The Portsea, Blakes Family Tree ,

                                   BLAKE FAMILY TREE

I have to admit from the outset , I am no computer man , this is very hard for me to get my head around , but here go’s

　

　

My father was Charles Hickox Blake , born 10 , May 1900 Died 29 September 1972. married Beatrice May Cumner , born 5 may 1909 ,Sandhurst ,Berkshire Died  2000

His father was Charles Hickox Blake . born 19 January ,1877 Died march 1944.

           Children, Daisy, b 1899         Charles, b 1900 d,1972.  Frederick, b 1916 d, 1977

Married Sarah Jane Wheeler , Born Portsea Hampshire

His father was Charles Hickox Blake . born 20 November 1851 ,unknown date of death. Married Abigail Allan, Born Bridport Dorset
Children, Caroline, b 1875 .Charles, b 1877. Ellan b 1879. Jessie b 1881.
Flora, b 1883, Captain ? b 1885, Harry, b 1887, Annie, b 1888 ,
Beatrice b 1890, Lottie, b 1891.

His father was George Blake, borne abt ,1822 he married Caroline Hickox , born abt, 1821, married in Alverstoke Gosport, Hampshire

George and Caroline had 6 Children,

George Blake b, 1843
Caroline Blake b,1844
Sarah Blake, b 1850
Johnathan Blake, b 1848
Charles Hickox Blake, b1852
Harriet Blake, b 1855
Keziah Blake, b 1857    d1861
Rosina Mathews, b 1871(granddaughter ,)?

John Blake baptised 1798 is believed to be my Great, great, great, great grandfather, father of George Blake . (but not confirmed as yet!!,)

Charles Hickox Blake is my great, great , great Grandfather.

　

My father Charles Hickox Blake, Married my mother Beatrice May Cumner

She Married my father in Berkshire in 1929

　

She  had 11 children ,6, girls and 5 boys.

The Girls.

Iris Irene,                         b,28,10,1930

Marion Rosina,                b,16,5, 1932

Daisey Nora,                    b,24,3, 1934

Sylvia Beatrice Abigail     b, 23,7,137                                                                      

                                                                                                                                

Shirley Mary                     b, 9,10,1936                                                             

Rita   May                b,12,3,1952                                                                                                  

The boys                                                                                          

Edward Charles       b,  1939                                                                

Richard Arthur          b,  9,10,1940

Ralph Allan               b,1,10,1942                                                                                             
 

Robert Peter             b, 2,2,1945                                                       

Melvyn John              b,16,6,1946                                                 

 

 

 

 

                                        Below is a Photograph of the Blake family

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately we lost our oldest brother Edward in 2010, he joined our mother up in Heaven

 

 

 

 

                     Our Mother, Beatrice May Blake ,Born, 1909, Died 2000

 

 

 

 

 

 Here we are again, all pretending to be happy after our mothers wake, keeping up the upper lip, but silently crying inside .  that's me in the black shirt at the back, the good looking one,!!

 

 

Below is the Blake's family tree as I know it , most of them were born in Portsmouth Portsea , Portsmouth .

 

 

I have a photograph of my father (see Below ), I only met him once, read my, http//melvynsmudlarkinglifeinpompy.blogspot.com for a bit of a laugh .

                                                           My FATHER

 

My fathers brother's and sister's was, Teddy Frederick Blake, b, 1916, d, 1977, he my have had a sister, but I think she may have died  at a early age, her name was Daisy Blake, she was on the 1901 census but not on the1911 , he had two more brothers and three more sisters , their names were , Edmond Harry Blake, Ernest William Blake,  Lilly Violet Blake, Beatrice Abigail Blake, and,  Elsie Mable Blake.  (I am looking into that side of the family now, I will add more as I get it ) .

                               I  have a photograph of my Grandfather ,  see below .

                                 Both of them are named Charles Hickox Blake

          In this photograph their is my mother, her parents, and my father's parents

                                                              see  below

     this would be mr, and mr's Cumner, /mother, /Charles and Sarah Blake/wheeler

 

 

 

 

                                     This is my wife SHIRLEY and me, MELVYN

 

 

                                                    MY BLAKE FAMILY

             MELVYN JOHN BLAKE, Married to SHIRLEY BLAKE /NEE DASH .

 

I married my wife 1'st July 1968, I had not long been discharged from the Army, I had a medical discharge which meant I was entitled to compensation.

I asked my future bride what she would prefer, a white wedding, or new furniture for the house, she chose the Furniture .

We were married at Sturminster Newton, Dorset, they called it a registry office , but standing there, I can assure you it was anything but, it was the law courts, we stood before the judges bench, feeling like prisoners before the dock, we were both visibly shaking, saying our vowels and generally looking quite sick, when it was finished we were both relieved , we could not get out of there fast enough.

Our first child was a girl, we had 5 children.

                                       

ANITA MAY BLAKE,B,4,1,1970, (Sherborne Dotset,) Michel Will, 3, Boys

Martin Wills, Kyle Wills, Charley Wills.

DARREN ALAN BLAKE, B,1,10,1973, (Portsmouth,) C,L,Wife,Barbara Bastable,

2, boys, Danial Blake, Louis Blake.

SHARRON LIZA BLAKE, B, 14,7,1972, (Portsmouth,) SINGEL,

ALAN JOHN BLAKE , B, 26,8,1981, (Portsmouth, ) SINGLE

MELANIE LOUISE BLAKE, B, 21,4,1983, (Sherborne Dorset, ) Partner, David Dewfall, 4,Children, 3, girls 1, boy, Melanie Dewfell, Angelina Dewfell, Juliet Dewfell, Harry Dewfell, ( and one on the way ,?? )

　

I remarried my wife shirley on the first 25 years of our marriage, we had our rings blessed at Sherborne Abbey, Dorset,and it is my intent to renew our vowels at 50 years , if she will still have me ,! (5 YEARS TO GO !! )

I am now 67 years old, and things are starting to get a bit shaky, you know ?, take the pills and get on with it .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  blakemelvyn@gmail.com

CUMNER FAMILY TREE

                                                       
                           

                                       Cumner  Family Tree

I feel at this time I need to cover my Mother side of the family, so with the help of this computer I will tell you what I know .(or think I know !!,)

My Mothers name before she married my father, ( Charles Hickox Blake ) , was Beatrice May Cumner.

She was born 1909 in sandhurst Berkshire,


Her father was Ernest Edward Cumner born 22 June 1876 in Cambridge town.  *****

He married, Marion Rosina Davis, in 1897, she was born 1878 in Basinstoke .

