Foreword : I could call this collection of letters "Four Weddings and a Funeral", but that title has already been taken. Maybe "Around the World in 1,380 days", but that sounds too ponderous. On a lighter note perhaps "The Man Who Re-Invented Himself", but that's too complicated. Instead the collection will just be referred to as "A Traveller's Journal".
Part 1B - 1964
IN JUNE 1964, BARRY McKNIGHT AND NOEL SIMONDS LEFT THEIR HOMES IN MOUNT MORGAN, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA FOR A WORKING HOLIDAY IN ENGLAND. BARRY WAS A SURVEY DRAFTSMAN WITH THE MOUNT MORGAN GOLD AND COPPER MINING COMPANY, MOUNT MORGAN LIMITED, WHILE NOEL WAS A TEACHER IN THE QUEENSLAND EDUCATION SYSTEM. AS BARRY’S MOTHER WAS NOW ALONE HE DUTIFULLY WROTE TO HER EVERY WEEK OF HIS ABSENCE. THESE ARE HIS LETTERS………………………………..
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| Noel Simonds & Barry McKnight. Bombay 1964 |
LETTERS 1 & 2. (Departure & Hong Kong)
P&O "Orcades". South China Sea. June 1964
Dear Mum,
Well we made okay and are now on our way, cruising to Hong Kong, where we hope to arrive tomorrow. If I finish this letter I will be able to get it on its way to you from there. The ship is very nice, though our cabin, down in the bilges, is a little crowded with four of us in it. We don't have a porthole but the cabin diagonally opposite us does. We have become friendly with the four girls in there and when visiting them one can look out of their porthole. I am not sure that I like that very much though, for, because we are so low down, all one sees from the porthole is churning water. It's a bit like looking into a front loading washing machine while it does the washing. The girls are Sue(English), Ann(Aussie), and Julie and Angela both from Spain and now returning home. In our cabin we have Clem(Aussie) and Percy(very English). We don't see much of Percy as he is much older than us and he spends the day on the deck, exercising, walking and reading. Clem is a little bit older than us and very nice. Our departure from Sydney was quite spectacular as we set sail just before sunset. The band was there on the wharf playing all the time as we boarded and pulled away. Masses of streamers were thrown, and a few tears shed by those leaving loved ones behind. We, however, had said all our good-byes in Brisbane. Wasn't it nice of Queenie and Linda to organise such a big farewell dinner and to invite you and my aunties as well. They are a wonderful couple and have been so good to Noel and I.. The "Orcades" sailed from the western side of the bridge, and her funnel and mast seemed to only just scrape under the Harbour Bridge. I am sure there was plenty of room, however, and its closeness just an optical illusion. It was very beautiful sailing through the harbour at sunset time. The larger ships that we passed all blew their horns in salute and people in small sailing craft waved to us. The harbour absolutely sparkled as the red sunlight bounced off the red roof tiles of the beautiful homes along the foreshore, and danced across the wave tops. Sydney is indeed a beautiful city with a magnificent harbour, spanned as it is by the massive bridge.. I wonder when we will be seeing it again. Slowly the heads faded from view and we found ourselves in the open sea as darkness fell. It all suddenly seemed a little eerie and isolated. There was now just us, the ship, and the open sea. I thought "What are we getting ourselves into!". There was not much time for contemplation, however, as the Captain announced that there would be lifeboat drill in thirty minutes time. This was much fun and it gave us an opportunity to meet our neighbours, and when the drill was all over we gathered in the lounge for drinks until it was time to dress for dinner. When we booked our cruise we were told that the "Orcades" was a one class ship, but when we got on board, however, we discovered that there were two classes and us being the Riff Raff were not allowed into First Class at all. We did sneak a peek at the First Class lounge and dining room though, and decided it looked too poshy for us anyway. The food is very good, but very English with things like liver and bacon and devilled kidneys on the breakfast menu. Also something else called sweetbreads which is very suspicious, and not one of the things I wish to try. We get three full meals a day with a choice from menus that vary day by day, so nothing becomes too boring. There is always fruit to finish up with and often something called "greengage plums" for dessert. We have now been at sea for almost a week and all of us are anxious to get on some land again. The weather has been good and it was nice and balmy sailing through the islands of Indonesia. Occasionally we passed Asian fishing dhows but apart from those we have not seen any other vessel. Sometimes we see flying fish skipping and flying above the waves as our ship sails past. The crossing the equator ceremony was much fun with King Neptune looking like a soggy Santa Clause dressed in seaweed. Of course everyone anywhere near the pool got thrown in except those, like us, who were more cautious and stood well back. It will be good to get to Hong Kong because I intend buying a new camera there and we are both, hopefully, going to get ourselves new tailor made suits which I believe can be made up in a couple of days. That's about all the news for the moment. Will write again after Hong Kong.
P&O "Orcades". South China Sea. July, 1964 We are now cruising south somewhere in the South China sea, on our way to Singapore. The sea has settled down at last and one can now go to the restaurant without throwing up! Now I have my "sealegs" again I can get about and do normal things. The arrival in Hong Kong was quite an emotional experience. The harbour was absolutely crowded with every type of vessel that you could possibly think of. As were the hillsides surrounding the harbour crowded with every type of dwelling one could imagine, while central Hong Kong was dominated by towering skyscrapers. As we sailed through the harbour the ship was surrounded by small boats with lots of children begging for food and money to be thrown to them. The kids would dive into the filthy water to retrieve anything that was thrown - even sandwiches. Can you imagine being so desperate for food that you would eat a sandwich that was retrieved from a harbour that is polluted with everything one can imagine, including human body waste?. It was heartbreaking to see people so desperate to survive. It brought tears to my eyes, and Julie, the Spanish girl from the opposite cabin, seeing my predicament put her arms around me, and we both shed a few tears together. There was a lot more of that in the coming days. I guess it was the culture shock of actually being in a world so very different from the safe, comfortable world that I knew, that made it so difficult to handle. The city was overloaded with refugees that had managed to escape from communist China. As there was no accommodation for them in the city, they were living on the streets. As were walked to and fro from our ship we had to walk around them as they cooked their meals on little burners, and step over them as they slept on the footpaths when we returned to the ship at night. Hong Kong is a city of dramatic contrasts, with ultra modern high rise buildings everywhere, not far from shanty towns built upon the unstable earth of the hillsides. There are shops for the affluent, where every conceivable item from all corners of the world is for sale, and numerous street markets that cater for the less wealthy, but again have an extremely wide variety of cheap goods for sale. The different foods available at these markets is quite bizarre and often we cried out in horror "Do people here eat THAT!". It really makes you lose your appetite when you see some of the stuff that these people eat. In the three days we were there we went on a couple of group tours. One was a morning tour of Hong Kong island with a ride to the peak to view the city but it was too foggy to see much. After visiting a nice beach on the other side of the island, we finished up with lunch on a floating restaurant in Aberdeen, the floating village. We thought the multi course Chinese banquet was very good but the oldies with us were not too enthusiastic about it, especially the Sweet and Sour pork. The couple beside us would not touch theirs, so Noel and I ate theirs too. Aberdeen is a floating village in the harbour, with entire families living their lives in very small boats, called Sampans. We had a tour around the floating village in a sampan ourselves to get a closer look at it and from what we saw it made the old shacks around Mount Morgan look like absolute palaces. Still it is better than living on the streets. I guess as you can always throw a line over the side to catch a fish to eat - if you dare eat it coming out of such polluted water. The main city on Hong Kong island is called Victoria. Noel wanted to have a ride in a rickshaw there, so we hired ourselves a rickshaw each and had a mad, scary ride about the streets. I decided that it was definitely not my favourite means of transport. We hired a taxi one day and went to the Communist China border to get some pictures with my new camera, but when we got too close to the border guard post, the guards started walking towards us with rifles raised, so we quickly hurried back to the taxi and jumped in. The driver didn't want to go that close anyway and was pleased to be speeding away from the guards. On the way back he took us to a village in the New Territories, which was quite interesting. Of course it was rather ramshackle and very dirty with pigs, chooks and ducks everywhere, and ponds full of large goldfish, called carp. I guess they ate them. They seem to eat anything here. Maybe that's why there aren't too many dogs or cats around. The taxi driver also took us to a cemetery, where all the dead are buried standing up, because it takes up less room than the conventional way. We both had suits tailor made, which were ready in a couple of days. Back in Rocky it took a couple of months to get a suit made. We ate out at another two Chinese restaurants, one of our own choice in Victoria, and one with a tour group in Kowloon.(Kowloon is the major city on the mainland). Both were very good. When it came time to sail out of Hong Kong a big brass band arrived and played continuously until the "Orcades" departed. It was all very thrilling as the usual streamers were thrown and held until they were broken as the ship pulled away. It must have been a British brass band as they played all the traditional British band pieces, plus the "Maoris’ Farewell" and "Waltzing Matilda" for the Aussies. It was all very wonderful, but a little sad at the same time. That was the good news. The bad news was that we were going to sail into a typhoon. It was very eerie as we sailed through Hong Kong harbour, as now the harbour waters were completely deserted. All the big ships and little boats had tucked themselves into the typhoon shelters which were built about the harbour. They were like mini harbours artificially constructed by dumping masses of rock into the harbour and shaping them into protective walls. However we had no protective rock walls to hide behind and had to just sail on into the typhoon, hoping that the Captain knew what he was doing. We stayed on deck watching the strange sight of an empty harbour, until suddenly we heard sirens wailing all around us. It made us wonder what was going on and we turned and walked along until we could see what was ahead of us. There, approaching the ship, was what appeared to be a solid wall of water. The sky also had now grown very dark and sinister, and the wind began howling. We thought that maybe we should get somewhere more sheltered, and just made it, bursting through the lounge doors as the wall of water hit. From then on it was a, shall we say, rock'n rolling journey. Once out of the comparative shelter of Hong Kong harbour the high seas hit us. With the ship tossing about so much, we found that putting one's self between four walls tended to bring on a nauseous feeling, so we decided to try and find a sheltered place out on the deck. Eventually we found a spot on one of the upper decks that was sheltered, and faced the rear of the ship. While this alleviated the seasick symptoms it did nothing to boost our morale as we now faced the rear of the ship and could see the massive size of the on coming waves. The ship would ride over the top of a wave but then drop down into the following trough. It seemed to go down, and down, with the next wave building up behind it. When the rear of the ship was at the bottom of the trough the next on coming wave just rose up and up and seemed to tower above the little ship, as if about to swallow it. This ship had appeared to be huge when we boarded it, but out here in the wild ocean it suddenly seemed very small indeed. I wondered then at the wisdom of sheltering on the open deck. Maybe it was a case of ignorance is bliss where it was perhaps better to accept the sea sickness and retreat to the false security of the ship’s interior. That didn’t appeal however so we decided to stay there huddled under some canvas and await the impending disaster. (“Look the Beast in the eye, laddie, don’t run away from it!”). Somehow the ship always managed to rise above the waves and as evening approached we decided that it was time to return to our cabin and dress for dinner. This was not an easy exercise however with the cabin moving about in all directions. As we were going to the restaurant with the girls, Noel thought that it would be a good idea to go to the lowest deck first and watch the waves towering above us.(I think he wanted to frighten the girls). This was not a good idea, however, for while we were all standing at the back, a huge wave came crashing over the stern and swamped us, much to the dismay of the girls who all began screaming! We all then had to dash back to the cabins dripping wet, dry ourselves off and find something else to wear for dinner. The two lower decks were later closed off to passengers. Dinner that night was to be a special Chinese night, with a Chinese banquet dinner. However because of the rough conditions and the fact that a lot of the passengers were now seasick, the special dinner was postponed to a later date when we were away from of the influence of the storm. The four of us managed dinner okay, although everything kept sliding about the table. You had to grab your dinner plate and hold on to it or it would go flying across the table. The tables all had an edge barrier that could be raised in rough weather to stop things from sliding off. However it was still a little disconcerting having to chase one’s dinner all around the table!. That was to be my last meal for a couple of days as the dreaded seasickness hit the next day. Even Noel couldn't handle the rough conditions either and we both confined ourselves to the cabin, as, strangely, there was no nausea while lying in bed. It was just a little weird to watch the other bunks rising and falling for no apparent reason. Percy was okay and spent the days on deck as usual, but Clem, like us was suffering too. On the third day out, the conditions became a bit better and we ventured out later in the day. The ship was still rolling about a fair bit, but the dining room had decided to have the Chinese dinner that night. I made it as far as the dining table, took one look at all the sweet and sour pork, and other exotic dishes lying about and returned to my cabin. As much as I love Chinese food I thought now was not a good time to indulge. The next day I felt much better, although the ship was still heaving about a fair bit. I even attended an afternoon dance, but the heaving about of the ship made dancing rather difficult. We would be dancing up hill one moment, then down hill the next, all the time trying to stop from falling over or colliding with someone else which could result in everyone tumbling into a heap on the floor.. Thankfully conditions are now pretty much back to normal and we are now looking forward to our Singapore visit.
