral stops including one at New Liskeard we toured a match factory, atTemogami where we had a boat ride and Timminsfor a gold mine.
We also belonged to the SouthWestern Ontario Association and we met every year. I can remember meetings at Wallaceburg,Ridgetown, Tillsonburg, and others and one year I was elected Chairman. It wasn’t too hard a job as the secretary didall the work. We also attended a fewexhibitions in the AutomotiveBuilding at the TorontoExhibition Grounds and at one of them we purchased a Fairchild engraver andwere able to run pictures in the paper for the first time (this must have beenin the 1960’s).
While at McHenry Street we had a flood one timeand had a couple of feet of water in the basem*nt. The most damage done was losing our weddingpictures and many of our souvenirs from Britain.
Once dad took the car and had medrive him and Joan to Detroitto see a ball game. It was the New YorkYankees when Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra were playing. During this time I was official scorer forthe Forest Baseball Team and I was secretary of the hockey team which meant Iattended most of their games. I was alsoTreasurer of the Forest branch of the CanadianLegion, while Joan belonged to the Women’s Auxiliary.
PartEight – Introduction to the Baha’i Faith and Development of the Community
In 1951 we met Aldie Robarts whoworked in the local Bank of Commerce. Hewas single and interested in similar things to us, history to music and playinggolf, and used to spend a lot of time at our place. It was through him we first heard of theBaha’i Faith. We did not think a lotabout it at the time, but both of us had been estranged from our respectivechurches for some time. In 1952 he leftForest and went back to Toronto. That fall his parents invited us to spendThanksgiving weekend with them in Toronto. They had arranged for us to attend aperformance of the New York City Ballet who were doing Fancy Free by LeonardBernstein.
The next day, while Aldie’sbrother took Joan on a tour of Casa Loma, Aldie’s father John, who I learnedlater was Chairman of the NSA of Canada and a top man with London Life, talkedto me about the Faith, and loaned us some books to take home with us. That night Aldie took us to a jazz nightclub.
While there we met two of the Toronto youth, ElizabethManser who became Mrs. Mike Rochester and Doug Martin.
Earlier that year we left thelittle house on McHenry and bought a house on McNabb at auction. We paid $4,500 for it and used the proceedsof the sale of the other for a down payment.It needed a lot of work and over the next couple of years we remodelledthe interior including a new kitchen and small bathroom under the stairs, andput in a new furnace.
Over the winter of 1952-3, wewent into London several times to hear a series of talks by Ruth Moffatt on theBook of Revelation, and it was here we met some of the London Baha’is, such asBob Smith and Ross Woodman, who at that time was Secretary of the NSA. We also met the Hoyles at this time as theywere studying the Faith as well.
In April we went down to London to attend theformation of the first Local Assembly in that city, John Robartspresiding. We had all become Baha’is bythis time, including Miller McPherson.Dorothy Boyers (she had not married Bob at this point) was a member ofthe Jubilee Committee arranging the 100th anniversary of thedeclaration of Baha’u’llah and she told us of the dedication of the WilmetteTemple.We decided to attend in May and the three of us went along with Millerand Ross Woodman and stayed at the YMCA downtown Chicago.
There were seven Hands of theCause there including Ruhiyyih Khanum who delivered the dedication address fromShoghi Effendi. Also there wereZikrullah Khadem, Mr. Furutan, and Horace Holley. We also spent an evening with Nellie French,one of those present who knew Abdul-Baha.
That summer we were remodellingour kitchen when we had a visit from Ruth Moffatt. She slept in the den while Wilfred Shawhenee,an Indian from Kettle Point was installing a pass-through in place of a door inthat room. While Ruth was in thewashroom in the morning, Wilfred dashed in and removed the door –surprise! Also that summer we went to London to hear a talk byMr. Furutan. One of the amazing things Iremember is that he remembered who I was when I ran into him at the Guardian’sgrave in Londontwenty-five years later.
By this time Aldie was workingin St. Catharines and he had us down for a weekendwhere we met the St. Catharines Baha’is and went with him to Niagara Falls to see “Annie Get Your Gun” atthe summer theatre.
Joan decided she would like tovisit her parents the next year; it had been eight years. She would take Paul who was seven withher. Geoff would be four and Larry twoand we would need someone to look after them.
As it happens, that spring ourlinotype operator was killed in a car accident.The job was offered to Jack Hoyle who was anxious to leave his London job. He didn’t know anything about it but learnedquickly. He and Kathy moved into ourhouse when Joan and Paul left for England,with me driving them to Montreal,where she sailed on the Empress of Scotland.
Joan was pregnant at the timeand found out when she got there that she would not be allowed to sail untilthe baby was born. Our daughter Victoriawas born in a hospital in Southport on Sept. 21 and they returned to Canada inNovember. I drove to Montreal to meet the ship and bring themhome. Joan came back as a Canadian butVicki was admitted as a landed immigrant and thus has dual citizenship.
During the fifties, Forest became a Baha’i Assembly. In addition to ourselves, Miller, and theHoyles, we enrolled Charlie and Norma Willey, Duyck and Tredi Lewis and DonThiers. Then Tony and Rita Marsolaismoved here from the Ottawaarea. We had many visitors during thisperiod including Mr. & Mrs. Khadem (Hand of the Cause), John Robarts, Mrs.Meheringi Munsiff & daughter Jhodi, who were East Indian origin, as well asBaha’is from around Ontario like Charlie and Florence Grindley, Mike & LizRochester, Doug & Betty Martin, Fred Graham and others.
I gave my first public talk atthe Brock Hotel in Niagara Falls. There were about twenty present, all Baha’isfrom Toronto and Hamilton.Prior to this I was asked to cover the summer school which was held at GenevaParkon LakeCouchiching for the Canadian Baha’iNews. There I met Marjorie McCormich andStanwood Cobb and was on a committee to send a cable to the Guardian with OlaRawlowska who later pioneered to Zaire. It was also my first contact with JimWilloughby and Alan Raynor.
A couple of winter I leddiscussion groups at our home. We didNorthrup’s “Meeting of East & West”, Toynbee’s “Study of History” and ahistory of Asia that I compiled. Among those attending were a couple of highschool teachers.
We had always been fortunateliving so close to the resorts on Lake Huron. Shortly after Joan arrived in Forest we won a week at one of Jamieson’s cottages atIpperwash. It was September so therewere not a lot of people around. In the50’s my parents bought a cottage at Cedar Point and they allowed their kids touse it for short holidays during the summer.At the same time, Pat & Jack Boyd had a cottage at Ipperwash andthey allowed us to use it from time to time right up to the 1970’s. On a couple of occasions we camped at CampIpperwash,once in a tent and again in a trailer. Iwould drive in to work every day and came out at night.
One year around 1960, theBaha’is were unable to acquire a site for a summer school and decided to holdthree mini schools that year. One was atForest and Boyds allowed us the cottage forthe venue.
The teachers came from theSummer School Committee and included Nancy Campbell from Hamiltonand Marion Hughes from Detroit. About 40 turned up and while some stayed atthe lake, others stayed in Forest. The Forest Baha’is supplied the catering andit was a busy time. Another time we heldour own summer school; it was on a smaller scale and we had Charles Grindley asone of the teachers.
In those days I did some travelteaching around the area. I spoke in Kitchener several times and also London and Colbourne Twp. Once we went to Royal Oak, Michiganfor a fireside. We also held firesideson a regular basis in Sarnia. Joan gave the fireside at Jim Oliver’s houseand we also had public meetings in the Public Library. We also established the first InternationalPicnic at CanataraPark, at first forourselves and the Baha’is of Port Huron, but in succeeding years it grew untilit was attended by over a hundred.
While teaching in Sarnia we gained acontact, actually through Charles Willey, in the person of Mary Allen. Much to our surprise a week or so later shelanded on our doorstep and moved in with us.She became a Baha’i and eventually got a place of her own. It was when she moved to Detroitthat we spoke at Royal Oak. We would sometimes drive to the summer schoolat Louhelen near Davison, Mich.We got to know the Egglestons quite well; they had donated the propertyto the Faith for a summer school and it has become quite well known now.
Sometimes we attended concertsby the Detroit Symphony at the State Fair Grounds in Detroit.I knew a couple of the players whom I had played with in theInternational Symphony.
During the fifties I took acourse by correspondence in electronics from DeVry Institute. I didn’t do much with it, but I built aradio, and a voltmeter as well as a circuit tester. I also started collecting stamps while JackHoyle stayed with us – I collected China,Greece, Turkey and Iranand corresponded with collectors in Iran,Turkey, Brazil, and Indonesia. The girl in Indonesia sent me a beautifulcarved statuette of Kilki, the 10th avatar of Vishnu, in exchangefor a couple of stamp albums, which we still have.
While living at McNabb Street webought our first television set. It wasat an auction sale and cost $25. Theantenna I think cost more than the set but Norma Willey would come over when Iwas out and watch the movies with Joan.They eventually became Baha’is.It was through the Willeys that we met George and Erica Lazi who wereHungarian refugees from the 1956 revolution and who came to work forCharlie. Erica and Joan got along quitewell and spent time at each others place.They lived above one of the stores on King Street.
Also while we were at McNabb Street, afriend of Joan’s mother, Amy Reynolds, whom she met in England,arrived and stayed with us for a while.She was the first lady auctioneer in England and also taught elocutionlessons for awhile. While with us sheconfused the Anglican minister by attending both his church and the Catholicchurch on the same day. Before returningto England she went to London and got a job as housekeeperfor a Jewish shopkeeper.
PartNine – Vacations of the Early 60’s to Western Canada and U.S.
In the early 60’s we decided totake one of the kids on a holiday with us.The first trip was in 1961 and we took Paul with us to Winnipeg.We went by way of Chicago and visited theBaha’i House of Worship in Wilmette. We had been to the Templeon a couple of previous occasions, once with Pat Boyd, who drove and got aspeeding ticket somewhere in Michiganand the other time we took Evelyn McPherson with us. These were weekend trips.
We often camped on thesetrips. Our first stop was in Wisconsin and then in Bemidji, Minn. There we visited the Paul Bunyan museumtogether with his blue ox Babe. Wecamped in a nearby park. In Winnipeg we stayed in amotel on the outskirts of the city. Thiswas the first time I had been in Winnipeg sinceI stopped over a few days early in the war with Bob Wales and we rode theroller coaster in AssiniboinePark. Later I was to go there as a delegate to theNational Convention.
While in Winnipegwe took Paul to see the railway yards which are the largest in Canada andwhich fascinated him. We also had a tourof the Manitoba Parliament Bldgs. with Hart Bowsfield, a Baha’i we had met atan earlier National Convention in Toronto. We attended many Conventions when they werein Toronto; one time we took Don Thiers and another time we took George andErica Lazi who of course were not Baha’is but we spent some time with them.
On our way back from Winnipeg we came on theCanadian side. Some of our memories werethe night we spent in a hotel in Jackfish, about 4 miles off the Trans Canadadown a one lane winding road. The hotelwas an old style one where all the guests ate around the main table. In the evening we saw some moose swimming inthe lake out to an island. Jackfish is apoint on the Canadian Pacific Railway where the train makes a big U-turn aroundthe bay and if you were in the middle of the train you could see both ends ofthe train out the window.
Also we had to stop in Wawa tovisit a doctor when Joan received several bad black fly bites. Her face became quite swollen. The next night we camped in Fairbank Prov.Park, about 14 miles off the main highway.We didn’t think we’d ever get there.From there we went to Woodview near Lakefield, Ont. where I was to givea course at the Summer School. We werethere for a week and one of the highlights was a series of evening talks on theLetters to the Kings by Firuz Khazemzadeh, Chairman of the U.S. NationalAssembly.
Our next trip, 1962, we took ashorter trip, just the two of us. Wecrossed on the ferry to Manitoulin and went to Wawa. From there we went across Northern Ontariothrough Chaplesu & Foleget to Timmins. I remember stopping at IvanhoeLakefor lunch. From Timminswe went north to Cochrane and camped overnight in GreenwaterProvincialPark. On the way back we turned east and went to KirklandLakeand LunderLakeand into Quebec through Rougn-Noranda to Val d’Or. We came south through LaVerendryePark and through the Gatineau Hills toOttawa.
Another year, 1963, we went outwest. We crossed the MackinackBridgeand stopped in Escanaba. We turned northat Duluth and crossed into Canada at InternationalFalls and travelled up through Lake of the Woods to Kenora. We bypassed Winnipegand stopped in Brandon. The next day we reached Regina where we spent a few days with Angusand Bobbie Cowan. Angus was an NSAmember and he took us out to the Poorman Reserve in Saskatchewan. It was a poor reserve and I met and spoke toa group of the Indian Baha’is. They werevery hospitable with what they had. Whenwe left we stopped at a small prairie town near Swift Current and the followingnight at FortMcLeadnear Lethbridge. We spent the next day at the Peigan Reserveat Brocket. These are Blackfoot Indiansand we had met Chief Samson Knowlton earlier when he came to Kettle Point. About 20 of the Baha’is came to Samson’s housewhere we had a fireside. He also took usout to see an isolated Baha’i but we were unable to cross the OldmanRiverafter a lengthy walk.
The next day we set off for theAmerican border through Pincher Creek.We passed ChiefMountain, our first glimpse of the Rockies. We stayed overnight in Babb, Montana and the nextday drove through Glacier National Park over the Highway to the Sun. Although it was August there was still somesnow along the road. We drove down theother side and through the Flathead Indian Reserve to Butte where we spent the night. That night we attended a Feast with the localBaha’i community.
The next day we drove south toVirginia City, and the HebgenLake earthquake area where a campground wasdestroyed, and into YellowstonePark. In the park, we visited the hot spring areaand the Old Faithful geyser, and saw somebears alongside the road. We stayed thatnight in Cody, Wyoming, after stopping at the Buffalo Billdam. From there we travelled through theswitchback road in the ShellCanyon in the Bighorn Mountains to the site of Gen.George Custer’s defeat at the Little Bighorn River.
Our next stop was at Deadwood, South Dakota where wewent to the bar where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and the cemetery where he andCalamity Jane are supposed to be buried in Boot Hill. Then we went up to MountRushmore to see the big figures carved in the rock. From there we went through the BadlandsNational Monument where the temperaturewas steaming, but the scenery spectacular.
We crossed the Missouriat Mitchell, S.D.,the corn capital of the UnitedStates.They have a corn palace built of many different kinds of corn. We stopped at Sioux City, Iowafor the night and called the local Baha’is but they didn’t seem to want to seeus. We continued east through Illinois to Lafayette,Indiana. We visited the site of the Battle ofTippecanoe and visited the lone Baha’i on the campus of PurdueUniversity. From there we returned home.
PartTen – Vacations of the Mid 60’s to northeastern U.S.
The following year, 1964, wasthe year that Paul’s Key Club held an international convention in New York so we drove himand a friend there. We stopped to visitBaha’is in Hamburg, N.Y. but didn’t stay. We went through the Grand Canyon ofPennsylvania on route and arrived in New Yorkover the GeorgeWashingtonBridge. We dropped Paul and his friend off and westayed with a young couple in Westbury, Long Islandwhom we had met at Durst’s early that year.While there Joan & I visited the UnitedNationsBuilding and also theWorld’s Fair at Flushing Meadows were LaGuardia airport in now. After the convention we picked the boys up atGrand Central Station and returned home via the Holland Tunnel. Driving in Manhattan was a traffic nightmare and we wereglad to get away.
The next year, 1965, we went ona trip with Geoff. We stopped off on theway and visited Larry in Cobourg (we had visited Larry more than once while hewas in the juvenile detention center and took him out on trips into town or outto Shelter Valley near Brighton). Wecamped overnight in Presqu’isle Provincial Park and the next day crossed the IvyLeaBridge, stopping at the visitor center in the middleof the St. Lawrence River. We crossed New YorkState through Lake Placid to FortTiconderoga,which we toured. We crossed LakeChamplain into Vermont and went south to theAmerican Revolution battle site at Bennington. From there we crossed NewHampshire and up the coast to Kitteryin Maine. We went to Greenacre Baha’i School; it wasbefore the summer season began and we stayed there and in return Joan and Ipainted one of the bathrooms and Geoff painted the library. We visited the room where Abdu’l-Baha stayedback in 1912 when he was in America.
Leaving there we went south intoMassachusetts, but we didn’t go into Boston, but headed west through Lexingtonand Concord. I remember driving down the road between thetwo towns, with Geoff’s head out the window shouting “the British arecoming!” In Concord we saw the bridge where the Colonistsdefeated the British army and the Minuteman statue. Concordis also the home of Emerson, the American essayist.
We came into NewYork state through some beautiful country and visited thebattlefield at Saratoga where Benedict Arnoldlost his leg and the British army coming down from Montreal was defeated. Then we went to FortGeorge at the foot of Lake Champlain which has been restored. Then we visited Cooperstownand toured the Baseball Hall of Fame and where James Fennimore Cooper, afterwhose father the town was named, lived and wrote his famous novels. On our way home we passed the Howe Cavernsand decided to stop and make a tour of the caves. From there we drove north to Genevaon Seneca Lake. From there we crossed into Canada at NiagaraFalls and returned home.
Next year we took Larry on atrip south. We first stopped atPerryville in Ohio,the most northerly point that the Confederates invaded the north. It was here that Gen. Bragg was defeated byGen. Buell. We crossed the Ohio River atCincinatti and spent a couple of days in Kentucky. We toured some of the horse farms around Lexington and saw thegrave and statue of Man of War, who won the Kentucky Derby several times. We visited Frankfurtand saw the graves of Daniel Boone and his wife.
Then we visited Boonesboro, arestored pioneer village and then the Cumberland Map where Boone crossed theAdirondacks into Kentucky. We could see four states from the lookout atthe top of the pass. We then entered Tennessee and stopped atthe Norris Dam, one of the first big projects of the Tennessee ValleyAuthority. From there to Oak Ridge of the AtomicEnergy Commission, where the atomic bomb was first developed and Larry receiveda radioactive dime, and had his hair stand up on end.
We stopped just outside Chattanoogaand the next day we visited a model display of the Chattanooga battle sites, which was quiterealistic. We went up to the top ofLookout Mountain, site of the “Battle in the Clouds” and while up there touredthe peak including Lovers Leap, which overlooks the city and the state of Georgia. We then made a quick tour of the battle siteat Chickamauga,before finding a motel.
The next day we followed therailway down through Daltonand Rexica where the great railway chase took place. We went to the site of the battle of KemesouMountainjust outside Atlanta which we bypassed and wentto Stone Mountain where a statue of JeffersonDavis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson was being carved. They had a miniature railway which traveledaround the mountain, a distance of about a mile, and it reenacted thelocomotive chase with rebel soldiers attempting to board the train and somecars on side lines on fire.
We headed from there back to the SmokeyMountainsand followed the Blue RidgeParkway until we got into Virginia.We first went to Monticello at Charlottesville, the homeof Thomas Jefferson, the picture of which is on the American nickel.. Then we went to Appomattox Court House wherethe final surrender of the Civil War took place between Lee and Grant. Then on to Richmond.
We got a motel just south of Richmond where we stayeda couple of days. We toured the sites ofthe seven battles around Richmondfrom Mechanicsville to Frasers Farm. Allof this area is set aside as a National Battlefield Site. We toured the next day the battlefieldsaround Petersburg,a siege that lasted for months.
While in the Richmondarea we visited the JamesPeninsula where we went to Yorkstown where theAmerican Revolution ended and Williamsburg, arestored colonial town, as well as Jamestown,a recreation of the original English settlement.
