A Wonderful Lady - Postscript

When it became impractical for Evelyn , or as she will always be remembered by me , Auntie Eva, to remain at Beauxfield in Whitfield she moved to the Allendale Residential Home. Evelyn's birthday parties there became a regular event and the photo below shows some of the friends and relations who gathered on her 100th birthday

The event was covered by the local newspaper as shown in the picture below, and beneath I have quoted the entire article.

"One Whitfield woman celebrated in style last week as she received her greeting from the Queen at her 100th birthday party. Evelyn Fuller was surrounded by her family and friends who travelled from all over the country for the special occasion on Tuesday October 5.
The special card came in the morning and Evelyn's daughter Mary Gardner knew it would be a big moment. Mrs Gardner said "My mother and I have been discussing it for years, I used to joke with her about how she was aiming for the Queen's greetings but she always used to say she wasn't, and now they are finally here." Mrs Fuller lives in Allendale Residential Home and on the big day 40 people arrived to enjoy the party and she received over 100 cards from well wishers.
Now it's back to life as normal for Mrs Fuller who is dedicated to knitting blankets for charity, her daughter said,"She likes to keep active so she knits patchwork squares, it takes 96 squares to make one blanket and she's already made 11 of them, there's no stopping her."


Evelyn was always happy at Allendale and was lovingly cared for by the marvellous staff there.
As I said the birthday get-togethers became a regular event. We gathered again a year later for Evelyn's 101st, and then the following year for her 102nd. That was the final "big do" and for her 103rd and 1o4th quieter celebrations took place. We gathered again on the 3rd August 2009 for a loving farewell, but I think the tradition of getting together to remember Evelyn will continue for many years to come. We will particularly remember Evelyn for her kindness and her sense of humour. Below is a video taken at Evelyn's 102nd birthday party which will also be a fitting reminder of Evelyn Fuller, A Wonderful Lady!

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 19 After the War

We lived in River until 1979. Those years were, for the most part, very happy years. Frances completed her education at Dover Grammar School for girls and joined the Civil Service. Mary attended River School, Folkestone Technical School for Girls and also joined the Civil Service.

Nephew Brian and Mary in the back garden at Lower Rd River

Two stories about Mary, whilst she was at River School, come to mind. Mary came in from school one day, when she was about 6 years old, and asked the meaning of the word "foul". I explained it had two meanings depending upon the spelling; foul being dirty and fowl being a chicken. " Well, what is a fiend then?", asked Mary. "That's a devil", I answered. "Hm" says Mary, "Dirty Devil!". Of course, the second verse of the hymn "Who would true valour see" begins "Hobgoblin nor foul fiend!"At one time the headmaster of River School, Mr Strand, had evidently been telling the children a little about what happened when people died, how the soul left the body and went to heaven, which he must have described in some detail. On this particular day my mother was still with us and was having one of her off days. Mary came in from school, saw Nan with her head in her hands and went over to her and said, "You don't feel very well do you Nan?". "No I don't dear", was the reply. Whereupon Mary said, " Never mind you'll soon be dead and then you'll go to a lovely place, where there are birds and flowers and lovely sunshine and you'll be very happy!" Poor Mum didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Music

Music continued to enrich our lives. Frank and I played in the Minerva Orchestra for some years and I accompanied the Methodist Ladies and River WI choirs, taking part in many concerts in the Dover area. We attended River Methodist Chapel where we made many good friends. Frances later became organist at Wesley Methodist Church and played there for over 20 years.

Retirement

My mother lived with us until she died in 1958 and Frank's mother also spent some weeks with us each year until she died. Frank retired from the Immigration Service in 1962 and we enjoyed 17 years of happy retirement together. During this time we continued to have frequent visits from our numerous relations, especially during the summer, and had lots of happy times. We also spent some time exploring England and Scotland as well as visiting family members. Frank took up a long dreamed of hobby and proved his skill with the artist's paintbrush, producing many beautiful pictures both in oils and water colours - clearly a gift passed on by his father.

Family Tragedies

By 1978 Frances and Mary both had their own homes and Frank and I were finding our large house and garden more than we could cope with. After celebrating our Golden Wedding in September 1978, we decided to move and in early 1979 settled on a bungalow in Whitfield with a moving date fixed for 13th April. Devastatingly Frank became very ill in March that year and passed away on14th April. This was an awful time. Frances had also been suffering from a mystery illness which we alter discovered was multiple sclerosis. I made the best of my years at Whitfield, but of course I was without Frank and that was hard to bear. Fortunately, I had a lot of family visitors and a great many faithful friends to help me through. Frances and Mary both lived within walking distance in Whitfield and were very supportive. After battling with the horrors of MS for over 20 years, Frances died in January 2000; those years of progressive suffering affected us all very deeply.