My Great Grandfather was, Sidney Cumner, born abt 25 Nov, 1827 in Newbury,

He married, Miriam Crane Mathews, born 9 April 1844 in Aldershot, Hampshire .

My great great Grandfather, Sydney Cumner, born abt 16 Nov, 1788 in Ogbourne st George.

He married, Hannah Write born 1796

My great great great Grandfather ,John Cumner ,born 1785 .

My mothers Mother, had 12 Children in all ,

　

Daisy Marian Cumner

Dorothy Louisa Cumner

Floretta Alexandra Cumner

Elanor Rose Cumner

Sydney James Cumner

Thomas Fredric

Beatrice May Cumner      ***

Elise W cumner

Nina Phyllis Cumner

Edward George Cumner

Richard Arther Cumner

Robert Henry Cumner

I will try to introduce some photograph as I go along .


     This is my great, great, grandparents, I think, Sidney Cumner,and, Miriam Crane Matthews.

                                                                       BELOW
                                    This is my great, great, grandmother, Marion Rosina Davis

BELOW

This is my great grandmother, Marion Rosina  Cumner, /Davis

                                                                        BELOW
                                      This is my mother Beatrice may Cumner, /Blake

 

***

There is a site, Stephen Bagfords Pages, he has a bigger insight to the Cumner family, he has some of the same photograph that I have received from my family, I will add what I can .

BELOW

These are the brothers of  my mothers father,

their parents , SydneyCumner, Hanna Cumner,/Wright

Starting top left ,George Cumner, Charly Cumner, Arthur Cumner,

Thomas Freadric Cumner, Great,great Grandparents Cumner, Chris Cumner,

                  Harry Cumner,     Ernest Edward Cumner,    Richard Cumner 

               

*****

                                        Great, Great, Grandfather, Ernest Edward Cumner .

This photograph is of my mother  her mother and father Ernest Edward Cumner and Marion Rosina Cumner,/ Davis, and the in laws, Charles Hickox Blake, and Sarah Jane Blake, /Wheeler .




                                                       More to follow as I find it .


blakemelvyn@gmail.com

12 squadron R.C.T. BF Po 43 , R,A,S.C.

12 , squadron R.C.T. , B.F.P.O. 43.

　

Private Melvyn John Blake 23990507

　

I joined the army when I was 17 1/2 years old, the early part of 1963, I went to a recruitment office in Old Portsmouth, they gave me some test do before I could enlist, maths, English, that sort of thing, the Sergeant on duty was a bit amazed at the working out that I did to find the right answer to the sums, the working out was totally wrong but the answer was right," how did you do it ?" he asked , what could I tell him, I did not know myself, then there was the spelling, you see I would always spell the way I spoke, (spalling, tould ,! ) that sort of thing, after the spelling test he told me I had failed by one word, he saw the look on my face and out of the kindness of his heart, ( or because of the low enlistment rate ! ) he gave me the chance to amend the spelling of the offending word, saying he can’t help me, but pointing to the word in question, he gave me the answer, then I was in , I joined the R .A.S. C.

After a few weeks I had to report to Buller Barracks, in Aldershot, I reported to the guard room , there I joined other members of the new enlistment, and with the bag I was carrying we were told to line up into three rows, and then marched off to what was to be my new home for the next few weeks, it was not that far to go but by the time we got to Billets we were very tired, we had been marched and double marched all the way, that was our first taste of Army life .

In them days we did not meet many coloured men, so I did not know what to expect, but I have to say, they were all right !, they were very friendly and we had many a laugh, I have a couple of photographs of friends that I would like to include so I will add them as I go .

                                         This is  Bready and Len they were good company



We learnt how to march as a platoon, they made us fitter with the use of the assault course, we went to the rifle range and learnt how to shoot, and at the end of our training, we would pass out on the parade ground and be sent on to our next posting, as I was to become a Driver I was sent to just outside of Yeovil, in Somerset, it was called  Hound stone Camp, there I was taught how to drive lorries, R,L’s , K.9 , and other stuff, I was there for about 10 weeks, and on completion of our training was sent on to another posting, unfortunately when we completed our training we were posted out to different location around the world and I lost contact with most of my friends, it was a long time ago so I may only remember their full names .

　

I met one one chap in the first week (name forgotten ,) like young bucks in the field sizing each other up, just messing about, he was well built, bulging mussels, he pick me up like a wrestler would, one hand on my shoulder the other between my legs, up I went, spinning in mid air, and I was slammed down onto the wooden floor, I thought I was going to die, the wind was knocked out of me, I could not even take a breath, I could not talk, and the pain was slowly seeping into my numbed body, a half hour later I was slowly being peeled of the floor, helped by the chap who had floored me and all was well again .        WAS THAT YOU !!,?

A group of us went to Wembley to watch football, on reaching the stadium we split up, this was my first time with football, I was not a football player or fan, ( but I did want to be one of the boys ),  when I reach the place for the tickets I was very disappointed, there was nothing for us to see but the backs of other football goers, the game was going on but I could not see a thing , that was it for me, I never watched another football game again , ever !! not even on the tally .                                            

Of course not everything was rosy, there was one cap ( name forgotten ) who used to stink to high even, after being told by other soldiers to clean himself up, and him refusing to do so , ( he just would not wash !! ) they took it upon themselves to clean him up, they grabbed him by the arms and legs, marched him into the bathroom and started to clean him up in the bath, with a scrubbing brush, and a bar of soap, at first I was all in favour, but after a while it got a bit out of hand, they got this old fire bucket and fire pump, the kind you put your foot on and pump like a bicycle pump, jets of water would come out of the end of the hose with quite a force, not content with that, one of the boys tried to insert the hose up the boys rectum, that is where it went all wrong, a few of us went in and put a stop to it, in the end we felt sorry for him, but I will say, he never stank for the rest of the time that we were at Buller Barracks .

I’d like to thank the Copper ( Policeman ) who saved my life in Aldershot, I was felling good that day, I was smartly dressed in my Army uniform I’d just been to a café to meet a young lady, and was returning to barracks, walking down the high street in the middle of the pavement, in front of me two men are walking towards me, I am in a good mood and think nothing of it, they separated, one each side of me, moving close in they both shouldered me at the same time, I was stunned and shocked, I walked on about six paces, I was fuming, I turned around and I invited them both it a building plot between to shops, In my mind I was going to give them a good beating, I walked half way down the plot and turned around, there in front of me, they stood one to the left of me one to the right ,well I realise to late I have bit off more then I could chew, but still I am going for it, then from behind the two boys came a voice, " hello ?" , "hello" ?," what’s going on here then "? , there he stood in a blue uniform and shinny buttons, he had this kind of halo surrounding him , ( wishful thinking ?) he must have been sent by god !, reading the situation he said "on your way boys " , and with that, all the anger seeped away, and I smiling at the Policeman, walked away, in my mind thanking the policeman and god, for saving my life, in truth I was a fit but only a seven stone weakling and I would have had ten bales of s---t kicked out of me .