We then went north following theVirginia battles in reverse chronologicalorder through Spottsylvania Court House and the Wilderness to Chancellorsvillewhere Stonewall Jackson was killed. Thenwe went to Fredericksburg,a city largely dominated by civil war sites and where the Chamber of Commercegave us a complimentary parking pass for the day.
From Fredericksburgwe went north to Manassas where the two battlesof Bull Run were fought. We stayed at Centreville for two nights andone day we went into Washingtonwhere we visited the Lincoln Memorial, the White House and the Capital. We also crossed the river to ArlingtonCemetery where we saw PresidentKennedy’s grave and the Iwo Jima Memorial.
From there we went to Harper’sFerry, West Virginia where John Brown staged his famous raid on the arsenalthere, one of the events leading up to the Civil War.. Then on to Antietam,the bloodiest battlefield of the war.Then up into Pennsylvania to Gettysburg where we followed the course of the three-daybattle, and where Lincolndelivered his famous address.
On our way home we visited thegrave of General Braddock, the English general who was ambushed by the Frenchand Indians on his way to FortPitt. Then FortNecessity, a British fort in the areaof FortPittwhich was where Washingtonwas stationed when he was still a lieutenant.Our last stop was at Sandusky, Ohio, where we were going to go to Put-in-Bay, afterwhich the naval battle of Lake Erie was namedafter the War of 1812, but we didn’t go when we learned what it would cost.
PartEleven – Canada’s Centennial Year to the End of the Decade
1967 was a busy year. In the early part of the year there was areunion of naval communications people who had attended the school at Ste.Hyacinthe during the war. I went alongwith Joan and stayed at a bed and breakfast in the town. During the ceremony I carried one of theflags but I didn’t run into anybody I knew.They took us on a tour of where the old barracks was or what wasleft. It is now part of a newdevelopment in the town whereas during the war it was outside the town and wehad to walk in when we had leave.
Ste. Hyacinthe was only 25 milesfrom Montrealso we took advantage of the holiday to visit Expo, which had not been open verylong. We parked in a large lot on theoutskirts and took the new subway into the grounds.
In late August there was aCanadian Weekly Newspaper Convention being held in Ottawa so we packed up the wagon with Paul,Tim and Linda and went off to the nation’s capital and stayed at the ChateauLaurier Hotel. While there we had a tourof the Parliament Buildings where the two youngest had their picture taken witha Mountie, a luncheon at the Ontario Experimental Farm on the edge of the city,a sound and light show based on the Parliament buildings and a tour of theRoyal Canadian Mint.
One evening we were hosted at adinner by the Government of Canada, attended by Prime Minister LesterPearson. Tim had a chance to shake handswith him. One afternoon we had tea atthe Japanese Embassy. Another evening wewere all entertained in a different way.I had dinner at the Embassy of the United ArabRepublic where I learned a lot about the new Aswan Dam. Paul went to the South African Embassy wherehe got into an argument, Joan was entertained at Government House by Mme.Vanier, wife of the Governor General and the two youngest were given a privateperformance of the musical ride of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Following the Ottawaportion of the Convention, we all went to Montreal. We did not stay at the QueenElizabethHotel, part of which hadbeen set aside for the press, but went back to St. Hyacinthe to the same B& B we were in earlier in the year.We visited Expo several times including a champagne reception given bythe City of Montrealand Mayor Drapeau. We had press passesso we did not have to line up at the various pavilions but were able to godirectly to the head of the queue, so we were able to see a lot more of the fairthan we would have otherwise.
When we returned home, Paul didnot come with us. He decided to strikeout on his own. He headed west and thefirst we heard from him was from Carman,Manitoba.
Around 1961 we had bought a homeon Argyle Streetin Forest which included a barn and about 3acres of land. Most of the land wasrented as pasturage but the first couple of years we decided to grow cucumberscommercially. They were pretty easy togrow but involved a lot of work gathering them for the pickle factory, andafter a couple of years we abandoned it.
Between 1967 and 1970 we hostedseveral weekend Baha’i seminars in our back yard which was quite large. Elizabeth Rochester came and hosted one, andFred Graham another one. When there werea large number of Baha’i youth enrolled at Paris we hosted a youth weekend and largenumbers came. We slept 18 of them in ourhouse and others stayed at Marsolais’ who lived on the street behind us.
We also went to Paris for events and one time we dropped thekids off and went to the African Lion Safari near there.
When traveling groups camethrough, we often went with them. Onegroup called themselves Five Young Baha’is and we went with them once toGlencoe. Some fifteen years later, we raninto one of them in Conway in NorthWales.
The next group to come aroundwas Jalal, a rock group which included Jack Lenz. They played several places in the areaincluding Parkhill and Exeter as well as Forest. They wouldplay a concert and dance and afterwards would hold an informal fireside foranyone who wished to stay.
We made a number of contactsthrough these concerts and a few declarations.Young people in Exeterand Bayfield and in St. Marys, where we went every week through one summer, wehad ten declarations. I have no ideawhat happened to these kids but there is an Assembly in St. Marys now. Some of these young people came to Forest afew times and some attended a big Naw Ruz party we held in St. JohnFisherSeparateSchoolone year.
PartTwelve – Our Introduction to Iceland,Deciding to Pioneer There and Two Weddings
In 1971 we received anunexpected gift of $1000 from Uncle Lister and we used it to book the OceanicConference in Reykjavik, Iceland. In the meantime we went to the NationalConvention in Halifaxin April. We drove to the Maritimesthrough Maine where we picked up Mary Allenwho was living in OldTown just outside Bangor.At the Convention there was a small group of young people from Iceland whoentertained and talked to us. The reasonthey were there was because it was the responsibility of Canada to form an NSA in Iceland inApril 1972. On our way home we stoppedoff in Frederictonat the Eldridges and left Mary there where she found her own way home. We had acquired a hitchhiker at theConvention who was with us to Oshawawhere he lived. He was a strictvegetarian and would eat hardly anything on the way home. From Frederictonwe traveled down the Miramichi to Bathurstand to the St. Lawrence at Mont Joli.
That summer we volunteered tospend two weeks as house parents for a group of Baha’i youth teachers in Rimouski, Quebec. Joan looked after the cottage while I drovethe kids around to where they wanted to go, including the newspaper and thepolytechnic where one night they put on a pageant performance in French on theunity of the prophets. We made a lot ofcontacts but no immediate declarations.We took our three youngest with us, but Tim decided not to stay andhitchhiked home, which we didn’t know until we arrived there.
In August we set out for Iceland. Mary Allen came to Forest and also Peter andJanet Khan and we all went to Torontotogether. We had a long wait therewaiting for the charter plane which was very late. Eventually we were all taken by bus to Niagara Falls, NYand finally the plane took off and we were on our way. When we arrived at KiflavikAirport,some of the Icelandic Baha’is were there waiting and had been there forhours. One of the first people we metwas Jim Willoughby who had stayed with us for about a month back in the early‘60’s.
We were assigned to varioushotels in Reykjavikand we were billeted in the Hotel Esja although many of the informal meetingswere held at the Hotel Loftleidir where we walked a couple of times. Most of the formal sessions were held in theAusturbaejarbio. In the days leading upto the beginning of the Convention proper we had a couple of tours. The first one was a tour of the city which wasabout three hours. The second was an allday trip where we went by way of Hveragerdi, and then to Hekla. We were treated to lunch at a communitycenter at Selfoss. After lunch we wentto Gullfoss and Geysir and came home via Laugarvatn and Thingvellir.
We met some of the adult Baha’isincluding Liesel Becker and Monika Benediktsdottir and EslaGudmundsdottir. We had a talk with oneof the members of the NSA who had heard that we had liked what we had seen andsuggested we consider pioneering to Iceland. We said we would think about it as we had todiscuss it with our family. While wewere there we presented each of the four assemblies with a copy of “Abdul-Bahain Canada”which we had printed at the Free Press a few years earlier.
When we got home we talked aboutpioneering to Iceland. They all agreed but the three oldest decidednot to go. I had earlier sold thenewspaper and was only doing job printing so I had to set about selling thebusiness and the house. I also talked toour local assembly and made some arrangements for our employees, all of whomwere on the Assembly.
A lot of work had to be donebefore we could leave. There was a lotof furniture to dispose of and some that we wished to keep. There were a couple of trunks to be packedand about 18 suitcases. I had to disposeof the archives of the Baha’i News so I drove with it to the National Office inToronto. Then I visited the Morowety’s and went to seeNorman Bailey in “Die Walhure” that night as related earlier.
We sold the house and thebusiness, both of which took about six months.In the meantime we had two weddings to look after. In June I officiated, as chairman of ourlocal assembly, at the wedding of Geoff to Barb Forbes. The marriage took place in our backyard on Argyle Street withseveral Baha’is and others present. Amonth later we flew to Winnipeg where we weremet by Paul who drove us to Minnedosa where he was married to DebbieBridge. The wedding took place on the bandstand inthe park at Minnedosa.
PartThirteen – Pioneering to Iceland
We set out for Iceland inAugust. Larry drove the six of us to London where we had to catch the 7:30 plane to Toronto. The previous day we had to go looking for Timwho had disappeared again. At Toronto we had a couple of hours before our flight to New York. At the last minute the American Customs wantedus to open our luggage, all eighteen suitcases.There wasn’t time so they agreed to send it direct to Icelandair. We arrived in New York’sKennedyAirport around one o’clock and we foundwe had to wait to 8 o’clock for our flight.It was a horrible seven hours.The airport was dirty and the food expensive; there were very few placesto sit and we had four kids to look after, two of them quite young. At eight we found the Icelandair flight wasoverbooked and they had to lay on another aircraft, and as a result we had alot of room on the plane. On the flightwe ran into a fellow who was going to Iceland to attend theFisher-Spassky chess championship match.
We arrived at KeflavikAirportin the morning. There was no one to meetus there nor was there anyone at the Loftleidir Hotel after the bus ride fromthe airport. Fortunately we did have aplace to live as we had made arrangements before we left to take over anapartment from a couple of pioneers who were returning to Canada. The house was in Kopavogur and we had to hiretwo taxis to bring us and our luggage to the address at 123 Alfholsvegur, oneof the main roads in Kopavogur, about a mile or so from the town center. Kopavogur was more or less a bedroomcommunity for Reykjavikand only about 20 minutes by bus from the capital. It stopped just outside our door.
Over the next few days, wewalked down to the centre of town and contacted some of the Baha’is that we hadmet the year before, as well as two or three of the local community who wereall young Icelanders, but who all spoke some English.
During those first six weeks orso many things happened. One night wewere taken to a ski lodge outside Reykjavikwhere there was a youth summer school and where Dr. Ugo Giachery, Hand of theCause, and his wife were speaking. Wemet Dr. Giachery a few days later at the National Office in Odinsgata, Reykjavik. During the first couple of weeks, Tim tookoff and we didn’t hear from him for some time, when one night we got a phonecall from Husavik where he had a job in construction.
We also found there was aweekend summer school in Isafjordur in the northwest and I decided to go. When I arrived I discovered that I was goingto give a course on Islam. It seemed tobe well received, although there were only about twenty people inattendance. Who should turn up at thisschool but Tim who had hitchhiked from Husavik.
Another event was the purchaseof a car. We bought a ten year old Volvoat what was a quite reasonable price. Ithink I had a flat tire the first time I drove into Reykjavik.I also wrote to the NSA with some suggestions for the Baha’i News. I got a letter back in about a weekappointing me to the Baha’i News Committee.It was called Tidindi. I had goodhelp from a girl in Kopavogur called Kristin who did all the translating andtyping, while I arranged for the printing.
We contacted Monika who put mein touch with some of the city printers.I went to several printing shops looking for a job and eventually got ajob with the government printing office called Prentsmidja Gutenberg. My job was printing on the small Heidelbergpress that I was familiar with, printing giros, business cards, envelopes,letterheads, and so on, in short everything smaller than letter size. After a time I was assigned in addition tothe larger rotary press, where we often printed ten giros at a time, whichinvolved twenty numbering machines. Ialso got a chance to do some colour printing which was mainly the paper dustjackets for books which we printed quite a number of each year, Icelandictranslations of popular English books such as Agatha Christie. My rotary machine also did all theperforating and die cutting that was required.
While at Gutenberg they installedthe first continuous form printing press in the country. That winter, in February, during Thorrablot,the festival in honour of the god Thor, the plant held a dance at the HotelSaga, the smartest hotel in the city. Wewere the only foreigners at the dance, and only a few of the printers knew anyEnglish at all. Joan got her eveninggown from the neighbours in the flat above ours, who made all her ownclothes. These were the same neighbourswho gave us a vacuum cleaner when we asked to borrow one.
One of the foremen at work,Sveinir, was instrumental in getting me into the Reykjavik City Band where Iplayed for a year.
In the meantime Carl and Lindastarted into school. Linda’s class hadcourses in English and many of the kids wanted to practice their English withher and she did not pick up the Icelandic quickly. On the other hand, Carl’s classes were inIcelandic so he learned the language much more quickly. On her part, Vicki did not want to go to highschool here so she found a job in a metal furniture factory not far from wherewe were living. She took a lot ofkidding as she was the only non-Icelander in the plant.
Joan meanwhile was picking upthe skills of shopping in places where no one spoke any English. She got some assistance from Monika who tookher to the Hagkaup, a sort of general department store on the edge of Reykjavik. They sold furniture and clothing as well asgroceries and some of their prices were better than the local store.
We got to know the pioneers notonly in Reykjavik but also in Hafnarfjordur and Keflavik as well. One worked on the fishing boats and broughtfresh fish to us when he was in port. Heeven worked during the cod war with Britain. One couple, who lived in Hafnarfjordur, wereRoger and Patty Lutley, Americans. Pattyand Joan became good friends and it was Patty who taught Joan how to collectthe children’s allowance which had to be collected in person and which variedfrom month to month.
We also became quite friendlywith many of the youth who came to our place quite often and brought theirfriends. One was Oli Haraldsson who wasin his early twenties and was an active teacher as well as beingbilingual. During the late summer, agroup of young people had gone on a teaching trip to western Iceland and hadquite a number of declarations of young people in the towns of Borgarnes,Stykkisholmur and Hvammstangi. Theyformed a folk music group called Geysir.On their return from the tour they set off on the steamer Gullfoss,chaperoned by Don Van Brunt, another American pioneer, to teach in Denmark and Germany. Most were Canadian youth and they did notreturn to Iceland. Only Don and Gisli came back.
Oli was anxious to do follow upon the new Baha’is and I had the car. Sothe two of us made a number of trips to meet with these kids, most of whom knewno English. We went to Akranes firstwhich is just across the bay from Reykjavikbut takes about two hours to drive around.We went to Akranes several times.On one occasion we stayed in a hotel there in a room with no lights orlock on the door but were okay. Anothertime we returned to Reykjavikon the ferry which carried about six cars as well as passengers. You didn’t drive onto the ferry but werehoisted on board by a crane – a little nerve-racking the first time.
Another trip was toBorgarnes. We went to meet the kidsthere a couple of times and on one occasion took Vicki and Erna Steffansdottir,a Baha’i about Vicki’s age who lived in Kopavogur. Another time in Borgarnes Oli and I had tosleep on the cement floor in a school where there was a rock band playing up inthe auditorium.
The other place we went was toStykkisholmur on the Snaefellsnes peninsula.We stayed in the hotel there and met with some of the new Baha’is. We were not able to follow up this community.
After we got the car we made alot of trips in the area. One of thefirst was to Thingvellir where we had been with the Conference tour. We were able to spend a little more time andwe could enjoy the trip more now that we knew where we were. We also drove to Reykjanes where there is alighthouse. What impressed us was theblack lava with the steam coming out of the ground everywhere – it looked likea scene from Danti’s Inferno. Wereturned to Reykjavik via Grindavik on the southcoast, then on to Krysavik and the hotsprings. Alongthe coast road we ran into several hundred yards of mud where the water hadcrossed the road but the Volvo handled it okay.Then past Kleifarvatn, supposedly a very deep lake and back home throughHafnarfjordur. On some of these tripsone or other of the kids would come with us depending on what their plans were.
The first Christmas we werethere, Larry Clark, who worked at the NATO base, invited several of thepioneers to dinner at their home in Keflavik. When inquiring where he got the turkey, hejust said “Don’t ask”. Turkeys were very scarce in Iceland. There was one in a shop in Hafnarfjordurwhich I don’t think they ever sold – they were so expensive. In fact, this is one thing very noticeable inIceland– most things are very expensive. One ofthe reasons we were able to save money there was the fact we hardly ever spentmoney on clothes, eating out, or most imported food. There was, for example, what they called apioneer box, a box of clothing that went the rounds among the pioneers. We would take from it what we could use andput some things in we had no longer use for and pass it on. We also bought the odd thing at the SalvationArmy which the natives rarely patronized.
Early in January, Ragnar, ourupstairs neighbor, came down to tell us that there was a big volcanic eruptionon Vestmannaeyar, an island just off the south coast where Vicki nowlives. He invited us upstairs to watchit on television, and we found they were evacuating the island. The two or three thousand inhabitants wereairlifted to Reykjavikwith the aid of the U.S. Navy helicopters at the NATO base. With the influx of so many, the prices ofeverything shot up overnight.
Later that spring we drove downthe south coast to Vik and we could see the volcano still erupting across thewater. When the lava eventually stoppedflowing, a number of men went over to clear the ash from those houses thatcould be saved.
We found out early in the summerthat we would have to move. We didn’tknow what to do till one of the fellows at work steered us on to a relative ofhis who had half a house to rent in Hafnarfjordir. We took the place in Asbudatrod and stayedthere a little over a year. It was therethat later in the year we experienced our first earthquake. Joan was in the kitchen and I had gone tobed. She noticed the dishes rattling inthe cupboards and I looked up and saw the chandelier waving back and forth andheard a loud rumbling like the sound of a subway if you are right over it. We found out later that it was centered nearGrindavik and registered about 6.5 on the Richter scale. There was no structural damage as the Icelandersare accustomed to frequent earthquakes and their buildings are builtaccordingly.
In April there was a NationalConvention. Both Joan and I were electeddelegates from Kopavogur. There werenineteen delegates elected from the four local assemblies which assured justabout every active adult became a delegate.At the election I was elected to the NSA and shortly afterwards waselected Vice Chairman. During thefollowing summer, the Chairman, Svana Einarsdottir, was appointed an AuxiliaryBoard member and I assumed the chairmanship for the remainder of the year, apost I retained until we left Iceland.
The first summer we took ourfirst major trip. We had been invited tostay with Forbes Campbell who was pioneering in Akureyri so we set out in theVolvo – Joan, Carl, Linda, Tim and myself.The trip took us to places we had not seen before. Vicki had decided to spend her holiday withGully so she was not with us. We madeour headquarters at Forbes’ place and made several side trips. One was up the west side of Eyjafjordur toDalvik, Olafsvik and Siglufjordur, a town that was entered through atunnel. The road around the fjords was adirt road with no barrier and in many places ran along the edge of a cliff –pretty scary. On the way back we stoppedat one of the shelters that were built for stranded people. Three cabins contained some canned food,blankets and wood for a fire. The kidshad a snowball fight – in July!
Another side trip was to Myvatn,a lake in the north and then over the desert to Dettifos, the largest waterfallin Europe.We returned home around the peninsula through Husavik where Tim showedus where he stayed when he worked there.Myothir has many strange rock formations and is a volcanic area. Just outside this area is a large sulphurmining operation.