Now , her I am nearly 100 years old! What memories I have and what experience of the kindness of family and friends. Thank God for all of them.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 18 Bannockbrae and Back to River

Frances holding MaryBannockbrae



Eventually, Mrs Best decided she would sell the house and go and live with her sister in Newquay, but said that her sister-in-law, Miss Best would be willing t let us have several rooms in her house. This was a much larger place called Bannockbrae. Miss Best was of Irish extraction, I think, and was Geography Mistress at Port Talbot Secondary School. We had three bedrooms, a kitchen, breakfast room, sitting room and bathroom. Grandma Fuller was with us then too, and she and my mum shared a double room. Miss Best had a piano in her sitting room and I was given permission to use it whenever I liked, so that I was able to continue giving Frances her music lessons. There was a lovely entrance hall with a mosaic floor, a grandfather clock, and a beautiful mahogany table. The staircase was wide and carpeted in dark red, blue and green Axminster. There were some fine triangular stair-rods made of brass, which Mum and I took out and cleaned. When Miss Best came home from school she always came down to our room to say hello, but on one occasion she didn't come, so I opened our door and there she was, standing just inside the front door with her arms folded. As I approached her she said," I was just thinking how lovely that looks with the brass rods shining". We were very pleased.



The one drawback to the house was that it was over-run by mice, which came from the house next door where a very elderly couple lived. I don't think they were aware of them. I killed one on the cooker with a poker. In the evening they would run across the hearth rug. One evening I said," I cannot stand any more. I am going to bed", and as I went up the stairs two mice ran down. We used to leave our bedroom door ajar by putting a shoe down, just in case Frances or Mum called and these mice used to leap over the shoe squeaking. I think we got rid of them eventually by blocking up the holes where they came through under the stairs.



Frank learned Spanish whilst we were living in Port Talbot. Emilio Prada was a Spaniard with an evening class in the town, but used to come to us from time to time, have a meal and give Frank a lesson. When asked if he would like more food he would lift his hands and say," I am plenty, I am plenty..."



Richard Burton



Richard Burton attended Miss Best's school and she was very keen for us to go to one of the school productions. Frank wasn't very keen on school dramatics, but thought we had better go to please her. Well, we would not have missed it for the world. She asked what we thought of it and Frank said he would have taken them all for three year drama students; they were all outstanding. Richard was superb, of course, as Professor Higgins in Pygmalion. Richard's name was Jenkins then. P.H Burton, the drama teacher, gave him his professional name and more or less brought him up.



Audrey the actress



Audrey could have done well at drama school, although I have heard Doreen say that Audrey was an excellent secretary and for one cousin to say that of another is praise indeed. Doreen was good herself I'm sure. Audrey loved staging plays. She and her mum and dad came to us for a short while when we were living in Miss Best's house in Port Talbot. Our bedroom had a bay window recess in it and , with blackout curtains drawn across the the recess, it made an ideal stage. The audience sat on the edge of the bed in great discomfort. As the curtains did not reach to the ground, Jim (Audrey's dad) , being Jim, had to have a little peep underneath occasionally, or poke his foot under, for which he was duly reprimanded. I cannot remember what the play was about except that there must have been royalty in it as one piece I remember was :



Court Official: Will your Majesty see the Chamberlain now?

Queen Audrey: No my Majesty will not!



I think the audience fell off the bed laughing; it was such a definite and dignified answer.



Back to River



Seven weeks before we came back to River in November 1944 Mary, our Welsh Rarebit, was born. I went into a really marvelous nursing home in Porthcawl called St Mary's. She was a very good baby and we hardly knew she was there. Dr Marshall came over to see me several times and when I said I felt well enough to go home he said, "Oh, don't go yet Mrs Fuller. Whilst you are here I can bring my family over, leave them on the beach, come and visit you, and claim the petrol allowance!" We started off on our journey home from Port Talbot at about 4.30am. Frank had already been posted, so I made the journey with Mary in the carry cot, Frances who was then 13 and the two grandmas. We reached Cardiff and were stuck there for an hour. Poor Frances was not at all well and kept asking how much longer we would be there The whole business of the preceding 4 or 5 years had been a great strain on her; we had gone on holiday to Shanklin and not returned home for 5 years! We travelled first class and Mary slept in the cot. A gentleman who was sharing our compartment said that he had never known such a good baby. I guess that when he saw the cot he thought he was in for a noisy trip. We reached Paddington at noon. The trains were erratic, of course, and we had to get from there to Waterloo for our connection at 1pm. My sister Floss, who was at Paddington, grabbed the cot and we took a taxi. We explained our haste to the driver and off we hurtled - he certainly went to the top of the class for flowery language! I didn't know there were so many swearwords useful on the road! We made our connection and arrive home on a cold November afternoon.