The posting office , posted me to Germany, to Pinewood Camp, that was to be my home for about three years, I used to drive ten ton lorries, Leyland and A,E.C,’s , Landrover’s , that sort of thing, we tended to get bored after a while  and most of the time we would just do first parade maintenance in the morning, then read a book for the rest of the day, once whilst I was doing the morning maintenance a corporal put me on charge for failing to do first parade maintenance, I thought it strange as I was after all half way through, never the less he charged me anyway, I was up in front of the C.O. and he asked me why I had not done morning maintenance, I told him I had no excuse, except to say I was in fact half way through when I was charge, he looked at me strangely and told me to wait outside, he spoke to the corporal and then asked me to come back inside, case dismissed !, and all that time I waiting for 28 days detention,  sometimes we had the added pleasure of cleaning the lorries down with carosine and oil , oh! what fun , sometimes in the first year we would go on manoeuvres for about four weeks at a time , that was more like it, we‘d go into a small village and camouflage the vehicle so that it could not be seen from the air, spending three or four days there , then move on to the next village, we would met the villagers, and they would be very friendly , offering us snaps or Goldvasser , they would invite you to sleep in their barn, in the winter on 1963 we were very grateful, it was so cold our boots would stick to the floor of the lorry, and in the morning we had to break the ice in the rain barrels to have a wash, when we got too bored we would volunteer for anything that was going, I volunteered to become a Regimental Policemen,( me a 7 stone weakling as a Regimental Policeman can you imagine it!? ), it involved a lot of bull s--t and marching prisoners to and from the kitchens, left right! , left right! , left right!, you get the picture , and of course Guard duty, lot’s of Guard duty ,but that's what I did.

I with a few others volunteered for the big one, Operation Brain Drain, first we had to get fitter, we trained on the Tank Track, up and down round and round, road marching, double march, we got fit , thanks to one boy in particular, I think his name was Muldoon, ( or something very much like it , ) he would keep us all going until we were all at the peek of fitness  we could march or double march all day, sometimes we would train at nigh, we’d take a direct bearing and start walking, it was very dark so you had to be careful where you walked, one night when walking across a large field, a friend stumbled across an electric cow wire and it gave him a bit of a shock, we all laughed, we all saw the funny side of it, I suggested, so that it would not happen again, we cold use a piece of wood because wood is non conductive, good idea !, they said, but seeing it was my idea, I should lead the way, so off we went with me in the lead, the piece of wood in front of me, it was pitch black, so we could see nothing in front of us, Zap !!, I had hit the cow wire, the currant travelled up the stick and then hit me in the elbow, then the shoulder and then hit the back of the my neck, I was almost knocked to the ground with the force of it, at first there was laughter all round, then there was concern for my welfare, I had neglected to take into account, the fact that there was a fine mist and the stick had got wet, the wet seemed to magnify the electric charge, the charge that hit me was not normal, if it was I would fell sorry for the cows .

On another dark night, one of the other chaps, who’s turn it was to lead the way, decided he would carry a piece of 2 by 4, about 5 foot long, again it was pitch black, suddenly from out of the darkness came the snort of what we thought was a Bull, we heard it snuffling and running towards us, with out thinking the lad with the 4 by 2 crashed the wood over the Bulls head, and with a wail the bull rushed of into the darkness, and we fully grown young men ran off into the darkness like Children afraid of the dark .

The idea of the exercise was to get from point A to point B without being nabbed, well we got a village about two miles from our objective, and decided to have a rest, we herd a commotion, so we took a look, the opposing army had waited to the last day and surrounded the village that we were in , and were closing in on all sides, other escaping soldiers had done the same thing, and like us they had split up and all were making a run for it, after jumping a couple of fences I hid under a hedge I had my ground sheet over me, laying quite still I had hoped they would go past me  sensing a movement behind me I turned my head, that was it, the soldier saw the movement that I made and came running towards me, I jumped up, jumped two hedges, and then I was taken down by the same soldier, my only excuse is I was carrying too much weight, once caught, a wet white pillow case was put over my head and like others placed into the back of the waiting lorries, before the exercise it was repeatedly preached to us not to on any account to hand over our I.D.card , on reaching the destination of the Prison Of War Camp, we were stood in a line, the pillow cases taken off, on reaching the table, an officer said,"I.D. Card "and without a second thought I gave it to him, what an idiot !! that was the start, he took my details, the wet pillow case went back on and I was taken away, with the pillow case back on, the guard took me back outside, there without any words he placed my hands on a wooden post, that was to be my home for the next two days and a night, no sleep, sometimes a nap, then stand up again, every four hours I would be taken inside for Debriefing , (INTERROGATION ! ! ,) name rank and number, where ? was I stationed, what ? did I do , what ? would I do in the event of a Nuclear explosion, anything they all ready knew the answer to, and of course a roast dinner!!, funny that, it look like a mug of cold water and a slice of dried bread to me, !! I received that every four hours, my mate told me I was lucky, he was put into a mettle room with a baby crying continually, he did not handle it too well, another  mate said he was in the same sort of room, but they used a constant train whistle on him, I don’t know how well I did, but I got the feeling I did not do to well , then it was over, it was great to get back to my own billet .

Daily life go on there are always ups and downs , hear are some photographs of old chums from our camp .

　

　

　

I may not remember your names for that I do apologise ,but I will try , the one on the left is ,me !! .

 

　

　




　

                                    This is me and I think Isaac Torrey ( spelt wrong! )
                                            you know your name , let me know !

　

I am not sure of the name of the chap who looks worried ,but that is me threatening to grab his bits .

                                                            WHO ARE YOU ,!!?

　
　

The Photograph is a group of us trying to ski in the Hearts Mountain in Germany starting with Turner can you name yourself ,?? I am the third from the right .

　

 

 

 

This a photograph of Taffy Madge , (flexing his mussels on the right ,) and I think a chap named Chris , I an not sure who is on the ground .