During our four years in Iceland we hadseveral distinguished Baha’i visitors.Among them, aside from Dr. Giachery mentioned above, we had a visit fromHand of the Cause Adelbert Muhlschlegel and his wife who came to our place fora dinner and whom I drove around the area.He loved touring and followed everywhere we went with a map. I also accompanied them to Akureyri for avisit. There was Hand of the Cause Dr.Muhajir who had pioneered in South-East Asia. And William Sears came by private plane,belonging to one of the Canadian Baha’is.I had to take him to the largest newspaper, Morgunbladid, for aninterview. He was the first to visit ourtemple site just outside Kopavogur which was acquired the year we arrived in Iceland.
Also visiting were Betty Reed, aCounsellor from Great Britain,who came regularly, and Counsellor Amelisse Bopp from Germany who washelpful in organizing our secretariat over a period of several days. Among those from Canada who came was Evelyn Raynorwhose husband Allan was on the Canadian NSA.
PartFourteen – Conferences and Lots of Travel
As Chairman I had to visit the Faroe Islands a couple of times to try to arrange theestablishment of a Hegira. There was oneLocal Assembly there consisting entirely of pioneers from Great Britain, Iceland,Norway and Eskil Lgundbergfrom Sweden who was theKnight of Baha’u’llah in the Islands. One trip was in the winter and the trip fromthe airport to Torshavn,which was on a different island, was pretty scary over the mountains withslippery roads and no barriers. Anothertrip I went with a couple of Baha’i young people and we went to Vestmana, atown on the way to the airport, where I gave a talk to a hall full of peopleand which was translated by Svanur Thorklsson.The youth arranged entertainment for the children of the communityduring the afternoon and I gained the impression they were very appreciative.
The third time was to a NorthAtlantic Conference which was arranged by us and was attended by Baha’is from Iceland, Britain,Norway and Denmark. We all slept in the building where theconference was held which was a school.Other times I visited I stayed with one of the British pioneercouples. At this conference Joan camewith me as well as Asgeir. This wasbefore he and Vicki were married. It wasfrom this conference that I went on my month long teaching trip.
Each time we went to the Faroeswe had to stay a week because there was only one plane a week to Iceland. On the winter trip the flight was held up oneday because of weather and they put us up in a Faroese farmhouseovernight. I was the only person whounderstood English and did not understand either Icelandic or Faroese but itwas interesting.
While living at Asbudatrod ourhouse was just below that of Max and Mona Bossi, Baha’is who had returned fromAkureyri. Max worked at Straumsvik, analuminum plant just west of Hafnarfjordir.During the winter he would have to take the car battery into the houseto keep it warm, but it didn’t seem to make any difference. Each morning we would see him pushing the carto the edge of a small hill in the road and jump into it as it got going.
Vicki continued to work at thefurniture factory while the two youngest started in new schools. Linda attended the big black high school ontop of the hill while Carl continued in a new elementary school.
The first Naw Ruz we were there,the celebration was held in a hall in Hafnarfjordir. Among the entertainers were Tim and Gisli whohad teamed up after Gisli returned from Denmark. Gisli lived in Gardarkreppur, now Gardabaer,the township between Hafnarfjordir and Kopavogur and where the President’s homewas. We drove out there one time afterthe road was paved on the occasion of Nixon’s visit.
Geoff and Barbara came over fromCanadaat this time and stayed with us. Wetried to take them out to Thingvellir but couldn’t make it as the road wasblocked with snow. The interior of Iceland hasspring later than the coastal areas; in fact they don’t have spring, summerstarts April 21st and winter October 21st. These are the dates that you have to changeyour tires on the car from winter to summer and vice versa.
One Mothers Day, second Sundayin May, we decided to drive up to Gullfoss.We went to Thingvellir and tried to take the road via Laugarvatn but it wassnow-blocked. We had to backtrack andtake the other route via Geysir. Therewas still much snow around but the roads were passable. When we arrived at Gullfoss we were the onlyones there.
That autumn of 1973 there was anNSA Conference to be held in Langenhein,Germany and wewere asked to send two representatives.Erla Gudmundsdottir and myself were chosen. Meanwhile Mona Bossi wrote to her sister in Hamburg and madearrangements for me to stay with her family for a few days. I flew to Hamburgvia London andwas met at the Lufthansa office. Theywere a Persian family and one was an Afnan, a descendent of one of the Bab’suncles.
During the days I was on my ownand I explored the city. It was quiteeasy as they have a very good subway system so I visited all the sitesincluding the waterfront of the River Elbe, one of the busiest ports in Europe, and the Alster, the lake in the center, also theCity Hall, the Rathaus, one of the few historic buildings that was sparedduring World War Two.
On leaving Hamburg,I flew to Stuttgart where I was met by theSlikers, American pioneers who had visited Iceland during the summer. They lived in Esslingen,an historic town not far from Stuttgart. They were caretakers at the Baha’i Housethere, one of the places Abdul-Baha visited in Germany. We took one trip to Ulm,the city on the border of Wuttenburg and Bavariawith the country’s tallest church spire and the birthplace of MartinLuther. We met one of the AuxiliaryBoard Members there who agreed to drive me to Langenhein the followingday. On our way we stopped in Heidelberg where wetoured the castle and drove by the printing press plant.
I was billeted in a bed andbreakfast in one of the neighboring villages along with Charles McDonald andJohn Long from England,and we were bussed to Langenhein each day and back again. The meetings were held in the National Officeof Germany which is adjacent to the House of Worship. There were representatives of all theNational Assemblies in Europe together withthe Counsellors and many of the Auxiliary Board Members. Erla flew into Frankfurt from Iceland viaLuxemburg so we didn’t travel together.
While there we ran into Kristinand her husband Gisbret who lived in Baden butcame to the center for one of the public meetings. We also had a worship service in the Temple. I remember meeting one Board member MaijaPihlainen from Finland wholater moved to Englandwith her husband for a few years although I never had a chance to see heragain. The meetings were divided intothree groups, one each in English, German and French. The French group was led by CounsellorAnnelisse Bopp who was the only multi-linguist.Our group was led by Betty Reed.
Following the conference I tookthe train into Frankfurt and from there I took a plane to Copenhagen where I would transfer toIcelandair. Unfortunately my plane washeld up by bad weather (this was first week of November) and I missed myconnection. As a result they had to putme up until the next day, including hotel room and meals and a phone call backto Joan in Iceland. During the day I did some sight-seeing aroundCopenhagen, including the Tivoli Gardens which however was closed owingto the lateness of the season. In theevening I visited the Baha’i House in Hallerup, the caretakers of which I hadpreviously met in Iceland. The next day I returned to Iceland.
The teaching trip which Iundertook following the Faroes Conference was a wonderful experience. I had to pay my own traveling expenses but myaccommodation was supplied by the Baha’is wherever I went. My first stop was Bergen, Norwaywhere I stayed with the ABM for three days.I gave talks every evening but my days were free. While in Bergen I had a trip in the cable car up tothe top of the mountain where one can see for miles with a good view of thecity. I also was taken on a trip toTroldheugen, the home of Evard Grieg. Wewere in his house and saw the piano he worked on and also a workshop down ahill where he liked to meditate and there were the tombs of he and his wife inthe side of the hill. Bergen has a really old section dating fromthe time of the Hauseatic League.
I traveled from Bergento Oslo overthe mountains by train, an eight hour journey and was met at the station. I also spent three days there and while therevisited the Maritime Museum which had Thor Heyardahl’s Kon-Tiki as well as anauthentic Viking ship. I also saw theCity Hall and its murals of the Nazi occupation and a tribute to SonjaHenie. In the main square was the NationalTheatre where Ibsen’s plays were first presented. I also visited a neighboring town of As wherea Baha’i couple lived.
From OsloI flew to Stockholm where I was immediately puton a train for Karlstadwhere I stayed with friends. The nextday I went to ……. where the Volvo main plant is situated. I returned to Stockholm where my hostess took me to one ofthe newspapers where I had an interview.Stockholmhas a huge mall built below ground under the main squares. The city is built on islands and I had achance to visit the old city where the RoyalPalaceis situated. One evening I gave a talkat UppsalaUniversity where one of the PersianBaha’is teaches. I stayed in the suburbof Solna which is noted for their printing presses.
I took a plane from Stockholm to Helsinki. I was supposed to take a bus from there butthe plane was late and the man that met me drove at great speed to catch up tothe bus which had already left the capital.We eventually reached it at Lahtiand away I went. We had a lunch break atMikkeli which is largely a Gypsy town. Imet no one who spoke English and Finnish is totally is unfamiliar. I eventually arrived at Savonlinna. At my first destination, a town quite closeto the Russian border, I was met by my host, Helmut Grossman (who is now aCounsillor at Haifa). During the day we had an interview at thenewspaper and visited the castle there.Savonlinna is well known for its music festival in the summer.
From there I got a car ride to Kuopio. The topography here is a lot like Northern Ontario with lumber and paper mills the mainindustry. The friends there booked aberth on the night train to Helsinkiwhere I arrived early the next morning.The berths in the bedrooms on the train are three-tiered and I was inthe top. The other two occupants did notspeak English so I slept most of the night.
When I got back to Helsinki I found I wasbilleted with a Gypsy Baha’i who treated me to a real Finnish sauna while I wasthere. It was a fairly large family andI was well taken care of.
I flew from Helsinkito London onFinnair. When I arrived at Heathrow itwas the first time I had to show my passport since leaving Iceland as theScandanavian countries had a common market with free access betweencountries. I spoke at four centers inthe U.K. The first stop was at Henleywhere I stayed with the Hardys. At thattime Mary Hardy was on the NSA. My nextstop was Kidderminster, a carpet manufacturing city in the Midlands. From there I went to Carlisle on the Scottishborder where I stayed with a family outside the city on the SolwayFirth. On the way I stoppedoff in Manchester where I spoke at the Baha’iCentre and was introduced by Will Vanden Hoonard whom I had previously met in Iceland. I stayed overnight with Joan’s mom in Stockport. My laststop was Glasgowwhich was the only disappointing place on the itinerary. They had mixed up the dates and there was nomeeting. The next day I flew back to Iceland from Glasgow airport.
Some other trips we took whilewe lived in Iceland includedtwo that Joan took to visit her parents in England. Each time she took one of the girls with her.
One trip we took was up to thehead of Hvalfjordur and then over the hills to Borgarfjodur. We went up the road as far as Reykholt, aresidential school which, like other residential schools, is used as a hotel inthe summer. It was at Reykholt whereSnorri Strulusson lived while writing down the sagas and prose Edda which are Iceland’soldest literature. We returned viaBorgarnes and Akranes.
Another time we went up toStykkisholmur, the area where Eric the Red lived and we could see where hishomestead was before he was banished and where Lief Ericsson was born. We toured the whole of the Snaefellsnes peninsula,including driving around Snaefell, the extinct volcano, which can be seen from Reykjavik on a clear dayand which Jules Verne chose to begin his “Journey to the Center of theEarth”. Some of the more spectacularsights were the large bauxite columns and the weird rock formations caused whenhot lava hits the ocean.
One time when Richard Hainsworthwas visiting from England,we took a drive up Borgarfjirdur and the Kaldidalur road between theglaciers. This road is not open all thetime so we were lucky to be able to drive it.The north end of the road is marked as a fordable river bed; it turnedout to have had a small bridge built over it since the map was made. We came out at Husafell, a place whereIcelanders sometimes come for camping and where there are quite a number oftrees, albeit small ones.
Toward the end of our time in Iceland, wedecided to take a trip to Skaftafell.This trip was impossible for cars until 1974 when a series of bridgeswere built over the glacial runoff rivers covering a distance of about 25miles. We reached Vik without incidentand as we approached Myrdalssandur we saw great clouds ahead of us. A car approaching us told us it was asandstorm which could take the paint off the car if we decided to proceed. We turned around and got a hotel room in Vikfor the night. The next day we set outagain and after crossing the sands reached Kirkjubaejarklaustur. Then we crossed the bridges. They were single lane with passing placesevery kilometer or so and were built of wood.We reached Skaftafell but nothing was open there so after a time weturned around and returned to Hafnarfjordur.
One spring we took Blain andDoreen McCutcheon and Carl up to Borgarfjordur and up the valley until we cameto a sign saying road closed. We didn’tknow what to do since we had purchased half a salmon when we crossedBorgarfjordur on the way. We weresitting there when we saw a farmer coming down his lane whom we stopped andasked why the road through was closed.He said he didn’t know but a small Volkswagen had gone through earlierand had not come back so we decided to chance it. A little way on we found out why. Runoff streams had cut the road in severalplaces. What we did was to stop, gatherrocks and made a possible bridge over the breaks and drove very slowly andeventually got through. When we reachedthe Kaldidalur turn we headed south and finally arrived at Thingvellir. It was really beautiful in behind the hills.
One winter there was a Baha’ischool held at one of the union holiday cottages in Borgarfjordur during theChristmas break. I was to give a courseso both Joan and I went and Joan worked in the kitchen with Monika. These camps are separate cottages which arefully furnished even to having books and magazines and sleep four to six perunit. They are centrally heated andquite comfortable. Classes and mostmeals were held in a large central building and we had to draw our linen from acentral place. This was at the time ofyear when there is no daylight and there was snow on the ground and was quitewindy.
After the school ended I had toleave early to get back to work so one of the Baha’is who was returning by cargave me a ride. Instead of driving allthe way around Hvalfjordur we took the ferry from Akranes. Pretty scary in the winter, with the snowblowing in a high wind and in the dark.The main bus took the long way around and when they stopped atBotnsskali the people could hardly get back on the bus, the wind was so strongand the road so slippery.
The last summer in Iceland, 1975, some of us decided to climb MountEsja,across the bay from Reykjavik. We set out about 3 in the afternoon andarrived at the foot around four o’clock.We took the long way up from the back of the mountain and finallyreached the summit about 9 pm. We tookthe short way down which only took a couple of hours while John Spencer went onahead to go around to the other side for the car. We arrived home about one o’clock in themorning. Beside John and myself, therewas Blain and Doreen, Doreen’s mother and Renata.
PartFifteen – Adventures Exploring Iceland
After working for a year atGutenberg I was offered a better paying job at Leturprent, down the road. It was a smaller shop and was bothletterpress and offset. The typesettingwas sent out. We did most of the PostOffice printing, other than stamps, and a lot of chocolate bar wrappers in fullcolour. We could work Saturdays if wewished if there was work to be done, but it was not mandatory. It was while working there that the printershad one of their periodic strikes and we were out for three weeks.
While there Joan and I and thetwo youngest were invited on a weekend camping outing by the management ofGutenberg where I no longer worked. Wetook a safari bus to Thorsmork behind Myrdalsjokull and one of the lushestplaces in Iceland. Ordinary cars can’t get there because ofhaving to cross several glacial rivers which are not bridged, if fact cannot bebecause they are constantly changing course, so it was a real treat.
We pitched our tents and settleddown. We then went for a walk over thehills to another campsite, and it was on this walk we thought we lostCarl. He went on ahead and thought hewould take a short cut which didn’t work.It was also on this trip that he got his finger caught in the bus doorwhen it shut, and after some first aid, had to wait till we got back to Reykjavik to have it seento properly. On our way back we stoppedto examine some caves which were quite a long walk from where the bus had topark. We did a lot of walking thatweekend.
On another occasion we drovedown to Vik and explored all around that area going into some back roads andalso down to Dyrholaey for the strange rock formations. Also went once in behind Hafnarfjordur and tooka track off the main road to a lake called Djupavatn where there were a coupleof cottages.
A couple of times we went intothe interior behind Hafnarfjordur five or six kilometers to Helgafell, a rockyvolcanic hill about 500 metres high. Wetried to climb it but couldn’t find the way.The last time we made it while Carl, Vicki and Asgeir went up adifferent way and beat us to the top.
It was while we were living atHjallabraut that several Americans from the base became Baha’is and often cameto our place where occasionally we held a party. They were all members of a helicoptercrew. There were a couple of Americansliving downstairs and we had them for dinner once. Also the daughter of the Commanding Officerbecame a Baha’i and she eventually married Svanur Thorkelsson although they arenow divorced. We also had our secondearthquake while there as Joan was shopping with the lady downstairs and thelights went out in the market and startled her friend.
On one occasion, in lateSeptember 1973 while driving along the south coast, we saw a sign pointing toSolheimajokull, five kilometers away down a track to the north. We thought it a good opportunity to see aglacier close up so down we went. Theroad was terrible and in some places the road was under water and Carl, who hadhis Wellingtons,walked ahead of the car testing its depth.We finally reached the end of the road where there was a muddyturnaround. The glacier was covered withvolcanic dust from Vestmannaeyjar and was not beautiful. We couldn’t help thinking that if we werestuck or the car broke down we could be there till spring – we were the onlyones on the road. However, all’s wellthat ends well, and we got home safely.
We went to Vik several times aswe were fascinated with the black sand and the rugged coastline.
After we left Iceland, wereturned for a month in 1980. We stayedmost of the time in Hveragerdi with Vicki and Asgeir. One day they took us for a drive up the HvitaValleypast Gullfoss to a new moving glacier from Langjokull. While there we went into Reykjavik and visited with Geoff.
He had arranged a travelteaching trip to three places. The firstwas to Isafjordur where I stayed with Inga Daw and met with the Assembly therewhich included Erna and Dagny whom I knew before. From there I went to Akureyri. This was an interesting trip, since the planewas a ten seater, five on each side of the center aisle and the pilot collectedthe tickets like on a bus. The planefollowed the road pretty well and the pilot had a road map. The plane window by my seat was broken.
At Akureyri I stayed at thehospital where a couple of the Baha’is were nurses. I met with some of the members of theAssembly because many were unable to attend.The next day they put me on a local plane to Egilsstadir and we flewover the new eruption at Katla which I could see plainly and which I hadvisited by road four years earlier with the Reykjavik Symphony.
At Egilsstadir we had to take abus the rest of the trip to Neskaupstadur which took over two hours travelingaround the fjords and over the mountains and which took us throughSeydisfjordur and Eskifjordur.
At Neskaupstadur I stayed twodays. One night there was a disco dancewith Geoff who was the disc jockey. Hehad gone directly there from Reykjavik. Neskaupstadur was the place on the east coastwhich had recently had an avalanche which wiped out several buildings includingthe fish processing plant.
While in Reykjavik one night we had dinner with Rogerand Patty Lutley who lived in Hafnarfjordir and who had been there when welived there.
PartSixteen – New Beginnings and Adventures
Towards the end of 1975 I lostmy job at Leturprent – there was a recession and the foreigners were outfirst. For the next few months we weresupported by the Pioneer Committee and Vicki, who was still working, helpedout. In the spring I learned about anopening at the British Publishing Trust as assistant manager. Therefore in May I was invited to the U.K. to aninterview with the NSA and a chance to look over the operation of the Trust.
This went well. I had a medical and was able to stay at theNational Centre in Rutland Gate and I traveled to Oakham in Leicestershire tosee the office as well as the old warehouse in Ryhall and the new one inKelton.
While in Oakham, John Long,manager of the Publishing Trust, took me on a tour of the area, including thearea around Eppingham and Edith Weston, which when we finally moved was underwater as the Empingham Reservoir.
Unfortunately when it was timeto return to Iceland,I learned Icelandair was on strike and there were no flights available. For the next two weeks I was allowed to stayat the centre but then the NSA had to meet and they needed the space so theyarranged for me to stay with Baha’i friends in Beckhaysteed just outside London.
During this time I was veryshort of money so I went to all the places I could see for free. I was within walking distance of the Victoria and AlbertMuseum, the NaturalHistoryMuseumand the GeologicalMuseum. I also went to the NationalArtGallery,the National Portrait Gallery and the Wallace Collection and I visited the BritishMuseum.