Our good friends Mr and Mrs lake, had been keeping an eye on the house and had washed all our curtains and generally cleaned up, aired the beds and made a lovely roaring fire in the dining room with a kettle singing on the hob. It really looked like home and very welcoming. We soon got something to eat and began to get settled. The amount of luggage we had collected over the 5 years was amazing. The lounge was choc a bloc; we had had to get it moved by van. The garden was a wilderness with buddleia bushes growing between the crazy paving eight feet high! Frank got to work on it bit by bit and eventually it was clear. We were thankful we had a home to come back to; some people were not so fortunate. Soon the war was over, thank God.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 17 War Time Memories of Wales

Eunice the Comical Kid

Eunice was really one of the funniest youngsters I ever knew - a real character. Floss brought her to Port Talbot and they stayed with us for a while at Mrs Chidzoy's house. In the evening Eunice would put her dollies to bed after a little while come downstairs with a heavy tread on each step saying, "You've had a drink, a sweet and an orange. If I hear any more from you my girl, I'll give you a smacked bottom!" Thus spake her Mum no doubt! If I was upstairs tidying in the bedrooms, I would have Eunice with me so that I could keep an eye on her. She would disappear into the bathroom, where I knew she would be safe, then re-appear saying, "Auntie I've done the wash basin, would you like me to do the bath?". Another time she was sitting on the toilet reading a book with the door wide ope. I said, " You don't use the toilet and leave the door wide open", but Eunice replied, "Well my Mummy does." I said, " Well, I don't think she ought to." "Why not?" said Eunice. I replied, "Because she's a lady". "Oh no she isn't", said Eunice convincingly. "Well what is she then?", I asked. Eunice looked down at the book she was reading, looked up and said, "She's a moo cow!". I retreated defeated; she was looking at an animal book.

The Cranny

We had been at Quantock sometime when Mrs Chidzoy, for various reasons, decided she would like to come back to live there with her little boy. We had to move on and took accommodation with Mrs Best. This family house was called The Cranny and was about a quarter of a mile nearer to the town. Mrs Best then decided to go and stay with her sister in Newport and so we moved in and were very happy at The Cranny for quite a time. Ada, Jim and Audrey visited us as did Ethel, Reg and Gillian, and the Miles and their daughter Neva next door were lovely people. We attended the Welsh Calvanist Church and the minister was Rev. Arnold Bellwood I believe; he conducted Dad's funeral.

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew was the son of our neighbour, Betty Cunningham, and he was very attracted to babies. If Betty couldn't find him whilst out, she would look for a pram and there would be Andrew gazing adoringly at the baby.He used to say, " can't we have one?". Betty would answer, "Yes, one day". Then on one occasion he said, " Good and we won't tell Dad, it will be a surprise!". Andrew was a bit of a case. On another occasion his mother took him to the barber's for a trim and by the way of conversation he told the barber that his mummy had a new pair of pink knickers! Hastening to change the subject the barber asked, " Have you any wee brothers or sisters?". "No", replied Andrew eagerly, "but we are going to have one and my daddy doesn't know anything about it!"

Death of Dad

Soon after we went to Wales my dad was quite ill with kidney trouble again. Mum and I nursed him back to health and he seemed to have a new lease of life. He would take a trip into town at times - I think he used to treat himself to an extra ounce of Digger Shag tobacco, as he loved his old pipe. Frank would drop him in the town and he would walk leisurely back. On this particular occasion, which was a fine December day,he was returning when a car came along, the steering wheel came off, the car went haywire, mounted the pavement and ran into Dad, carrying him along with it. One of our neighbours Betty Cunningham came along and told us there had been an accident and Dad was brought in and laid on the floor of the lounge. He was quite conscious and asked what happened. Frank said, " You had a little argument with a car Dad". Dad immediately said he was worried about a young woman and a toddler walking just in front of him, but they were alright. In no time a doctor , who lived opposite, came in and sent Dad to a special examination bed at the hospital. Everything that could possibly be done was done, but Dad was bleeding internally and three hours later he passed away. His prayers were answered as he always wished to pass away quickly and not linger or be a burden, which he never would have been, of course. Dad was a very even tempered man and I never knew him to lose control of his temper. Going back a long way, I remember Mum telling me how he was engaged to her sister, Tilly, who was a real local beauty, but she jilted him for another and Mum laughingly said, "Never mind George, I'll have you!" . He must have taken her at her word.