 

　

　

I remember the Fijians, I think one of them was called Speedy, I showed interest in learning their language, but in their own language they called me names, lac co tange provy le vou, I think I know what that means, its not very nice, I remember the SMITHS, drinking buddies to each other, often they would cause trouble of some kind, to keep them on the straight and narrow, they made them into lance corporal's ,  I remember  there were many friends in the Army and on the whole they are a good bunch of lads , one things for sure ,Girls ,Beer , and friendship don’t always mix .

We, my mates and I, were once put on guard duty, at Nuclear Missile base, we had to patrol the wire fence boundary, day and knight, we were of course, Armed!, we’d march around the compound with our rifles at the ready, the only trouble was, In their wisdom the powers to be thought it unwise to issue us with ammunition , It certainly was a cold war .

We would get bored in the evenings, we had spent our money at the Naffy ,so we did not have much to do, I think it was my idea to write to the Evening News in Portsmouth, and tell them of our plight , well they ran an add in the paper telling the readers of five lonely soldiers in Germany, and we in turn  got fan mail from all over the place, we divided it between us, and gave some to other soldiers, the letters that were nearest to the individuals home, that’s the ones they ended up with, I had about 15 letters, and started to write to them all, there were young girls, middle aged ladies, and old granny’s, I did my best and wrote to them all, some wrote back and some for some reason did not , the granny’s would send cake , Yum! Yum! ,

One day , Isaaz Torie ,? ( different spelling ! ) , said to the room in general,"I got one letter too many, who ? wants it ! " , " oh shove it on my pile I said  I will answer it ", well I did answer it , when I went on leave from Germany, I would always arrange to meet the young girls and take them out, at this stage I think you should know what sort of mind I had, due to an early part in my life being jilted by a two timing girlfriend, I looked on all Girls as fair game, my sole aim was to use them all to the best of my abilities, ( The four F’s !! ) and I did, to those girl’s I offer my profound apology, I was an immature idiot, and it was not until I met the girl from Sherborne , Dorset , that I realised what a cad I had been, she was the " one letter too many " , not expecting her to come, I invited her to come to Paulsgrove , Portsmouth, and visit me, but at my Sisters house, all above board, against all odds she came, I was to meet her at Portsmouth Town Station, I was there waiting for her to get off the train, then I saw her, I was hit, and hit hard, I was hooked line and sinker, I had not as yet said one word to her, and I was hooked, well I was not going to have that, I am a confirmed woman user, I did not want to get involved, I smiled , said polite words, and took her bags, my plan was to pass her on to my brother, so that evening, I made some excuse and my brother took her out to a dance hall, my plan was working ! , I did not enjoy that night at all, I was like a bear with a sore head, I was pacing up and down , he my brother could be getting his leg over ! , I was mad, but it was my own fault, by the time they got home I was jealous, but all smiles, thankful that nothing had occurred, I made plans for the next day as if nothing had happened, we then dated like ordinary couples, towards the end of the second week I asked her to marry me, she said NO!, feeling sad I went back to Germany, we started writing again, and in the letter she wrote to me saying, she wished she had said yes, I told her it was not to late, so on the next leave, we got engaged, I eventually married the girl in question, and now five children, nine and a half grandchildren , and after 45 years we are still married and going strong . ( I THINK ? )

　

I used to like to go swimming in the pinewood Camp swimming pool, using the grease supplied with the gas mask we were issued with, as sun oil , I would go very brown in the sun, the landlady at the local pub would say , (" you no English you Greeky " !! ,) well I decided to buy a new pair of trunks, they were beautiful, WHITE !! , I put them on, and the contrast with my skin was "WOW ! I was in love with myself, I climbed up to the top diving board, did , ( what was to me a beautiful swan dive ,) perfic !! I climbed out of the pool feeling like I am it !! then I looked down, my trunks had turned virtually clear, you could see everything, if you could see my front you could see my back, ( BUM ! ) sheepishly I retrieved my towel and made a quick exit, never to wear the trunks again .

I was returned to England, to Chattendean Barracks, Rochester Kent, I met a few more people , but unfortunately I was tired of the boredom of Army life and decided to buy myself out .

I never told you but from the beginning I was having trouble around my neck and face, acne, they called it, it all started with the khaki shirts, the irritation caused my neck an face to react, and turn into lumps and sores, when I was seeing the Doctor one day I told him of my intent to buy myself out, don’t bother he said I will give you a medical discharge, and that with, than a month later I was out .

 

It is funny, my wife said she never saw any disfiguration,  not from when first saw me or even till now .

 

 

SHE MUST HAVE LOVED ME !!

                          I nearly missed this one ,do you remember yourself ----- Chris ??


                                                               melvynblake@gmail.com


                                         http//:melvynsmudlarkinglife in pompy.blogspot.com

Paulsgrove Secondry Modern , Portsmouth .

                                      PAULSGROVE SECONDARY MODERN

　

Well here I am, I’m about thirteen and a half years old and I have just moved to Paulsgrove , just outside of good old Portsmouth , I have a few of good memories of growing up here .

Like I said I don’t remember moving to our new house in Paulsgrove , my first memory of school is sitting at a desk and looking out of the window , the teacher was babbling on about something , and I really was not interested , I think I was in three D , and D , is what it stands for ( Dunce ! , ) I was in the right class , I met a good friend Jimmy Billet , I think his first name was really James , he had a nice sister , who I met briefly a couple of times after leaving school , Jimmy and I became good friends , and we often walked home together .

My brother Peter showed me how to smoke cigarettes ," just puff it" , he said , so I did , I coughed my heart out , " just try it ounce more " ! he said ," breath it right in " , well I did , I died , I could not breath , I coughed some more , my chest hurt , and I died some more , but still jimmy and I would often buy a packet of five cigarettes after school , that’s if we had the cash , and to start with , we would cough and splutter all the way home , just think if I did not start smoking then I would not have a problem with my heart today .

I did see a young girl from Paulsgrove Secondry Modern , (now King Arthers ) school get knocked over , she was hit by a car whilst crossing Allaway Avenue , just outside of the school , she was laying on the ground with a big gash in the top of her upper leg , it was about 5 inches long , and quite deep , you could see inside of the wound all the white fat and blood , all the other kids started to gather around , so it got to the point where I could not see any more , I had seen enough anyway , and was feeling a little bit sick , so I went on my way . WAS THAT YOU ?? .