LETTERS 3, 4 & 5 (Singapore, Penang & Bombay)
P&O "Orcades". Bay of Bengal . 8th July 1964. Today is Wednesday and we have two days to go to Bombay. We are all in cabin F253(our cabin) listening to the record player and writing letters. Sue and Ann have just put their hair up, or something like that. Ann is sitting on Clem's bunk like someone's little old grandma with a thing wrapped around her head, and Sue's sitting on Percy's bunk. Clem has just entered and passed some funny remark and everyone is laughing. Clem is very quiet, easy to get along with and often reads his Bible. We think he is a Mormon. Our last stop was Penang which was very, very beautiful - a real tropical paradise. We hired a car and drove all around the island to see the beautiful copra and rubber plantations, fields of rice, cloves, nutmegs and all the lovely native villages, and beaches. We even stopped at an open air performance of a Chinese opera and everyone turned their gaze away from the opera and watched us as we walked in. Sue and Ann are both very attractive girls and get stared at wherever we go. First time ever I've been involved in doing a bit of scene stealing in a Chinese Opera!!.. When we got back to Georgetown(Penang's Capital) we were sitting exhausted on the steps of a bank after wandering about the very colourful shopping centre, when an old Malay gentleman smiled and came over to us. He was putting his wife into a Morris Minor parked nearby, and, seeing us there he decided to come over for a chat. He was an amazing fellow, with a white beard and turban. He asked us in perfect English how we liked Penang, introduced his wife to us, and told us about his sons - two in Sydney and one in England. He even offered to buy us drinks, chocolates, and a magazine. It was the first time any of the native people have offered to give us something. We had to decline however, as we had to get back to the boat. Singapore was very nice with lots of parks and gardens. Much more quiet than frantic Hong Kong. It really had that English colonial look with lots of fine old British type buildings. We had drinks in the famous Raffles Hotel and visited the Tiger Balm Gardens which had monkeys running around all over the place. We were there on a Sunday, but a lot of the shops were open, and of course Change Alley was in full swing. I bought a transistor phonoradio for 20 pounds. All the main buildings in both Singapore and Penang had armed guards at them, and everywhere the new flag of Malaysia was flying. It appears that Singapore, once a British colony has just become part of Malaysia. However, the thing that Noel and I will remember most about Singapore was the beautiful fillet steak meal we had there. The cooking on the ship is very good, but very English and we were both dying for a steak, so we picked out a restaurant, found fillet steak on the menu(with all kinds of other exotic dishes) and chanced it. What we got was one about 1 inch thick, served on a sizzling plate, with a side salad, and it was absolutely delicious!. All is well. I have a slight cold but have four girls to look after me. One of them is Julie, a Spanish girl, and calls me "her best darling" - (pronounced "darhleeng")
Sunday,12th July. Arabian Sea. I am as usual, sitting on the sun-deck and writing. I think I must hold the letter writing record, as I have written or sent post cards to just about everyone. I received a letter from Pat Fitz. yesterday in Bombay. Gee! I was thrilled. I don't know how she found out where to send it to. I hope you had a nice evening at Queenie and Linda's. You probably won't believe it but I have just been to Church. I went along to the all denominational service with Sue. I wore my new suit and new Hong Kong Italian shoes. It was held by the Captain in the First Class lounge. Yesterday we arrived in Bombay. What a place! All agreed that it was THE PITS!. Sue, Noel and I hired a taxi for three hours and he took us around everywhere. Ann would have come too, but she had to ring up her boyfriend in Australia to wish him a Happy Birthday, and to break it off between them. (some"Happy Birthday" for him!). The driver spoke very good English, and was very anxious to please us and look after our welfare. He really showed us Bombay as it is - and did our eyes pop out! We saw the overcrowded slums, the grim Towers of Silence where the dead are left on towers to be eaten by the ever hovering vultures.( and did we see them eating someone ? - yes!.) We visited the Jain Temple - a Hindu Temple where everyone was worshipping all around us and ringing bells as we walked shoeless among them. We saw the impressive Gate of India and the Taj Mahal hotel, and an Indian washing station where the elders of a certain class did washing in open air wells and banged the clothes against the sides to get rid of excess moisture. We drove slowly through Grant Street, a red light area, where the women display themselves in sort of cages, and visited the cremation pits of the Hindus where all the dead are burnt. We had a good look at the city, such as it was,(although Sue said she was feeling slightly ill). Everywhere we stopped, people(women, old men, children and limbless people) would gather round us asking for money. The driver warned us at the beginning of the tour not to give them anything as it would make the situation worse, and possibly be dangerous for us, as they may mob the car. (Sue was always reluctant to leave the safety of the car).The driver said "If it is necessary to pay anyone, I will tell you." As it happened the only place we had to pay anything was at the Temple.(1/6). We dined at an Indian restaurant for lunch and afterwards wandered around the main shopping centre. The driver warned us not to stray into other shopping centres as they are "bad places for Europeans, especially when you have a beautiful young lady with you." he added looking at Sue and smiling. Sue, however, did not smile back as she had only one expression now - Worried! Even in the restaurant where we had lunch we were taken to an upstairs room, because the main dining area contained only men, who just stared at Sue. Even what was the main city shopping area had no Europeans, just masses of Indians who stared at us. Kids followed us around everywhere asking for money, and street merchants also followed us trying to sell us something. One chap came up beside Noel brandishing a ring saying "Buy nice ring for finger sar ". Noel quickly folded his fingers and made a fist of one hand and held it up saying "Sorry! No fingers!"..Apparently India has been going downhill since they gained independence in 1948 and is full of corruption. The police get their main income from bribes as their wages are far too small to sustain them and their families. We witnessed a near riot, and a fight between a cop and an Indian. Another thing I'll remember is the birds. No nice little birds like back home - only crows, vultures and kites, all carrion birds, although we did see masses of pigeons. The crows of Bombay are like sparrows to a normal city. The streets have cows all over the place, also goats and the main type of conveyance is a type of handsome cab drawn by a horse. I haven't mentioned the smell yet! Well it is a mixture of burning, sewage, rotting garbage and incense. Alcohol is prohibited throughout the country, though it is possible,(so our taxi driver told us) to get it on the black market - for a price!.. We drank Coke!..In the afternoon we got sick of walking about being harassed and stared at, so we found an English cinema and decided to go to the movies. Unlike the rest of Bombay, it was clean and modern. The movie was good and the Indian adverts hilarious. However it was a bit embarrassing at first, because after the commercials were on, some funny music began to play. We were sitting in the front row of the dress circle and I heard a shuffling behind as the music began, but took no notice. About half way through the music I happened to glance behind us and saw all the Indian people were standing up. Hurriedly I leant over to Noel and Sue and said "Quick,quick, stand up!". "Why!" said Noel. "Because it's their National Anthem! That's why!" said I. Now from what we had seen during the day, the last thing we wanted was to offend these people. In a panic we stood up quickly and kept our fingers crossed. Fortunately no one took offence. I think they are be more tolerant of foreigners that one thinks. Going back to the ship at night we walked along arm in arm singing all the way. I guess the Indians thought we were just mad foreigners. It was raining lightly too, as it had been for most of the day. We probably felt in a better mood as the city didn’t look quite as bad at night, and there were no vultures circling above our heads....On Wednesday morning we arrive in Aden for a few hours and then we head for Suez, where we are scheduled to arrive on Saturday morning. While the ship sails through the Sues canal, we are going on an overland trip through Egypt to Cairo, and the Pyramids..................................
Monday 20th July,1964 Mediterranean Sea (Cairo)
We are now sailing through the beautiful calm waters of the Mediterranean Sea under a cloudless blue sky. The fierce heat of the Red Sea has gone and the weather now is perfect. Everyone is up on deck sitting in the sun. On Wednesday we reach Marseilles. Last Saturday we toured Cairo, saw the Pyramids and the Sphinx, visited the fantastic Cairo Museum, and then drove the hundred odd miles to meet the ship at Port Said, as it comes out of the canal. We actually passed the "Orcades" as it was sailing through the canal, when we were in the coach going to Pt Suez. It cost 7,000 pounds for the ship to go through the canal. Cairo wasn't much. We did not go to the Hilton for lunch as we were supposed to because there was a political conference being held there. We went instead to a lesser hotel for lunch which was not terribly good, except for the watermelon which we ate lots of. Afterwards, wandering through the very crowded markets, we were followed everywhere by a man with a small piano on his back. Every time we stopped to look at something he would put the piano down and begin playing. He was driving us mad. Noel kept saying "Go away, you horrible little man!" - but he kept following!. Guess he didn't understand English. In the end we (Noel & I & the girls), decided to run for it, and dashed madly through the crowded markets, figuring it would be difficult for him to follow us running with a piano on his back. We managed to lose him - and ourselves, as well. Being lost in a crowded market in Cairo is not the ideal situation to be in, but we eventually managed to find our way out again...Have you had letters from me at every port? We have no idea if our letters are reaching their destinations. You should have received letters from me posted at Hong Kong, Singapore, Penang, Bombay and Aden. I'll be very sour if the letters that I have been writing to everyone have gone astray. We were told that it is quite the usual thing for letters to get lost in the "system". Someone told us that they get stolen for the stamps! Anyway my temporary address in London will be care of The Overseas Visitors Club, Kangaroo House, Earl's Court, London. I am very anxious to get some news from home…….
A Post Script....We are planning a party for Clem and the two Spanish girls, Amelia and Julia, who leave us at Marseilles. Sue is very anxious to get home as she has been away for two years and her mother isn't very well. Did I tell you that she was with her brother in Singapore? She was very upset when we were leaving. Ann is travelling with Sue and is going home with her. Noel and I are invited to her home one weekend. Her parents have a home in Surrey.. Everyone is getting a bit tired of the boat as we have been on it for over three weeks. However the thrill of reaching England is now becoming more evident - and we still have some interesting places to see.
Letter 6 - (London)
Overseas Visitors Club,
Kangaroo House,
Earl's Court, London.
Wed. July 1964.
Well at last we are here! Note the new address above. Can you believe it! After five weeks travelling across a multitude of seas, and three oceans, sailing through a typhoon and an Indian monsoon, we have arrived in London. Actually I would have written sooner but there's been a postal strike here and all mail is hopelessly behind and people have been asked not to post anything for a while. I am lying on my bed here at the O.V.C. wearing only shorts. Outside the birds are singing in the beautiful green trees and the sun is shining. I know it sounds quite commonplace to you but after being on the ship for five weeks sharing a small cabin, with nowhere to go, London seems the ultimate paradise - and contrary to what I expected, it is really beautiful. Especially with the sunshine! There are trees in all the streets and the only fog we had was in the English Channel.(it held us up for a few hours). Although the buildings are very, very old, they have a distinct charm about them. The first night here we went to see Margie Thomas and tonight we are going around to have dinner with Isobel. We had messages waiting from both of them when we arrived at the club. The O.V.C. is an excellent place and we have a beaut room for only one pound a night. Meals are first class and cheap. Breakfast is only 3 shillings and sixpence and three course dinners 6shillings and 5 pence. The main club building is quite modern and has everything, and I would recommend the O.V.C. to anyone. The big news from us now is that we have got ourselves a flat. We are both tickled pink about it as it is just what we wanted. It is in a good district called Hampstead. Is reasonable rental at 8guineas a week, roomy with a kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. It is handy to the tube station, and only takes about 10 mins. to be in the centre of London, and has two funny old ladies as our land ladies. One of them teaches the harp and their living room is full of old harps and a grand piano. Noel reckons he could talk them into having a few parties! Flats in London are very hard to get, and you've got to be quick. We have been trying since we got here, but we were always too late, or the flat did not suit us. The only thing against this one was that it didn't have a fridge.(most British homes don't it seems!). We mentioned this to them and they looked at each other in puzzlement until one said "Oh! It's one of those electric things." They seemed to like us however, especially the fact that we were Australians, and they said they would see what they could do about getting one for us, and would phone us back that afternoon. The phone call came later that day to say they had one, and that the rent would be the same. The flat even comes with a phone, so now we are moving in tomorrow. Gee! we have done some walking since our arrival. To see the city we just board the train at the Earl's Court tube station and get off at one of the number of city stations, and start walking. No matter whatever direction you walk there is always something interesting to see. Yesterday we got off at Charing Cross, walked along to Trafalgar Square with its pigeons, fountains and Nelson's Column, and then walked a bit more and found ourselves facing this terrifically big arch. We ogled it a bit and then Noel said "Hey! that looks an impressive building at the end of the street". I said "Gee! you know I think I've seen that before." "Let's go and look at it!" said Noel, so off we went. The "street" turned out to be The Mall, and the "building" at the end was Buckingham Palace, and of course the "big arch" was Marble Arch which adorns the entrance to The Mall. As it happened we arrived at the Palace as they were getting ready for the changing of the guard. Naturally we stayed and saw it all. It was beaut with lots of marching and bands playing, but it was rather crowded with thousands of tourists and a movie outfit that kept cruising about with a camera mounted on top of their van. We are going back again as soon as we can. Before the changing of the guard ceremony the band of the Grenadier Guards played selections from "South Pacific" for the waiting crowd. It was mighty! and they broke away from tradition by playing one off the numbers real jazzy. Noel said "It's easy to see the Queen's not home!" A few of the people around us overhead what he said and laughed. Later on he asked a Grenadier Guard where he bought his Beatles wig from. The guard was not amused. We reckon that the Grenadier Guards were the original Beatles................
Thursday...We moved into our flat this morning. Both of us are jubilant about it! We had a mighty night at Isobel's last night. She cooked us a beaut tea oops! dinner - we're in England now. At first she was the only one there, then one by one the other girls, that she shares with, came home. She shares the flat with 4 others. The first one came home about 8.30, walked in and said "Are these your two Australians! Aren't they gorgeous!" Afraid I'm not used to anyone talking like that and got rather embarrassed. Another one said "Don't they talk wonderfully. And look at those suntans!" Her flatmates were terribly English - a bit on the poshy side really. Chelsea, where their flat is, is a high class area. They were in stitches laughing at our slang expressions that we unconsciously use - though I suspect Noel was slinging a few in deliberately, to egg them on. I'll have to write you later about these girls. One of the girls has a car, so they all drove us home, which was much fun. Isobel looks really well, but now talks too English.(and does NOT use any slang terms!) The weather is still real beaut. We shopped in shorts and scuffs this morning. I was quite thrilled to receive two letters from you. Since my last letter to you, we have had a day in the French Port of Marseilles, which was very nice, and very French. Everywhere on the waterfront there were little cafes and restaurants with outside tables with umbrellas that said "Cinzano". The city was much more civilised than most of the ones we have visited recently. We continued cruising the Med. until we came to Gibraltar where we spent another day. It is a little British outpost that is really in Spain and apparently the Spanish would like it back. But the Brits won't let them have it. It looks sort of English, with a few English Pubs that serve English beer. We thought we would try some real English pub beer and went in to one. After the first couple of mouthfuls of our tepid "pint of bitter", Noel pronounced it "undrinkable lukewarm dishwater", and we ordered two bottles of COLD lager. Later we took a tour about "The Rock" which was interesting, especially the monkeys that jump about the rocks. The saying is that if the monkeys ever disappear from the Rock, so will the British. The Brits make it their business to keep a watchful eye on the monkeys to make sure nothing ever happens to them!. Whoever owns the Rock also owns the gateway to the Mediterranean. After we left Gibraltar the weather began to cool off and, as I said, fog held us up in the Channel. We were a bit concerned that the fog and the dreary cool weather was a foretaste of things to come. Happily that was not the case. Must go now. We have our new flat to set up, and things to go out and buy to put in our new "electric thing"(called a "Fridge" in Australia!).
Letters 7 & 8
146 King Henry's Road,
Hampstead. N.W.3
London. Tues.4th Aug. 1964.
Well, we are now settled in to our new flat, with the address above. At the moment we are having coffee, after having returned home from the local theatre where we saw the new Beatles movie "A Hard Days Night". We were too late to go into the city, so, as we had decided to have a night out tonight, we wandered up to the Odeon, one of two theatres in Swiss Cottage. Swiss Cottage is our suburb now (as we moved into our flat on Thursday) and already we feel like we are becoming Londoners. We went walking last night, in our shorts, sports shirts and no shoes, intending to only walk as far as Regents Park, but as it was such a beautiful night, we kept walking and ended up almost at Oxford Circus in the city. We got a few funny looks from people(I don't know why!) and four people even asked us for directions. We tried to help them, but realised, too late, we sent one fellow off in the wrong direction. Altogether, last night, we reckon we walked about five miles. That's how it goes. We walk and we walk. There's so much to see. It is absolutely fantastic. And London is so very, very beautiful. So different from what I expected. You should see the trees, they're everywhere so lush and so green, and there's parks and gardens everywhere too. Last weekend(bank holiday weekend),we went down to Sue's and had Sunday and Monday at their farm in Surrey.(40 miles south of London). Actually, Sue's father only manages the farm for some people in London who they rarely see. You should see the farm "house"!.It is a large, beautiful rambling two story brick mansion. We went walking about the farm and the countryside and all I can say is it is very different from the farms back home. Everything is so lush and green, and the trees so big and neat looking. The farm house was reached through a long driveway with huge oak trees on both sides and their thick foliage above. Sue's mother talks awfully English like, and we all had a good laugh at each others accents. She says "Yaahs" for years. We say "Ye-yahs". Every time we open our mouths here someone laughs and says "You're Aussies!" The girls all say "For Heavens sake, don't get like these terrible English men!" I am not quite sure what they mean, but I guess I will find out. Gee! the men wear their hair rather long. We have even seen some men with hair like women, right down to their shoulders. It looks awful! Anyway, Sue's mother is really terrific. She cooked us a roast beef with Yorkshire pudding for Sunday dinner. When we had it on the ship Sue said "You will have to come down for the weekend and taste my mum's Yorkshire pudding." Well, we did, and it was very nice indeed and a good extra thing to have with roast beef. Ann has gone touring on the Continent for five or six weeks with a couple of other girls from the ship. Sue has to go into hospital next week to have her tonsils taken out. They caused her to be quite sick on the last week of the voyage. I have taken some black and white pictures of us, so when I get the prints done I will send some home. It's funny how you meet people. Walking it the city to-day we saw four people from the "Orcades". Noel got to know practically everyone(in our Riff Raff class) and most of the crew. Most of the passengers are going touring on the Continent for six to eight weeks. Isobel, too, is off this weekend for five or six weeks. Margie Thomas has gone to Scotland for five weeks. We figured, though, that we have had enough travelling for a while. With too much of it one cannot appreciate things properly and a city, or another country, becomes just another place. We are quite happy in London. The weather is beautiful with the sun shining brightly every day, and the nights are absolutely wonderful. During the day the temperature "soars" to about 75 degrees (24C) and all the talk here is about the "heat wave" and the "dry spell" - it hasn't rained for two weeks! We have now hired a T.V. for 11 shillings a week, and with our new fridge and our nice T.V. we think we are the "ants pants"..We thought the T.V. hire fee was quite cheap and it will actually save us pounds as a night out in the city costs from 1 to 2 pounds for the two of us. Everything to do with T.V. is quite cheap here compared with Aust. A good set only costs about 85 pounds, and T.V. rentals start at 6 shillings a week.(though there is a higher initial cost). We get three channels, B.B.C. 1 & 2, and I.T.V.9. During the bank holiday weekend we watched the "battle of Hastings" on T.V. in which England's "Flying Bobbies" rushed to reinforce other police battling with the Mods and Rockers in the seaside resort town of Hastings. Did I tell you that our lounge and bedroom were both carpeted with open fireplaces in each, as well as electric heaters. All the rooms are light and airy with terrifically big windows which have full length curtains that pull across when necessary. There is hot water in both the bathroom and kitchen, and the bathroom even has a shower. It is a hand shower that rests on a cradle like a telephone. Talking about telephones, we also have our own and if you ring London and ask for Primrose 2052, you will get us. How about that eh!. We have even had a few phone calls from the girls and people we know from the ship. We are thinking about jobs now, but are in no big hurry. There seems to be plenty about, and any amount of casual jobs available. We thought we would allow ourselves two weeks in London sight seeing. Our number one concern was to find a place to stay, and so maybe next week we will get ourselves some work of some sort. Noel wants to take a casual job until school starts again in September. (it's summer holiday time here). There's still much to tell you about London - where we've been, what we've seen, the English people, Swiss Cottage, our shopping expeditions, cooking, doing the washing at the Laundromat, shopping in the Automat and riding in "the Tube", so I guess I had better start another letter right away to tell you about it! I haven't written to anyone else yet from London. Haven't had time.