Finally I was able to return to Iceland and we began to make preparations tomove to England. We arranged to send our books and othervaluables via air freight through Loftleidir.This did not cost anything as John Spencer worked there and was able tosend it through on his allowance. Thefurniture that we wanted we sent by sea to Oakham via Felixstowe. In the meantime I undertook the tour of theReykjavik Symphony to the north of Iceland.
We went to Britain inearly summer to arrive in one of the hottest summers they had had foryears. Linda and Carl came with us;Vicki decided to stay in Icelandas she was contemplating marriage and Tim also decided to remain and wouldfollow us later.
In the meantime Geoff and Barbhad moved to Icelandwith their infant son and lived with us for a while. Barb didn’t like the winter and decided toreturn to Canadaleaving Geoff behind who shortly found a new girlfriend. Barb and Geoff were divorced shortlyafter. So Geoff was also left in Iceland.
When we arrived in London we decided tospend a few days there and show the kids the city. We took a room in Earls Court and did some sightseeingincluding a tour on one of the double decker buses. We also took them to a play “Arsenic and OldLace” at the Westminster Theatre.
On the last day I went to theNational Office and arranged to move to Oakham.We went on the train and were met by John Long who had arrangedaccommodation for us on Mount Pleasant,next door to the office of the Publishing Trust which had two employees andwhere I was to work. We madearrangements to rent a television and we had to buy a car. I made arrangements to get an Escort stationwagon.
Prior to leaving Iceland we had made arrangements through theU.K. National Assembly to attend the Baha’i International Conference in Paris in August. Therefore Vicki and Asgeir came from Iceland to Oakham and we all drove together to London. I had made arrangements to park the car withMoqbels in Harrow and took the underground down to the National Office where wewere to travel in a group to Parisby bus.
We went first to Dover where we boarded the ferry to Calais.We arrived in Parisin early evening and were taken to the Hotel Spot which was our home for aweek. The conference was held in theHotel Meriden on the other side of Pariswhich we had to travel to by Metro. Wewere met in Paris by Blain and Doreen McCutcheonwho had driven from Iran. He had taken a job there the previous yearwith the United Nations. Their motortrip from Teheran was quite an experience.
We arrived in Paris on Sunday and the Conference did notbegin till Wednesday so we had two days to ourselves. We went to the EiffelTowernaturally and went partway up, and the Troosdeu across the street. We went to the Place de la Concorde where theBastille once stood and spent several hours in the Louvre where we saw the MonaLisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Sanothrere among others. Then we walked the full length of the TuilerieGardens to the Arc de Triumphe.
During the Conference they laidon a boat trip on the Seine at night. We went up the river from the docks near the EiffelTower,around the Isle de la Cite with the Cathedral of Notre Dame. It took about an hour and a half.
The last day of the ConferenceJoan had her purse stolen while sitting in the lobby of the Meriden Hotel. We lost nearly everything including travelerscheques, cash (quite a bit because Joan didn’t want to leave it at the house inOakham) and the passports except for my own which I had carried in my jacketpocket. I had to go to the nearestpolice station which was open that late at night which was in Montmartie toreport the theft and I took a couple of the youth who could speak French. Theyhad to issue us a temporary paper which allowed us to re-enter Britain.
We left Paris in the morning for the return journey homewhich went without incident as Philip Hainsworth, NSA secretary, loaned us $10to tide us over. While at the ConferenceI was able to renew several acquaintances I had met in Scandinaviaas well as those I had met at Langenhein earlier.
PartSeventeen – Oakham and Side Trips
We stayed in Oakham for twoyears. After a year my job wasterminated, which resulted in my writing a letter of complaint to the UniversalHouse. The result was that the NSA wasrequired to move us wherever we wanted to go. Before my job ended we had moved from Mt.Pleasantto a house on Noel Ave. mainly because of Linda’s health which had sufferedbecause of the dampness in the old house.
After returning from Paris, John Long went on a three week teaching trip to Sweden and Finland and I was left incharge. On one weekend we received anorder from Lowestoph in Suffolk and we decidedto deliver the books and see a bit of East Angliaand then went by way of Ely and ThetfordForest.
We did a lot of traveling aroundthat first year. We went to Skegness, asummer resort in Lincolnshire by way of Spaldingand Boston where the famous Boston Stump is thechurch there, and TattersallCastle, one of thecastles that is square with a single square turret at the top. We went to Grantham, where Margaret Thatchercame from and where Isaac Newton went to school and to Woolsthorpe Manor wherehe lived and watched the apple drop from the tree.
Among other trips was toSherwood Forest, north of Nottingham, wherethe Charter Oak was where Robin Hood was supposed to have hidden and the churchat Edwinstowe where he was supposedly married.And we went to Lord Byron’s home at Newstead Abbey near Mansfield.While in Nottingham we went to thecastle and the old inn below that we had visited thirty years earlier when wewere first married.
On some of these trips we tookvisitors from Icelandwho turned up including Vicki and Asgeir with Gully, Baldur Bragason and hiswife, and Barbara and Svana dropped in once.
Occasionally we went into Leicester to Bailey’s where we saw such artists as AckerBilk, Dana and the Brotherhood of Man.Other places in the area were Melton Molray, famous for Porkpies,Stanford, one of the oldest towns in Englanddating from Danish days, and Peterborough. South of Peterborough was Stitton of cheesefame, and FotheringhamCastle where Mary Queenof Scots was imprisoned. We also visitedbattlefields at Nasely and Bosworth where the War of the Roses ended with thedeath of Richard III.
One of the conditions of my employmentwas that I would be secretary of the National Teaching Committee. As it turned out Ann Moqbel was secretary sothe duties became divided and I became recording secretary and Ann remained ascorresponding secretary. This meanttraveling to Londononce a month for meetings. The first fewtimes I drove and parked the car in Hyde Park, but then I found it was easierfor me to drive to Kettering and take the train to King’s Cross where I couldget an underground direct to Knightsbridge Station and then a short walk to theNational Office in Rutland Gate.
One of the first jobs I had todo was to go to Bishop Stortford where George Ronald had his warehouse pick upa wagon load of new books and take them to the hall in Bromfield Road wherethere was to be a weekend conference.This was the first time I had driven in London with the right hand drive but I gotalong okay. Another time I went toBungay in Suffolkto pick up galley proofs for a book the Publishing Trust was having printedthere.
Another time I had to take acarload of books to a National Teaching Conference in Sheffield. I was beginning to get good at driving aroundstrange cities. The first spring there Iwas elected a delegate to the National Convention, so the whole family went to Liverpool for this.We had a hotel room just around the corner from the Empire Theatre. We stayed on a day or two after theconference and went out to Hayton where we were married and down Greydene Lane whereJoan lived. We also visited all three ofJoan’s nieces and nephews who all lived in the area between Roley and St. Helens.
On one day we went to BerleighHouse the home of the Marquis of Exeter.It is just outside Stanford. TheMarquis conducted the tour of the house; he was a former Olympian sprinter andwas for some years on the Olympic Committee.Berleigh House is famous for its horse trials and Princess Anne oftencompeted there.
Another trip we took to KirbyMuxlow Castle just outside Leicester and then to Ashly-de-la-Zouche Castlewhere Carl had fun in the tunnel which ran across under the courtyard. Ashly is mentioned in Ivanhoe as the place ofthe big archery tournament. We went onfrom there to Benton-on-Trent,noted for its brewery.
Another day we took both Carland Linda to AltonTowers in Derbyshirewhere there is an amusem*nt park as well as extensive botanical gardens. We had to leave fairly early as Linda tookill, the beginnings of her lupus which seemed to have started while living at Mount Pleasant.
While in Oakham we visited Joan’smother and sister in Stockport several timesas it was only a couple of hours drive.On one occasion we had her mother down to Oakham for a visit. On one trip to Stockportwhen Vicki and Asgier were with us during Christmas break, we had an accident whichtotaled the car and obliged us to get another one, also an Escort. No one was hurt but we had to cancel the tripand spent several hours waiting for the police.
A couple of times we went to BelvoirCastlenear Nottingham. It is a picturesque castle which was used inthe movie “Little Lord Fauntleroy”. Oneof the artifacts kept in the castle is the bugle that was used in the Charge ofthe Light Brigade during the Crimean War.One time there we attended a medieval tournament of tilting and jousting. It was quite real and the St. John Ambulancestood by to treat injuries. Theparticipants not only used lances but also fought on foot with broadswords andmaces – exciting. Another time they hada re-enactment of a revolutionary war battle between English and American. They used to put on exhibitions regularly atBelvoir (pronounced “Beaver”).
There were other trips. We took Mandy, a friend of Linda, with us toStratford-on-Avon where we visited Ann Hathaway’s Cottage. We also went to KenilworthCastlein Warwickshire, made famous in Sir Walter Scott’s novel. In the same area was WarwickCastle,ancestral home of the Earls of Warwick, which we went to several times, onetime with Vicki and Asgeir.
There were many trips inconnection with the Teaching Committee, most of which I attended on myown. One of the first was a weekend tripto visit the Baha’is in Kent,going to Canterbury, Ashford and Maidstone. I hadalso prepared a teaching seminar on the covenant which I gave in many places,beginning with Northampton. I presented it also at LancasterUniversity, ReadingUniversity, and CardiffCollege.
Other visits were made to thecommunities in Bristol and Bath.On this trip I took a side trip to visit the white house on the hillnear Uffington, and also Evesham where Simon de Montfort was defeated by theforces of Henry III. I visited thecommunity in Wandsworth (Wimbledon) in Londonand Crawley near Gatwich airport. On the way home from Crawley I went to Henleyto pick up Linda who was attending a youth weekend, passing by Shepperton FilmStudios, Runsymede, and the school at Eton near Windsor.
The committee took me elsewhereas well. One meeting was held in Glasgow and I went by busfrom Oakham. It was a night trip so Ididn’t see a lot. When I returned I hadto come by Stanford and wait there for a bus to Oakham.
Several times we went to visitone of the members of the committee who lived in Moulton inCambridgeshire. It is just outside Newmarket. She was American and her husband was in theU.S. Air Force stationed at Mildenhall which we visited on one occasion. We took her and a friend to a teachingconference which we were holding at Conwy in North Wales. We had visited the castle there once beforewhen we were first married and wanted to stay an extra day or two to lookaround. Our passengers who had to get towork had to find their own way home. Wewent to Wales by way ofLeicester, Cannock, Shrewsbury,Llangollar, and Bettros-y-Coed.
After the conference we drovearound Llandudno which is on a little peninsula and returned home by way ofDenbigh. Denbigh is where Aldie Robartswas living but we didn’t call in. Wefound out he lived there when we were in Liverpoolat the Convention and we went around to the office of the shoppers paper hepublished.
On my first visit to Brecon in Wales to visitthe community, one of the community members took me on a little drive aroundthe area. We went first to Talgarthwhere one community member lived and then to Builth Wells.
PartEighteen – A Change of Direction and a Wealth of History
After ceasing to work for thePublishing Trust I had to go to the employment office each week to collect mydole money and see if there were any suitable vacancies anywhere in the U.K. They would pay my transport for interviewsand during the year I investigated several positions. One of the first was to Barrow-in-Furnesswhich is a beautiful area near the Lake Districtbut we didn’t like the city or the printing plant. In any case I didn’t get the job. We drove through WestYorkshire, Elkley, and Skiptons etc.
Another prospect took us toBrecon where I interviewed the paper there.I was glad I didn’t take that job as it went bankrupt within a couple ofyears. While there we stayed at a pub inSennybridge and watched some sheep dog trials.
One of the nicest trips was toCuparin Fifesbief. It is north of Edinburgh andnear St. Andrews. Instead of driving this time we took thetrain which was more comfortable. We hadgood views of Durban Cathedral and EdinburghCastle. Thistoon was nice but the living conditionsoffered to us were not suitable for four people. The next interview was in Milton Kegnes, anew “toon” comprising several communities including Bletchley, Wolverton andStong Stratford. Less than an hour from London with frequenttrain service, it would have been okay but I didn’t get the job.
There were a couple of othershorter trips we took while in Oakham.We went to Market Harbirogh so we could buy a sewing machine and we alsowent to Doncaster where we visited anIcelandic woman who was married to an Englishman and had become inactive. We learned later that they had moved to Iceland,settled in Westaupstadir and become active again.
On this trip and also goingthrough Newmarketwe were able to see the famous race tracks and stables.
Finally, in August of 1978, Ireceived a letter from the Baha’is in Wells in Somerset which contained a help wanted adfrom the Wells Journal. I madearrangements to drive down for an interview and stay overnight with Gordon andGiser McKenzie. I had the interview andwas offered a job as proof reader beginning immediately. I said I had to return to Oakham but was preparedto start work the first of the following week.The McKenzie’s offered to put me up at their house until I was ready tomove the family down. I also found outthat the District of Mendip would be able to form their first Assembly as soonas Joan arrived.
I moved into a small room atMcKenzie’s the following weekend and started in on Monday. There were two of us readers, a John Williamand myself and we each had a copy holder.The Wells Journal also published two other weekly papers, the Shepton MalletJournal and the Midsummerset Journal for Glastonbury,Street and the CheddarValley. We also did a lot of job printing as wellincluding law and medical journals and the printing for Butlin camps atMinehead and Barry.
When I interviewed for the job Ihad given the manager all of my qualifications, so after about a month I wastransferred to linotype operator. Theplant had seven linotypes and three monotype machines to set all the type, asthe paper ran an average of twenty-four pages a week. I started out setting straight copy, but soonI was setting classifieds and eventually tabulated material such as bowlingscores. All of this stuff was in 5-1/2point with the first word in bold face in the classifieds. The machines had features that we had not hadin Forest, such as automatic lead feeders,quadders and we often had to change magazines.The mould disc had six moulds and it had adjustable ejector blades.
I would drive home back toOakham every other weekend, leaving Friday night and returning Sundaynight. It was about a three hour driveand I went via Bath, Swindon, Oxford,Silverstone (where the Formula One races are held), Northumpton, Kettering, Corly andOakburn.
One weekend at the beginning ofNovember I brought the family down for the Guy Fawkes parade. This is one of the biggest carnivals in Europe and there were an average of a hundred floatsdecorated very professionally. Therewere both tableaux and active floats.The carnival was taken to several communities in Mid-Somerset including Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet and Bridgewater.Some of the floats also went to Londonfor the Lord Mayor’s parade.
I got to know Christine andJeremy Herbert who lived in Glastonbury. During the autumn we made a couple of tripssince I had a car and they didn’t. Thefirst was to London. For this Jeremy rented a car and we drove into the AlexandraPalace (which subsequently burnt down)to a meeting with Hands of the Cause Ruhiyyih Khanum and Ali Furutan. It was at this meeting we ran into JimWilloughby, whom I had met several times – the first time at summer school thatfirst year at Geneva Park in 1953, then in the sixties he came for a weekend toour home in Forest and stayed two months; the third time was when we went toIceland to the Oceanic Conference.Needless to say I didn’t tell him where I was living.
Following the Conference we allwent to the NorthLondonCemeteryto visit the Guardian’s grave, which I had visited once before. While there we ran into both Hands,separately. I was quite surprised whenhe said he remembered me from his visit to London,Ontario, after the Dedication of the Temple in Chicagoback in 1953.
The next trip I drove and wentto the National Teaching Conference in Blackpoolwhich was held at the Winter Gardens. Itis quite okay to go to these places in the off season. We all stayed at a bed and breakfast withwhich we were not impressed, to put it mildly.
At the end of the year Jeremyand Christine decided to go pioneering again, this time to Brecon in Wales. They had come to Mendip district from Gloucester. This time they settled in a little hamletcalled Llangynnidr near Crickhowell in Brecon district where they stayed forseveral years, and which we were able to visit from time to time as it was notfar.
PartNineteen – Glastonburyand Lots of History
We were able to take over the lease of the house in Glastonbury, so during the Christmas holidayperiod and we moved in at the end of the year.We needed a new bed, even though the house was rented furnished, so webought a new one in Shepton Mallet on New Years Day 1979, the one we are stillusing. We lived in this house for abouteighteen months and I drove into Wells to work every morning and took my lunch– it was only about five miles but I had to go through a couple of villages andyou never knew when you were going to be held up by sheep or cattle on theroad. It was no trouble and alwaysarrived home for supper on time except on one occasion when the Somerset levels wereflooded and I had to take a lengthy detour.
While living in Glastonbury we took advantage of the lore ofthe town, which is indicated by the sign at the entrance, calling itself theIsle of Avalon, the spot where King Arthur is supposed to have returned todie. In fact there are graves inGlastonbury Abbey reported to be of King Arthur and Queen Gwenivere, discoveredin the 18th century by King Henry II. Glastonbury Abbey is an old ruin which wevisited many times. It was destroyed byHenry VIII on the dissolution of the monasteries, but it was very old, said tobe on the site of a church erected by Joseph of Aramethea after the Crucifixionof Christ. He was supposed to havelanded on Wearyall Hill, stuck his staff in the ground which blossomed into ahawthorn tree. A cutting from theoriginal tree is growing within the Abbey which blooms every Christmas, theonly one which does at that time of year.Blooms are sent to BuckinghamPalace every year.
Another prominent piece of Glastonbury is the Tor, ahill with the ruins of an ancient church on its summit. We climbed it several times. There is said to be a tunnel running from theAbbey to the hill but no one has ever found it.Near the Tor is the Chalice Well where the Holy Grail is said to beburied. There is a stream that runs fromthe well down the hill which is reported to have healing qualities. In the house adjacent to the well, the secondfloor is set aside as the upper room, set out to represent the Last Supper.
On the main street of Glastonbury is the Georgeand Pilgrim Inn, a hostelry dating back to the 12th century. There are also numerous shops dealing withthe lore of the area as well as books and articles dealing with theoccult. Just below the Tor on the mainroad is a public house called the Rifleman’s Arms, where Joan worked for nearlya year and Linda babysat the owner’s two children.
The whole area of the levels isloaded with history and legend. At onetime the levels were swampland and much of it under water which is why thehills were called islands. Just outside Glastonbury at Meers werediscovered the ruins of a lake village which existed a couple of thousand yearsago.
Between Street and Bridgewater is the Isleof Athelney, not really an island, but there is a statue of Alfred theGreat. This is where Alfred hid out inthe swamps from the Danes and where he is reputedly said to have burned thecakes. It was from here that he spiedout the enemy on the Polden Hills and where he eventually defeated them andestablished the Kingdom of Wessex, and the Danes were confined to the north-eastof England.
Just south of Glastonburyis South Cadbury, and many consider CadburyCastle the site of theancient Camelot. The “castle” is theruins of an ancient Celtic hill fort on top of the hill which could probablyhouse a thousand inhabitants.
Also west of Glastonburyis Westonzogland, and just outside is the field of Sedgemoor,the site of the last battle on English soil.It was when the Duke of Monnodt invaded to try to overthrow King JamesII. He advanced as far as Bath but was turned backand finally defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. His followers were subsequently tried inTauton and many were hanged. It wasknown as the Bloody Assize presided over by Judge Jeffries.
Not far from Glastonburywas the Air Base at Yeovilton and the site of the FleetAirArmMuseum. We attended two air shows there and Carl wentto more. It was here we saw theprototype for the Concorde and the first Harrier Jump Jets with the verticaltake off and landing. At one show theBand of A.M. Royal Marines, from Plymouthwas there and I was able to talk to some of the players and requested a numberwhich they played.
About 25 miles from Wells areboth Bristol and Bath, both teeming with history. It was from Baththat I would take the train to Londonfor my meetings. It was a non-stop andcovered the 125 miles in a little over an hour.