I think the teachers did not like to waste time on me , because I would often find myself outside in the quadrangle laying a path , or gardening , and often when the others were inside doing their work , I remember I liked carpentry , I made a very good coffee table , if I do say so myself , one day I was allowed to take the Coffee table home , and proudly I carried the table under my arm with the legs sticking out , Crossing the road and talking to jimmy , I failed to see the lamp post in front of me, the table leg hit the lam post and snapped right off , I was Gob smacked !! , I was proud no more , Devastated is the word that comes to mind , begrudgingly I carried it all the way home and tossed it into the shed , not to be seen until the fifth of November , Bonfire Knight .

I remember the school had two play grounds , one for the girls and one for the boys , like prisoners we would talk to the girls through the fence , I had two girls friends whilst I was at that school , Jackie L , was my first true love , we met on the side of Portside Hill , I was grass sledging , at this time I was sitting on the grass , and as I looked up , and there was Jackie , I know it was a childish love , but I had it , we had a bond straight away , and from then on for a while we became inseparable , you have to remember, in those day they did not teach you about the facts of life like they do today , you had to learn as you went along , of course we fumbled about a bit , it's what teenagers do , and I'm sorry to say I was not a very good lover , ( I did not know anything about sex !! ,)  there was of course the other girl , Madeleine H , in truth I was spoilt for choice , after a long time I ended up with neither of them , when I eventually went out with Madeleine H , she in the end, two timed me , when I found out I was very angry , I was so mad I went to the kitchen draw and took out a large knife , I was fuming , I got as far as the front door and realised what I was doing , I put the knife back and went to wait for her at the bus stop , she go off the bus , saw me and stood still with an amazed look on her face , we talked a bit and to my shame I smacked her , then I held her , I realised then it was over , it did not end well , although we did end it with a kiss .

I liked painting , I would go onto the sports field , sit down , and paint the boys playing cricket ,or stand on the bridge just behind the shops on Allaway Avenue and paint the railway tracks, or paint the Horses in the field , that sort of thing .

We my brother and I did play strip poker with the girls next door , it was a bit of a laugh, we never did get down to the nitty gritty , it was just a bit of fun .
When I was about 18 , home on leave , I came out of our back door , I noticed the girl next door and said all very friendly " HI !! how are you? ", I was all smiles , she looked at me , stuck her nose in the air and walked off , what did I do ? . ( But she did look good half naked !! ,)



I eventually left school when I was 15 years old , because I was so thick, my first job , was with a paper delivery firm , I used to ride a push bike with a basket on the front , I would go round to the other shops and deliver rolls of papers , that was when I realised that to get on in life I needed a better education , I told my sister Shirley of my intent and she offered to help me , often after tea she would help me read the Dandy and Beano comics , and then on to other reading material , one day I started on a building site, it was a new job , I stayed there for half a day, and said to myself sod it , I’m off !! , it was not only boring , it was hard work, the next job I had was in the butchers shop at Allaway Avenue , I liked working there , I had the job to make the rissoles , they were very popular with the shoppers , I think it was because the tasted so good , or ? it could have been because they were so cheep , I did have couple of other jobs, old habits die hard and I tended to follow my brother Peter from job to job, my last job before I went into the army was with Winters Fireplace Makers , near Blackfriars road in Portsmouth, there was an old guy I use to work with , I think he must have been close to retirement , we were very friendly so I asked him if it still worked at his age , with a smile he said yes and that it had never let him down yet ! , I can say he was right , it still works .

I went into the army aged 17 1/2 years old because I wanted to learn how to drive heavy goods vehicles,                                                           but that another story !! .

Truancy , Family ,in Portsmouth , Portsea.

Truancy ,Family , Hot Ice , in Portsmouth .

　

There used to be an antique shop in Queen street , in the doorway there was an Elephants foot , it was hollowed out and inside it there was walking sticks and odd nick knacks , and shining brightly,  a Japanese bayonet , it was about a foot and a bit long and with it came a scabbard , the scabbard had a round bit on the front end , the size of a marble , well I had to have it ,( it was there one minute and gone the next , I don’t think the owner of the shop ever knew it was missing!! )  . OK!. OK! , I may have gone mud larking for almost a week to earn 2/6 in old money to pay for it , it just sounded a bit better to said I filched it. ( I remember the 2" strap hitting my hands ) , it worked ,"thou shell not steal !! ".

　

　
　

This is some of my family , starting from the left , sister Shirley , Daisy , Peter , Richard up top ,our mother , Mrs, Beatrice May Blake , Nee , Cumner . me in front Ralph behind me, sister Sylvia , and brother Edward , my sisters, Iris , and Marion and Rita are not there ,I will try to had their photos later.

　

Some time the next day , playing hooky again , playing in a large field all overgrown with tall grass ,there was me in a prone position , the bayonet stuck on to the end of the scabbard , pretending the scabbard was a rifle , making shooting noises , you know ,BANG ! , BANG! , playing war , suddenly there beside me is a man in a suit , "why are you not at school ? " , he calls , I call back "What the f---- it got to do with you " , jump up and run off to be with my friends , flashing the Bayonet in his direction , " I am the Beetle " ( truant officer ) He Calls back , by then I was gone .

I did not have my beautiful bayonet for long ,the power to be (Mother ), decided it was to dangerous for me to play with took it back to the shop to get the money back , yes! , mother kept the money .

There was an old cinema not far from Portsmouth Guildhall , we used to call it the flea pit , I think because they used to show some dodgy films , my brother peter and I went there one day , we may have snuck in , we were sat there watching a film , and unknown to me a gentleman ( I use the term Gentleman lightly, ) had sat next to my brother , suddenly my brother jumped up grabbed my hand pulled me hurriedly to the exit , once outside I asked him what was wrong , he said the man had come in and sat beside him , laid his coat over the chair arm and it fell over my brothers knee , not thinking to much about it he carried on watching the film , the man had undone my brothers fly before he felt the mans hand grabbing his private parts , in shock my brother jumped up, grabbed my hand , and the rest you know , I do not think we ever went back to that Cinema again .

　

We used to get Hot Ice from somewhere , I forget where , brake it up into small bits place a small bit in a bottle put the cork in and stand well back , after a while the cork would shoot out of the bottle and fly up into the air , if you wanted a different reaction put moor ice in ,ram the cork in and run like hell , at a safe distance we would wait for the explosion , the bottle would explode, glass and water flying in all directions .

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME .

　

Oh yes! I must not forget one of my best friends , Norman Sprag , and his sister Mary , they lived in York Place , Portsea , we sometimes walked to school together , and played in the waste lands , cowboys and Indians , I hope they are still well and happy ,also Danny Warren , a friend to play with .

Here’s one for you.!?? Memory or dream ?