Monday. Aug 10th. 1964 I hope all my letters have been arriving. I have written two since my arrival in London. If any of the gang are asking about me tell them that I will get around to writing soon. If they feel like dropping me a line, please give them my address. The trouble is we have been so dashed busy since our arrival, I haven't had time to write to anyone, except you - for I knew that you would worry if you hadn't heard from me. Like my last letter, I am writing after the movies, as we have just come home after seeing "It's a Mad, Mad,Mad,Mad World" in seamless Cinerama. There are just so many cinemas and theatres and just so much to see and do here, that we hardly know where to start. The array of movies and plays is fantastic. We saw one movie in Piccadilly that screens all around the audience - all 360degrees of it. The audience stands in the centre of the theatre and can turn around and watch it from any angle. We found it rather confusing. The movie to-night was fantastic - and the theatre- Wow!. Last weekend was very busy with friends dropping in and us going on numerous sightseeing trips around London. We found the cheapest way to travel and see London is to buy what they call a "Red Rover" bus ticket for 6/-, which gives us unlimited travel on the London buses for one day. We just get on a double decker (upstairs, front seat) and away we go! London covers a huge area, about 900 square miles - at least that's the area that the buses cover. One can travel on the network of bus routes almost indefinitely. We have been to some wonderful places, and met some very nice people. One dear lady that we met on the bus on Sunday(she had a Red Rover too) guided us via the buses to the southern part of London where the country side can be seen. It was some of the prettiest country that we have ever seen. We are also learning about the cheapest, and nicest places to eat. You would be absolutely amazed at the way we are now watching our pennies. We now avoid the posh eating places, and are learning how to find the wonderful, warm friendly cheaper eating places that the English are noted for. The pubs here are nice and friendly and serve very good meals for a very good price - it's just that they serve rotten beer! One of our favourite places to go is the Airport. We love to go there and watch the huge big jets come in from all over the world. We just missed seeing Jackie Kennedy last week. The terminals are absolutely breathtaking, and are actually self contained glittering cities in themselves. The food is reasonable too. We have to watch our diet here as sweet things are extremely cheap, with quite a range of mouth watering items to pick from. You can buy fully iced cakes of all sorts, filled with cream and strawberries for less than 2 shillings. We had strawberry and apple tarts for dinner tonight which cost only 8 pence each. What we really like is English do-nuts(no hole in the middle), which have strawberry jam inside them and then we smother them in double strength Devonshire cream and devour them. They cost 2 to 4 pence each. Vegetables are cheap, with potatoes only 3pence a pound, peas 6pence a pound, carrots 6pence and mushrooms. - boy oh boy! the mushrooms! We can buy a packet for 1 shilling, and we eat them with everything. Meat is the major problem here as it is very expensive. We refuse to buy steak on principal as it is far too dear. Rump is 10 shillings a pound. Pork chops are 5/6, Mince is 4/6, Corned Beef 5/6. Sausages are the cheapest at 2/- to 3/- a pound. Chicken, however, is the cheapest with a medium one costing only 8/- and they are very plentiful. Eggs we can buy for 2/- a dozen. Fish is also cheap. Living in London can be cheap if one knows where to go and we are learning fast. Today we found a terrific shop in West Croydon, where for some unknown reason prices are very low. I bought a long sleeve shirt Italian style for 13/-. Long play records we can buy for 9/- upwards. Original Broadway shows cost only 15/6(52/6 back home)(2pounds 12 shillings and 6pence)...........Thursday. I wasn't able to finish this on Sunday, I'm afraid. Your very welcome letter arrived this morning. I didn't get the one from Maroochydore though. It may be over at the Club. I'll go over on my way home from the city as I am going in this morning because I got word to say that there is possibly a draftsman's job for me. I put my name down with a senior technical employment service that specialises in finding jobs for draftsmen so they must have one available. Noel has to wait two weeks for school to start and he is looking around for something too. Actually there is no shortage of jobs available and I am thinking of looking for something on the photographic side. However if this drafting job looks okay, I will probably take it. The weather is still beautiful. Both of us are very fit and well.
Letter 9. We Find Jobs
146 King Henry's Road. Hampstead. NW3. London. Aug 15th .Today is Saturday, and I am taking the opportunity of a few moments inactivity to start this letter. Actually we have been very busy(as always) this morning, and are feeling quite pleased with ourselves. The reason is because we did our shopping at Camden Town this morning at the markets. Up until now we have been shopping at Swiss Cottage, hunting like mad for the bargains, but now we've been wised up to the fact that Swiss Cottage is one of the posh areas of London and goods are priced accordingly. A friend told us that if we shop at the nearby Camden Town markets on a Saturday morning we will be able to get things much cheaper. So this morning we hopped on a bus, paid a 6penny fare and landed in Camden Town with a big overnight bag to see what we could get. Well, we were amazed! Here's all these open wagons all down the streets, and crowds of people everywhere. There was everything you could think of for sale, but most importantly for us, lots of stalls full of high quality fruit and vegetables, with prices well below what we were paying in Swiss Cottage. Meat was also cheaper with a wide selection to choose from. It was absolutely crowded with people. The result was that we did our entire shopping for the week for a total of 3 pounds - far less than it cost us before. Now the big news! I have a job!. I begin working next week as a Film Laboratory Technician with Humphries Film Laboratories in the heart of London. How about that eh! During the training period the wage is 12 pounds a week which is pretty reasonable by English standards....INSERT: Barry is not being strictly honest with his mother here, as there has been a glaring omission. This job is actually the second job that he had. What he has forgotten to tell his mother should read something like this - "As we were getting concerned about our dwindling money supply we thought that we should get some casual work. Noel said "Let's be builder's labourers!" . Now Noel is always a source of bright ideas of what to see and do. This, however, was not one of them!. I agreed with him and said "Okay!" This was probably one of the worst decisions that I have ever made!. There was a building site not far away in St John's Wood, in fact within walking distance, so we applied and got jobs there to begin the next morning. We fronted up at 7am, were given shovels, and told where to go and what to do. It was a rather large site and I was put with one gang digging out earth for the foundations. Noel was put elsewhere on the site. My gang consisted of several men, one being a large black man. With my first attempt to dig the shovel in and remove some earth I realised that this was all a very bad idea. How was I going to survive the day I wondered?. I decided that I wouldn't! I could, however, bring the calamity forward by working harder. A fatal heart attack, or something similar would be a blessing, so I really got into that earthy clay. "Hey, man!" said my black companion "don't work so hard!". I didn't reveal my secret agenda to him and just gave him a nod and a very weak smile. The whole day became a blur of physical punishment. One incident I do remember involved a wheel barrow full of wet cement and a long plank. I was supposed to wheel the barrow full of cement down the plank, then stop, and pour it into the trench below. As soon as I picked up the handles of the barrow and proceeded to the end goal, I knew that there was no way I was going to be able stop at the end. Me and the wheelbarrow of cement were going to hurtle off the edge of the plank and, with an almighty splat, end up in the foundations of that house, where, some day in the future, some genteel English family would be sipping their tea unaware of the grisly secret lying buried in the foundations. The site foreman, however, realising what was going to happen, jumped up and grabbed the wheelbarrow, just before I was about to hurtle over the edge. I was then confined to digging only for the rest of the day. Somehow I managed to survive, despite my attempts to do otherwise, and clocked off with the others at knock off time. My memory then becomes rather hazy. I do remember struggling to make it home with aches in every muscle of my body - even ones I didn't know I had. On the way I passed a paper stall and suddenly the thought occurred that I was not really builder's labourer material, and that I should look for something else, so I bought a copy of "The Evening Standard". Once home I filled the bath with hot water and collapsed into it, hoping that it would work a miracle, and restore my pain wracked body to something more bearable. Noel arrived home later sore, but unrepentant, and said that he would be going back to the site the next day.(he lasted one more day). There was no way that I would be coached back to work on that site. I would, however, go in with him to resign and collect my day's wages, as I figured that I had earned them. There was no argument from the manager and I got my money. In the paper that I had bought the previous evening there was a job advertised for a "Film Laboratory Technician". As for that building site, well I forgot exactly where it was, except that it was in Abbey Road, St John's Wood. A year or so later that address became associated with the Beatles and their new recording studio.... I Wonder!!!. Return now to Barry's less than truthful letter........ I was in line for a couple of other jobs too. One was a drafting job at Maidenhead in South London, and the other was that of an engineering photographer with a firm in West London. Both said that they would let me know, but I don't want them now anyway. I have always dreamed of working in the movie business, so this was my opportunity. If I want to make a change in my life, now is the time now to do it. We went down to visit Sue in hospital on Friday night. Her mother was there too and she said "It's about time you two came down to visit us again!" - so we are going down again next Sunday. Last Sunday Ann and two other girls left for the Continent, so Noel and I saw them off at Victoria Station. They caught the night ferry to Paris and would be there the following morning. I think Ann would have preferred to have stayed in London for a while, as she seemed to envy the way Noel and I have settled in here. One of the girls she went with just got engaged to one of the officers on the ship. They have their passage booked to Rome, and expect to be away about six weeks. Isobel has left for Spain, and expects to be away about six weeks also...Wednesday. Sorry I didn't get this finished sooner, but what with cooking, washing, ironing, general house keeping and tripping about, time soon goes. Yes, we now have an iron and Noel is always amused at the way I do the ironing. It's okay for him, he has had previous experience, but I am a raw beginner! Well, I am now working again and I am writing this in my lunch hour. Humphries is the biggest film laboratory in London, and the biggest independent Lab in Europe. I began yesterday and am part of a four man team that operates machines that treat and clean movie film. I will be operating a machine, worth about 8,000 pounds Aust., that cleans film by using ultra sonic sound. The department has three of them, almost brand new, and only recently installed. The section has just switched over to these machines as they do cleaning more efficiently than the old ones which ran the film through a series of brush type rollers. I work in a white lab coat with a pair of scissors in the pocket, and feel like Ben Casey! Most of the jokers here wear white shirts and ties too. The fellows that I work with are really good guys and I get along real well with our section head, a young married man with a baby boy. Yesterday I did nothing but push three buttons and flick a switch. Today I have been doing some operating. The work is easy, and the hours good. - 8am to 5pm. with an hour and a quarter for lunch and a half hour each for morning and afternoon tea. So, really, I probably do less work here than I did at M.M.Ltd..Noel has a temporary job until he starts school in three weeks time. He is working in a coffee bar near the Bank of England, and he has his school fixed up too. He will be teaching in a R.C. school, not far from where we live. My job, as well, is not far to go from our flat. I just walk up the road a bit and catch the tube to Regents Park station, then it is a short walk to Humphries. Quite convenient really! So you see we are really well set up, and things could hardly be better.
THE POSTCARD showing Trafalgar Square & Humphries Lab.
Friday 21st August, 1964. Dear Mum, Just thought I would drop you a postcard to let you know how thrilled I am with everything. Things could hardly be better. I guess, most of all, I am happy with my job and my work mates. I've been there four days, and yet I have been accepted completely by them, and although I am a trainee, I am doing the work now and haven't messed anything up yet. I feel so completely in my element. Bob Megginson, one of the guys said "It's so easy to explain things to you Barry, you seem to understand what I'm talking about!" Just think! All that dabbling about with photography and movies at home has been worthwhile. Another thing is that I can move about the various departments at Humphries and learn things. They handle feature movies, commercials, documentaries, all gauges of film stock - like 8mm, 16mm and the big 35mm that the feature movies are shot on. I feel as if the horizon is unlimited now. It is just what I wanted. With luck, when I get back home to Australia, I might be able to get a job in the growing Aussie film industry or with television. I can't help comparing my new work mates with my old ones. What a shame Stan can't have guys like this to work with. English people are exceptionally nice and appear to have a soft spot for the Aussies. I'll write more later about everything. At the moment I feel as if I can fly................