Bath was known in Roman times as Aqua Sulisand was famous for its healing baths.The old Roman baths have been excavated and open to the public. Just above was the famous Pump Room wherepeople at one time would drink the water; now it serves tea. Bathwas very popular during the Georgian period and the architecture reflects thatera, especially the Royal Crescentand the Royal Circus. They also have awell known Museumof Costumes in theAssembly Rooms. There is also a toymuseum.
We went to Bathoften as it was more interesting and easier to get around than Bristol.One time we went to Claverton Manor where we saw a re-enactment of anAmerican Civil War Battle put on by people from the AmericanUniversitythere.
Just behind the Baths is BathAbbey and between the two is an open square where entertainments are puton. One time we saw a studentperformance of Hamlet done in 15 minutes, and when it was over they did an abridgedversion in about three minutes.
There were numerous trips wecould take from our home here in any direction which did not require overnightaccommodation. Just outside Wells to thewest is Wookey Hole, one of the many series of caves in the Mendips. The Mendip Hills are of limestone which makesthe formation of caves an easy matter.One of the places that is a favourite of caves is Priddy on top of whichhas an entrance into many unexplored caves.Nearby are the Priddy circles, stone age monuments.
Carl worked in the restaurant atWookey Hole one summer and it was close enough for him to walk to work. We did take the tour through the caves once,an interesting experience -- not only for the caves themselves, but also forthe auxiliary places of interest there.There was the fairground museum with its collection of historic fairattractions such as roundabouts and callisper.There was also Madame Tausaud’s warehouse, where were kept all of thewax heads that have been on display in the past in London.Then there was the paper making plant where paper was being made whilewe watched.
Further along the valley, whichwe have driven both above and below the hills, was the Cheddar Gorge and nearbyCheddar Caves named for the village nearby which gave its name to its famouscheese. Then there was BurringtonCormler, another small gorge which contains the famous Rock of Ages which gaveits name to the well-known hymn. Otherplaces were Rodney Stoke, the birthplace of the famous British admiral, Westburysub-Mendip and Draycott and Axlridge.The valley is also famous for its strawberries which are plentiful andproduce two crops a year.
Further along it was not far tothe seaside resort of Weston-super-More with its beach and pier and the nearbynature reserve of Brean Down. ComptonBishop is the home of comedian Frankie Howard who was often seen in one of thepubs in Wells. Another resort nearby wasBurnham-on-Sea, a much quieter and more sedate place than Weston which wasalways bustling. Between Wells and theM5 there is a hamlet called Mash which leads to the Mosk Causeway, anotherindication that the area was at one time under water.
The first large town encounteredalong the M5 was Bridgewater,which had a public library with recordings to rent and I went there often. Bridgewater isalso the gateway to Exmoor. About five miles from Bridgewater is Cannington; if you turnedright to the north here you came to Hinckley Point Nuclear Power Station whereGord McKenzie worked. The next place isNether Stowey where Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived and wrote and where there isa small museum. Further along is Holfordwhere his friend Wordsworth lived for a time.Next comes the harbourof Watchet, said to bewhere Colersdee composed the Ancient Mariner.
Turning left off the main roadon a back road one comes to the villageof Roadwater where I gavea fireside once and farther up the hills there was a cottage in the middle ofnowhere where I gave another fireside.It was owned by a thatcher and there was no electricity or runningwater. Just outside Watchet is BlueAnchor where friends of ours, sort of contacts, lived and visited severaltimes. The next main town is Minehead, aseaside resort with a Butlin Camp and where we held a couple of proclamationsas West Somerset was one of our goals.
Going east from Wells we come tothe village of Croscombe where we were at one pointoffered a house but it was too small.Then there is Shepton Mallet.Shepton Mallet is on the FosseWay, one of the old Roman roads which can still beseen in places. It is also the home ofBaby Chear, a kind of champagne made from pears, and also where Jill and FarhadShahbahram, two of our Baha’is have a home and market garden. Still going east was Irlanmore with the EastSomerset Railway and Nunery where there is an old castle, and then Frome, stillin our Baha’I district of Mendip.
On the Mendip Hills above hereare Stohe St. Michael where Jill and Farhad lived for a time and Oakhill Manorwith its railway museum. Also Mells, asmall village that was the home of the Horners, about whom the nursery rhymewas written. The next town is Westbury,which has another famous white horse on the hillside.
Going north from Westbury is Bradford-on-Avon where we held a proclamation and a fairexhibit at nearby Holt. Beyond that isChippenham where there was a Baha’I who was originally a Canadian. On the way is Laco*ck, a National Trustvillage which is used in many films which need 18th and 17thcentury locales.
South of Westbury is Warminsterwhere we also did some teaching. It isthe UFO capital of Englandand more recently the site of many mysterious crop circles midway between Fromeand Warminster at Longleat House.
Longleat is the stately home ofthe Marquis of Bath and we went there several times. It has the oldest safari park in the worldand also the largest mazes. It covers alarge acreage and on the hill above there is a picnic site called Heaven’s Gatewhich we used a couple of times.
The road from Warminster to Salisbury goes through Wilton,the original county seat of Wiltshire and the home of Wilton rugs.Salisbury Cathedral has one of the tallest spires in Britain anddominates the countryside. We toured thearea but did not go inside because they charged admission. Just north of Salisburyon Salisbury Plain is Stonehenge, very famouspre-historic site, and to the east is Parton Down, the wartime bacteriologicalresearch centre, very top secret.
Southwest of Salisburyis a number of hill figures in the chalk, not really old, and WardourCastlewhich we visited once.
On one occasion Wendy Momen camedown and stayed with us for a few days.We took her for a drive through Dorset. We first went to Yeovil and then to Sherborneand from there south to Dorchester, theCasterbridge of Hardy’s novels. On theway we stopped to see the Cerne Abbas giant, carved in the chalk hill as an oldfertility symbol. In the Dorchester area we visited Thomas Hardy’s cottage justoutside the town. Further along thehighway we passed through Puddletown on the river Piddle, whose name waschanged by Queen Victoria. There was Tolpaddle, the site of theTolpaddle Martyrs, during the fight for the farmers’ unions.
We then went north throughBlandford Forum, the headquarters of the Royal Signal Corps, then on toShaftesbury where we stopped for strawberries and cream, and took a picture atGold Hill, often used in films and especially a famous commercial for HovisBread.
On another trip in thatdirection we visited Golsi Azizi in Lyndhurst inthe New Forest; it was the year she and I were delegates to the NationalConvention in Harrogate. While in the New Forestwe saw the wild ponies for which it is famous, and the place where William II(Rufus) was killed while hunting. Wealso saw the grave of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
We visited Winchester (where our ABMs lived) and touredthe Cathedral there. It is beautifulinside and we saw the tombs of both William II and Jane Austin who lived theremost of her life. Behind the Cathedralis the famous WinchesterSchool.
Another trip took us more orless in the same direction where we visited CorfeCastleon the Isle of Purluch. This is whereKing John kept his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, as a prisoner. We also visited ChiselBeachnear Weymoleth where the Moonfleet Hotel is situated and the AbbotsburySwanney. Further along is Lyme Regiswhich we visited several times. While wewere in Wells, the film “The French Lieutenants Woman” was made there and thecompany repainted and changed the entire waterfront of the toon to make it looklike the 19th century.
Between there and Wells isAxmington, another famous rug manufacturing town, and Somerton, the ancientcapital of Somerset.
As a member of the teachingcommittee I had occasion several times to visit other places to the southincluding Exeterand Newton Abbott where one of the committee members lived. I also visited isolated Baha’is in Taunton and Milverton.
Along the coast of BristolChannel west of where we lived are a series of hills called the Quantocks, the BrendonHills and Exsmoor. They are really a continuation of each otherand we have driven all around these areas at times. Along the road between Tauntonand Watchet is the West Somerset Railway which at one time carried ore down tothe coast where it was taken across to Wales. This part of the country is apple cidercountry and every January there is a Wassail ceremony among the apple trees.
We also visited several placesnorth of Wells besides Bath and Bristol.One time we went to Badminton where they hold well known horse trialsand where the game was first played. Itis not far from Princess Anne and Prince Charles have their country home. This area is known as the Cotswolds, and whenI had to go to meetings of the teaching committee with the chairman andsecretary we met at Leamington Spa where one member lived (Patty Vicker) andthe other at nearby Kenilworth. I would drivevia Cirencester and such quaintly named village such as Stow-in-the-Wold,Moreton-in-the-Marsh, and Burton-on-the-Water.
I drove back one time throughBroadway where I saw the horsem*n and dogs getting ready for the hunt andthrough Evesham and Jewhesbury, both places where battles were fought by Simonde Montfort and the Wars of the Roses.
We also visited Berkeley where the castle where Edward II wasmurdered is located. The home of EdwardJenner is near the castle; he is the doctor who discovered the smallpoxvaccine. BerkeleyCastleis the oldest castle inhabited by the same family since the 12thcentury. At one time they owned landover which they could ride all the way to London. The last piece sold was the square in Mayfair named for them.They also produced a famous philosopher in Bishop Berkeley and one ofthe family founded a university in Oakland,California.
Another time we drove across theSevernBridgeby ChepstowCastleand up the WyeValley as far as the ruins of TinternAbbey made famous by the poet Wordsworth.
To the northeast we sometimesvisited Aveberry on the A4 east of Chippenham.It is known for an ancient circle of stones about a mile indiameter. The village is in the centreof the circle and was made famous by the film “Children of the Stone”. Many are missing now but enough remain totell where they were and also an avenue of parallel stones leading from thereto Silbury Hill, the largest man-made hill known, the purpose of which remainsunknown.
Not far are the East Kemeth LongBarrows, an ancient burial site. Justbeyond Marlborough is SavernakeForest,in which is a church which contains the tomb of Jane Seymour, the third wife ofHenry VIII. All along this part of theWiltshire Downs are various hill figures carved in the chalk, which is veryclose to the surface with only a thin layer of soil and grass.
Several times we visited theHerberts, the couple who occupied the house in Glastonbury before we moved in. Christine was also a member of the NationalTeaching Committee, and they had moved to Brecon District as pioneers. They settled in a cottage in the village of Llangynids on the river Usk abouthalfway between Brecon and Abergavenny.They were usually weekend trips and about a two hour drive fromWells. We would drive through Bristol, onto the M4, the SevernBridge and ChepstowCastle and RaglanCastle.
One time there Jeremy, who was aBoard Assistant, and I went over the hill above Llangyside to Tredegar and downthe valley to Blackwood and Newbridge where he contacted some of the newBaha’is who lived there. We came back byEbbew Vale. One drive from there wasinto Brecon and around the Brecon Beacons to Merthyr Tedfil, then along the topof the valleys.
On one occasion they took menorth past Builth Wells to the Elan Reservoirs.There are three of them and they supply most of the water for the West Midlands. Thescenery throughout Walesis pretty spectacular. It was there Isaw a rook for the first time, a very large type of hawk.
One time Christine took methrough some back roads through the Black Mountains. We visited a church at Cewmyoy which partshave settled so it appears quite crooked on the inside. We also stopped at Llantbury Abbey. Beyond Hay Bluff where a lot of sportsmen dohang gliding, is Hay-on-Wye, which has the greatest number of book stores, newand used, in the U.K.
PartTwenty – Holidays Around Britain
While in Somerset we took a holiday each year. In 1980 we went to Icelandfor a return visit and 1982 we came to Canada for three weeks – more ofthis later.
In 1979, the first year we werein Glastonbury,Joan and I took a one week vacation in a holiday camp in Ilfracombe on the North Devon Court. While there we took side trips everyday. One day we toured Exmoorand we visited Malmamead and the church at Oare, both associated withBlackmore’s Lorna Doone. We climbedDunkery Beacon, the highest point on Exmoor,and we visited the Tarr Steps at Dulverton, an ancient bridge of stones.
On the way to Ilfracombe we wentthrough Porloch with its famous hill which is too steep for cars with trailers,who have to take an old toll road around the hill. We took the alternate route on anotheroccasion when Vicki and Asgeir were visiting.There were more steep hills at Lynton and Lynmouth. These steep hills have escape routes,consisting of several dozen metres of sand which will rescue vehicles whosebrakes fail at the down grades. As wellas the main road we also took the coast road.
Another day we headed souththrough Barnstaple and Bidiford where we leftthe main road and took the secondary road through the Taw estuary to the toonsof Appledore and Westward Ho. From therewe went to Clovelly, a village on the coast with a very steep street impassablefor cars. We walked part way down. This place is associated with the writerCharles Kingsley who lived here for a time while his father was vicar. He is most famous for “The Water Babies”.
From there we followed the coastdown to Tintagel whose castle is associated with Merlin and King Arthur and hisfather Pendragon, and supposedly his birthplace. We didn’t walk all the way down to the castlewhich is on a cliff overlooking the sea.It was just too much of a climb and it was cold and windy.
Another time we drove down toDartmoor and had a flat tire in Princeton, the site of the maximum securityprison, and were there for a couple of hours.Then we went to the villageof Widdecombe, famous forthe nursery rhyme about its fair and Hound Tor, notable for Arthur ConanDoyle’s “Hound of the Baskervilles”. Onthe upper elevations it was quite foggy which made for quite an eerieatmosphere.
In 1981 we took a large trailerat a holiday camp in Perranforth, Cornwallfor a week. This place had laundryfacilities and a couple of night clubs where there was entertainment everynight. The camp was on top of a hill andsometimes Joan and the kids, Linda and Carl, walked down to the beach which wasquite wide and sandy.
On the way down there we wentacross the top of Dartmoor through Launceston, the ancient capital of Cornwall. Then across Bodmin Moor where we stopped atJamaica Inn, made famous by Daphne du Maurier in her adventure novel. Nearby is Dagemary Pool, the legendary placewhere the lady rose out of the lake with the second Excalibar for King Arthur. It was supposed to be bottomless but actuallyis not very deep at all.
Each day we took sidetrips. Perranforth was fairly central sowe could cover the entire county. Oneday we drove along the north shore to St. Iveswhich has become quite an artistic colony.From there we went to Lunds End, the westernmost point on mainland England. It was quite a cold and windy day so wedidn’t stay outside long. On the wayhome we stopped in Penzance and saw St.Michael’s Mount. We came home throughHelston, the home of the well known Cornish Floral Dance. We passed many abandoned tin mines,especially around Camhome and Redruth.
Another time we went to theLizard where there is a large lighthouse.It is the most southerly point in England. On the way we passed a large radio telescopefacility. We traveled back roads toHelford and visited Frenchmen’s Creek, also made famous by Daphne du Maurierwho lived in Cornwalland was well acquainted with the county.Her home is not too far away.
We stopped in Falmouthand walked down to the beach there and saw PendennisCastle. Finally we stopped in Truro, the county seat with its moderncathedral.
Another day we went to Newquay,not too far up the coast from Perranforth, and a much larger place with a bigamusem*nt area which pleased the kids.We came home to Wells via Liskeard and Tavistock and across Dartmoor.
The third holiday we had in Britain was in 1983, the same year we returnedto Canada. By this time we had sold our car and had areal cheap one for the rest of our stay here.This time Linda came with us as Carl was unable to come. We booked a trailer in Portmadoc in North Wales. Itwas touch and go every morning to see if the car would start.
This time we went via Brecon andBuilth Wells to Rhayadir and across Wales to Aberystwith via theDevil’s Bridge. We then went north viaMachynlleth, past Cader Idris, the second highest peak in Britain toDolgellan. Then via Barmouth and Harlechto Portmadoc.
One day we took Linda toPortmeirion, a fantastic village with many styles of architecture which wasused extensively in the TV series “The Prisoner”. Joan and I had been there once before andnever grew tired of visiting the place.
Another time we took her toCaernaroon and its famous castle. Thenwe drove to Bangor and crossed the Menai Straitsto the island of Anglesegwhere we visited BeaumarisCastle, another of the castles built by Edward I whenhe conquered Wales. We also visited the toon of Llanfair P.G. asit’s called, the place with the longest name anywhere. The railway station is still there and youcan buy tickets although the trains don’t run anymore.
Back to Caermaroon where wedrove to Llanberis where we took the train up to the summit of MountSnowdon,the highest point in the British Isles, nearly3700 feet. It was up grade all the way andthe train had to stop half way up to take on more water. At the top there is a restaurant and therewere a lot of people up there. There aremany paths to walk to the top but it would be quite a walk and could bedangerous if the weather changed.
From Llanberis we went up thepass to Capel Curig and Bettios-y-Coed and back to Portmadoc. On the way we stopped at Blaenan Flestiniogwhere there are slate mines and no trees in this area. This is the terminus of a mountain railwaywhich runs to and from Portmedoc, a distance of over 12 miles.
Another time we went toBettios-y-Coed via the other side of Snowden through Beddgelert, a pretty townin very mountainous country. We alsodrove the coast road from Caernaroon through Prollheli and Criccieth to Portmadoc.
PartTwenty-One – Homeless and Holidays Outside of Britain
In 1980 we received a letterfrom Geoff in Icelandenclosing air fare for Joan and myself to visit Iceland. We were uncertain about it because we hadreceived a letter from the owner of the house in Glastonbury, wanting the home back. We consulted the council and they said therewould be no problem so off we went.
When we returned we foundourselves homeless as we had been evicted.We hastily contacted the council and also our MP and we were moved intoa temporary shelter in Shepton Mallet.It consisted of a kitchen, large living room and a small pantry whichCarl used as a bedroom. Linda slept inthe living room and we slept in the kitchen.We had one storeroom for furniture downstairs and the bathroom was downthe hall.
While there we were visitedquite surprisingly by Tony Marsolais who had been on holiday in Spain and was now in the George and Pilgrim Innin Glastonbury. How he found us, he wouldn’t tell us but hestayed with us for several days. We werequite crowded.
It was also here I developed arash all over my torso which the local doctor couldn’t identify. It didn’t cause any particular discomfort andI didn’t miss any work. I had to go andvisit a dermatologist at the RoyalVictoriaHospitalin Bath. I visited him several times; he found outwhat it was and said it would disappear by itself. It did after a couple of weeks.
From Shepton Mallet we weremoved into a council house on HerveyRoad in Wells.We had looked at a house in Croscombe (between Shepton and Wells) but itonly had two bedrooms. The house inWells needed considerable work including carpets throughout and we had to putin some portable heaters to keep warm.We walked home from downtown through the cathedral grounds and past the CathedralSchool, famous for its music program.
We had been there barely a yearwhen the council told us they were going to remodel all the houses on Hervey Road. They were fairly old and in need ofupgrading. They offered to move us to anew council estate in Duvies Courtfurther from downtown but much better and larger. We decided to stay in the new place eventhough the rent was higher. We werethere for two years.
We took the train from Bath to Readingwhere we traveled by bus from there to Heathrow. We thought we would miss the plane as ourluggage came on a later bus and it was touch and go.
We landed in Keflavik and were met by Vicki and Asgeir whotook us to their home in Hveragerdti. Westayed there most of the two weeks. Oneday they took us up the Hvita past Gullfoss and behind Langsohull, where theyheard there was a new glacier flowing.The two of them walked up the hill which was some distance away whileJoan and I stayed down by the river.
We stayed with Geoff in Reykjavik a couple ofnights. Geoff had arranged for me totake a travel teaching trip. I went fromReykjavikairport to the first stop, Isafjoidtur.I was met and stayed over night with Inga Dan who had pioneeredthere. We had a meeting in the eveningand renewed acquaintanship with Erna and Dagny, both of whom were married withyoung children by the time.