For years I have had this vision in my head ?  , to me it is very real , I am up in the flats just outside our front door , and there looking out over the veranda , way out over the other side of the H.M.S Victory and heading towards Fareham or Southpton is a Doddle Bug , flying through the sky , my question is this , did it happen?! , I was borne in 1946 , I was not alive then , and yet there it is, clear in my mind ,my sister said it did happen .

　

　

Moving on . and a bit about my Father



I left Portsea when I was about thirteen and a half , we moved to Paulsgrove just outside of Portsmouth , where I went to Paulsgrove Secondry Modern school , I do not think it was to long after I bumped my head in the swimming pool , because I do not remember leaving the flat at Portsea , or moving into our new house , and my later life memories has big holes in them.

I do not regret living my childhood the way I did , I was very well loved by my sisters , they look after us , my brother and I, to the best of their abilities , mother did her best , after having 11 children , she must have felt a bit tired , and decided it was time for her to have a bit of fun , who would blame her, I certainly did not.


This is mum playing darts at the Red Eagle, it
was one of her Favourite pubs ,I think it was on the corner of North street and King William street .






　

Charles Hickox Blake is my fathers full name, labourer in  ,H.M.Dockyard , My father left our home again just before I was
born , apparently he had this habit of disappearing throughout my mother marriage , I tend to think of him as being a bit of a Jack the Lad , At one time , apparently my mother and his other woman used to live in the same house together , she with her children and mum with hers , but not all the children were my fathers , when my father left home for this other woman , my mother found it hard to take care of all the children so my mother would have some of the girls put into a home , then when my father decided to come home again he would get the girls to come home as well , this went on and off for some time , so eventually my father ended up with , 11 children by my Mother, and 5 children by Mrs, G .



This is Mrs G , the other lady , but I do remember there was any ill feeling between us ,we often played with our half brothers , and went into their house often.






I only met my Father once , I was about five years old ," this is your dad" my brother Richard said , my father said hello and asked me if I wanted a cup of Oxo , I said I would like that , and that was that , the only memory I have of him , he died in the home of Douglas , I think one of his son's who lived in Wimering , near Paulsgrove, he had emphysema and Cancer , my father did  live somewhere in Portsmouth , the rest of his families scattered over Portsmouth and surrounding areas , I new some of my half brothers , Brian , Douglas , Michael , were Mrs, G’s, and I think , Charles , Dennis, Robert , Collin , and Christopher , was my Fathers children , I envied them because they got to know my Father and I did not.

　

　

I am sorry to say I did not miss my father when he died , I do not think you can miss something you have never had , I was more sad when I heard of Collins death in Germany ,GOD BLESS HIM.

Well that is it , my Childhood up to the age of 15 years, my brother Peter features in my life a lot , but without him my life would have been very sad , we went everywhere together , did things together, slept together, cried together, now we are in this story together .

My name is Melvyn Blake , and I am very happy , Husband to my wife Shirley , Father to three girls , two boys , Grand Father to nine and a half grand children .

God bless you all .






 

1953 Coronation party in Portsea , Portsmouth.

                   Portsea Coronation party 1953



This photograph is for you,  the children of the 1953 Coronation party, this was taken in Portsea , Portsmouth ,in a hall , I think , some were near Cross street ,and North street .
CAN YOU NAME YOURSELF !! .

Bonfires, Busses, firewood, innocence,Guy Fox ,in Portsmouth ,Portsea

Bonfires, Busses, firewood, innocence, Guy Fox , in Portsmouth , Portsea





This is a photograph of ,yes you guessed it, me! ,
with a friend of the family Gloria Hawkins ,taken at my sisters Iris and Bill's wedding .







We used to have lovely bonfire in them days, by
the Marlborough Gate but behind old Mac’s Paper building , he used to get all the morning Papers ready , Bonfire Corner , on Cumberland street it was , all the red and I think green busses would line up along the road in anticipation of the Dockyard kicking out , all the men would burst forth like the cork from a Champagne Bottle , one minute nothing next hundreds of them , some on bicycles , scooting on one peddle until they got out of the gate , then on they would jump and ride off , but most headed for the busses that were waiting for them , on they would jump , the conductor taking their monies , turning the handle on his ticket machine and giving them their ticket, the end of the ticket roll he would put into the bin by the steps on the way in , often when the bus conductors was not there we would raid all the bin on the busses to get the end of the rolls , and take them home to play with .

We would go to the bombed out houses to get as much wood as possible for the bonfire , we would store it under the arches with all the paper and cardboard we collected from all the different flats , it was a good way for them to get rid of their rubbish , once when emptying the boxes onto the Bonfire we found some very nice plates and dishes from a dinner service , we took it back to the house that gave us the box , and in gratitude they gave us six pence each , it paid for our bangers ," Fireworks ".



One day we had put more wood and paper into the shed under the arches ,there was me my brother Peter and on this occasion 4 girls , just friends helping with the wood and paper ,there came a knock on the door , it was Mrs sprawls (that may be spelt wrong, ) she lived two verandas below us in the flats , she wanted something ! I have forgot what " why is the door closed" , she said " and why is your flies undone ", being an innocent I did not understand the implications , indignantly she ushered the girls out , and I was at a loss to know what I did wrong .( I do remember a kind of quirky knowing look on her face,) perhaps she though it was funny.

Later being older and wiser I can understand what being caught with your flies undone implies .

Of course my brother and I would go GUY FOXING , we would make up our own guy , and go begging ," penny for the guy mister", lay the guy in the doorway and wait for the sailors to come by , penny here , penny there , we did alright , until the playful sailors came along and would kick ten bales of s---t out of our guy , a shirt or jumper here a pair of trousers there , the paper bag face floating off into the wind , as children we would call them a few choice words , try to kick them in the shins , they would put their hand on our head and hold us off at arms length and just laugh at us , no point in going on then , start again next day.

PENNY FOR THE GUY MISTER.



As children we used to collect foreign coins , we would go to the Dockyard Gate , and wait for the Germans , American , French , and others to come out of the gate , run along side of them with our hands out stretched and ask if they had any foreign coins, we did all right, but we could not spend it , it was just something to do.

One of my happiest memories is playing British Bulldog , the whole of Private House , was formed in the shape of an "e", with the middle part of the "e" missing in the middle , (it is still there today ) , a very large roundabout , the children would all stand at one end of the roundabout and a volunteer would be waiting in the middle , at his command the children would run from one end to the other , on the way through the volunteer would grab or try to grab the nearest child , lifting the child they would call out , " British Bulldog 123 ", then that child would help in turn to get more children on the next run , and so on until all the children were caught , the last one being caught the winner , only one rule , once you start to run you can not turn around and run back . ( My sister told me that when she was a little girl , the roundabout was a large square green of lawn and that she and others used to played on it ) .