Letters 10 & 11 : Ann in Trouble
London. Saturday, Aug 29th. 1964 Your letter arrived this morning, as did one from Vern. Naturally I was doubly pleased. Two letters from Australia in the one day - Wow!. I read them over a cup of coffee with the sunshine streaming through the window. Noel had gone to work(he works until 12 on Saturdays)so I was on my own. Not that it mattered as I had a busy morning tidying up, running the carpet sweeper over the carpets, trotting off to the bank at Swiss Cottage to open up an account, and doing the washing at the Laundromat. An interesting thing happened there. I was standing at the entrance soaking up the sunshine, when this chap, who was also waiting for his washing, came up and said "How are things down under?" Not having said anything to anyone there, I wondered how he knew and asked him so. "Easy" he said "I spent some time in your country, and can tell an Aussie anywhere!" We stood talking for some time until his machine clicked off and he collected his washing and hurried off to catch a bus. Somehow I felt it was quite a compliment to be picked for an Aussie, and it does happen frequently. I think I said before that English people seem to have a soft spot for Aussies and once they know we're Aussies they drop their cold indifferent front and chat away merrily. Maybe it is a class thing. Perhaps they regard us as classless. Maybe it is to do with all the help we gave them in W.W.2.. A lot of Aussie pilots, and air crew, lost their lives in the Battle of Britain. Generally, we go into a shop to ask for something, and the moment either of us says something, the face behind the counter lights up and says "You're Aussies!". Shopping at the Camden Town Markets, after lunch today it happened and we got extra weight with everything we ordered. I guess compared to the aloof, arrogant Europeans we seem pretty easy going and friendly to the Brits, and there's none of the class nonsense with us either. They don't like the Americans though! We found out that our land ladies had previously refused to rent their flat to a guy because he was American. The weather continues to be perfect. Sunny and warm, though everyone here is talking about the "heat wave". The newspaper carried a headline "Hottest Day in Three Years - Temperature Soars to 85degrees" and then carried stories of how the heat was affecting people. I am getting on like a bushfire at work, and am mates with everyone. During the lunch break I either go along with John(the boss) or Mike. One day last week John and I just went walking, and he showed me all the things of interest near where we work. One of the things he pointed out to me was the damaged buildings, and how the bomb scars have been patched up. He also showed me holes and cracks in the pavement caused by incendiary bombs. In many places in London it is even still possible to see bombed out ruins. As for Mike, well he is about my age(John is 38) and is nuts on cameras, and wants me to go down to Epping Forest, where he lives, to meet his wife. During one of our lunchtime meanders, we saw my Topcon camera in a shop in Oxford Street priced at 206 pounds. How about that! I bought it in Hong Kong for 58 pounds. By the way, you asked about Customs. Luckily I got the Topcon through easily. I just had it slung over my shoulder, and the customs man asked me if I intended taking it out of the country when I left, and of course I answered yes, and he let me through without even looking in my suitcases. He did ask me though, if I was THE tennis player. I did not have a clue who he thought I was, so maybe that helped me through anyway. Bob said that I could have been charged about 150 pounds duty on the Topcon. However I was not so lucky on the luggage that was in the ship's hold that came through later and I was charged 20 pounds duty on the phonoradio, projector and flash unit. This is reclaimable if I leave the country within twelve months. You asked about our shipmates. Well, Ann and Jeannie, and another girl from the ship are touring Europe. Ann has sent us postcards from Paris and Monaco. Both the girls have left their excess baggage with us, and all Ann's mail comes to us to await her return. Ann says we're the best brothers she ever had! Not long ago after we settled into our flat, the three girls went off on a tour of Europe, which became a disaster, and Ann arrived back in London with nowhere to go, so we put her up for the night. As she is not very tall she curled up happily on the sofa. "What happened in Germany?" we asked her. "Well you see, it's like this! " she said "We bought these scooters for ten pounds each, intending to ride them to Italy, but we didn't get out of Dusseldorf, where we bought them. Jan hit a post with hers, Jeannie fell off hers and it chased her down the road, mine wouldn't start, and when it did, it ran out of petrol on a bridge. It was awful! Everyone spoke only German and couldn't understand a word we said, so we decided to come back, especially after the policeman was rude to us!" Why was he rude to you?" we asked. "He asked us for our license." she said. "Didn't you show him?". "We only had car licences - not motor scooter licences!". Now that is typical Ann. They are lucky that the "rude" policeman let them off so easily!. Anyway, they have now reorganised themselves and have once again set off for their tour of Europe - without the scooters! Another "Orcades" friend is coming for tea on Monday night. His name is Bruce Smith and he comes from Brisbane. He came over with his parents and sister, who are off on a world tour. Bruce, however, just wanted to come as far as London and get a job here. He is now working in a camera shop in Oxford Street for 8 pounds a week. I hope Darryl made a good job of the bathroom wiring. Tell him I would like to hear from him. See if you can get some news of the gang for me. . Tuesday I am sitting in the park opposite Humphries in the sunshine as it is now my lunch break. The weather is amazing! Everyone keeps saying that we have brought the sunshine with us. On Sunday we went to Brighton, London's "beach" to see what it was like. It was a pitiful excuse for a beach! No surf, no swimmers, no sand, only pebbles, but crowded with people sitting in deckchairs. There were, however, big amusement arcades everywhere. The younger people are very depressing. They just sit on the beach in their hundreds and do nothing. Back in Aussie, the young people are neatly dressed and race about yelling and laughing. Here it is so very different. If they do decide to do something, it is to break a window or overturn a car. Many of the boys have hair down to their shoulders. Bruce came for tea last night. Noel cooked a beautiful chook with the works. Bruce's family are settling down in a place called Rye, on the south coast of England. I thought they were touring around, but they decided to stay in England for a while.(must be the delightful weather!) We are all going down when they get their house. Bruce is a keen photographer, and said that the scenery there is colossal. Ann and the girls arrived back from the Continent on Sunday. They ran out of money! They have got themselves a flat in Earl's Court and are now chasing jobs. We have been to the theatre three times so far. We saw "The Black and White Minstrel Show", "How to Succeed as a Tourist in the U.S.A." and "Salad Days"."Salad Days" was a revival playing in one of the suburbs. There's so much to see, we hardly know where to start. The big lavish musical "Camelot" has just opened in the West End. Did I tell you that I got offered another job? I was selected out of nine other candidates for a photographic lab job, but I declined as I like where I am too much. The pay was about the same. I went for the interview just before the Humphries job came up.
.P.S. All the O.V.C. mail just arrived. I received two letters from Desley, one from Pat, and one from Bette - also one from Nerida arrived last night. Please give her my love if you see her, and tell her I will write when I get time. All your letters have arrived okay. They only take a few days. I must send Ah Chuk's letter back to you. All he said was that he hoped we had a pleasant trip home - in oriental fashion, and wished my family good health.
London. Wed. Sept 9th 1964. Received your letter of the 29th yesterday ( It took 8 days this time.) Naturally I was extremely pleased to receive it. No matter how wonderful things are here, my happiness is always doubled when I get news from home. My one regret is that I do not have the time to write to everyone I want to. I've dashed off a letter to Desley, but I still owe letters to Bette, Pat Fitz, Vern and Nerida. If you see any of them give them the news, and tell them I think of them often, and still love them all. Despite the number of new friends I've made here, I still miss my old ones. What writing that I do is generally done at work during the off duty breaks. My favourite place is the little park opposite the lab where I like to sit in the sunshine. The chaps say they are going to hire a secretary for me! One of my mates here is going to Australia in 6 months time, so we have great talks about it. I talk and he sits in awe listening. I told him all about the weekend trips to Brisbane, 500 miles away to see a movie or a show, and of journeying to Central Australia, and he thinks I am pulling his leg. Here a journey of 200miles is an epic drive and has to be planned months beforehand. A journey of 500 miles here would take them into the sea!. I am now great mates with Bob, my Scottish workmate. When I arrived here and was being introduced around a few people did "double takes" when they heard my name. A few said "Barry McWHO"!.It was Bob who explained that there is a very popular underground magazine here called "The Private Eye" and it runs a rather rude comic strip called "The Adventures of Barry McKenzie" written by an expat Aussie called Barry Humphries. Everyone seems to know all the rude Aussie sayings and expressions, except me! I have since looked at a few copies of the magazine(Bob is a fan of it) and all I can say is that in Australia it would be banned! I keep telling them that we really don't go around saying those things(well, some of them anyway!). Bob has taken me into his confidence and told me of his plans. He is determined to make movies and has studied the subject intensely. He also writes, and with another three chaps, has written a movie script that the Turkish Government has bought, and plans are going ahead for the filming. Bob is very deep and serious and we talk all the time while we are working. He is using the lab all he can to gain knowledge, and then the next step up will be into film editing. He said that if he can get into editing, the next step up will be directing. He is also doing a course on film making at the London School of Film Technique. I have learnt a heck of a lot from Bob, and I think he enjoys teaching me. Last night Noel & I went to the big British Food Fair at the Olympia. We had a whale of a time sampling all the different foods. We ate Swiss cheeses, Indian curries, Irish bacon, American do-nuts, Canadian peach pie filling, Chinese chicken pieces, Australian pickled cucumbers, English soups, and tasted some beaut French wines and also watched British Rail's model trains and collected lots of recipes. We went after work, so it saved us cooking tea that night.(cunning aren't we!). Next Sunday we are off to the Farnborough Air Show to see all the latest jets in action. Ann is coming with us. She is in a flat now which she will be sharing with Sue when she comes back from visiting her Uncle. Noel and I are going around to Ann's tonight for tea. The trouble is that Ann can't cook, as she has never had to do anything like that before - but she is learning. She says that she is going home in a couple of months. I think she misses her parents, and the protection that her home offers. Last weekend Noel and I went touring about on the Green buses(the country buses), and finished up at Windsor Castle where the Queen resides during April & May. We saw all over the Royal apartments and I even combed my hair in one of the Queen's Mirrors. It really was nice to see it all, but we both decided that we prefer our flat in Hampstead. (easier housekeeping!). Almost every room had magnificent chandeliers cascading from the enormously high ceilings. Everything looked rich and elegant, and very old. The same Sunday we also had a ride on London's new electric train. It whizzes along about the outer sections, and the stations are even new. In the centre of London the trains are all underground, but the lines emerge to the surface in the outer suburbs. I use the underground to travel back and forth to work. It only takes ten minutes, and then only a ten minutes walk to Humphries. We are getting quite adept at travelling about London using the tube and the buses, and very rarely get lost now. Last Saturday night we strolled down to Camden Town to see "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" a musical movie with Debbie Reynolds. It was very good. Do you ever go to the movies now? You should go as it would be a good night out for you. How is T.V.? Here they call it "The Telly!" and the programmes are pretty crook. There are only two main channels, with B.B.C. 2 operating only two and a half hours daily. They say "The Telly" gets better in the winter. As for the radio, it seems that commercial radio is banned, would you believe, and there is only the B.B.C. radio to listen to. There is, however, what the call "Pirate Radio" which broadcasts from a ship moored in the English Channel. It all seems rather bizarre. Maybe someone is pulling my leg.! Talking about winter, the days are still very warm, but the mornings are cool. I generally wear a light cardigan to work now. John is always commentating on my shirts. He thinks they are very nice, and everyone likes my light fawn boots,(as you called them) that I now wear to work, also my ties. You should see the English ties! We threw that style out years ago. The only ties you can buy here are the horrible old fashioned broad things that only the bushies wear back home. Noel and I often have a laugh when we see English ties on display. At work they often say to me "Did you buy that in Australia?"...Glad to hear that the Mount has had rain. Extra pleased for Ron's sake. Watch the Bulletin for any news of interest, especially Past Pupils activities, and cut out the items of interest and send them over to me if you can, as I am often wondering what is happening. Margot must be letting the wedding preparations get her down. I wonder how Mrs Bowen is taking it. Desley wrote to tell me that Mr Butcher wants me to write something for the school. I would love to, but I don't see how I will have the time. However I will most certainly think about it. Life these days is so full and busy. I must be terrifically healthy as we eat all the best food. I drink a pint of milk a day(free from Humphries) and sleep soundly at night - but I still hate getting up in the morning. (6.45am). We even drink very little now, mainly because we can't afford it, and we don't like English beer. It's just like lukewarm watered down Horehound, without the fizz. Noel started teaching today. The people at the coffee bar where he worked thought the world of him and hated to see him go. Even some of the customers got to know him. They all want him to go back and work there next school holidays. Noel had charmed all the little old ladies in the bar, and the boss told him that there would always be a job there for him anytime he wanted one. As I said before the English people are wonderful to us. A surprising thing here is that all married women work. That's about all the news for now...
Barry's letter to Desley - 1st September. 1964 ……………….Letter 12D
Dear Desley,
I have just received your two letters. Yes, they arrived this afternoon and were waiting for me when I arrived home from work. There has been a bit of a mix up in our mail with the Overseas Visitors Club. We were there only three days before we got a flat, and we filled out all the required forms for the forwarding of our mail, but someone goofed somehow and no mail was forwarded on. We rang them last week and got tangled up in more red tape which caused us to became very angry, but eventually our mail arrived. Naturally I was thrilled to hear from you. I have a letter half written to you anyway, as I thought I would dash off a few lines to reassure you that I am okay.(thank you for your concern, but the London Bobbies wouldn't arrest us. They are terrific! We don't even refer to them as "screws"!) Anyway the big news! At last I am in love! - With London!. The reason that you haven't heard from me sooner is because I want to tell you all about London, and it is difficult to put it all in a few pages. To do it properly I would like to be completely alone and just write and write. Also another factor is time. There is just so much to do and places to see that I hardly have a spare moment. We now have a flat. It's a little beauty, not far from the city in a place called Swiss Cottage. That's something that is weird here - place names. It's neither Swiss, nor is there a cottage. Across the river there is a place called "Elephant and Castle" Yup! you guessed it . There is no Elephant and no Castle there. Actually, it is a pretty posh area where we are in the borough of Hampstead and it is really very nice. We could have got something around the Earl's Court area, but that is where all the Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans live and we certainly didn't come half way around the world to live with a bunch of rowdy kinfolk. Besides, here it is quite possible to walk into the city if one wishes. Our flat is fully self contained for only 8gns a week. Cheaper bed-sitters are available at around 5pounds a week, but this flat has everything. We especially like the large front windows, that overlook a quiet tree lined street, and allow the early morning sunlight to come streaming in. We have a hired T.V. which costs us only 11/- a week, but London's T.V.("telly") is lousy. The two main channels are B.B.C 1 and I.T.V., with B.B.C. 2 operating for only three hours daily. Even the studio productions are weak and don't seem to match the quality on Australian T.V. We are told, however, that the "Telly" improves in the winter. You may say "What are they doing watching the T.V. when there is so much to see in London?" The answer is a simple question of economics. We are endeavouring to live on our earnings, without withdrawing anything from our bank accounts. Oh! I haven't mentioned the RADIO yet! There are NO commercial radio stations like in Australia. There are a couple of B.B.C. stations and that's all - in theory..However, in practice, everyone listens to Radio Caroline(an illegal commercial radio station) which is referred to as "Pirate Radio" and operates from a ship moored in the English channel. The Government is always trying to close it down, but it is careful to stay outside of British terrotioral waters. I all sounds completly daft to me!. We shop at a nearby market (a fascinating experience!), and buy up on the specials in the stores. So far we are barely managing to live within our budget, but are learning all the time. Imagine me being careful with every penny, and thinking before every purchase "Is this really necessary?". Still, it is all a good lesson in being completely independent. Getting jobs was no problem at all. Noel has a teaching job all ready to go to and I really hit the jackpot! I am now a Film Laboratory Technician with a big movie firm called Humphries Film Laboratories, in the heart of London. They handle film from T.V. Studios, movie companies, and many other organisations. They process, print, do effects, clean, polish, preserve and do many other mysterious things that I have yet to find out about. I am in the treating section as a trainee, learning to operate the new 6,000 pounds Ultra Sonic Sound cleaning machines. The trainee period only lasts a few months.(twelve months officially, but the boss is terrific and is going to put me up in the minimum of time). I earn 12 pounds 10 shillings a week(no laughing please!), but at the end of my trainee period I will be put up to 15 pounds a week. Not a bad wage by English standards really. (all food parcels gratefully accepted). There is no lack of work here. I actually had the choice of three jobs. It's just a matter of going to a few interviews. I was chosen out of nine other candidates for a engineering photographic drawing office job, but again I favoured Humphries. I have been there for two weeks now and am absolutely thrilled with it. You said that you saw "Tom Jones". I cleaned that film on the Ultra Sonic just last week.(Terrific show wasn't it?) The most wonderful thing about the job is that I feel so at home in it. I am buddies with my four workmates, including John, the boss, and one of them, Bob shares the same enthusiasm for the Cinema as myself. Most have an interest in photography, and another, Mike was Stage Manager at a West End theatre. The English people are mighty, and think the world of us Aussies. Everywhere we go as soon as they hear our accents, their aloof indifferent front is dropped, and rapidly replaced with smiles and laughter. Especially if someone asks us to say something in "Australian" and one of us says something like "Stone the crows! I wouldn't have a bloody clue what to say sport!". The English think we are mad, but honestly and seriously it is the English who are MAD! I could write a book on "The Mad English". They are fanatics with their pets. They treat their dogs and cats like people. The majority of the ads on T.V. are for dog and cat food. The major stores have amenities for dogs inside, but babies are left on the footpath. You often see a dog being wheeled about in pram with the owner talking to it all the time as if it is a real baby. They are fanatics for preservation, and tend to live in the past, and will always fight progress if it endangers the past. They actually, resist all progress anyway. They regard the new glass block buildings going up everywhere as insults to London's skyline. Anything old and falling down is gazed upon with awe and reverence, and declared historic. They will say "Isn't it hot today. The heat is killing me!" - yet they would never think of removing their coats or jerseys. Incidentally the weather has been beautiful. We arrived in sunshine and it has hardly left us. It has only rained on two days. Last week we had a "heat wave" again. The temperature reached 80 degrees and London "sweltered"! We could hardly stop laughing! The evenings are wonderful and it doesn't get dark until 10 pm. The other Sunday we sunbaked while listening to the band of the Horse Guards in Regents Park(which is very near us). London has parks everywhere, and trees, gardens and statues and monuments, and is absolutely charming. It has Piccadilly Circus, Hyde Park Corner, Buckingham Palace, double decker buses, hurtling underground tube trains, funny West End theatres, grand Covent Garden Opera House, fascinating people, naughty people(Soho), good people, black people and men in bowler hats! It has Pomp and Pageantry. It is progressive yet backward. It is idiotic, but lovable. As you may guess, I am tremendously happy here. I can advance rapidly in my new job if I wish, but, the best of all is that I work with people who share my interests. You are probably thinking back to some conversations we had, and I think of a card you once gave me. Naturally I miss everyone at home and always hunger for news from there. You mentioned some things in your letter that I will have to think about so I will write again later. I just wanted to dash off a letter to let you know that I had not forgotten you. 'Bye for now,
Love, Barry. XXX
Letters 13 & 14: Air Show & A Famous Director
London, Sat. Sept 12th 1964 Today we have been wandering around the City of London. It's been a beautiful day here and this morning we went into the city as Noel had to visit the Commonwealth Bank to draw out some money as he won't be paid for another 1-2 months, as teachers here only get paid monthly. Anyway we caught the tube at Swiss Cottage, changed at Oxford St underground station and emerged from the underground at a station called "The Bank".The Bank is actually the Bank of England, a huge fortress of a building with no windows - a symbol of British security. The "City of London" is the name given to the part of London that contains all the Banks, Stocks & Shares places, and is basically the financial centre of Britain, if not the Empire. It is here that one sees the bowler hatted, umbrella twirling crowd in their pin stripe suits carrying a copy of The Times on their way to work. Occasionally one even sees a top-hatted gentleman, sporting tails with a pink carnation in his lapel. There are no shops, only the occasional coffee bar or tea house to cater for the office workers. Noel worked in one of these places so we dropped in to see them. The ladies made a big fuss of him and we got free cups of coffee. Afterwards we just wandered around, past the huge, imposing Bank of England, past a modern block of skyscraper buildings whose glittering glass towers seemed to rise up all around us, past a street called "The Wall of London" with grimy statue fronted funny old buildings, that led us down to "The Monument", a pillar hundreds of feet high built in some past century in memory of the great fire of London. At the top of the Monument is a gilded urn of flames, that shines brilliantly in the sunshine. Another gold covered statue that we passed was the golden figure of justice on top of the Old Bailey, London's famous court. This beautiful stature with a sword in one hand and the scales of justice in the other shone brilliantly in the sunlight as it stood up there on the domed roof. We then walked down to Fleet Street, where all the big newspapers are, and then on to the Strand. I felt like I was in a Monopoly game for real! I used to try to buy these places once when we used to play the game on our veranda when it rained. On our way there we passed the Law Courts looking like some medieval castle, and St Paul's Cathedral with scaffolding up around it for cleaning. A good idea as all the old buildings look as if they are covered in soot and grime. Inside it has fantastically high arched ceilings, with statues and paintings everywhere, and one's footsteps echo. After walking what seemed like miles we arrived at Australia House, standing at the top of the tree lined Strand. Opposite it is the famous St Clements church of the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons". It is, of course, a very, very old church like all these old buildings in the city. Being born in this modern age, in such a young country like Australia it is hard for us to really appreciate these fine old historical buildings, some of them many hundreds of years old. Noel's usual comment is "Back home something like that would have been condemned, and replaced with something modern". But in their setting, with the sun shining through the trees surrounding them, giving the leaves a translucent effect, they look quite beautiful. Monday Yesterday we went to the Farnborough Air Show. Whacko! Wish Claude could have been there. It was terrific. At the end, formations of planes flew about the blue sky leaving behind patterns of coloured smoke, and there was a mass display of sky diving in which about a dozen divers jumped from a plane about 20,000feet up, and as they fell they left behind a trail of orange smoke. I got some fantastic slides(I hope). We went up by coach(8/-return) and as you can imagine the traffic was piled up everywhere. On the coach coming home, the driver(who must have been new) got lost in London and asked "Does anyone know the way to Victoria?" (the coach station) "Yes" answered Noel and then sat up with the bus driver and proceeded to direct him. Of course we did end up in a few back alleys and wrong streets, but we got there in the end! We were all in stitches laughing about it - this great big coach full of all sorts of people, lost in London with Noel showing the driver the way to go - Ann was with us too. Wednesday 15th We have just come back from walking Sue and Ann down to catch the underground at Camden Town. They came for tea tonight. We cooked roast beef and the works. Hadn't seen Sue for a while as she has been in the country. We had a good night and laughed all the time.