The next day I took a plane fromIsafjirdur to Akureyir where I stayed overnight at the hospital where a coupleof the Baha’is were nurses. It was afairly small meeting due to other commitments.The flight was a new experience.The pilot collected the tickets on the plane which only seated tenpeople, five on each side. The window bymy seat was broken so it was a breezy trip.We pretty much followed the road as we were not very high.
The next day I got another planewhich took me to Egilstadur. We flewover Kafla, the newest volcano which was spilling out lava as we passed. At Egilstadur we took a bus which took overtwo hours to get to my destination, Neskaupstadur, going by way of Eshifjordurand Reydisfjostur. I was inNeskaupstadur two nights, staying with one of the friends there and who took meon a drive up the valley one day. I helda deepening one night and the other night was a dance at which Geoff, who hadgone on ahead, was disc jockey. Thenback to Reykjavik.
The morning we were to leave Iceland, JohnSpencer offered to take us to the airport but we must have got our wirescrossed because even when we went to the Loftludir Hotel the last bus wasleaving and no John Spencer. Eventuallywe started to panic and got in touch with his home and finally got a ride to Keflavik with one of theBaha’is. We barely made it as they wereholding the plane for us.
Getting back to Bath was no easier. We couldn’t find our train ticket stub andthey weren’t going to let us out even though we were vouched for by Jill andFarhad who had come to Bathto meet us and bring us back to Wells.
The holiday in 1982 was to Canada. Carl and Linda had very little memory oftheir home as they were so young when we left for Iceland. We had three weeks so we booked our flightsand left Londonfrom Gatwick. We got a bus from Bristol which took us all the way to the airport which isnear Crawley in Surrey.
We landed at PearsonAirportand were met by Larry who had arranged to meet us ahead of time. He took us to Sarniavia the 401 and the new 402 which had not been built when we left Canada tenyears earlier. He lived in an apartmentblock on Devine Streetwhere we met his two kids Tina and Bruce, the latter of whom was a real pest atthat time. Larry and Gladys took us tothe mall downtown which was new (it was the first indoor mall we had ever beenin). While there I contacted thesecretary of the International Symphony and I was able to get a ride to arehearsal in Port Huron. There were only a few of the old playersstill with the orchestra.
We had decided to go to Alberta and visit Paul who lived in Red Deer at that time. We traveled out west by bus in order to givethe kids a chance to see something of Canada. It took three days to get to Calgaryand on the way Carl met Cathy who was also going to Calgary.We were met at the airport by Paul who took us to Red Deer.While we were there we attended a fireside and visited the high schoolwhere one of the Baha’is was a teacher.
He also took us along withMichael to Drumheller where the big dinosaur fossils were discovered. We drove around and saw some of the hoodoosin the area. Another time he took usinto the mountains past Sylvan Lake to RockyMountain House where a Baha’i resided.We returned to Red Deerby a different route.
When it was time to return weflew to Torontowhere we were met by Tony Marsolais who had arranged rooms for us at the YMCAon College Street. One evening we had dinner at the home of hisnew girlfriend. During the day I tookCarl to the ScienceMuseum while Joan tookLinda to Casa Loma. Carl also went tothe top of the CN Tower on his own.
We returned home via Gatwick andBristol, where we discovered we had come back aday earlier than we were expected so we had to call Farhad, get him out of bedon the Sunday morning and come to Bristolto pick us up.
PartTwenty-Two – More Travels around Britain
There were many trips I had tomake as a member of the teaching committee.These were usually in the south west but I also at times hadresponsibility for Walesand the Masches. On one trip both Joanand I took a weekend and went to Stoke-on-Trentwhere we visited the Baha’is there. Thisis the area known as the Potteries and thereare several located there including Spade, Royal Doulton and Wedgewood, thelatter pottery which we visited and had a tour. A lot of the decorating is still done by hand.
One time when we visited Joan’smother and sister in Stockport we returned via Walestraveling via Welshpool, Newtownand Llandrindod Wells.
One weekend, we had a teachingconference at Llandrindod Wells, which at one time was a famous spa town. There were friends there from south Wales as well as Herefordand Worcester.
One weekend I visited theBaha’is in Truro. This was in the winter and we took a driveover to Perrenforth which at that time of year was quite deserted. In the evening we picked up some friends in St. Ives and drove to Peryance where the meeting washeld. I drove down this time by way of Plymouth where I picked upa lady and took her to her sister’s place in St. Austell.
I had another meeting with theBaha’is in Sevansea which was also attended by those from Llanelli, not faraway. During the day I took a drivearound the Mumbles.
I attended most of the NationalConventions to which I was a delegate on two occasions. It was held in Harrogatetwice and Joan came once; that was the last spring we were there. At the Convention in WatfordI was named to compose a cable to the Universal House along with Marian Hoffman(of George Ronald) and another Baha’i.At the one that was held in Great Malvern I was appointed chief tellerfor the election of the NSA.
It was at Malveen that we wokeup on Sunday morning to about a foot of snow on the ground. I had great difficulty getting to theconference hall, having to be pushed a couple of times. Very few showed up that morning and rightafter lunch I set out for home.
By the time I got down off thehills there was no snow. This was quitesurprising because it was the end of April and it was the first snow we had hadthat winter.
Most of the NTC meetings wereheld at the National Office at Rutland Gate, but when the NSA was meeting thesame weekend we had to go elsewhere except when they wanted to meet with us,which happened about once a year. On oneof these occasions we met at a bed and breakfast in Ealing in WestLondon where the food was pretty grim.
Other times we met at the Baha’iCentre in Liverpool, and once at the Universityof Newcastle. I traveled by train to these places, becauseit turned out to be more convenient. Thetrains left from Bristol. When we met at the Manchester Baha’i Centre,Joan and I drove and we stayed with her mother.
In 1982 I had to chair aNational Teaching Conference in Cheltenham along with Jodi Munsiff, who hadvisited our place in Forest when she was alittle girl. I drove back and forth fromWells as it was only about 75 miles away and there was motorway nearly all theway.
The year before I representedthe NTC at a North Sea Teaching Conference held in Saxmundham in Suffolk. There were representatives there from Holland, Belgium,Denmark and France as well as the U.K. I drove there via Londontaking the inner ring road (the M25 had not been built yet) and through Chelmsford, Colchent andIpswitch. It seemed to take forever sowhen I came back I traveled via BurgSt.Edmonds, Cambridge and Oxford. It was further but took less time. This was on the Easter weekend, so it was athree-day affair. We were all put up athomes of the Baha’is in the area.
One weekend I was invited alongwith a dozen or so other people to the home of Norman Bailey, the operaticbaritone, for a conference on the arts.He had purchased a large house in the country near Reigate. Some of us stayed in the 8-room gatehouse butwe had our meals in the main house. Init he has a fully equipped recording studio.Joan and I had visited them when they lived in Bedford, while we were in Oakham. At that time he was preparing the role ofAmfortas in Parsifal for the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.
There was a castle in FarleighHeingerford, which is at the north-east corner of Somersetwhere Avon and Wiltshire come together. We were there a couple of times. There were antique fairs which we attended inMells, Frome and Neimey, where there was also a castle. These two castles together with the one atDernster are the only castles in Somersetcounty.
During the summer of 1983 Linda,Joan and I took day trips to the Isle of Wight. These were bus trips direct from Wells andwere quite reasonably priced. We went byferry from Southampton to Cowes. The ferry ride was interesting as the Q.E. IIwas in port at the time and the Royal yacht Britannia was at anchor in the Solent. The firsttrip was a journey around the island via Ryde, Sandown and Ventna to BlackgangChine which is right on the Channel. Wedid not walk down to the Beach which was quite steep. We next stopped at Brighstone, an oldfashioned village where even the post office is thatched and rose covered. Our last stop was at Yarmouthbefore returning to Cowesfor the trip home.
The second trip was during Cowes week and the Solentwas full of sail boats preparing for the regatta. It was a shorter trip so we had more time atthe bus stops, the first of which was at Osborne House, a summer home belongingto Queen Victoria. It had a Swiss type of chalet on the propertywhich was a play home for her many children.The second stop was a CarisbrookeCastle where we had lotsof time to explore. This is where KingCharles I was held awaiting execution.From the ramparts we could see Parkhurst where one of England’s mainmaximum security prisons is located. Onthe way home we returned via all back roads and got held up in some villagewhere we were stopped until one of the natives was around and moved her carwhich was parked on the street so we couldn’t get by.
There were several events inWells as well as the annual Guy Fawkes Carnival which was known all over England. In fact several floats were asked to takepart in London’sLord Mayor’s Parade. One May Day themarket square was cleared of cars and a May Fair was held complete with a MayPole and Morris Dancers all in costume.Then one summer the Queen Mother paid a visit. We were so close to her car we could almostreach out and touch her. Prince Charlesalso came to Wells from time to time as he was chairman of the Wells CathedralRestoration Project.
I’ve already mentioned theperformance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which took place inthe Cathedral in which Carl took part.And the two times I met with the Bishop of Bath and Wells on behalf of the Baha’iCommunity. It was around the time of theresumption of the persecutions in Iran.
Then there was the Siege ofWells. This was a re-enactment of aCivil War battle put on by the Sealed Knot Society. This is a volunteer organization which oftentakes part in period films. There wereabout 1800 of them who came, soldiers, horsem*n and camp followers and they campedin the field behind our house.
PartTwenty-Three – Time to Return to Canada
We decided to return to Canada inSeptember of 1983. Larry had provided mewith literature from DVA which meant I was able to receive a pension whichwould hold me over until I reached my 65th birthday and get theOAP. This time we hired a mover who cameto the house and wrapped everything. Wedidn’t need to do anything except tell them where things were, and they werevery efficient.
After they had gone wediscovered that Carl’s passport had been packed and panic stations were inorder. We called the movers and foundour stuff was already in the big container at Avonmouth. Carl and I took off and managed to retrievethe missing passport. Fortunately thecontainer was not filled and they were very helpful to us.
Before leaving the staff at theJournal presented me with the gift of a book on Somerset; and I also received a pen set frommy snooker partners at the British Legion which I had joined.
When we arrived at Toronto flying from Heathrow, we were met by Larry whobrought us to his home in Sarniawhere we stayed for a few days. At thattime Bruce was only a little over two years old and was a real pill. From there we took the train into London and we stayed afew days with Ruth while I contacted DVA and Joan and Ruth went house hunting.
We finally found one, a duplex, on McLary Street whichwas within our price range. We moved inin October but we had to threaten the landlord with the Dept. of Health beforehe would properly clean it up. Having nofurniture we were helped out by several people including Gladys’ father, KeithGreenham and Bob and Dorothy Smith. Theplace was pretty small for the four of us, but we managed.
The biggest disappointment waswhen our furniture and the rest did not arrive until February, and then theywanted to charge us extra because we were a few miles beyond their limit, butwe managed to talk them out of that.
In the fall I contacted a Dr.Mayor who had an office around the corner on Grand Avenue and whom we still goto although he has moved a couple of times since.
Before leaving England we hadreceived a letter from the LSA of London and we contacted the secretary afterwe had settled in. I attended my firstFeast at the home of Chet and Ruby Turner whom we had known before and wholived on Grand Avenue. At this Feast there was a by-election to filltwo vacancies on the Assembly and Terry Drakhs and myself were elected. I remained on the Assembly for about the nextseven years.
In the spring Terry went with meto buy a car. We found one at a lot on east Dundas Streetfor $1500, a red Chevette, so I cashed in my insurance policy and boughtit. Terry also went with me for myinsurance, road test and driving licence, and I am still with the sameinsurance broker who has also moved twice since his first office on Bradley.
During that year we lived on McClary Ave. wewould walk downtown as Eatons was on Wellington(where it is now) and was the largest store in a small indoor mall. I also did quite a bit of walking along theriver which was close by and had a walking path its full length. Over several weeks I walked from Highbury asfar as Byron at SpringbankPark.
Joan and Linda would walk to theA&P store on Base Line for groceries and only when they had a lot to carrywould take the Richmondbus which stopped within a few houses of where we were.
Both kids eventually got jobs,Carl in an electronics firm on DundasSt. East and Linda in a video rental store, firston Base Line and later on Wonderland near Commissioners Rd. They both went to work by bus butoccasionally when the weather was bad I would pick them up.
By fall when we had been in thathouse for nearly a year we decided we needed more room so we startedlooking. The real estate agent wecontacted talked us into buying rather than renting so Joan looked at a lot ofproperties that were within our price range.I also went to see many of them.We eventually settled on the place we are in now, a townhouse in a condocomplex, three bedrooms, one and a half baths, and a rec room and laundry andstorage in the basem*nt.
We moved in in October and havebeen here since. After Carl had workedlong enough to earn the money he decided to go to Venezuela where Cathy Khan wasliving. He had been corresponding withher since they met on the bus to Calgaryback in 1982.
In May of 1985 we decided totake a trip down to the Maritimes and Linda decided to come with us and shareexpenses. We left on a Sunday andstopped overnight in a motel just outside the town of Gananoque.The next day we drove down the St.Lawrence Parkway and took the Long Sault Parkwaydrive out into the St. Lawrence River the other side of Cornwall.
We got on to the wrong roadthrough Montrealand were held up quite a bit so we didn’t get as far as we had planned. We stopped at a motel in Plessisvilleovernight. From there we carried on downthe St. Lawrence on the Trans Canada as far as Riviere du Loup where we turnedsouth and stopped overnight at GrandFalls, NB. Our motel was right beside the falls. From there we followed the St. John Riverfirst to Hartland where we crossed over the longest covered bridge in Canada. It’s a good thing there was no traffic on itas we found out it was a one way bridge and we were going the wrong way. Next we drove through the city of Fredericton instead oftaking the by-pass. We had thought ofvisiting the pioneer village at Kings Landing but it was not open yet.
We carried on to Moncton where we stoppedfor the night. The next morning beforecontinuing, we visited the famous magnetic hill and experienced the sensationof feeling the car coasting up the hill.From there we went to FortBeausejour. It was cold and windy and there were very fewpeople there but we wandered around anyway.
At Amhurst we turned off theTrans Canada and followed the lighthouse route along Northumberland Straitsthrough Pugwash and Tatumagouche to Pictou where I spent three months duringthe war. I didn’t recognize anything;even the dockyard which was outside the town and where we were undergoing refitwas now inside the town. From there wewent through New Glasgow and the Carse Causeway to Baddeck where we got a gooddeal on a motel for two nights. The nextday we followed the Cabot Trail through the Cape Breton Highlands. The following day we visited the AlexanderGraham Bell museum which contains many of his inventions. Bellspent his last years in Baddeck where he experimented with aircraft andhydrofoils. His home is nearby and isstill lived in by his descendents.
We went from there to theFortress of Louisberg which has been much restored and is inhabited in thesummer by students dressed as people who actually lived there in the 18thcentury. We were there on June 1st,the first day they were officially open.Leaving there we followed the south shoreof Bras d’Or Lake back to the mainlandand stayed overnight in Sherbrookeon the south shore where it was pouring rain.Sherbrookeis another community that is attempting to preserve it as it was back in the 19thcentury.
The next day we followed theeast shore to Dartmouth,the first time we had been there since just after the war. The city has expanded considerably and wewent out to the naval air station, now called HMCS Shearwater, but we couldn’tfind MarionHeights where we lived for nearly ayear. We crossed the new Angus McDonaldbridge to Halifax, but we didn’t stop there butwent on up the valley to Grand Pre where theEvangeline Statue and church are located.We stayed the night in Kentville.
From there we left Nova Scotia and drove up through New Brunswick to Campbellton. Between Chathamand Bathurstthe road was under construction and we lost a lot of time there. Not a very nice place where we spent thenight.
In the morning we crossed into Matapedia, Quebec anddecided to drive around the Gaspe Peninsula. We stopped for awhile in the town of Gaspe where we had put infor a boiler cleaning during the war. Wehad a nice day and were able to see BonaventureIsland and PerceRock. We continued on around thepeninsula which is a very scenic route and we stopped for the night in a littlevillage called Grand Prairie (?) where no one could speak English.
We went on the next day through Rimouski and Riviere du Loup until we reached Quebec City where westayed two nights. The next day we tooka sight seeing bus throughout the city which was well worth while. We covered both the upper and lower town aswell as the Plains of Abraham.
From there we drove to Montreal along the northshore of the St. Lawrence. We hit thecity at rush hour and it seemed to take forever to get through the city. Eventually we reached Ontario where we stayed the night inGananoque and returned home the following day.
Part Twenty-Four – Illnessand University
After coming back I consideredthe idea of going back to university when I found it wouldn’t cost me anythingfor tuition as a senior. So I went andsecured a syllabus and found I could take a second year history course in musicproviding I had permission of the head of the department. I found out the head was Jeff Stokes so Imade an appointment for an interview.
As luck would have it, before Icould see him I took quite ill and was admitted to hospital. I went into the emergency room and don’tremember anything after that until a week later. I learned that I had been in the intensivecare unit during that time with tubes all over me. Joan was with me a good deal of the time andwhen I came to in the recovery room I was transferred to a ward. I found out that Joan had called Dr. Stokesand postponed the interview.
I came out of hospital afterabout five days and subsequently went to the school for the interview. It went well and I started in September. I went to the registries office where theywere able to obtain my transcripts from high school and the University of Toronto,but they couldn’t give me any credits for those courses I took back then.
The only reason I can think offor my illness was as a result of the stress and pollution I experienced whenwe went through Montrealat rush hour.
I obtained a parking permit forthe university and parked the two days a week in the Medway parking lot. The course itself was a lecture, one withtutorials and my tutor was Jeff Stokes.The other professor was Philip Downs.It was a large class of about 75 students, and I was the only one over25 years of age. I only got to know acouple of kids that first year but they seemed to accept my presence with nodifficulty. I had to write three essaysthat first year, something I hadn’t done for nearly 50 years. Before starting school, I took a two-daycourse at the public library through FanshawCollege to prepare me,consisting of how to take notes, prepare for exams, etc. and I think ithelped. I ended the year with a Baverage.
PartTwenty-Five – A Trip Back to England
The next year, 1986, we decidedto go back to England. I would be 65 that year and I wanted to sortout my pension, both from the paper and from the government. I already had some money in the bank in Wellsand it would be a good opportunity to close the account.
We left around the 25thof May and flew into Cardiffairport because it was close to Wells.We had arranged to rent a car for a month and we picked it up indowntown Cardiff. I had been feeling not all that great and bythe time we got to the service centre just over the SevernBridge,I was bushed. I sat in the parking lotwhile Joan got some coffee.
We went on to Wells where we hadarranged to stay a few days with Gwen and Gordon McKenzie. Since we had returned to Canada they had moved out to Coxley, a littlevillage between Wells and Glastonbury. While there I went to the bank in Wells andto the Wells Journal and renewed acquaintances.Another day we drove over to Shepton Mallet to visit Jill and FarhadSharbahram who of course knew we were coming.We learned that one of the men that worked at the Journal had become aBaha’i in the meantime. When we arrivedat Wells, I went on to the Prednisone and it seemed to help.
While in Wells, one day we wentto Bath. I left Joan there while I took the train intoLondon where I sold some of my stamps of Greece. I also visited the National Office at RutlandGate and took the 4 o’clock train back to Bath. On our way out of Wells we stopped to visitJosie at the Rifleman Arms where Joan worked for awhile.
After a few days we setout. We drove south through Glastonbury and Street to the M5 and past Taunton.We left at Exeter and crossed the northboundary of Dartmor and entered Cornwallat Launcestor. We spent a short time atJamaica Inn. From there we drove southto St. Austrel and then turned back east andvisited the castle at Restormel, just outside Rostwithiel. From there we went via Liskeard and Tavistockthrough Dartmon and spent the night at a B & B at Boney Tracey.
