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 .