I learnt to ride a bicycle around that roundabout , a young girl lent me hers to use , I did very well , after about an hour I was ridding very well , I rode up the straight part towards the bend , when I got to the bend I found to my amazement I could not turn the handlebars to go around the bend , my arms were kind of locked , I just could not turn , there was only one vehicle on that roundabout , a Milk float , and I had to hit it , the girl was not very pleased , I had hurt my chin , making it bleed , but I had also buckled her wheel , she was very upset .

It may have been the same girl that I saw have an accident on the same part of the roundabout , for some reason the girl fell of her bike , she went foreword across the handlebars and the stiff hand brake leaver went up into her armpit ,piercing the skin and going in about 5"inches , I know this to be true because I saw the break leaver slide all the way out of her arm pit , kind of in slow motion , the girl pushed herself up off the  road and it slid out , she ran off home crying for her mommy, I did feel sorry for her .

Peter My Brother had a bike of sorts , no tyres no seat and a fixed wheel , " let have a go of your bike Peter I said ", " NO" said Peter , there started the argument ," if you will not let me use it, then you can’t ," I said , pushing the bike over and stamping all over the spokes , turning them into a mangled mess , " now ride it " I shouted at him and as usual I ran off.

I THINK THERE IS A PATTERN HERE,!!

To earn a few pennies to spend my brother and I, (still good friends) used to get the old floorboards from the bombed out houses, bring them up to our balcony, saw them up into about 8 inches long , chop them up into fire wood , put the kindling into shopping bags and sale them six pence a bag , it used to pay for us to go to Saturday Cinema.

Saturday Morning Cinema , what fun that was , if we could not afford to get in , we would get a friend to open the back door , not far from the toilets and let us in, the films were usually cowboys , Flash Gordon, that sort of thing , we made lots of noise stood on the seats , stamped our feet , ate our sweets , if we had any , and generally made a mess of the films, we could not wait for the next week to sneak in again .

I do remember Verrechia ice cream , just under the Portsmouth and Southsea train station , not because we used to get some , but because we used to hang around there after school , once I went into the back to where they made the ice cream , there on some kind of stand , were lots of lollypop molds just waiting for the different fillings , I seam to remember it being cold with a wet floor , Verrechia was a well liked ice cream.

Charlotte street was a street well remembered , fruit stalls a plenty , packed out from one end to the other , busy people going on their way doing their shopping , my brother and I used to look for the discarded fruit , sometimes it would only have a little bruise on it , and sometimes it would be half rotten , then eat what you could , it would be the only fruit we were to get .

Watch out for maggots.

　

Old Sally port , Ferries ,Fire, and uncle Bill , in Portsmouth .

Old sally port , and ferries , terror in Portsmouth.

Peter my brother was either very daring or very stupid, depends how you look at it , I to this day think of it with horror and flash backs.

we went up to the top veranda of the middle flat at Private house, then Peter climbed up onto the roof apex of 4 story high block of flats , crawled along and around the apex for about 60 yards , ( He was crawling along the roof of our flat ! ) down the side of the roof to picked up a roll of duct tape , then crawled all the way back again, four stories below there was hard tarmac and death , in my mind I can see peter falling , its not very nice, why did he do it , I just stood there on the veranda and watched him go across and then back again , to scared to move or cry out .

This is a photograph of my sisters, Daisy, a friend and Sylvia taken at the hot walls at Sally port , don't get to hot under the collar !! they are in their 70 ,s now.


the other photograph is of my  sister Iris and her husband , Uncle Bill, he turns up later in this story


Peter and I used to go swimming at the Old Sally Port , right at the entrance of Portsmouth Harbour , and opposite Gosport , just there are the hot walls, I think they called the hot walls because it used to be a bit of a Sun trap, the walls used to soak up the heat from the sun, it was a good place to swim and sunbathe , there was no entrance way onto the beach back then , you had to wait until the tide was out before you could reach the small beach that is there, and if you left it to late you would have to time the crash of the tide against the wall to make your escape , as to the round tower and promenade that you can walk along today , well in them days the round tower was fenced off to the public , but we found a way through and onto the round tower , there when the tide was right , we would run and jump out into the mouth of the harbour , then swim onto the shore ,you had to be careful with the tide , when the tide went out of the harbour it would be dangerously fast , or we would swim in the warm waters of the bunny , to my knowledge the warm water coming out of the Bunny’s mouth was the water they used to cool the turbines of the Electricity generators housed in a very large two chimney building at the other side of the camber dock’s , sometimes when swimming in the Bunny you had to be careful because of the speed of the currant coming out of it , it could force you out into the rough sea , when the tide was in and lapping at the top of the bunny walls , my brother Peter and I use to fish with home made hand lines , we did not catch anything but we did not mind , it was great fun .

When we visited Old Portsmouth ,we used to go and watch the Isles of White car ferry at work ,we’d watch the cars going on and off the ferry , in the early part of my life  ,the ferry was connected to a chain that went from Old Portsmouth across to Gosport , it used to carry cars and pedestrians , the pedestrians were allowed to cross free of charge, when the H.M. Dockyard kicked the workers out , often they would use the chained ferry to save them selves a penny , after a while it changed into the Isle of white car ferry, we would watch People coming and going on holiday ,smiling faces ,we could not earn any penny’s there ,there was nothing we could do ,cars on cars off .

Another ferry that we used to go to was Gosport Ferry , it had , has , this floating walkway that leads to the ferry ,as the tide comes in it get higher ,as it go’s out lower ,the pedestrians after paying for a ticket 1 penny they would go down the left hand side ,and the pedestrians coming off the ferry would come up the right hand side ,we used to go down to the floating pontoon ,that also would raise and fall with the tide , sometimes the ticket man would turn a blind eye , and we would go across on the ferry , and staying on come back again , the ticket man would wink and smile at us and usher us of the ferry , that small gesture would make our day , and it’s a memory I have to this day , THANK YOU ! Mr Ticket Man , by the side of that pontoon , on the Hard side there was a smaller pontoon just under the pedestrian bridge,there we used to go and do some fishing, the water was so clear you could see the bottom , we would watch shrimps scampering in and between the pontoon , crabs walking across the mud , big fish would sometime swim by , but we could never catch them with our hand lines .