The next day we went back via Exeter and drove alongthe south coast. We stopped for an houror so in Lyme Regis, which we had visited several times before. From there we drove east through Dorchesterand bypassed Boursemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth,through Chichuta and on to Brighton. Here we left the south coast and went to seethe opera house at Glyndebourne near Lewen.There was a performance about to begin and we could see over the fencethe patrons in their evening dresses strolling in the garden before the curtainwent up. The theatre is located in anold manor house. We did not attend; aswell as not being properly dressed, it was much too expensive.
We left there looking forsomewhere to spend the night. We headednorth towards London,confident that we would find a B & B somewhere along the route, but therewere none. When we reached the M25 (thering road around London),we decided to bypass the city and head out of the city to the north. We didn’t realize that we were on it goingclockwise for over fifty miles before we left it. We came off at Enfield and drove north; the first place wecame across was a pub in Ware. Joan wentin and we managed to get the last room available. However, we were able to relax and a littleafter 8:30, we came down and had an excellent pub meal in the bar. The place was right on the highway and therewere trucks going by all night long but we were tired enough that we sleptwell.
We headed the next day northeast by back roads. We went through Sudbury to the pretty little town of Laverlan where we had a lunch. Then we went east where we by-passed Ipswich,took a “B” road north to Snape where, although it was a miserable drizzly day,we wandered around the place which was founded by Benjamin Britten and PeterPears and where many of their operas were first performed. As well as the Maltings which was now atheatre, there were master classes, piano workshops, and so on.
We did not go to the coast atAldeburgh but headed northwest through Saxmundham where I had stayed oneweekend, to FramlinghamCastle. Then by back roads through Eye, andby-passing Norwich, spent the night at a B &B in West Rudham.
Next day we went to visit theroyal residence at Sandringham. We did not go into the house but wandered inthe garden and bought a souvenir booklet.From there we went on to King’s Lynnwhere we stopped in the centre of the town.It was pretty dead as it was Sunday afternoon and we drove out of theparking lot the wrong way on a one-way stretch but didn’t meet anybody. When we left there we crossed the Ouse River and headed straight for Granthan where westayed for a couple of days with Tim and Lyn.
The following day we visited inthe morning and in the afternoon we went to Tattersall Castle where I got agreat picture of a peaco*ck with its tail feathers spread; it seemed to do it onqueue when its picture was about to be taken.The next day we decided to go to Skegnus. It was cold and windy and there were not manypeople at the Buttin’s there. Tim and Iplayed a couple of games of snooker but a lot of the attractions were notopen. Maybe it was too early in theseason; it was the first week of June.
The third day we went over toOakham to see if it had changed much in the past eight years. The only person we saw that we knew was Tony,the cobbler who was a member of the Baha’i community.
The next morning we set offfairly early and drove straight up the A1 as far as Wetherby where we turnedoff to the east. A few miles down this“B” road we came to the site of the civil war battle of Masston Moor. There was nothing there except amonument. We carried on from thereby-passing the city of Yorkto Castle Howard. This is one of thestateliest manor houses in Englandand was used in the TV series “Bridgehead Revisited”. It rained all the time we were there and wereable to have a tour of the interior but had to forego the grounds. They had a shuttle service to the house fromthe parking lot.
The next place we went to wasRiveaulx Abbey, one of the five large abbeys of Yorkshirewhich were looted during the reign of Henry VIII. It is situated in a kind of hollow and aboveit is a terrace with Greek styled temples at either end. There were not many people there as it wasquite dull and drizzly most of the day.The walk to the terrace was quite a distance from the parking lotthrough the woods.
We decided to get a B & B inRipon and it was here we had the unfortunate experience of getting some chickenin a restaurant that was unedible; Joan ended up with a hot dog we got from astreet vendor.
The following day we went tovisit Fountains Abbey. It is in a largepark area and the abbey itself is a good mile from the parking lot. We had coffee in the visitor centre and setout. I was unable to walk the fulldistance to the abbey but we walked far enough that we were at least able tosee it.
When we left there we headednorth. We went by way of the interioravoiding the heavily traveled roads until we reached Hepham and got a B & Bin HaydonBridge, a quiet little town. We spent the night there and next day went toHadrian’s Wall. We didn’t have time to go to the Roman townthere but we drove along the wall and at one point walked a bit along the wallfor a short time. We stopped at theRoman museum and saw a lot of artifacts, many things of which they keep ondiscovering. Joan bought a little modelof a Roman soldier. From there we wenton via Jedburgh to Gallashiels where we got a B & B. It was very nice so decided to stay twonights.
That evening it was quite niceout so we drove over to Melrose Abbey, made famous by Sir Walter Scott andwhere Robert Bruce’s heart is supposed to be buried.
The next morning we drove overto Keles and Coldstream and visited the church at Hodden Field, the battle siteof the last battle on English soil between the Scots and English. From there we drove over to Holy Island, thesite of a proxy and Castleof Lindiofarne. This is the place where the Vikings firstraided the coast of Britain. We crossed to the island on a causeway so wehad to return before high tide when the road is under water. Then we went to the town of Bamburghwhich has one of the largest castles in the north west.It has been used in many films including “Mary Queen of Scots”. On the way back to Galashils we stopped at FloorsCastlein Kelso. This castle is lived in andwas used in the movie “Greystoke, the Legend of Tarzan”.
Next day before setting out wevisited Abbotsford, just outside Galashiels, the home of Sir Walter Scott, andwhere his great granddaughter still lives.Much of his possessions are preserved there on the banks of the Tweed. We thendrove north, by-passing Edinburgh and crossedthe ForthBridge.We drove north through Perth, past theancient city of Sconeand arrived in the early evening at Braemar, where some of the famous highlandgames are held. We stopped at a B &B, and went downtown for some pizza. Iphoned Wendy Momen from a call box and we had a good chat. Back at the B & B we went into the commonroom where there were quite a few guests.
The next morning it was pouringrain. We set off east, past BraemarCastleand stopped at BalmoralCastle, another royalresidence. In spite of the rain wewalked the considerable distance to the house where we went through those partsof the castle open to visitors and had coffee in the coffee shop. Then we went north across the Recht, a skiarea. The elevation is fairly high andwe were surprised when the rain turned to snow – this is June! Coming back down it returned to rain and westopped at CawdorCastle. We didn’t go in as it was so wet.
When we turned back east itcleared up somewhat and we stopped at the Culloda battlefield, the last standof Bonnie Prince Charlie. We onlystopped at the visitor centre as it was so miserable and windy but we saw afilm on the battles. From there we wenton to Invernoss where we found a very nice B & B. The only other guests were a couple on leavefrom the Israeli army.
The following day we drove downthe north shoreof Loch Ness. The road is right on the edge of the loch butwe didn’t see any monster. We left theloch at Glen Morriston and along the lonely road to Kyle of Lochalsh passingthe castle of Eileen Donan, made famous in manyphotographs and paintings. We took theferry on the short ride to the Isle of Skyeand drove north as far as Poitree where Joan went to do some windowshopping. We would have liked to driveon to Dunvegan but didn’t feel we had time.We returned to the mainland via Kylerhae over a rough track and took theferry which does not run often and had to wait for it. The road came down a little grade over a hilland ended right on the edge of the water.
On the other side we stopped forcoffee in a nice coffee shop, and then drove on to Invergarry where we stoppedfor the night. It was not a B & B sowe had to drive up the road for food.
Next day we drove south, past FortWilliamto Ballachulish where instead of crossing at the bridge we drove all the wayaround Loch Leven to the villageof Kinlochleven, and downthe other side. We stopped at theGlencoe visitor centre. Glen Coe was thesite of a great museum at one time but is now a ski centre. From there down LochLinnhe to Dunstaffuage, where the Orkney underwent a refit back in1945, and we stopped and toured the castle there.
We then drove through Oban southas far as Lochgelphead and back north to Inveraray. We didn’t arrange B & B’s there so wewent on to Arrochar at the head of Loch Lamond.The next morning we went back to Inveraray and stopped at thecastle. It is a kind of fairy tale typecastle and it is where Rudolph Hess was kept during World War II. Down the west shoreof Loch Lamond to Dumbarton where wecrossed the bridge over the Clyde and on toGreenoch and Gourock but couldn’t find the place where we lived or where I wasstationed that last year. We stopped forlunch at Longs, and then drove on past Ayr to CulgeanCastle. This is where Gen. Eisenhower had apartmentsduring the war, where he lived when he could find the time, then down the coastpast Ballantrae. We could see the island of Ailsa Craig out in the Firth ofClyde. We stopped for the night inNewton Stewart.
In the morning we drove toCastle Douglas where we had coffee and on to Dunfries where we took a side tripthrough Lockerbie to Ecclefechan, the home of Thomas Carlyle whose most famouswork was the History of the French Revolution.We visited the house and then west on to GretnaGreen, which at one time was a favourite destination for Englishcouples who wanted to get married in a hurry.They still capitalize on this heritage although is no longer servingthat purpose. We crossed back into Englandand stopped at Keswich where we stayed for two nights.
The next day we went backtowards Penrith and drove down the shoreof Ullseater till we cameto the visitor centre at Windermere. Wehad coffee or co*ke there and then to Leven House where there was an exhibitionof the work of Beatrix Porter who wrote her Peter Rabbit books near here.
On our way back to Keswich westopped at Dove Cottage, where William Wordsworth and his sister lived for atime and where he entertained other past friends.
The next day we drove down thewest side of Lake Windermere and then drovearound Coniston Water. We then headedfor the M6 through Kendal and headed south.The weather turned quite warm.The M6 enabled us to by-pass Birminghamand apart from a short side trip to visit the battle site of Edgehill, arrivedat Banberry for the night. We wentdowntown in Banberry for dinner. It washere we had a slight accident with the car backing out of the B & Bdriveway.
The next day we went into Woodstock and spent the morning at BlenheimPalace,the ancestral home of the Dukes of Marlborough.From there we went to Moreton-in-the-Marsh and Bourton-on-the-Hill wherewe stopped as there was a kind of fair going on. We then headed for the M40 through Broadwayand stopped at Rose-on-Wye for coffee.Leaving there we came down through Monmouth to join the M4 at Newport which we left todrive into Llandli and found a B and B at Pembreg where we stayed for 2 nights.
The following day we visited KidwellyCastleand then went to the tip of Walesthrough Carmarthon and Haverford west to St. Davids, the cathedral city of Wales. We visited the cathedral and Bishops Palacewhich was at the bottom of a hill. Fromthere we went to Fishguard where we watched the Sealink Ferry setting out for Ireland and sawa couple of young people struggling with a sailboard. We stopped on the way back to Pembrey atCardigan for coffee.
In the morning we visited thelocal park before setting out for Brecon.We went via Llandovery and spent some time finding Jeremy andChristine’s house which was off the main road between Brecon andSunnybridge. We spent the evening therebut had to sleep on the floor downstairs as their daughter had chickenpox. In the afternoon of the next day weset out for Cardiff over the Brecon Beacons to Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd. We spent the night at a motel there andreturned the rental car and took a taxi to the airport where we left for homethe next day. We caught the Robert Qairbus back to London.
PartTwenty-Six – Holidays in Ontario,Alberta and B.C.
The next year we had planned totake a long trip around Ontariogoing up to Hearst and across to Cochrane but it didn’t pan out. We set off okay and drove part way along thelake shore through Kincardine and Southampton.We stopped for the night in Wiarton at a motel just to the north of thetown. The next day we drove along the shore of Georgian Bay,over near CapeCroker and stopped in Lions Head whereJoan and Rita had stayed back in the sixties.We caught the afternoon ferry to Manitoulin at Tobermory and stayed thenight in a motel on a hill in Little Current.While there we decided not to on with our original plan for some reason,and as near as I can remember we returned home going around GeorgianBay.
On our way home we stopped atSt. Marie-among-the-Huron at Midland. We had been here once before when the U.W.O.was excavating the site. It has now beencompletely restored and is quite impressive.
The next year was 1988 and bythis time, Linda and Jack were living in Vancouver. They invited us to visit them so we set outon May 12th by Airbus to Torontowhere we caught the plane to Calgary. Paul met us at the airport and we wentstraight to Innisfail where he was living now.The next day we took a drive around Innisfail, saw the dam and went tothe mall. That evening we met Laddi’ssister.
On the Saturday we picked upMichael who was living with Debbie in Calgaryand went for a drive to Banff and Lake Louise which was still frozen. It was quite cold in the mountains. We drove along the secondary road rather thanthe Trans Canada and saw lots of elk and mountain goats, as well as a couple ofwolves. We drove on up to where thespiral tunnels of the railway are over Rogers Pass. On the way home we stopped for supper in Banff.
On Sunday we spent the day atthe TyrellMuseumin Drumheller, the dinosaur capital of Canada, and also saw where theoriginal dinosaur find was made. OnMonday he brought us into Calgary where weboarded a bus for Vancouver. The first stop was Canmore and at Banff picked up somelifesavers. Lunch was at Golden. There was a coffee break at Revelstoke andsupper was in Kamloops. We drove down the Coquehalla, a fairly newroad and had coffee at Hope. Jack andLinda met us at the bus depot.
On Tuesday we didn’t do anythingas we were quite tired. Not untilWednesday did we go out and Jack was able to borrow a car for us from thedealership where he worked.
The next day it rained but wewent to the planetarium. On Thursday inthe morning we went to Queen Elizabeth Park and the arboretum there. On Friday we drove across the LionsGateBridge and up Howe Soundas far as Squamish. We were there a fewhours after lunch and on the way back we stopped at HorseshoeBay.
Saturday we took Linda toBurnaby Mall and on Sunday went downtown to Gastown; it rained all day. The next day we went to the University of BritishColumbia to visit the Museum of Anthropology. The building itself was closed but we couldsee through the windows. Outside in thegrounds were several Haida buildings and totem poles. We drove around the campus and back along EnglishBay.In the evening the five of us (including Lori) went to play bingo butnone of us won anything. We had beenhere a week by this time.
On Tuesday morning we took theferry to Vancouver Island from Tsawwassan, just south of Vancouverairport; the ferries do not go from Vancouveritself anymore. After passing throughthe GulfIslandswe reached Sydneywhere we had lunch. On the way to Victoria we stopped a few hours at ButchartGardenswhich are well known all over. We got amotel in Esquimalt for two nights. We drove to the Naval Base where I wasstationed at the beginning of the war but nothing was familiar.
Next day we went to downtown Victoria. We visited Miniature World in the EmpressHotel and parked for a few minutes on the harbour where there was a good viewof the Parliament Buildings. We thendrove around Beacon HillPark and then out to OakBayand the Marine Driveto Uplands.
Thursday morning we drove northout of Victoria and made our first stop at ShawniganLake where the Baha’i School is. We were treated to a tour but there were noclasses as it was not quite ready to be opened.Some of the buildings were not quite ready. We stopped later for coffee in Duncan. We got lost just past Ladysmith while lookingfor the PetraglyphPark. We arrived in Nanaimoin time for the ferry which we took back to HorseshoeBay where we had dinner beforereturning to Vancouver. We were tired so the next day we stayed inand did not go anywhere.
On Saturday we went back to theplanetarium to pick up some gifts. Thenwe took a drive around the grounds of SimonFraserUniversityin Burnaby.
On Sunday the 29thJack took Lori to Victoriafor a day. I took Linda to work in themorning and at two o’clock we picked her up and went for a drive up to CapilanoCanyon; it is all commercializednow. We didn’t go on the swingingbridge. We came back to Vancouveron the NarrowsBridge.
Next day we didn’t do much excepttake a walk. In the evening when Jackand Lori returned he took us all up GrouseMountain in the cable carwhere we had dinner (very expensive) – but magnificent views over the city.
On Tuesday we went to StanleyParkand after awhile we crossed the LionsGateBridgeto Park Royal Mall in West Vancouver. It was the first mall in Canada. We stayed home in the evening while Jack andLinda went to play bingo.
Wednesday it rained but thethree of us went downtown to Chinatown. We visited some shops and tried to get coffeein a shop but they only served tea. Wevisited the SunYatSenGardens before returning home.
Next day we all had breakfastout and then went to Burnaby Mall again.When we came home Jack took us to the MaritimeMuseum. When we came home we got packed and Jack andLinda took us to the bus station. Wedecided to return to Calgary by the KettleValleyroute which takes longer.
The first stop was at Hope wherewe had coffee, then Princeton and Pentictonwhere we had breakfast. Then Grand Forksfor coffee break and lunch at Rossland.Stops then were at Trail, Creston and Cranbrook to Radium Hot Springs. Paul met us in Calgary.We had supper on Saturday and in Calgaryon Sunday where we visited the museum.We left Calgaryby plane on Monday.
PartTwenty-Seven – Side Trips Around Ontario and aTrip to Winnipeg
During the fall Tim visited us;since leaving Waterloo where we had visited himhe had worked in White River and then gone on to North Bay.The next spring we decided to visit him where he had a job as abartender at the Golf Club. We stoppedoff at Reinette’s on the way and got as far as Parry Sound that night. We went on to North Bay the next day after picking up a mapat the Chamber of Commerce.
Tim gave us a tour of the hotelwhere he worked where we had ginger ale on the house. The next day we drove to AlgonquinParkwhere we went into the park at Keosh on the north side, and later toCallander. In the morning I discovered Ihad a flat tire so I had to have it repaired.Then we took a 3-hour cruise on Lake Nipissingto Callander and back. That evening Timtreated us to a meal at the hotel and I remember I had venison for the firsttime.
On Saturday after 3 days, weleft, stopping for toast and coffee at Mattova, and stopping for the night at Perth. The next day we went on to Gananoque where westayed two nights. On Monday we took acruise to the Thousand Islands which took upmost of the day. We had lunch on theboat.
The next day we set out forhome. After having lunch at Presqu’islePark we arrived back in London via Guelph where we had dinner, Stratford and home.
Next year we didn’t take a longholiday but made several one-day tours in the area. One weekend we did go away and stayed at amotel in Kingsville. The first day we spent at PointPeleeNational Park where wewent down to the point and also walked around the marsh on the boardwalk. The next day we went on to Amherstburg wherewe spent some time at FortMalden, part of which hasbeen restored. We returned home viaHighway 2 along Lake St. Clair, Chatham,Moraintown and home.
Another day we went to Dresden where we visited the Uncle Tom’s CabinMuseum. Then we went on and drove around WalpoleIsland.On another occasion we went to Brantfordwhere we spent some time at the Bell Homestead.Then we went on to the IroquoisMuseum and the Chapel ofthe Mohawks. We drove from there to theSix Nations Reserve where we visited the Pauline Johnson home. It is in a badly dilapidated condition andneeds restoration. We came home throughthe town of Oshwehendadon the Reserve.
On another occasion we drove to Norwich and Ottervillewhere they have an old water mill on Otter Creek and also an herb garden. Another time we drove up through Kitchener to St. Jacobs,Elora and Fergus. We visited the coveredbridge at West Montrose in Mennonite country.
We also did some of the LondonFree Press Shunfibre tours which we had collected but not taken. Some of these included the LongwoodConservatory area and an interesting windmill near Goderich. We generally stuck to back roads where therewas less traffic. We often visitedplaces like Bayfield and Port Stanley as well as Sparta, Port Bruce and Port Burwell.