London. Monday. 21st Sept. 1964 These days we can feel winter approaching. This morning was the coldest yet, but it has turned out to be a beautiful day, bright and sunny. Once again I am sitting in the gardens opposite Humphries in my lunch break. This morning Bob said to me "Like to meet Stanley Donen tonight?". Noticing my startled look and disbelieving expression he added "True! I am not joking. We're arranging a screening of "Funny Face" tonight and Stanley Donen is coming to answer questions and talk. You can come as my guest." Before I go any further, Stanley Donen is one of THE most famous movie directors. He made "Charade","Seven Brides For Seven Brothers", "Singing in the Rain" and many others, often with Audrey Hepburn. Bob is a member of the London School of Film Technique which has organised the evening. I could hardly believe it. Meeting Stanley Donen! Wow! Naturally I said "YES!". Last Friday we had a party at work. One of the girls was leaving to have a baby,(she's married) and the women in her section threw a party and invited us in for drinks. I've worked with fellows who shouted drinks because of a baby, but never women. Show's you how different things are here. Practically all the women and girls, here at the lab, are married. There's hardly a single girl in the place. I worked overtime on Saturday morning with John, though we didn't really do much work. We mostly talked and had cups of tea. Isobel came over at the weekend and had the weekend with us. She had just arrived back from Spain. We went to the movies on Saturday night and saw "Irma La Douce" with Shirley Maclean. We only had to walk as far as Odeon at Swiss Cottage. The Odeon there is new, and the biggest theatre we have been in so far, as most of London's inner theatres are quite small. On Sunday we went roving on the Red Buses again and covered a fair bit of East London and the docks. Gee! The dock area must have been intensively bombed during the war. All about London where houses have been destroyed, they have erected "temporary" pre fab huts. Many are still there, especially about the docks - they are everywhere. There's even the occasional bombed building standing empty and shattered amongst the rubble. We were told that at one stage during the war the whole dock area was ablaze due to heavy concentrated bombing one Saturday morning. Tuesday: Well I went along with Bob to hear Stanley Donen talk last night. He wasn't at all like I thought a famous director would be like. He was quietly spoken, unassuming, clean shaven, dressed in a conservative suit and tie, not at all pushy or arrogant, and answered every question as best he could. Of course a lot of the questions were about the hugely popular "Singing in the Rain" which is one of my all time favourites. I learnt that the so called "rain" that Gene Kelly danced in was actually a mixture of milk and water. It was because water was too transparent and did not photograph properly, so they added milk to give it some substance.To be more acccurate, Gene should have been singing "I'm dancing in the milk!" - though it doesn't have the same ring about it does it?..Another of the movies that he has made is "The Pyjama Game" another of my favourites.He actually brought along a copy of "Funny Face" with him for the school to screen. After it was over he answered questions about it. One person asked him about how difficult it was to shoot the scene where Fred Astaire dances with Audrey Hepburn in the park . He said that the most difficult thing was to get the white pigeons to stay where they were on the grass, so they ended up tethering them to pipe cleaners that had been shoved into the ground. In "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" he wanted to shoot it all outdoors as well, but because of the budget the studio said that it had to be done in the studio. So, consequently all the mountain and forest backgrounds were just paintings. Trouble was that one of the birds didn't know that and flew into the painted sky and fell to the ground, which can be seen in the movie.. Bob operated the projector and even Noel came along and thoroughly enjoyed it all. Naturally Bob and I have been talking about it all morning at work. He (like me) is crazy about musicals, and said to me "One day I am going to make a musical!" Like I said, Bob is very ambitious. He says that if you want to get anywhere you've got to think big!...
Tuesday (one week later) We have a pretty hectic week ahead of us. Tonight Margie Thomas is coming for tea, tomorrow Sue and Ann are coming for tea, Thursday we go to dine with Isobel and her five girl friends, Friday night we are off to the big Earl's Court Motor Show and Saturday night we are going to see "Carousel" on the stage of the Scala theatre near Humphries. Last Sunday night two of Noel's teacher friends dropped in, and a friend of ours from Queensland also called in. I don't know if I have mentioned him before, but his name is Ken Rooney. Last night we went to the movies and bumped into another old friend from the ship. She is a very nice girl(English) and her name is Jane. Bob asked me to another "meet the Director night", but I had to refuse because of the prior engagement at Isobel's. As you can see we are hardly lost souls wandering aimlessly about the Big City. Mount Morgan was never like this! Both of us are well. Not even a cold or a sniffle - too busy for that! The weather is still sunny and warm.......
Letters 15 & 16 : The Amazing Summer
London Oct 5th 1964 Good to get your letter on Saturday. It seems that Mt Morgan has had some rain at last. How's the Big Dam? The garden sounds beautiful. I can just picture it. Has the big black patch gone at the side where we burnt off? Suppose the hot weather is approaching there now. So far the weather here is still very good, and the papers are full of what they call "The Amazing Summer".The headlines this morning said "Indian Summer to Continue". We have had a busy week again. On Thursday night we went to Isobel's for supper with her and all the other girls. She cooked a beautiful supper of Indian Kebabs and rice. I never thought Is would take an interest in cooking. Noel kept the girls entertained all evening. They think he is terrific fun and we think they are terrific girls. We talked and laughed all evening. Afterwards we all piled into Pat's car, a Morris 1100, and they all drove us home from their flat in Chelsea. We went up along Park Lane, through Mayfair, past Hyde Park and Marble Arch, through Oxford Street and up Baker Street to pass Lord's Cricket ground to drive along Finchley Road to Swiss Cottage and our flat. I don't think that I told you before, but we're not far from Lord's Cricket Ground. On Friday night Noel and I went to see "Carousel" at the Scala. It was so magnificent and beautiful that I felt all sorts of emotions. I have always wanted to see a live stage production of a Roger's and Hammerstein play and this lived up to, and surpassed my expectations. The massive orchestra was fantastic, and the whole show one enchanting colourful mass of dancing and beautiful singing. It only cost us four shillings too! I wish poor old Alan Jones could have seen it. In a couple of weeks the Scala is doing "Calamity Jane" so we are going again to see that. Isobel and I are going to the Covent Garden Opera House on the 10th of November to see "Aida". So when you are having breakfast on the 11th, think of Is and I sitting in the Grand Opera House with the Ladies and Gentlemen of London. Last Sunday morning we went to see Petticoat Lane with Margie Thomas and Ann. Margie showed the way as she had been there before. Gosh! what an experience. It's a European version of Singapore's Change Alley and the streets of Hong Kong combined. You can buy anything there at cheap prices. It was so jammed packed with people we could hardly move, and through the seething mass of humanity marched this fellow holding up a sign saying "The End is Near".. "I wonder if he is trying to tell us where the exit is." says Noel. When we finally found our way out, we went down to the city as Ann wanted some pictures. So we took pictures of the Bank, Monument, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace and the American Embassy. Ann wanted all the pictures because she is flying home on Wednesday week. Despite all that London has to offer, Ann has found she misses her home too much. We all think she is foolish to leave so soon without giving it a fair go. She is going via New York, where she has a couple of days, then she goes home via Hawaii. The price is quite amazing - only 240 pounds. You said in your letter that you feel strange when you think of me so far away, but by air it's only a couple of days away. The other Sunday, at London Airport, Noel and I watched a big Qantas jet take off and head for Sydney. I thought to myself that at the aircraft's destination lay a completely different world. We will all be sorry to see Ann go - Sue especially as they are flatting together, and Ann has become like our sister. However, she has made us promise to stay at her Manly Heights home when we return to Aussie. We feel like we know her Mother and Father already. I think they will be relieved to get Ann back home again! It will be cheaper for them too, as her Father is always sending her money! I don't think that I have ever mentioned their surnames. It's Ann Stuart and Sue Jacques. They are both coming over for tea tonight. Have I ever mentioned that we have a four burner, grill and oven gas stove that is very efficient. On Wednesday night we are going over to have tea with Miss Smith, an elderly lady teaching colleague of Noel's. He teaches with her and she has kindly asked both of us over. On Friday night we are going off to see "Camelot" with Margie and another girl. Bye for now.
London. Mon. Oct 12th. 1964. Another full week has passed again, and as usual there is lots to tell you. I wonder if the time will come when I have nothing to write about!?! I don't think that would ever happen here in London, as there is always so much to do. The weather now is much colder, so it seems that the glorious summer has passed, and winter has come a knockin' on our door. “Don't let 'im in!” I'd like to cry. I was quite happy with things as they were. The lush green leaves are disappearing from the trees, and some are already looking quite bare. We had a lovely meal at Miss Smith's last Wednesday night and she had a warm fire burning in her fireplace. It was fascinating, and the first time I have sat beside a real fire in a house. After a beautiful meal, complete with cheeses and wine, we just sat beside the fire and talked. We have two big electric heaters in our flat as well as two open fireplaces. We had the electric heaters going yesterday, but we can't use the fireplaces until we get some coke - then we have to learn how to use it. We'll probably end up burning the house down! Last Friday we had tea with Margie and her friend, Coral, and afterwards went to see "Camelot". As we were running late we caught a cab and as we pulled up outside the Drury Lane theatre, with its two big old fashioned lanterns outside, an attendant hurried over, opened the door and helped the ladies out. In a London taxi, everyone sits in the back. It's rather odd as the seats are not where you expect them to be, and I unintentionally sat on the floor when I hopped in. Once inside the theatre we gazed in awe at the huge glittering chandelier suspended from the high arched ceiling in the foyer, and then we ascended a red carpeted, gild lined sweeping staircase that took us up to out seats in the dress circle. We bought programmes, were shown to our seats, and after we settled in gazed out into the theatre. The curtain was decorated with what looked like King Arthur's Coat of Arms, and from the ceiling hung a golden crown lit by spotlights.("Camelot" is about King Arthur and his knights). Until the curtain went up, we amused ourselves by peering at everyone through the opera glasses that we had hired for sixpence. When the show began with the rising of the curtain, it was just a magnificent wonderland of colour and music. The show had sets and costumes designed by John Truscott, the Australian, and they were absolutely dazzling. In fact the show is referred to as the Australian production. The costumes must have contained acres of material, and, as all the court ladies strutted about in the first scene, their costumes swirled behind them. Towards the end of the show, with war threatening, the scene was lit with simulated twisting flames, while smoke, glowing red in their light, swirled about the stage, threatening to engulf the large cast of characters as they chanted the throbbing melody of the finale'. Laurence Harvey played King Arthur, copying Richard Burton's style from the Broadway production. We all enjoyed it immensely, and even watched the cast up close through our opera glasses. On Saturday afternoon I went with Isobel to the B.B.C. studios to be part of the audience at a live T.V. show. She got three tickets from Australia House for the show, but Noel couldn't come as he had school work to do. It was really great, and fascinating to watch a T.V. show being presented and transmitted live to millions of sets around Britain. We sat there with the audience and watched the show called "Open Road" - a variety type show where various people came on and sang, or danced and two movie stars were interviewed. One of them was David Tomlinson, who just had a starring role in the Disney movie "Mary Poppins". Cameras whipped about all over the place (even on us), lights went on and off, scenes changed, people came and went. It was quite a blur of activity. I was amazed that nothing went wrong, but these guys are professionals and know exactly what they are doing. At home, Noel got tired of doing his schoolwork and decided to watch the programme, and, he says, he even saw Isobel and I. That's now my second T.V. appearance!.. In the evening Noel and I went to see another live theatre show, a play called "Carving a Stature" with Sir Ralph Richardson in the leading role. The set consisted of a sculptor’s studio and two gigantic feet. It was the most fantastic scene for a play ever, and seemed to dominate the players completely. The toes of the stature were so large that the players could sit on the individual toes...Friday On Sunday Ann came over and spent the day with us and on the Wednesday, she flew to New York, and eventually home to Sydney. We are both going to miss Ann's bright presence a lot as she was always laughing and behaving like a nut! Tuesday was again theatre time and we went into the West End to see "Oliver". It is one of the longest running shows in London. Something like three years. Here, again, the settings were fantastic and captured perfectly the Dicken's London, assisted by terrific lighting. "Oliver" was always on my list of shows that I wanted to see, as I really love all the music. Need I say we both thoroughly enjoyed it and now can't stop singing the songs. Wednesday night Margie came for tea(Coral is in France) and afterwards we went to the movies in Camden Town. The big thing here at the moment was the election on Thursday. Now that Labour is in, I wonder what will happen. The feeling here is that both parties are pretty much "on the nose"! The outgoing Tory government has left things in a bit of a mess, and everyone doubts Labour's promises, but Harold Wilson seems to be liked as a leader. We have watched Hume on T.V. and he makes a mess of all his speeches and interviews. Everyone I work with votes Labour. By the way, can you please keep these letters safely somewhere until I come home, as they will act as a kind of diary, as I have no time to keep a proper one here. Hope Ron still calls regularly. Give him my best wishes(and Irene too). That's about all for the present. Hope all is well.
