St George's News

LOOKING BACK ON EIGHTY YEARS

RUBY'S MEMOIRS, PART 14. TRAVELLING THROUGH LIFE AND DEATH

PART 1 - THE EARLY YEARS
PART 2 - THE GREAT WAR
PART 3 - THE TWENTIES
PART 4 - FROM GENERAL STRIKE TO WORLD WAR 2
PART 5 -MARRIED LIFE AND THE CLOUDS OF WAR
PART 6 - OUTBREAK OF WAR
PART 7 - THE HEIGHT OF WAR
PART 8 - 1942-44:AMERICA DECLARES WAR
PART 9: POST-WAR 1945-1950: RUNNING THE PUB
PART 10: THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
PART 11: THE HOMECOMING
PART 12: THE SIXTIES
PART 13: FROM HILDENBOROUGH TO DENMEAD
PART 15: THE LAST 25 YEARS

Part 14: Travelling through Life and Death

FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE OCTOBER 1997 ISSUE OF ST GEORGE'S NEWS

Arriving back in England in early springtime is an experience one doesn't forget. The green of the grass, the different shades of the trees coming into bud, and the yellow daffodils in the gardens, you have a feeling that you are entering into a different country from the one you left. Without any trouble we decided that here we would make our home, but would visit America in the near future for Bob to settle his affairs there, then return to England and continue "seeing the world". Once again it was not to be. Bob had been suffering from a pain in his right side while we were in Kenya but had said nothing about it, so this came as a bit of a shock. He was told at the Hospital that he had gall stones which meant an operation. Quite simple, nothing to worry about, I knew a little about this through working in hospitals for the Red Cross. To get it done with quickly he went as a private patient so he was soon in hospital. He was not too keen as the pain had now subsided but went along with the arrangements and was duly operated upon. I visited him the next day and he showed me the little bottle of stones that were causing the pain. It was a great relief and I was told if all went well he would soon be up and about. The next afternoon I visited again only to be told that he was in "intensive care". I just couldn't believe it, the doctors and nurses were all rushing about so I knew something was very wrong. - He died that night! I just could not believe it and neither could anyone else but facts had to be faced and arrangements made. I had had some experience of these proceedings as his mother, who was in a nursing home in Tunbridge Wells, had died the previous summer, and the arrangements were made then for her cremation, so I had Bob taken back to Kent to be with his mother. I went back too and stayed with my sister until it was all over. My brother came down from London and he was a great help as was the Vicar of Tonbridge whom I knew quite well so I was able to arrange for him to take the service at the crematorium.

I stayed on in Kent for some time as the solicitors had much to sort out with the U.S.A. Welfare as I was now an American National not a Citizen, which of course I had never thought about. However after much letter writing and signing of papers etc the whole thing got straightened out, my Welfare being looked after by the U.S.A. and my health insurance by the Federal Reserve Bank.

I eventually returned to Denmead and decided to stay on for two years by which time I hoped to find an answer to my problems. I knew few people in Denmead as we had not been there very much. It was summer time, and I had a garden to the flat with a patio. I bought a thing I had always wanted, a "swing hammock", seeing one in a Store in Southsea in a sale, it was £20 delivered!!! Bob and I had used a local pub quite a lot as they did very good meals and I had become very friendly with the mother who owned it and her son and daughter-in-law who ran it. Eventually I started to help them on a few evenings which I enjoyed doing as it filled in the long evenings at home on my own especially in winter. The days passed quickly as I had my dog to walk when I discovered many walks along the lanes and footpaths, the garden of the flat had to be kept tidy and there was baby sitting for Tony and Jane at times. Not very exciting but it all helped in meeting people and making new friends.

I made frequent trips to Kent to stay with my sister and I hadn't seen my brother and his wife in Birmingham for ages though Bob and I visited them during one of his excursions into the Midlands. With them I saw quite a bit of Wales, the lovely Wye Valley, the Welsh Coast and up to Snowdonia then back to Warwickshire.