The next year, 1991, we were invited to visit Tim in Winnipeg.It was late August and very hot.We didn’t get away until ten o’clock so we only got as far as Cheboygan, Michigan. The next day, after crossing the MackinacBridge, we stopped at a small villagefor some great lemon pie. We had lunchat a picnic area on Lake Superior near Marquette. We spent the night near Ashland.The next day we went through Duluthand stopped on the other side at Starving Marvin’s, a truck stop, forcoffee. Stopped at Bemidjifor groceries and went on to GrandForks, which we overshot and had to turn around andcome back to get the last motel room.After breakfast we stopped at Pembina on the Manitoba border for some duty free and herewe damaged the tailpipe on a speed bump and had to wait an hour forrepairs. Stopped for lunch at St. JeanBaptiste and arrived in Winnipegaround four. On Saturday, Paul, Laddiand Linda arrived from Alberta. They stayed at a motel and we all had brunchon Sunday morning and Tim and I went back to the house while the others wentdown to the Forks.
That evening Joan and Paul had aconfrontation which had a bad effect on Joan which still exists. Monday we did nothing and on Tuesday we tookTim up to Gimli, the old Icelandic settlement on LakeWinnipeg. The next day wehad breakfast at Tim’s work place – still extremely hot out.
We set out for home on Thursdayand stopped at the visitor centre at the Ontario-Manitoba border. We stopped early at Kenora.
The next night we stopped at Uppsala. We bypassed Thunder Bayand got as far as Marathon. The next morning we stopped at the WhiteRiver Café where Tim worked for awhile; also stopped at Wawa info centre. In LakeSuperiorProvincialPark where we stopped so Joan could makea sketch. We stayed the night at BatchawanaBay.The next day we got as far as Little Current.
We arrived at the ferry butthere was no room and had to wait for the four o’clock sailing. We left the car in line so we would not missthe next one and had to spend six hours on a cold and rainy day. Joan walked around the town several timeswhile I stayed put; we were on this ferry at twenty to four. The crossing was quite rough and Joan spentthe trip in the washroom along with several others. After arriving at Tobermory, we went straighton to Wiarton where we had a bit of supper, and on to Wingham for coffee at teno’clock. It poured all the way homewhere we arrived at 11:30.
The next year, 1992, we had a fair amount of company, so we were onlyable to get away for a short holiday. Wedecided to go back to Gananoque and we set out in that direction. We took the northern route and stopped tovisit Reinette on the way. That eveningwe stayed at a motel just outside Orangeville and the next day went intoKleinburg, a very pretty town just north of Toronto where we spent a couple ofhours at the McMichael Art Gallery where they have an extensive collection ofCanadian paintings, most notably the work of the Group of Seven and Emily Carr.
Coming out of there it started to rain and it poured. We stopped in KingCityfor coffee and continued east. The raindidn’t let up and the forecast wasn’t good so we stopped for the night in Norwood where we hadstayed before. The next day we turnedback and decided to go to Huntsville driving upthe east side of Lake Simcoe through Minden and Dorset. We stayedat the same resort we had many years before when we had rented a cabin on thelake. This time there was a motel and wetook several drives around the area.After three or four days we set out for home.
PartTwenty-Eight – A Holiday in PrinceEdward Island
Next year, 1993, we decided we would like to visit Prince Edward Island where we had neverbeen. We got away on a Sunday morning inearly June and stayed the first night in Gananoque. We crossed the IvyLeaBridgeinto New YorkStatewhere we crossed the Adirondacks. We were held up awhile by having to detouraround SaranacLake.We got lost in Plattsburg trying to find the ferry across Lake Champlainbut eventually made it into Vermontwhere we started looking for a motel. Wecouldn’t find one around Montpelier because ofroad repairs but did find one at Marshfieldwhich looked like the Stratford Inn on the Newhart show. Next day we entered NewHampshire and took a long detour to go through the White MountainPark where the scenery was quitespectacular. We stayed the night at theFarmington Motel. Next day we wentthrough Maine as far as Calaiswhere we crossed back into NewBrunswick at St. Stephen where we stayed the night.
Thursday morning it was raining.We stopped at St. George and in the afternoon left the main road todrive through FundyNational Park. We couldn’t see much because of therain. After leaving the park we alsostopped at the Rocks where it was still pouring rain. We stayed the night at a motel inShedian. In the morning we boarded theferry and it turned out to be a nice day.After docking we drove to Summerside where we checked into a motel therefor three days. After lunch we touredthe west end of the island, going to O’Leary where they have a potato museum –big disappointment, then followed the coast road up to the North Cape WindStation where we had coffee and then back to the motel.
Next day we visited the WoodleighMiniatureGardenwhere they have scaled down replicas of famous buildings, but not so small youcouldn’t go in them. Then on to New London and visitedthe birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery.Then we went to Green Gables made famous in the novel, and also visitedRipley’s Believe It or Not Museum. Thenon to RusticoHarbourand BrackleyBeach where we had dinner.
On Sunday we drove along the south coast as far as FortAmherst. This was not open but we wandered about theold fort. Then to a doll museum but itwasn’t open either. We returned toSummerside by a different route.
Monday morning it was raining so we went straight into Charlottetown. We toured the Parliament Bldgs which theycall the ConfederationBuilding because it was here that Confederation tookplace in 1867 when Canadabecame an independent nation. Joan alsolooked through the ArtGallery next door while Iwaited for her. Then we went on to WoodIslandwhere we booked into the only motel. Wetook a ride around part of the east coast of the island visiting MurrayHarbour,Montagne and Georgetown.
On Tuesday the sun was shining when we boarded the ferry over to Pictouwhere we lunched and then took the Glooscap Trail via Truro and on to Noel. In Wolfville we drove around the campus of AcadiaUniversityand then down the AnnapolisValley to Middleton wherewe spent the night.
Wednesday (our wedding anniversary) we went on to the Fort at Annapolisand then on to the Port Royal reconstruction which was the first Europeansettlement in North America founded by Champlain. Then we stopped at the Annapolis PowerStation which is powered by the tides of the Bay of Fundy,which are the highest in the world. Wewent on to the Champlain Motel outside of town which we booked for two nightsas it was quite nice with a view over the bay.We drove on to Digby passing HMCS Cornwallis but it started to rain sowe went back to the motel.
Thursday we drove back to Digby and then down Digby Nech visitingGullians Cove, Centreville and Sandy Cove.We crossed by ferry to the next island and dropped into the visitorcentre, then on to Flour Cove, and Freeport, and Tiverton where we went up tothe lighthouse. We then returned thesame way and stopped in Mink Cove and around Sandy Cove again, and the visitorspark at MiddleLake.Had supper, pizza, in Digby and then back to the motel.
The next day we set off across the province to the Atlantic to KejumkugikProvincialPark,one hundred miles of bush. At the edgethere was a visitor centre but Joan wouldn’t get out of the car because of the blackflies. We reached the coast at Liverpool where we had coffee. We drove along the coast via PetiteRiverand LeHavre where we took the ferry and then on to Lunarberg, where we spentsome time at the MaritimeMuseum. This is where the Bluenose was built and alsoBluenose II. We went on from there andtook a motel in Chester.
In the morning we drove around Chestereven though it was raining again. Thenwe stopped at Herbbards for coffee – Joan would like to live here (this is whenthe TV series BlackHarbour was filmed). Then on to Peggy’s Cove which we had visitedbefore. We were on our way again in theafternoon bypassing Halifax, not stopping untilwe reached Parrsboro, then past Springhill (Anne Murray’s home) to Amherst where we spentthe night. We had to drive down theTrans Canada into New Brunswickto find anything to eat but it proved to be pretty good.
Next morning we set off for home again.Stopped outside Sussexfor coffee. Another hot day, no picnicareas, so stopped at 4 o’clock at a motel at Woodstock and had our lunch for supper. The next day we reached Riviere du Loup by2:30 and stayed the night at Berthier-sur-Mer just outside QuebecCity where there was a lovely view across the St. Lawrence River.
Next day was a bad one. In themorning we stopped at St. Antoine de Tilly andchatted in our broken French with the new young owners of the restaurant. Then we got lost crossing the QuebecBridge. We traveled west on the north side of theriver and after by-passing Montrealtried to find a motel at Lachute, unsuccessfully. Drove all the way to Hulland got lost again, so we crossed the river into Ottawa and headed out on Highway 7. We didn’t find a motel until about 8 o’clockat Carleton Place– not great.
Next morning, Wednesday, we stopped at a park in Perththen on through Madoc to Norwoodwhere we stayed at the Highlander Motel, stopping around 2:30 where we couldrest up after the previous day. The nextday we went via Peterboro to Port Perry where we had coffee then on by Uxbridgeand Newmarketto Schomberg for lunch. Very hotday. We stopped to see Reinette inPalmerston then on home.
PartTwenty-Nine – Short Trips, Golden Anniversary, Graduation and Failing Health
In 1994 we thought we might tour Northern Ontarioagain but it didn’t happen. We set outand lost our tail pipe in Wiarton. Bythe time we got it fixed with a new muffler we didn’t get to Tobermory until5:30 where we stopped for the night. Wecaught the ferry to Manitoulin in the morning.
We stopped at Manistaironing for coffee and booked into a motel inLittle Current early in the afternoon.After lunch we set out around the island. We stopped first at Kagawoug and then on to GoreBay. Then we went on to ProvidenceBayfor coffee and a walk on the boardwalk.Then on to Mindemoga and Sandfield and dinner at Manitavaning. We stopped at the Indian Trading Post at TenMile Point and then back to the motel where we had to change rooms because ofthe smell.
The next morning on to Sudburythrough Espanola. We drove by the bignickel at Sudbury and went on to SturgeonFallsand North Baywhere we stopped for the night, but drove to Callander for dinner. The following day we drove as far as Huntsville to the motelwe had stayed at two years earlier. Didnothing third day but drove out to the “Wairgaty” for dinner. In the morning we drove to Dorsetand went up to the fire tower lookout.In the afternoon went through AlgonquinPark where we saw acouple of moose and looked over the visitor centre at the east end. Had dinner at SpringLake.
Monday morning drove around HiddenValley and stopped atDeerhurst Lodge and Great Western and picked up rate cards. After lunch we drove down to Fox Inn and thenaround Lake of Bays.Next day wandered around Huntsville inthe morning and the afternoon drove to Rosseau and Winderous and back to Huntsville via PortSidney.
Wednesday set off for home down Highway 11 which we left at Orillia and had lunch at BearLakeProvincialPark. On to Penetanguciline but couldn’t find amotel there so went back to Midland. Next day went back to Penetang and visited DiscoveryHarbour where we rode an old fashionedwagon around the area and went aboard one of the tall ships which was guided bya man who had been in the navy. Very hottoday, temperature in the thirties. Westopped for lunch in WasagaBeachProvincialPark. Stopped at Brussels and Seaforth on way home taking backroads, and finally home.
The next two years, 1995 and 1996, we didn’t go anywhere. I was admitted to hospital in late May orearly June each year and was feeling pretty rough, especially since bothsummers we had a lot of company. Lindawas staying with us and in June of 1995, Joan and I celebrated our 50thwedding anniversary. We receivedcongratulations from both the Prime Minister and the Governor-General. Our children from Iceland were here; Vicki and Asgeircame with Nadia, and Geoff came with both Viktoria and Dagrun. Also Larry and Gladys with Bruce, and Carland Cathy and their kids. We had an openhouse the day before and on the day we all had dinner at Hook’s.
The next year, 1996, was the year I graduated from the University of WesternOntario with a Bachelors degree in Music. It took ten years to get enough credits, andwhen the convocation came, I was too ill to attend. The office at TalbotCollegearranged to have the Dean, Geoff Stokes, and the Assistant Dean, Peter Clemens,come to the house and perform the ceremony.The faculty secretary and P.R. representative were there and I got awrite up in the Alumni periodical. Ialso got a good write-up in the London Free Press which had the result ofseeing congrats from people I went to school with 50 years ago and even got tothe Universal House of Justice in Haifa. For this occasion Tim and Aglesh came downfrom Iqaluit and brought her three children with her. For both occasions the women decorated thehouse with streamers and balloons and it was quite festive.
We didn’t go anywhere either year any further than Sarniaonce or twice or Port Stanley, so next year1997, we took two holidays each a week in length.
We left on June 8 and arrived at a motel called Sanman outside PortPerry at a place called Manchester. We had arranged with Medigas to have anoxygen tank in the car. Next morning wewent to CullenGardensin Whitby. This place has a fantastic miniature village,took two hours to walk around. Afterreturning to the motel we went down to Port Perry park on LakeSceegog and then out to the end of SceegogIsland.Next morning we went up to Bobcaygeon on the Trent-Scolen canal andinvestigated apartments overlooking the locks.After lunch we went to PetroglyphProvincialParkto see the exhibit which is quite impressive.We returned to Port Perry via BurleighFalls and Lakefield.
The next morning we left for Huntsvillestopping on the way to visit the Kirkfield Lift Lock. After lunch at Caernarvan we booked intoColonial Hotel, Huntsvillefor four nights. It is now under newownership. Took it easy and next morningwent into Deugal and Dorset and up to Lookout Point and around Lake of Bays,and took it easy for rest of day.
After Medigas came from Orillianext day to refill tank we took off for Windermere and Port Carling forlunch. Then on to Rosseau and back home(hotel). On Saturday we went into Huntsville and lookedaround after having car fixed (ran out of power steering fluid).
We left for home Sunday and got lost around CampBorden. After stopping at park in GrandValley,we dropped in to see Reinette before returning home.
In September we booked intoBuckeye Inn in Bobcaygeon and had Medigas from Peterborough install tank in our room. On Monday Joan walked around town and pickedup a street map and after lunch drove all around the town.
On Tuesday we drove into Lindsay to get the tape deck fixed and on theway saw a field of llamas! The shop inLindsay couldn’t fix us up but he directed us to another shop outside town onway to Peterborough. While it was being fixed we went into mall inLindsay for lunch. On the way back triedsome back roads. Next day we went to LagoonCityon Lake Simcoe via FenelonFalls and looked forFrank Nutson, one of my relatives on my grandmother’s side. After visiting for a while returned home.
On Thursday we drove to Bancroft where we had lunch and then on toCombermere where it took about half an hour to find Terry’s place (Terry is mysister Ruth’s daughter). After visitingwe had supper at Woodview on way home.Next afternoon we drove all around PigeonLakestopping eventually at Buckhorn for coffee.Saturday morning was Fall Fair day and watched parade go by inn. In the afternoon drove all the way up toGooderham to see the fall colours which were quite spectacular. It was on the way home that my disabledpermit flew out the window and we drove at about 10 km an hour back looking forit. After several kilometers we stoppedto let some cars go by and Joan spotted it just outside the car.
We left for home on Sunday stopping for lunch at Newmarket.We stopped in to see Reinette but she wasn’t home so visited anotherlady who lives in the same place, then home.
During the winter (1997-8) Dr. Paterson put me in touch with a DoctorMalhaner, a thoracic surgeon who has been doing a lung volume reduction surgeryto make breathing easier for people with emphysema who are in otherwise goodhealth. This contact occupied me formost of the next year.
I was put in touch with the thoracic rehabilitation program which is anexclusive program for people with lung problems. They only take eight people at a time and itconsists of daily exercise, Monday to Friday for six weeks. It took about an hour and a half each day andnecessitated going to the hospital every day.It involved weights, stretches, stationery bicycle and treadmill.
Following this I had numerous tests consisting of pulmonary functions,stress tests, nuclear scans, CAT scan, ECG and echo and so on. During this time I also had to have someliquid removed from my scrotum and I have had cataract surgery on both eyesover the past couple of years.
Last fall Vicki and Nadia came over for a holiday in October and thisyear she and Asgeir came. We went backto Bobcaygeon for a week at the end of September.
We did other things since returning from England. The first spring after getting back we got intouch with Claude Lambert in FarmingtonHills, Michigan, whomI hadn’t seen since World War II. Heinvited us down and we took the bus and spent a few days with him and hiswife. One day we went to the FordMuseumand GreenfieldVillagein Dearbornwhich I had never seen before. Anotherday we went to Belle Isle where we watched some people flying kites.
We went to Niagara Fallsseveral times. On one occasion wevisited Norma Wiley at Niagara-on-the-Lake and also visited FortGeorgewhich was occupied by the Americans during the War of 1812. Another time we attended her birthday partybut didn’t see much of her as there were so many people present.
On another visit we went to QueenstonHeights to the BrockMonumentand the historical museum on Lundy’s Lane.We drove home along the Parkway to Fort Erieand home via Highway 3.
One time we took Tim with us and visited Marineland. I was a wet day in September and we had allthe rides to ourselves. Joan wouldn’t goon DragonMountain but Tim and I did. We went to Marineland one other time withCarl and Kathy and family but it was a hot Sunday and the place wascrowded. We didn’t go on any rides butsaw the whole show but that was all we had time for as it was a charter bustrip and we had to leave with the bus which broke down on the way home and ittook forever.
The first eight years after returning I was elected to the LSA and wasthe secretary for part of the time. Iwas also on the teaching committee which I stayed with after leaving the Assembly. I was also for a couple of years Assistant toAuxiliary Board member Gordon Naylor and visited several nearby communities aswell as meetings at Keith Greeham’s and Gordon Naylor’s place in Dundas.
While still on the LSA, I was appointed London community representative on theMulti-Faith Committee for this area. Wemet monthly, mostly at CPR (where the secretary’s office was). Part of our duties was to monitor inter-faithfacilities at various institutions and their chaplains. I had the occasion to visit Sarnia GeneralHospital,North Lambton Rest Home, WoodstockHospital, the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre andthe LondonPsychiatric Hospital. I was with the committee for five years.
PartThirty – Recollections of Childhood
It is really a privilege to have lived through most of the 20thcentury. I lived through the 1920’s andhave many memories of that period, bearing in mind that during the year 1930 Iwas only 8 years old.
One of my earliest memories was living at the Comfort Terrace near thetennis courts. We moved from there tothe house my parents bought on PrinceStreet when I was four (the house at that timecost $2000 and it took 15 years to pay off the mortgage). An early recollection was very general, thatof impressions of the town. At that timethe streets of Forest were not paved and thegravel streets had to be coated with oil every spring to keep the dustdown. In the winter I remember a lot ofsleighs and wagons on runners in the town pulled by horses. I can almost remember the smells at thattime. Very few people had automobilesthen and since anti-freeze had not been invented, they had to drain theirradiators, remove the tires and put their cars up on blocks before the firstfreeze-up. Most of those that had cars,had either a Model T and later Model A’s, but there was the odd Pierce-Arrow,Stutz Bearcat and LaSalle.
At that time there were four or five livery stables in town that lookedafter horses and rented buggies. There weretwo blacksmith shops, one of which lasted into the 30’s. Most of these livery stables evolved intogarages and eventually car dealerships as the number of automobiles increased.
The Kineto Theatre existed in the 20’s.My parents took me to two or three films – they were silent ofcourse. One was Noah’s Ark and another was Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I did not see a talkie until about 1928 whenI was taken to the Toronto Fair for a few days.The Kineto converted to talking pictures around 1929 or 30. All I remember of them was the Saturdayafternoon matinee where they showed serials which always ended with acliff-hanger to get you to come back next week.I think the admission price was 5 cents.
I remember being able to buy bubble gum with a sports or movie star cardfor a penny. We collected these thingsavidly and traded duplicates. These werenot the first premium cards. Cigarettepackages contained cards, one of which was a series of golf players. My father collected poker hands in hispackages and when you got so many you could redeem them for prizes. I know we got a card table with these pokerhands and probably some other gifts.
Kids today do not realize that up to the age of ten we would have maybeone birthday party where our friends would be invited. Other birthdays were family affairs and thennot too special.
