More Memories of Mum

Mum had her hands full with three boys. When we were older, she did go back to her comptometer operator job for a while. She was a great cook, possibly the best maker of Yorkshire puddings ever, even better than her mother, and that is saying something. Among her most memorable dishes were lemon meringue pie, bread and butter pudding, blackberry and apple pie (after we had gone blackberry picking around Barnes Common) and those Sunday roasts. But she hated housework, so didn't do much according to her sister Iris. But we never noticed.

She read a lot of books and listened to the radio. She never missed Alistair Cook's "Letter from America" or the "Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" at Christmas. I think she also listened to "The Archers". She wrote letters, some to a close friend who emigrated to New Zealand.

Mum's favourite television programmes included Wagon Train and later Rawhide starring her favourite actor, a young Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates. She would watch any good detective drama such as Maigret. She only watched the BBC, believing for years that it was all "tripe" on ITV. Mum loved to watch sport almost as much as Dad, snooker's Pot Black was a favourite, even showjumping when that was on.

The only time Mum was really emotional with me was when I bought my first car in 1966. When I drove to Kenilworth for the first time, she was obviously so worried about me having driven there, that as soon as I arrived, she threw her arms around me, something I had never experienced before.

Mum died far too young, she was only 55 when she died at Warwick Hospital on 24th January 1979. She had contracted leukaemia and despite all the usual treatments, the remissions didn't last. When we lived in Braintree, I remember she went into hospital for an operation. I think that was on her thyroid which I think was treated when she was a young woman. I was staying with Dad on the day before she died and went with him to visit Mum in the evening. It was early next morning that I heard him take the devastating call from the hospital.

Mum was great with her grandchildren, to which my daughter Zoe can testify. It was such a shame she was not with us longer.