Another excursion I made was to take my sister and my other brother and his wife to Scotland. The motorways were being built all over the country and this was my first taste of driving on them. I remember the M6 had just been opened and after 60 miles on that we went through the tunnel under Glasgow which helped us reach Loch Lomond where we were going to stay, and from there found our way up the west coast to the Isle of Skye. After a few days on the Isle we continued north through the Highlands and back down the eastern side not forgetting to look in on the Loch Ness monster which was in the news at that time although we saw nothing of it. I often wondered if anyone ever did, or was it just a tourist advertisement? Anyway we got back south eventually and after dropping off my passengers I arrived back home.

After these visits I felt much better and settled down again, and started to take an interest in what was going on in the country. The American Neil Armstrong had a walk on the moon, it was a great step forward for the scientists but when I look at the moon at night I don't feel the slightest wish to go there even after all these years. It's a good job we are not all made alike, and our own world seemed to be in a very bad way. Ireland was causing trouble and British troops were being sent to Ulster where there were gun battles and strife, but on the other side of the coin the "Jumbo Jet" had arrived from America bringing 300 employees of Pan Am Airline and members of the U.S. Federation of Airways. The planes were able to carry 400 passengers. They looked so enormous from the ground that one wondered how ever they took off but they did and are still doing so I believe. But with all this wonderful achievement nobody seemed to be able to prevent war from breaking out in so many parts of the world; Vietnam being just one of them.

I had now made my mind up to settle somewhere near Denmead and started to look for a cottage or a bungalow. At least I don't think I really liked the thought of living alone and Tony came up with the idea of a "granny pad" in their house. There was plenty of room, Mark was born about this time so Jane would have three children to look after now while Tony was away, so I might be of some use. It seemed a great idea, Tony drew the plans for the council to pass. This proved to be rather a long job, so I bought myself my first caravan and lived in it in the garden until the building was complete. As usual it took much longer than I expected so I went to America to see what I had missed.

After Bob's death his brother invited me to visit him in Baltimore so I flew there in one of these new Jumbo Jets. This was a great adventure, I had never flown across the Atlantic, nor had I travelled alone on a plane and now I was to meet a sister-in-law whom I had never seen on the other side of the ocean. I knew Bob's brother when he was in England visiting his mother. The family came to see me off with great excitement, but I was terrified. I boarded this great monster, after a hurried goodbye and was soon taken in hand by a charming Hostess who saw me comfortably settled and asked if I would like a drink after take-off. I said "Sure", and I think you should make it a double!! It was a wonderful flight, the meals were great, there were earphones for music, and a film to watch if you wished. It was "Cabaret", and I can still remember it. At the airport I found my sister-in-law quite easily and we were soon on our way to Baltimore. The house was very spacious, large rooms, a swimming pool in the garden, a veranda, and a rocking chair on the patio. All was very American, press buttons for everything in the kitchen with a breakfast bar. My room reminded me of a book called "Anne of Green Gables" which I had read years ago. It was a very large farm for breeding racehorses complete with racing stables and we spent a lot of time going to different race meetings. I had only had dealings with hacks and hunters but these thoroughbred race horses were quite a different matter. There were acres and acres of post and rail fences separating the different horses. There were brood mares with foals - some awaiting them, some race horses in training, some resting and many others. There were two old hunters spending their last years out to grass, they were very sweet and gave you a gentle ride. I never got tired of walking round these enclosures with a forest of maple trees in the distance with their leaves turning bright red in the fall. At one of the Race Meetings we had a winner and had our photos taken with the owner, jockey and trainer, and celebrated after the meeting with a lunch in one of the spacious dining rooms under the stands.

I went to Washington and saw the White House, Lincoln Statue, Jeffersons Memorial and many other things my memory fails on. There was Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod, Long Island, playgrounds of the wealthy, also the lovely old seaport town of Annapolis where the Naval Academy is situated. There was also Fort McHenry on the Maryland coast, the historic fort that the British attacked after burning Washington, and this inspired the wording of "The Star Spangled Banner" by Francis Scot Key in memory of the magnificent defence put up by the Fort and the local people which prevented the British from landing.

At this time Nixon was up for the presidency and we went to one of the meetings about the time of the election, which he won only soon to lose after "Watergate". What a climax to his career. About this time I made preparations to return home.

this series of Ruby's "Memoirs" to be concluded

written by Ruby Bullock

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page last updated 5 OCTOBER 1997