Trips to England


I was lucky enough to get to travel to England twice as a kid. My Mom’s parents, Florence and Percy Howard, lived in Hastings in Sussex, England which was on the south coast of England about 2 hours from London. Nanny, Sherri and I went to England in May of 1962 and spent the whole summer there. We got picked up at the airport in London in a taxi by my grandparents as I don’t think either one of them drove.  They lived in a typical English row house with a kitchen, living room and sewing room downstairs and the bedrooms upstairs. They had a long, very narrow back yard that I believe had a gate at the back that led to some open fields.  

Its funny the things that you remember. I remember my Nanny teaching me how to knit, and I actually knit about a two foot long, six inch wide thing that I called a scarf. While staying at their place, I learnt to drink my tea without milk or sugar and regularly had bread with real butter for a snack. It was on this visit that I had traditional English fish and chips wrapped in newspaper, and got a fish bone stuck in my throat. I didn’t eat fish and chips for years after that traumatic experience. My Nanny was a very accomplished pianist so I also spent quite a bit of time there learning to play the piano. Their row house was on a hill above the village of Ore, which was a community in Hastings, and we frequently walked down to the market in the village. My Papa was a very fast walker so I almost had to run to keep up. I’m looking forward to seeing their place again (72 Canute Road) and taking the walk down to what used to be a little market. 


It was in Hastings that I made my stage debut. Sherri and I learned a little routine together called ‘There’s a hole in my bucket’ that I’m sure you have heard.  They must have had a kids amateur show at the theater because I remember the two of us performing in front of a crowd. The way I remember it now is that it was perfectly done in front of a huge crowd and that we were then asked to do a Royal Performance in front of the Queen but I had another engagement so couldn’t make it. It was also in downtown Hastings that we went to see the town crier competition which is something else that would be cool to see if they still do it.

In 1966 our whole family went back to England for the summer. It must have been pretty crowded in their small house as I remember all 4 of the boys sleeping in the same bedroom. I ended up sleeping in a bed with Brian, and I will always remember him holding me down under the covers when he farted. He would say “oh oh - I’ve got another fluffer coming” and then hold me under the covers. I don’t actually know if I remember this correctly but its a good story and Brian would do that type of thing.

1966 was the last year that England won the world cup of soccer and we were in England at the time. The whole country was excited about it as England was hosting the tournament and I can remember all of us, including my parents and grandparents and probably even Sherri, gathering around the TV watching every game. Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, Nobby Stiles, etc. I still remember the names of many of the players after almost 60 years.


I think it rained almost the entire month of July while we there and then we had a beautiful August before we can home. Hastings was a tourist town so had a lot of cool things to do down by water. We spent time down at the water, riding in bumper cars and bumper boats and quite a bit of time down on the pier. There was a big arcade down at the pier that had all kinds of games for kids to play - but they all cost money. I was addicted to the games. Near the end of our visit I went down to the arcade on the bus with my brothers - I think it was about a 20 minute bus ride away. We were there for a while and they decided it was time to go home but I didn’t want to leave. After all I was 12 and could look after myself. So they left and went home while I spent the last of my money. Unfortunately, I didn’t leave enough cash for bus fare for the entire trip back so I ended up paying for a ride as far as it would take me and then having to walk the rest of the way back. I ended up having to walk for about an hour but it must’ve been on a major route because I made it back.

Lots of good memories about my early trips to England and really looking forward to our trip back next summer. 

Comments

  1. This is so great, Dad! I can't wait to see Hastings with you!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our World Just Got Better - Happy 49th

Christmas

Roxanne Lee Brown