Letters 17 & 18: On Tour
London. Monday Oct 19th. 1964 Well, we have really had ourselves a weekend this time. At the last moment we decided to hire ourselves a car and go touring, as we thought it about time we saw more of England than just London. We didn't know if we could get the car until Saturday morning as most of the other hire firms had none left. Anyway we finished up with a beaut Ford Contina, like Stan's for 36/- a day. Split three ways(Marg came too) it worked out pretty cheap. We dashed home, packed a few things, grabbed Marg and the Ford and went. Noel drove through London, and Marg and I drove later. We decided to drive through Kent to the coast, and work our way south to Southampton and southern England. As it happened there was too much to see and we only got half that distance. Our first stop was the Rochester Castle - so we thought, but we ended up at Upton Castle, by mistake, a little castle tucked away on the banks of the Medway river. The caretaker made a big fuss of us and seemed ever so pleased that three Australians should pick his castle to visit.(we hadn't the heart to tell him that we were actually at the wrong castle) and he showed us all over the place talking about the castle's history. The castle overlooks the Chatham dockyards and in the old days it used to protect the English fleet. Nelson's ship the "Victory" was built just a few yards away. He even gave us a bag of walnuts when we said that we have never seen a walnut tree growing. Our next stop was Canterbury, famous for its cathedral and history. The city itself was funny to say the least, with an old wall running completely around it. (We actually drove around the wall a couple of times trying to get out!). The streets were very, very narrow, just wide enough for our car, and very crooked, with funny olde English type buildings hanging over the road. The Cathedral was huge and very impressive, even awesome with tombs of dead historical people all around the walls inside. Most people rave about the Canterbury Cathedral, but I found the interior rather cold and creepy. We headed for the coast then, through beautiful farmlands and hedge lined country roads.(we decided to keep off the main motorways) The first couple of sea side resorts that we drove through were the usual over commercialised, pitiful city type seaside places, but at dusk we drove into Dover. The first thing we saw when we drove in was the castle, high on the hills overlooking the town with the moon rising behind it. The castle was floodlit too which made it look very impressive. We all looked at each other and someone(expressing all our thoughts) said " I didn't know that Dover had a castle!" As it was getting dark we decided to stay the night in Dover and found a caravan park where we hired a van completely equipped for only 15/-( 5/- each) We had eaten earlier when we pulled into a wood and cooked sausages on Margie's metho stove. I couldn't resist lighting a campfire too, and it was really beautiful with the dancing flames sending smoke drifting up through the branches above, while the sausages sizzled away in the pan. It was almost like being in Australia, except for the type of trees and vivid green grass - and the colder air. Anyway, that night in Dover, we drove up to the castle and had a good look about by ourselves. In one direction was the English Channel and France, and beneath us, stretching in an arc along the bay were the twinkling lights of Dover. I had my camera with me and took a shot of ,what we later found out to be was, an ancient Roman lighthouse built in the first century before the main castle was built. It was floodlit too and had the moon and a swirl of clouds behind it. On the Sunday morning we went back to the castle to see inside. It was terrific, but we couldn't see anything of Dover because of fog. We even explored the underground passages below with the aid of a lantern. After the fog lifted, about 12.30 we set off again to Rye and Eastbourne. At Rye we saw the Atomic Power Station, and on leaving Eastbourne, turned inland to work our way back to London. On our way back we drove through a forest - and gosh! you should have seen the trees!.. It is Autumn here now and the trees are all changing colour. As we drove along we found ourselves driving beneath archways of orange, red and gold. Noel was driven mad with my cries of "Stop the car! I want to take a picture!" I have never seen such beauty before. One town that we passed through had the autumn wood coming right into the town. I took a shot of a house nestled in a valley surrounded by different coloured trees, while smoke curled upwards from its chimney. When we arrived back in London, we went driving around, past the Palace, down the Mall, along Hyde Park and into Piccadilly with all its glittering lights. Wow! What a weekend!....Tuesday We have had some rainy days(the London drought has broken!) and it is now getting quite cold. Luckily I have plenty of coats and jerseys. Both are well. Noel had a cold last week but seems to be okay now. I have never felt better. Our washing is no problem and Noel likes to do the ironing. He sometimes lets me iron a hanky.
London, Oct 26th 1964. I am very pleased to read in your letters that you are going out a bit, and also to read that you are becoming friendly with the Rosers as they are a fine family. I hope you go to Speech Night to hear my song sung. Don't forget to send over any cuttings or comments about it. Have you been to any of the plays yet? Noel had a letter from Margaret Hickey and she told him that she was going to sell up her business and come over here in about a years time. We will have quite a Mount Morgan colony here soon. Marg Thomas is touring Wales at the moment in a hire car. I am going around to Isobel's tonight to take some photos for her and one of the girls. I got my slides back of the trip to Kent and they are beaut. The Autumn leaves are really beautiful. We are thinking of hiring a car again this weekend and going touring. All the trees are dropping their leaves now and sometimes the footpaths are covered in fallen leaves that crunch as you walk on them. It's been very cold lately, but so far it hasn't worried me. The set up is quite different here as all the homes, offices, theatres & pubs are built to be warm and cosy with all the buildings being heated. The only time one really feels the cold is walking to, or from, the tube and back. Its always warm travelling in the underground and Humphries is nicely heated. At the flat we turn the radiators on and hope soon to get the fireplace going. On the streets everyone wears gloves, scarves and overcoats. I certainly do now and even Noel bought a pair of gloves. We went to see "Calamity Jane" on the stage at the Scala. It was terrific! They certainly know how to stage a musical show here. It was very lively and colourful and full of great music. You asked me how my work was in your last letter. Well it is going very well, and this week I get taken out of the trainee wages and go on to the full wage. Such a thing shouldn't happen before six months, but John went to see the personnel manager and told him that he thought I should be getting the full wage, as I operate the section by myself when Bob and Mike go to lunch. John said to me the other day "Barry, you get through more work in your shift than the other two do combined". John is always saying to me "Barry, don't work so hard!" - but I enjoy it and like to get the work done. He offered me a weekend's overtime next weekend, but I had to refuse as we are planning a trip. John is a terribly nice guy and too nice to boss those around him. He is always out to help me all he can. The three of us in the room talk all day while we are working (and not working). Last week we were filling up one of the containers with fluid for the Ultra Sonic machines and were so carried away with our conversation that the container filled and overflowed everywhere. Bob just shrugged and said "It'll evaporate!" I hope I can keep in touch with him after he leaves as he is a terrific character to know. He says that his movie will take about six months to make. He hopes to get to Turkey where they will be filming and work as an assistant cameraman. Since I began working at Humphries, I have learnt so much about the film industry, most of it thanks to Bob. Sometimes in the morning he will say "and what are you going to pick my brains about today?"..Saw Bruce at lunchtime and arranged to have a few prints of some colour slides done for you. They won't be ready for about 10 days. Pat Fitz and Connie haven't long to go now. They will be leaving in December and arriving here in January, the coldest month. If you see either of them, tell them that I said to pack all their winter woolies............
Letters 19, 20 & 21: Enchanted Forest
London. Tues. Nov 3rd 1964. Your letter arrived on Saturday. I am very pleased that you went to the High School's Speech night. I wish I could have been there to as I would have dearly loved to hear the choir singing my song. From your description, it sounded wonderful... Last weekend we hired a car again and drove south into sunny Hampshire.. It was Noel's mid term holidays, so we arranged a car for Sat, Sun. and Monday. I took the Monday off(minus the day's pay), and after the southern tour, we spent Sunday night back in London, and then drove north to Oxford for the Monday. I could write pages about the weekend. It was terrific! The scenery was fantastic and unbelievably beautiful. It is the peak of Autumn and everywhere there were trees of red, orange, yellow and gold. It sure makes the Australian bush look very dull and boring by comparison. On the Sunday morning we drove through the New Forest, between Southampton and Bournemouth, and there, in the forest, saw some of the most beautiful scenes that I have ever seen. When we entered the forest it was about mid-morning, and, although the sun was shining, it was slightly misty and everything seemed to glow in a soft golden light. As we were driving along I kept saying "Stop the car!" and I would race out and take another picture. Luckily Noel was very patient with me! The trees often arched across the roadway, so we would be driving beneath their colourful canopies. Occasionally we would come across a small thatched cottage nestled in amongst the trees. One scene had me gasping in disbelief as I walked into it feeling like Aladdin entering some magic cave. The carpet on the ground was pure gold from fallen leaves and from it rose twisted dark, gnarled trees topped with masses of gold, yellow and red leaves that appeared to be shining with an inner light as the misty sunlight sought to penetrate their outer edges. Occasionally another small golden leaf would fall to drift slowly down to join its companions on the forest floor. I knew that a mere photograph could not possibly capture the enchanting beauty of this place but I clicked the camera anyway, half expecting the noisy click would make it all disappear. I told Bob about it this morning, and said "Yes, I know how you felt!".So it is good that someone else understands about real beauty. Autumn has always fascinated me, and I have always wanted to experience a real Autumn, and boy it has lived up to my every hope and wish. The Saturday night we spent at a country Inn, having driven there from Portsmouth where we looked over Lord Nelson's ship the "Victory". The Inn was very nice and they had the biggest dog that I have ever seen. It was like a polar bear, but very friendly. Sunday, After the New Forest, we toured Southampton and saw the "Queen Elizabeth", then we went on to Bournemouth, a seaside city that is quite beautiful, with high cliffs and lots of Autumn trees. We then drove to Salisbury Plain and saw the strange rock circles of 3,000 year old Stonehenge. A very weird place! Later, as dusk approached, we stopped in a wood and cooked sausages etc. for tea, again surrounded by beautiful Autumn foliage. After tea we headed for London and drove the last 30 miles through fog. The next day(Monday) we drove North through the glorious Cotswold hills to Oxford, the University city, where we had lunch. Students wandered everywhere about the old narrow historic streets and grand old University buildings. After we left Oxford we drove north until we picked up the M3 motorway. This is a fabulous six lane super highway that would take us back direct to London. It has no speed limit and it is forbidden to stop anywhere on it. Service centres, set well back from the motorway, provide all the essential services for the travelling motorists. It is really great if you want to get anywhere fast, but not good for sight seeing(or stopping for taking pictures!).As we arrived back in London about 6pm(it now gets dark about 5pm), we thought we would have a burn into the city and ended up in the crowd outside the London Palladium to see the Queen arrive for the Royal Command performance. It was fascinating watching all the V.I.P.s arrive in their Rolls Royces. The Queen looked absolutely beautiful as always. Mount Morgan was never like this!
London. Sun. Nov. 8th 1964: Dinner Disaster(almost!)
I am taking the opportunity to write this morning as Noel has gone the Cathedral for a Requiem mass as it is the Sunday nearest the 11th and the Westminster Cathedral has a big ceremony. I'll try to get this finished before Noel comes home, because when Noel's about there's little rest. I was trying to write to Stan and Meredith last night, and Noel sat reading aloud from a book of Australian poems putting his own emphasis on things. One of them was called "The Wallaby and the Ant". Needless to say Stan's letter still isn't finished. I cooked the tea last night - my special curry, and what was left we had for breakfast this morning with pork sausages, eggs and bacon. Tonight Sue is coming for tea and we are having chicken and ham. Chickens are cheap here and this one only cost us five bob. However we have just learned (the hard way) that one has to be very careful about what one buys at the markets. When it came time to prepare it for cooking and put the stuffing in, Noel held it up, inspected it and said "There's no hole at the bum with little packets.!" I looked at it and sure enough he was right - no hole at the back with the little packets in it! It meant only one thing! "It hasn't been cleaned out!" I said in dismay. "What! you mean we've got to cut it open ourselves and get all its things out! No way!!" he said throwing it into the garbage bin. "You can't do that! That's a good chicken!" I said. "Good chickens have a hole in the bum with little packets! I'm not touching THAT!" he cried out. Walking over to the rubbish bin I retrieved it and inspected it and said "Look, we can't waste it. I've watched Dad and Ron doing it, I think I can do it." "Be my guest!" said Noel walking off in disgust. Anyway I grabbed it, and a sharp knife, and got into it. I must say that it was easier than I expected - though still rather messy. "You should get a job in the markets!" said Noel. "Definitely NO thanks!" said I. We didn't mention to Sue that night that her dinner was actually rescued from the garbage bin……Today is a nice day with the sun shining again and coming in the window as I am writing. The weather has been pretty crook but we are getting used to it. The days are now very short, and at 5pm, when I leave the lab for home, it is quite dark. I must tell you my good news! My net pay is now 14 pounds and 4 shillings, a week, which is equal to about 17 pounds 10 shillings Australian, only 17 shillings less than my net pay at Mount Morgan Ltd. My tax has been reduced to nothing, as the tax office finally got around to notifying Humphries of my status as a visitor, whereby my income is untaxable the first two years. I even got 16 pounds back as a rebate for taxes paid so far during my employment at the Lab. You asked if I still like the lab. You bet I do! I get along fine with everyone(Bob especially as we have so much in common), and often I find bits added to instructions in film cans. Before they contained notes that said "treat sound only" or "mute only". Now I find bits added like "mute only - p.s. Aussies are best." or one had a drawing titled "Barry down under" and had a drawing of me hanging from an upside down Australia. If I do make a mistake, someone will say "He can't help it. He comes from Down Under and does everything upside down." If I am annoying Bob too much he says, in mock disgust "Go rattle your chains somewhere else!" That usually has me breaking out in laughter and I annoy him some more!. The wireless is currently broadcasting the armistice ceremony at the Cenotaph at Whitehall, with the chimes of Big Ben(11o'clock) and guns booming. I can even hear guns now! I think they may be coming from the branch of the Horse Guards at nearby St John's Wood. The Queen is coming to Swiss Cottage on Tuesday to open our new ultra modern Civic Centre. Unfortunately I have to work so I will miss her, but will watch it all later on the T.V. news. The Centre is only about 5 minutes walk up the road. Last night we went to our favourite theatre, the Scala, again, to see a production of "Guys and Dolls".It was beaut and both of us thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course the songs are so familiar, that we wanted to sing along with the singers. Most of the productions there are staged by amateur groups, but their standards are very professional. Next production there will be "The King and I" another Roger's and Hammerstein piece, staged by the Barclay's Bank operatic society. This coming week is going to be a busy one again, with Isobel and I going to Covent Garden on Tuesday night to see the opera "Aida" and Margie Thomas, now back from Wales, has us seats for a B.B.C. television show one night...