　

There was a time when I nearly burnt my face off , we used to know the boy who live in the cross road cafe (its on the way to Queen street from Private House) , we sometimes washed up there , when we finished we would go out the back to play , (the same place that we used to make our lead weights, ) Ted Stallards , coal merchants was right by it , well anyway the boy had brought some lighter refill capsules with him , it was good fun , you pierced the end of the rubber tube with a pin , start to squeeze it , light it , then you had a long fiery flame , that’s fine! if you don’t aim it in anyone’s direction! , but when you aim it in my direction and it go’s all over the left side of my face , it gets a bit scary , flames were licking up the side of my face singing my hair , of course I panicked !, I was probably like a Fly with its wings pulled off , I lifted up my shirt tail and covered my face , the flames were out , the pain started to come , it was like a deep throbbing pain , my face was going all blotchy and some of the skin had started to peel off, the boy snuck in and fetched me a wet towel, I placed on my face to cool it down , luckily the burn was not to bad , we made up some excuse , and about thee weeks later my face was all right , It made me the good looking person I am today .

DO NOT PLAY WITH FIRE .

My uncle Bill used to visit with my sister, I’m about 6 years old , he lifts me up and holds me over the veranda , 4 stories up , I look down and see the tops of the washing poles and hard ground , I am squealing and he is laughing and chucking me up into the air and catching me again , time and again throwing me up and catching me again , I still wake up at knight thinking about it ,Flashbacks!!.

There were times when I was requested to go shopping for other people in the flats , and in return they would give three penny’s , with it I would buy , 5 sweet cigarettes with a elastic band wrapped around it and attached to it was a pink plastic ring ,( not a lot is it ! ) , but to me it was Treasure .

In the front of our flats there were Iron works , a storage place for different types of iron lengths , for use in the Dockyard , all out on" A" frames , they use a crane with a long reaching arm for movement and height , well I had to climb that arm , it was wide at the bottom going to narrow at the top , when I got to the top I kind of fell off , I hardly felt myself go , by the time I hit the ground , I was already sitting up , the ground was so soft I did not feel a thing ."I thank my Guardian angle .

I was playing in the Iron works one day ,I remember the ground being soft and dusty,sitting down and playing in the dirt ,I discovered some money just under the dirt ,picking up the coins I counted them ,3 , one penny 4 half pennies , I was a very happy child ,I went to bed that night thinking about the next day , when I woke the next morning I put my shorts on , put my hands in to my pockets to get the money ,it was gone , It had all been a dream , it had been so real , but my family assured me it was just a dream , but I remember the dusty dirt the small of it ,was it a dream?.

　
　
Peter and I were coming home one day , late in the year , near November , we had some "Banger’s", fireworks , on this particular bomb site that was known to us was an under ground wasp nest , it does not take to much imagination to know what we did next , Peter lobed two or three bangers into the nest . "Serves you right"!! I hear you say,those poor wasp’s.

We ran as fast as we could ,nothing would catch us , not me anyway , I herd a noise I turned round and peter was yelling and crying , there were wasp all over his head , without thinking I went to his aid , I picked up a lump of wood and started to hit him over his head with it , he yelled and cried even louder", there are to many of them", I shouted , hitting him even harder , he pushed me away and ran off home with me following , still holding that lump of wood.

Now when I think about it I can’t help but laugh .

　

I remember a large gobble stopper just laying in the dirt , we did not get sweets in them days so what was I to do , it was big and round all covered in dry dirt , I put it in my mouth and sucked on it for a while , spat the dirt out a couple of times , decided it was clean enough and went on to enjoy myself , every now and again it change colour . A gobble stopper , is a round sweet , it is about an inch round , it has lots of different colour layers , and as you suck it , it would change colour , you would suck it until your jaw ache , then save it for the next day .

I once had a beautiful white cat , its name was TIDY , (after the washing powder Tide ,you know whiter than white !!, ) it would meet me on the stairs on the way home from school , it would mussel up to me in greeting , I would pick it up and carry up to our flat , we would sit and play , and all was right with the world , then one day early in the morning mum sent me over to the shop to get a point of milk , then on the way back , there in the gutter was something white , it was my beautiful white cat , it was freezing cold that morning , so the cat was as stiff as a board , I started crying , picked it up , one hand under the front legs and one hand under the back legs , the cats body making a bridge from one hand to the other , crying in big sobs I carried it home to Mother ," look" I said "my cat is dead" , " not to worry" mother said " we will give it a nice burial" , she took the cat off of me and flushed it down the rubbish shoot , I had visions of that cat tumbling down from our four story high flat via the waste shoot , she took me in her arms held me close and we walked into the flat," well that is what should have happened" , but with a shove she said to go out and play .

　

When we were children we used to enjoy Voting Days , we would all get together into the back of flatbed lories , tour the district singing our heads off ,"Vote, vote , vote, for Mr Hochkins , Who’s that Knocking at the door , If it old charley Brown , you can knock him to the ground , and he wont come Knocking any more" , or words to that affect you get the picture, but it was fun riding around for most of the day singing our heads off.

Do you remember when Television first came out , no , neither do I , we used to have a radio , we listened to Dan Dare Pilot of the future , and other stories , the first time I saw a television , I was stood on tip toe looking through some ones window , it was great , Cartoons , Daffy Duck , Wow!! , until they saw me watching through the window, the curtains were pulled across so I could not see , How rude of them!!.

The only real cartoons we could see was in the back of a lorry , we would have to get a bundle of rags , give them to the rag and bone man , we would get a sweet and the privilege of standing there to watch the cartoons on "T.V. until he pulled away , and moved to another location.

I was 13 years old before we got our own Television , it was about this time we had our first chicken for Christmas dinner , my mother and I travelled from Portsea to Wymering , Paulsgrove , to get it from , Mrs Hawkins , I think one of my mothers friends gave it to us, her daughter used to be a friend to me before she moved , that was the best ever chicken I had ever tasted .

My brother Peter and I would watch the sailors marching up Queen street , it was brilliant , we would march behind them all the way to the Dockyard Gate , puffing our chest out and swaggering , just like the sailors , sometimes the Royal Marine Band , would lead the way , white helmets , and smart uniforms , the music beating out the rhythm of the march.

Once in our old flat , my eldest brother Edward brought home a 303 rifle , he was in uniform then , I think he liked to brag , you know , flash it off a bit ,"Shoot it" we said , he pulls out this bullet from somewhere , slides it into the breach , "shoot it", we cry , he lean out of the window and BALM!! , the noise was deafening , we ran off covering our ears and hid under the blankets , it was some years be for we realised it was a blank that he fired .