Submitted by Margaret Wilson, Croydon u3a
In 1950 I lived in a village called Great Horwood in Buckinghamshire with my parents, sister and grandmother. I had attended the local village school and passed the 11+ examination go to the Royal Latin grammar school where I was in my second year. The school was in Buckingham and I went there every day by bus.
During the war my mother was called up and worked at a secret establishment. This was later documented in a book entitled “Winston Churchill’s Toyshop”
In 1951 I was diagnosed with a tumour in my mouth and I was sent to St Thomas’s Hospital in London for radiotherapy treatment. My father came with me and as it was the year of the Festival of Britain he took me there as a treat after my treatment. I remember how excited I was seeing the Skylon and all of the other exhibits.
1952 I remember the death of King George VI and the accession to the throne of his daughter Elizabeth. At school we were called to a special assembly where his death was announced. I really can’t remember much else about it. Queen Elizabeth Coronation was in 1953 and I watched it on TV at the house of my old school mistress Mrs Griffin. She was one of the first people to have a television and I was often privileged to be allowed to go watch it. Apart from seeing the Coronation I also saw Crufts dog show. For the first time I saw a Chihuahua and I promised myself that one day I would have one. There were also celebrations in 1953 when Hillary and Tensing climbed Everest.
In 1954 I left school and went to work at the Rocket Propulsion Establishment (RPE), Westcott. RPE was an outstation of RAE Farnborough. At the time Britain had a space programme and rocket motors were tested at Westcott and also on the Isle of Wight. I had several jobs there, finally working in the library which was part of the Combustion division.
There were a large proportion of young men, scientists, engineers, apprentices and photographers and not many young single girls so we had a great time. One of the young scientists, Tom Bourdillon, had been part of the team that climbed Everest and there was a plaque commemorating this in the social club.
Westcott had an active social club and I participated in dinners, dances, playing table tennis, snooker and darts. I attended the weekly dances together with my pals and I also organised the refreshments in the intervals. A group of us used to plan how you decorate the hall when it was a special occasion such as Halloween, Christmas or Valentine’s Day. I remember one young man who helped us was the son of the Queen’s physician and he persuaded his sister to make us covers all the lights in the hall so that they looked like pumpkins. We all loved rock ‘n’ roll and danced to the music of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Tommy Steele, Adam Faith, Cliff Richard and the Everly Bros.
Margaret at centre bottom in glasses , RPE Social Club Dance
I also belonged to the Aylesbury social club where we had weekly dances and again played darts in the bar and generally had a good time. Great Horwood was approximately 15 miles away from Westcott and my friends and I relied upon the young scientists and engineers who have cars and could take us home after the dances. One young man’s parents lived in Claydon House and a group of us went there as we were looking for the ghost of Sir John Verney who had lost his hand in a battle against the Parliamentary troops. The legend went that he walked at midnight looking for his lost hand. Needless to say young man’s parents were not amused and we were soundly ticked off.
When my grandmother died in 1955 it was the passing of an era. She had been an indomitable old lady had run away from home at the age of 14 to join the circus and I can still remember the stories she told me about her life.
In 1956 I went on holiday to a Butlins camp with my friend Pam where she met a chap called Mike and married him the following year. I was one of her bridesmaids and can remember my turquoise coloured flocked nylon dress which had about six petticoats underneath it. I was very proud of my sandals which were transparent and had sparkly bits sprinkled all over them.
In 1958 my parents, sister and I moved from Great Horwood Aylesbury. Aylesbury not only had a social club but also the Hazel Watson and Viney printers social club and in 1959 a jazz club opened in the Grosvenor Ball Room. My friends and I bopped to the music of Chris Barber, Terry Lightfoot, Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball and Humphrey Lyttleton and that’s where I celebrated my 21st birthday. We also went roller skating in the Grosvenor ballroom.
After we moved Aylesbury I went on holiday to Bournemouth with my friend. I can remember that even on holiday we wore hats and gloves.
Whilst there I saw a Chihuahua in a pet shop window and decided that I wanted to buy him. I checked with my parents first and then bought my Chihuahua, whose kennel club name was Brizard Sinbad. We all called him Tiny and he went everywhere with me. One of the lads at work used to take me on his motor scooter and Tiny came as well. The problem was that Tiny didn’t really like men and used to growl at my male companions which some of them found a bit off putting!!!
In 1959 I became an assistant cub master and among other things took my troop to Wendover Hills for nature study. As I said, my Chihuahua came with me and the cubs are thought this was very amusing.