52 Greencroft Gardens. N.W.6. London Wed. 11th Nov. 1964. It is only Wednesday, but I thought I would begin this letter early to save time later. Last night was THE big night at Covent Garden when Isobel and I went to see "Aida". It was quite a spectacle and enhanced even more by the magnificent theatre. I just made it in time having had to make a frantic dash to get there.. Luckily we had arranged to meet in the foyer. After work Noel and I were going to see Ken at 5.30pm to look at his car which we were thinking of buying. However Noel was very sick on Tuesday and even stayed home from school, so I went to see Ken myself and got lost in the fog. I arrived home about 10 to 6, fixed Noel some tea, bathed and dressed and managed to catch the tube to Piccadilly at 6.25pm. I walked to the Opera House from Piccadilly and got there about 5 to 7. The curtain went up at 7pm!. Isobel was very relieved to seem see me appear through the doors. The performance was magnificent, with massive sets of towering contemporary design. Isobel even saw someone she knew amongst the glittering jewel bedecked audience.(I had actually met her too). She is a young lady who is a heiress, and told us that she is flying home to Zurich for a weekend with her family. She speaks absolutely perfect posh English, and I was a bit afraid to open my mouth and let that broad Aussie accent pour out. What I will always remember about "Aida" will be the overwhelming spectacle of the triumphal march and the ballet. The stage was filled with what seemed like hundreds of people, and the singing was glorious. The theatre too was absolutely wonderful with the red and gold seating and tier after tier of plush seating and private boxes. When I took Isobel home afterwards(by London Cab) her mate Judy said "Oh Barry, you look lovely!". I blushed a bit and thanked her - actually she put my mind at rest, for I was worried about how I should dress for such an occasion. I wore my good suit, from Hong Kong, best white shirt, with a black bow tie, and a grey top coat, bought recently in London. Isobel looked good too in a nice apricot dress, and a fawn coat. When I arrived at the Swiss Cottage station after work I took a short cut through our new Civic Centre that the Queen had opened a couple of hours earlier. All the finely dressed dignitaries and their fashionably dressed ladies were still there, but the Queen had gone.(that's a shame, I would have liked to have sampled a savoury with her!) When I got home I had to change all the sheets on Noel's bed and get him into dry pyjamas as everything was saturated with perspiration. As I was going out, Margie came over to keep an eye on him, and poured some rum and hot lemon drink into him. It must have done the trick and sweated it all out of him, because in the morning, when the alarm went I heard him say "Hey Fred, your trains coming!". I looked over and there he was sitting up in bed like the cat that swallowed the canary. "How do you feel?" I asked. "Who me!" he said "Never felt better!" It was a tremendous relief, as I was very worried about him. Now he has completely recovered. Saturday Well, now for our news....1 - We now have a vehicle of our own, and 2 - We are moving to new digs thanks to our new friends Ken and Erica, an Aussie couple that we met at the Laundromat some weeks ago. It is a Ford Thames van, the ideal thing for us, and it even has an innerspring mattress in the back, that we can sleep on when we go touring. The back is exceptionally roomy and will be ideal for us. We had thought of buying a new Mini Van or something, as they are only 380 pounds here, but we thought why waste money like that when we can have Ken's for 20 pounds. I know it sounds a ridiculous price but it runs okay and for only 10 pounds each, we have ourselves a van. They have another bigger van that is fully equipped to live in and intend touring France in it. We are also moving into their digs as they pay only 4 pounds a week, half of what we pay now. Our King Henry's Road flat is very nice, but a little large for us, and we are hardly ever in it anyway. We had discussed moving to cheaper digs, and this place is ideal. It is a big bed sitting room, with shared kitchen and bathroom. We share with only two others, and one of them never cooks anyway. Being more in the centre of Swiss Cottage, it is even handier to things than we are now. We are extremely pleased with everything, and most of all, we will have that extra money that we can save. We are going shopping with Ken and Erica tomorrow at Petticoat Lane, and they're coming for tea Monday night. They leave for Paris on Wednesday. Erica is a Barcaldine girl and we think her parents are graziers with plenty of money. They want us to come and have Xmas with them in Paris. Our new place will be a lot easier to keep warm, and cost us far less in heating bills than the large flat. With winter now upon us, keeping warm becomes a top priority. So, note the new address above and send all future letters there. Any that you have posted to the old one will be re-addressed to us anyway.
Letters 22, 23 & 24: Another Aussie
52 Greencroft Gardens N.W.6. London Sat 14th Nov.1964 It's been quite a week. Things seem to happen so quickly, and life is so full. Every time I write I always think there's something I haven't told you after I have posted the letter. Anyway carry on - A new chap started work at the Lab on Monday. He is an Aussie and a Queenslander and comes from Brisbane. Dennis, a friend, brought him to me in the canteen saying "Meet a fellow countryman - John Spence". In the course of conversation John said "Where are you from?". "Mount Morgan" I answered "Do you know the Spence family at Baree?" he asked. "Tommy Spence?" I said. "Well", John replied "You know Tom, isn't that amazing. He is my cousin!". Small world isn't it! Here I am working in London, and a chap turns up who knows someone in Mount Morgan. It always happens! John and I are now very good mates and like to compare notes on England, and the people. Bob groaned "Now there's two of you!" he complained. Actually Bob told me that he never liked Australians before. The ones he met before he described as "loud mouthed extroverts". Well, I think , yes, some are unfortunately. His criticism of me is I am "overwhelmingly modest, too polite", and I "act too much like a tourist". He wants me to take the movie business seriously and make it my career. I keep saying that I am only here as a tourist - but I think we both don't believe it. Both of us have a similar background, and, would you believe it, Bob stuttered too until his middle teens. We think alike, but Bob is far more advanced intellectually. However he is helping me catch up, and our relationship often seems like teacher and student. Sunday night Another hectic day! We went shopping with Ken and Erica this morning at Petticoat Lane, where I bought a beautiful eiderdown for 13/- and a big double bed blanket for 15/-. As our new place is lacking in blankets I am taking no chances with the cold winter ahead. We had lunch we them there, and just arrived home in time for tea as Margie was coming, and I was cooking a mixed grill. Afterwards we were going to the movies at Camden Town, but Peter and Dan(two friends) dropped in and we just sat there talking and laughing. Beats me how anyone can be lonely here! We seem to be with people all the time. Monday. Today Bob got shifted to the 16mm colour assembly department and I am now in charge of our department as Michael is in lacquering . We have another fellow in the section though and hope to get Mike back again. I will miss Bob's company, but now we can have lunch together anyway - which we couldn't before. Noel and I went to the Scala again on Friday night to see the "The King and I". It was the best production at the Scala so far. The casting was perfect, as was the singing. The scene where Anna and the King dance together stopped the show, and there was much applause, and cries for "More" and "Bravo"!. Anna wore a beautiful big gown that flowed out behind her as she danced. It was all "Wow!"..The weather has been drizzly, but Sunday was sunny. We drove to Petticoat Lane again on Sunday morning, with Erica navigating and took a wrong turn and we finished up driving through the city, past St Paul's and the Bank of England, until we eventually found the Petticoat Lane area. We all had a fit of laughter, when Erica, looking at some blankets that she had just bought, said to the man beside her(thinking it was Ken) "We'll be lovely and warm in these love!". The man gave her such a look!. Poor Erica went a brilliant scarlet, and we ribbed her about it all day. The shopping alleys were so crowded that sometimes it was impossible to move.
Monday, Nov 23rd. 1964. Received your letter Friday evening this time. I didn't have time to reply at the weekend as we were very busy moving. Saturday was extremely busy for us, as we were moving to our new digs, but we are all settled down again now. Sunday morning was spent organising things, and Sunday arvo we were going to go to the Science Museum, but as we were walking through Hyde Park, we discovered Speaker's Corner and found it so interesting that we stayed there. There was even a film unit filming, and all the speakers were in fine fettle. One chap held our interest for some time as he spoke endlessly about how the English were a bunch of idiots. He was heckled and abused but he had an answer for all of them. We found that we shared many of his views. He was of Indian descent, but very well educated and all the time the mass of people were laughing with him, and enjoying his verbal slaying of the hecklers. In the background a person kept walking about holding up a sign saying "The End is at Hand" which Noel found to be particularly amusing. After Hyde Park, we had a cup of coffee and went to the movies in Piccadilly. As yet our van isn't mobile because we are waiting for the registration and insurance to come through. Everything gets hopelessly entangled in red tape here. By the way, we voted in the Australian elections last Saturday.(by accident, really!).We didn't have a clue about who to vote for, and we didn't even know the election was on, but Noel had to go to Australia House for something and we just happened to see the voting booths, and notices warning all Australians who didn't vote would be fined - so we voted! After Aust. House, we visited the Indian Embassy, as Noel wanted some information on India for a school project and then lunched at a Lyons Cafeteria. After all that, we went home to pack, and moved our stuff out in two taxis. The poor old cabbies wondered what hit 'em! Two girls moved in after we moved out. Tuesday We went to another B.B.C. show with Margie last night. It was a comedy show that was being recorded for a future date. It will be very interesting to watch it on T.V. as the show will be dominated by Noel's laughter. As usual Noel laughed louder than anybody else, even when nobody else was laughing. Bob's movie is still going ahead and has been upgraded to an "A" feature, with Barbara Steel in one of the leading roles. They hope to be shooting in January. Bob said that I should go to Istanbul with them. It would be fun! It is all very exciting. When Bob and I talk our imaginations really crackle. I wish that I knew as much about the movie business as he does. We saw another stage show on Saturday night in Piccadilly called "Instant Marriage", a farce with Joan Sims starring. It was really great, with lots of songs and beaut sets that spun around on a double revolving stage. One of the songs stopped the show and they sang it again.. Ken and Erica have gone to Paris, and came around on Friday night to say good bye to us. We will miss them as they have been good friends. Erica tied a big bunch of balloons in our new place to welcome us when we arrived. Noel is going to pop in and see them when he and Margie go over to the Continent for their Xmas school holidays. John Spence and I had a laugh today talking about Baree. He said he visited Baree once and returned 10 years later and nothing had changed - except the roofs were even more rusty. We were telling the boys about the goat herds and that it is customary to ride the goats to town on Saturday mornings to do the shopping.They reckon we colonials are an odd lot! Both of us are well. The weather has not become real cold yet. We had a letter from Ann to say she is taking up Air Hostessing with Qantas and will see us again soon. We still see Sue often. That's about all for now.
Sunday 29th Nov. 1964 I looks as if we may be getting a white Xmas here. The forecast for today is for possible sleet or rain. So far no sleet has fallen but it is drizzling a bit and is very cold outside. Inside our new place it is very warm as we have the heater on, and I only have one jersey on. Today we are not venturing forth at all. We didn't get up until late and just had a walk out to get a couple of things, dropped in to see Margie(she lives nearby) and returned home. We asked Margie for tea tonight as we are having chook.(bought at the Supermarket!).. After dinner we watched a T.V. spectacular on the life of Winston Churchill, that was put on to celebrate his 90th birthday. We have now settled into our new place which has a nice big bay window with regency stripe curtains that overlooks the tree lined street, and when we pull the curtains back all the lovely sunshine floods in. At the back of the building is the park that is actually Greencroft Gardens. All the buildings are built in a square about the park. We are amazed at getting such a nice place at such a good price with no extras to pay at the end of each quarter. At last my bank account with Barclay's Bank can get to look a little healthier. Just had a break in writing to peel the vegies and stuff the chicken, thanks to you and your stuffing recipe. The van is parked out front, but we still can't drive it until we fix up the third party insurance. The insurance company wants to charge us 5pounds extra because we come from the colonies. "Bloody cheek!" says Noel and is going to the Automobile Association tomorrow to try and fix it up with them.At the Lab both Bob and Mike have now been transferred and I have a new replacement called Andy - an Aussie who has been in England for fourteen years. He came over with his parents. We have been very busy, and operating one person short until we get an extra hand. Meanwhile it is just Andy and I, with John operating the polishing machine next door. He still keeps telling me not to work so hard. If you see any shows on T.V. called "Gideons Way",Sullivan Bros" or "Forest Ranges" then our department probably cleaned the negatives before they were printed. I went with Bob to the offices of their film production company, called "Meanwhile Productions" to see an exhibition of photographs done by the students of the London School of Film Technique How's the Mount preparing for Xmas. You should see Regent and Oxford streets here, they now have their Xmas lights up and are very spectacular. They even have colourful reindeers suspended above the streets. We hope to get in one night this week to take some pictures. All the shops are open on Thursday nights and the place absolutely swarms with people. Well Margie is here now, and the chooks cooking in the oven, so I had better go.
Letters 25 & 26: A Visit to the Tower
London.Friday,Dec 4th. 1964 I am starting this at work, because I will be able to post it quicker when your letter arrives. I've just come back from the shops where I bought a ham and salad roll for lunch, and a second hand pick-up for Noel to play records through his tape recorder for 3pounds 10 shillings. Outside it as bitterly cold, a real penetrating cold that goes right through my trousers. Maybe I should buy myself a set of those long underwear things that we always used to laugh at in the movies!. Gloves and a scarf are essential items now. Bob lectured me about wearing a scarf, because he said "Barry, heat rises and those open neck shirts that you wear are no good for an English winter. You must wear a scarf, or a tie to keep that body warmth in." So I took Bob's advice and always wear a scarf now - I will think about that long underwear! Despite the cold I have been out every night this week. On Monday night Noel, Margie, Miss Smith and I went to the Golders Green cinema to see "The Cardinal".(I was the only non-catholic there!). On Tuesday night Margie got tickets for the Tower of London for us to see the Ceremony of the Keys and here we met Jane and Frank. They are an American couple who had just arrived in London after spending 15 hours in the air. When they arrived from the States their plane couldn't land in London because of the fog, then they were diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland, which was also fog bound, so they ended up parked at an airport in Germany until the fog lifted in London. They eventually landed in London 9 hours late. We palled up with them at the Tower ceremony and afterwards we all went somewhere nice and had drinks together. Naturally we talked about England and our respective countries and had many laughs comparing notes on England and the English people. They came from Arizona, and have given us their address so we can stay with them should we get to the U.S.A. As they were very nice people we definitely will drop in should we ever be in their area in the future. On Wednesday night I went to the Mermaid Theatre with Bob, and his friends Jack and his wife Sheila(don't know how it's spelt).Jack is an assistant editor with World Wide movies. The Mermaid is usually only a live theatre, but it is now having a season of great movie musicals. We went to see "Singing in the Rain", one of my all time favourites, directed by Stanley Donen. Afterwards we all went for coffee at a place just off Leicester Square. Last night I went again to see "Easter Parade" with Bob and two other mates. These were two guys who actually work for Meanwhile Productions, the company that is making Bob's movie. One is the director of the movie, and the other is Bob's co-writer of the script. Bob is as crazy on musicals as I am, and we hope to see all the movies in the season. Noel is tied up with Xmas preparations at the school, but is coming along to see the next movie "An American in Paris". The "Meanwhile" boys sat there with their note books and took notes of the credits. They study every movie they see in detail. At work it is still very hectic. As yet there is still only Andy and I, so we are operating one person short, and going at full pressure all day. The trouble is with half hour tea breaks, smoke breaks and 80 minutes for lunch, there is not all that much time left for working!! That's union rules apparently! John was in seeing the personnel head on Wednesday, and he came back and asked me if I would like to learn polishing - the job that he does, and eventually take over as section head. I told him that I would rather get into film cutting, but no definite decision has been made yet. Friday night Your letter was waiting for me when I arrived tonight. Many thanks. I now travel home by the Metropolitan line, which is much more convenient than the Bakeloo line, and they are always packed solid during the rush hour periods. The Met. trains are bigger and more modern too. I will send you a tea towel with a map of the London Underground printed on it so you can follow what I am talking about. Our new station is Finchley Road, one stop on from Swiss Cottage, our old one...Sunday I couldn't finish this on Friday night as I went to sleep. The warmth from the big double electric heater made me drowsy, and we both went to bed early. We slept in Sat. morning and this morning and I didn't get out of bed until 11.30 am. Noel went to 11 am Mass and afterwards we had breakfast and lunch combined - steak,eggs,chips, onions and tomatoes. For tonight we have a huge pot of stew cooking. Peter, a friend of ours, is coming for tea. Yesterday was frightfully cold and rainy, but today hasn't been too bad at all. We finally got all the red tape sorted out with the van, and yesterday we drove down to the Camden Town markets to do our shopping. Thought we were just the ants pants, we did! This afternoon we were going around to the Laundromat to do our washing, but we mucked about with the pickup and tape all afternoon and ran out of time. We will do the washing after work tomorrow. It only takes about an hour to wash and dry it all in the machines. Noel and Margie are going to Austria for two weeks over Xmas on an O.V.C. skiing holiday. The schools have two weeks at Xmas, so Noel thought that he may as well go somewhere. Glad to hear about Vern calling in. I am trying to get all the letters answered. Generally I write yours, and one other letter each week. I received Bette's most welcome letter some time back giving me all the Past Pupil's news and gossip. Pat Fitz. should be on her way here now. Very pleased that you liked the photos. I haven't done much snapping lately as the weather has been so bad.
London. Dec 9th 1964 Thanks for your letter. I also received letters from Bette and Desley, a card and a note from Nerida, and a card from the Rosers. Margie is here at the moment fixing arrangements with Noel for their departure for Austria next Saturday. Noel is taping a waltz for the school's Xmas pantomime. The weather is rainy but mild. We even have a window open. All the letters I have had this week say how hot it is at home. It seems as if you may have had quite a bit of rain. How is the big Dam? I am not sure what I am doing at Xmas time. Peter wants me to go home with him to Yorkshire, but I prefer to stay here I think. Bob and I will most likely go somewhere. We will certainly have Xmas day together. He was thinking of going home to Scotland, but he thinks it's a bit far to go for a couple of days. Last night we went to a party at Peter's flat, and just managed to catch the last train home. We would have taken the van, only we are having the battery charged, as it has not had a good run for some time, and was pretty flat. It wasn't a very big party, just Noel and I, two girl teachers, and Dan. Dan is a student solicitor, and is Irish, but he is a very nice chap. The two girls were Anna and Frankie. Frankie teaches at Noel's school, as does Peter. Peter is highly amusing at any time, but acting the host, he was hilarious. Like most of the younger set here they haven't much idea how to cook, or create party eats. Every time Peter comes to our place for a meal, he is always amazed at the food we cook. Margie, too, is learning how to cook out of sheer necessity. Noel and I feel that we are a jump ahead of everybody, thanks to our cooking efforts at home. By the way, thanks for the onion sauce recipe, it is greatly appreciated. We went around to Miss Smith's on Friday to do some wallpapering for her. Noel and I didn't have much of a clue how to do it, except for the experience we had on the sets for the Drama Group. However we managed to get it up and it looked okay and didn't fall down! Miss Smith said if we ever wanted to give a party or anything, we could have her house. She lives in a lovely little brick house in Hendon, and, until Noel arrived at the school, she was a very timid lady spinster. Noel changed all that! That's the effect he has on people! Now she has become a bit of a swinger, and is always laughing. Margie is having a party on Monday night and there's a big party at Miss Smith's on Friday night for the school staff and friends. On Wednesday night we are going to Purley in South London, to see an original pantomime written by a friend of Peter's, who composes all his own music. Peter is also mad on music, but mostly church music and heavy stuff. I read with interest that you watched the Churchill Spectacular on T.V.. It sounds like it was the same one that we watched. Britain badly needs another Churchill to wake them up, and revive their spirit that seems to have disappeared. No one wants to work here, and they seem to think only of themselves and their own interests. Wilson seems to know what's wrong with England, but whether he can do anything about it remains to be seen. He made a speech and said that if everyone did an honest day's work, Britain would be well on the way to economic recovery. This class thing has a lot to do with it, as the attitude is "Why work hard to put money in the pockets and purses of the Lords and Ladies, and the bosses". They don't seem to understand that everyone should work together to build a better Britain. Just had a call to the phone. It is downstairs and Mrs Aarons(the landlady) called up "Barry". When I went down it was Isobel calling to wish me a Merry Xmas. We had a long talk and arranged a date for dinner when she comes back from Germany. There was a big B.B.C. television unit at the new Swiss Cottage Civic Centre filming at the swimming pool there. All the swimming pools here are indoors and the Swiss Cottage one is a beauty. Don't think I could be happy swimming indoors though. I am missing the Aussie beaches and sunshine now. I think of all the gang back home racing off to the beaches for Xmas, and getting about in just togs. I have to pile on so many clothes when I go out on the bitterly cold days that I think I must look like a polar bear lumbering along. John Spence and I often get together at work and talk about the beaches. He used to go to Surfers often. When I come back I am going to spend days just sunbaking and surfing. Bette says she is starting preparations for my homecoming party now! Said that's why she resigned from the P.P's. Good old Bet! We have got roast stuffed veal for tea tonight. We found a fantastic big modern supermarket just nearby yesterday, where it is possible to buy anything - except electric frypans, they don't know what they are. We had a great time just wandering about, and buying the odd item. It's good to have a bit of extra cash to play about with now. .Hope you have a Happy Xmas.......
Letter 27: Christmas Plans
London. Friday Dec.18th 1964 I thought I would begin this in an idle moment at work in an effort to cut the delay in posting later. With Xmas approaching, things are less busy in the Lab this week. So far this morning I have inspected the film coming off the Ultra Sonics, ran about three reels and have been talking the rest of the time. Always in the morning mates drop in to have a chat. First there is Robin, who generally stays about ten minutes. He is very funny and does John Wayne impersonations. Then there is Harry who stayed a half an hour chatting. The visit we all look forward to is Sheila's. She is in charge of the 16mm department and often brings work down herself. She is very pretty and very nice. I guess she is our favourite, and her work always gets priority over the others. Just had a problem. Andy said that the pressure on the number one machine was dropping, so we shut it down, and brought the number five into action. John will have to come in the look at the No 1. I now have so many invitations for Xmas Day that I think the best thing to do would be to put them into a hat and draw one out. John wants me to join him and his wife in their new home in Kent. Sue has asked me to their farm in Surrey, Peter has invited me to Yorkshire, and Helen, an Aussie friend of Margie's says if I am by myself to give her a call and she would arrange something. Andy says he is coming over on Xmas day with the Humphries Xmas hamper, which contains every item of food that one would want for Xmas day. Unfortunately I didn't get one as I was not there for the required number of months. Then there is Bob who has indicated that we should do something together. So probably I may not know what I am doing until Xmas Eve. Actually here we get Xmas Eve off too. I am going to the Humphries Xmas party on Tuesday night with Andy and Aussie John. Everyone in the Lab seems to have gone Xmas card crazy. Each department sends Xmas cards to all the other departments, and to the customers outside. We have a few hanging up on our wall, but one department has hundreds hanging from everywhere, even from the electrical cords going down to the rewinding machines. I suspect that the different departments compete with each other to see who has the most cards...Sunday night late: I spent yesterday at Miss Smiths. Noel and Margie left for Austria at 6.30am in the morning and I went around to collect some things that he left there after the party on Friday night. I didn't go to the party, which was for the school staff, but instead went with Bob to the Mermaid Theatre. When I appeared at Miss Smith's she gave me such a welcome that one would think I hadn't seen her for months, when in fact it was only a few days ago! She sat me down by the fire, gave me a hot drink, and insisted that I stay for lunch. She must have read my thoughts as I was feeling very down and dispirited. While waiting for the bus at Kilburn High Street on the way over, it was cold and terribly bleak with drizzly rain, and I thought of the blue skies and golden beaches at home and thought to myself "What am I doing here?". It was my lowest point so far and tears welled up in my eyes. However Miss Smith's warm welcome and loving embrace made me feel so much better. Jimmy, another young teacher from their school, arrived to replace some glass in a window that was broken, so I finished up helping him fix the window. The sun tried to shine a few times but when it did, it was very weak with no warmth in it. Of course Jimmy stayed for lunch too, so we had quite a cheery day. Today it has been drizzling, and of course it is very cold. I went to South London tonight to catch a Roger Corman movie at Clapham, but I missed it as it was on first, so I caught a bus and headed back again. I got off the bus at South Bank and walked across Lambeth Bridge. I wasn't sure where I was at first, but when I saw the tower of Big Ben looming floodlit in the sky, I knew exactly where I was. I then walked along past the Palace of Westminster to the Houses of Parliament, up through Parliament Square until I eventually arrived at Trafalgar Square. There in the Square with its floodlit fountains and Nelson's Column was a giant colourful Xmas tree, surrounded by a mass of people singing Xmas carols. The singing was led by a group of people, composed mainly of stage and screen stars working for Oxfam, a large charitable organisation. I listened for a while, then made my way to Piccadilly where I caught the tube home. When I arrived home I turned on the T.V, and there, on the news, was the same scene of the carol singing that I had seen earlier. I received quite a few cards from home, one even from Mrs Simmonds. Have you heard of anyone getting cards from me yet? One arrived from Aunty Dine written by Lyn. It was beautifully written. She seems a very nice girl. If you see Bette tell her I received her letter and card. It was a beaut Aussie card with Aboriginal paintings on it. I showed it to Bob when he came in for a cup of coffee after the Mermaid Theatre and he said it was the most unusual Xmas card he has seen. Frank Ifield is just singing "Waltzing Matilda" on the T.V. - which reminds me of something that happened last week. I was walking down crowded Tottenham Court Road during my lunch break, when I heard voices singing "Waltzing Matilda" behind me. I turned around and saw it was a few mates from Humphries who wanted to attract my attention. It worked!.. Anyway I had better get to bed now.....
Letter 28: A Brigadoon Christmas
London.Tuesday Dec 22nd 1964 Well it is going to be a "Brigadoon" Xmas for me. Bob and I have just hired a car, and we are going to his home in Aberdeen - 450 miles away in Scotland. I have organised a Cortina for us like Stan's. Naturally our old bus was not the car for the job, and I am really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of a Cortina again. We are leaving at 4am on Thursday morning( Humphries gave all of us Xmas Eve off). Hope to have lunch in Edinburgh, and arrive in Aberdeen sometime that night. His Mother will be overjoyed, as he rang her up earlier to say that he couldn't make it, because he is saving for his trip to Turkey. However we talked about it and thought of the car hire, which is much cheaper than train, so I made a few phone calls, and we're away - or will be on Thursday. John is bringing in his road maps tomorrow for us, but our major task will be getting out of London, though at 4am it should not be too difficult. I am really pleased about it. So is Bob, as neither of us fancied spending Xmas in London. Me especially with Noel away.
Monday 29th Dec. I wanted to post a letter to you before Xmas, but things got rather busy. Well we arrived back from Bonny Scotland at 3am this morning after travelling thirteen hours through mountains and snow clad countryside, flashing along the super motorways, the M6 and the M1, on which fly-overs carried us over the roof tops of villages, passing through dozens of counties, and encountering all kinds of weather. I had a really wonderful Christmas - a white Christmas, with terrific people, the Megginson family. Bob has truly marvellous, warm parents and they welcomed me as if I was one of the family too, as did his brother and sister. Gee, it's made a lot of difference. I guess I was getting a little depressed and homesick before Christmas, but they took me into their home and overwhelmed me with hospitality, and I felt completely at home and relaxed. I seemed to be eating all the time, or sleeping, or just sitting by the fire. It was really great. They even gave me a Xmas present - two in fact, as Stephen(8yrs) gave me a biro pen. We left about 6 o'clock on Thursday morning and arrived in Aberdeen at 10.30 pm. When we left London it was all foggy, especially the Midlands, but as we approached the Scottish border the sun came out and the sky cleared, so then we were travelling towards Scotland in bright sunshine. About this time, approaching the border, we saw an amazing sight - a fox hunt! A large group of horsemen, and women and hundreds of dogs were galloping across a meadow, bordering the road. They lost the trail near the road and all milled around trying to pick it up. The leader of the hunt was in a red jacket, as were most others, and all the women were dressed for the occasion, with one old lady riding side saddle. I took a few pictures, as you can imagine and, as I did so, Bob got out of the car and told one of the huntsmen what he thought of people who killed for pleasure. Fortunately, before they resorted to fistycuffs, the hounds picked up the trail near the road and they all began leaping over the stone fence, with the huntmaster making funny noises as they all went galloping off. Driving along afterwards, I told Bob all about how you were a great horsewoman and how you would have looked just as good, if not better than a lot of the women in the hunt. When we began to ascend Bob said "The border's not far now", and when we crossed it I saw my first snow. It was lying all about the ground as we passed over the top of some hills. We pulled up and got out. Bob said "There it is Barry, your first snow. Go on walk on it!". I put my foot gingerly in to it and bent down to pick some up. "Pick up a handful and make a snowball." he said. As I did so he said "That's it, now compress it tight!...Go on, throw it at the tree trunk. Nobody will see you!. Anyway, what the hell if they do!"..So I threw my first snowball!.. Later on as we were driving along, snow began to fall so I stopped and walked about in it. Bob was highly amused by it all and seemed to get a kick out of watching my reactions. Driving through Scotland on Christmas Eve night was like being in a real live Christmas card. There were little cottages with snow on their roofs, surrounded by pine trees with white topped branches, while the windows of the cottages glowed bright warm orange with snow falling outside. Driving through the towns and villages, everything had a carpet of snow, and each village had a snow covered Xmas tree, with coloured lights strung up in the village square. Occasionally a Christmas carol would come on the radio as we drove past the villages where people were carrying out their last minute Xmas shopping in the gently falling snow. I couldn't believe it was really true and actually happening. All these classic Christmas scenes, and I was a part of it. Even in Edinburgh the snow was still falling. It's funny, it is not wet, and when you get into the car or go into a house, you just brush it off. In the morning, when I woke up (11 am) I looked out the window to see if it was still there, and it was covering everything and heaped up on our parked car outside. On Xmas night we had a snow fight. Margaret, Bob's sister(14yrs) was going out with her friends to go sledge riding, so we went too and rode the sledge, made mud slides on the road, and involved the whole street in a snow ball fight. The idea being that anyone who walked along the street, you hit with a snow ball, and they generally threw one back and so on!. During the couple of days in Aberdeen, I met a lot of people, most of them friends of Bob's, and was in quite a few homes. In all the homes it was the same. They'd say "Sit by the fire and I'll get you something to drink".We dropped in on a party on the Saturday night and I was completely overwhelmed. Everyone wanted to talk to me and look after me, and honestly I have never been to a party like it. Bob kept saying "He's just seen snow for the first time". Before we arrived in Aberdeen, Bob told me that I would have trouble understanding the dialect of the people, but I surprised him by understanding quite well. He said it must have been the wee drop of Scots blood in my veins. Actually everyone was thrilled that I was half Scottish and wanted to know about my grandparents, but I'm afraid I was not able to tell them much about them at all. I was highly amused at Bob's sudden switch to the Aberdeen dialect as his normal voice that I knew was that of an educated Englishman. He warned me about it before hand, but when he started talking that way I did a double take to check who the other person with me was! Another thing that was quite amusing was that he got presents of shaving soap and after shave lotion and he has a beard. He hadn't been home for a year so nobody knew. To-day, Monday, it is very cold with ice and snow all around London. Funny, I wasn't cold, or at least, it didn't worry me in Scotland. I guess it was because all the homes there had big fires burning, and the car was heated. I amazed Bob with my driving endurance on the trip. As he hasn't a license and can't drive, I drove all the way there and back, a total distance of over 900 miles. He also commended my efforts on driving in the snow and ice, a thing that I have never had to face before. (I figured that it was the same as driving on wet greasy roads).When we were on our final approach to the city of Aberdeen and climbing a snow covered hill, the tyres lost traction, so I turned the car around and drove up the hill backwards. It got us there. Bob was amazed! (and terrified he later admitted). I'm telling you this because I know you worry about me driving around Britain. I CAN be a careful driver you know - or you should know by now. Of course, here at the Lab, everyone's been talking most of the morning. All my mates , Harry, Robin, Mike, Roger, John of course and mad Andy have all been in. Andy says he is going to Australia in a couple of weeks, sailing in a boat that he and his mate own - a thirty footer. He wants me to go with them. I told him he was mad. There was a big article in this morning's Daily Mirror about how Australians spent their Xmas Day on the beach at Bondi. People here think that everyone in Australia spends Xmas day on the beach. Thanks for the calendar. It's beaut. If I send you Mrs Megginson's address, could you send her a calendar or something from Australia, as they would be thrilled. Especially if it came from you. I hope you had a happy Christmas and are well. I must hurry to get this posted. Monday night.. I am sitting in the car outside the Swiss Cottage Post Office. Time is 11.45 pm. Bob, Sheila, Jack and I have just been to the National Film Theatre, at the Millbank Tower, to see two movie classics of 1924. Sheila and Jack are a recently married couple who I have mentioned before. I drove into the city and met them all at the tower, and have just dropped Bob off, after he picked up some of his gear from my place. The traffic is still pretty heavy on Finchley Road. I am writing on a copy of the movie script that I am taking home to read. Anyway I had better go now and get to bed. By the way, note the stamp on the envelope. It is the Firth of Forth bridge that has just been opened by the Queen. We passed over it at the weekend and visited one of Bob's aunts who lives in a village just near the bridge...
Christmas in Scotland
Happy New Year
1965