A Welsh Funeral

We had been warned that unless we put a notice in the local paper to the effect that the funeral was private, that the whole town would turn out in respect. I had seen a non-private local funeral and never realised that there were so many bowler hats around. Dad's funeral was comparatively quiet with only a few members of our family attending. When I opened the door just before we were about to leave the house, standing there were three tall men in frock coats and silk hats; Mr Howell, Mr Miles, and Mr Jones. I must say that these kindly Welsh folk accepted us as one of themselves.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 16 We go to Wales

Aberdovey

About one year before the Second World War started Frank's sister, Ethel, said that she was sure the war was inevitable and, having a former colleague who was Welsh, arranged to rent a cottage in Aberdovey, where she intended to migrate when things came to a head. Her husband, Reg, was in the Navy and daughter, Gillian was about two years old.

Ethel had already gone to live there when war was declared. However, early in 1939 we had booked a holiday in Shanklin for the first two weeks in September. I had started to pack our cases, sorting out garments in a suitable manner and using a large expanding case as we were going by car. Then Frank's leave was suddenly stopped and we had to use smaller cases as we would be going by train. It seemed certain that Frank wouldn't be able to travel with us, and we wondered if it was wise for me and Frances to go either. However, Mr Fisher our next door neighbour said, "You go Mrs Fuller. This will all fizzle out!", which was the understatement of the year! Frances and I went off with our cases and got to Shanklin alright. Frances kept asking, "When's Daddy coming?". I think we were sitting on the seafront at Shanklin on the Sunday morning when war was declared. Back home in Dover, Frank, my dad and Mr Fisher spent several days digging out a shelter at the end of the garden. Mum told me there was an alert in the middle of dinnertime one day. She went to the shelter, but Dad said that whatever happened he was going to finish his dinner first!.

As soon as war was declared, Ethel got in touch from Aberdovey and said to Frank, "Don't let Eva and Frances go back to Dover. Send them to me here." This was an unforgettable kindness and Frances and I were in Aberdovey for six weeks. We had, of course, left Mum and Dad in our house at Dover at that time. By this time news began to come through as to Frank's destination for the duration of the war. He was nearly sent to Scotland, but somebody realised that he had just sent us off to Wales, and so he was posted to Swansea. He was allowed to look for accommodation, which had to include space for Mum and Dad, who were to join us. We were able to rent a beautifully furnished house belonging to Mr & Mrs Chidzoy, which looked out over Swansea Bay with Mumbles Head and Swansea Town on the right. When the war really started we watched the blitz on Swansea. It was terrible with five great fires and the whole place plastered with incendiaries. What devastation!

Frances and I left Shanklin on a Thursday morning at 8am and arrived in Aberdovey on Friday morning at 7.30am! It took us about 12 hours to get to Shrewsbury, by which time it was dark and all the lights were blacked out. There we had to alight and move from one end of the train to the other. This was very disconcerting; we were tired and hungry. I was asked where we were bound for, and when I said "Aberdovey" the guard said, " Next train calling there will be the mail train at 4.30am". So we settled down in the station waiting room for the night. Frances was eight years old and it was quite a trauma for her. Ethel had sent full instructions as to how to get to her address at 1 Brynhyfrid and we had to get out at Penhelig Halt. I had memorised the instructions in case it was dark when we arrived. The train came and we boarded it and were told to change at Machyonleth. I said that I could never remember that name so the guard agreed to come and tell me when we were there. We arrived on time at Machyonleth. The Aberdovey train did not stop at Penhelig halt but the guard said he would stop it for us, which he obligingly did. Ethel had waited all day on Thursday expecting us and by night-time knew we could not arrive until the mail train came on Friday morning. She met this train at Aberdovey, but of course we had alighted at Penhelig Halt hadn't we! I read the instructions and we started on our way - me, Frances, two cases and a holdall. We hadn't gone far when a lad came along on a bicycle and with a lovely Welsh accent said,"Would you be looking for Mrs Pryer (Ethel) is it?". I said, "Yes I would", and he took us there. This was typical of the kindness we received from the Welsh people.

We stayed for six weeks and by that time Frank had made arrangements for us to go to the furnished house in Port Talbot, it was called Quantock. We were very comfortable there and had very pleasant neighbours with twin daughters. The neighbour, Mrs Howell, was a member of the local operatic society and allowed me to go and use her piano

When Frances collapsed we thought it was about time that Mum and dad came down to join us, which they did, after taking great care to make sure that everything was secure at River. Mum saw to it that plenty of Keatings Powder was sprinkled in the piano. Mr & Mrs Lake kept an eye on the place and Frank Goodall, a railway policeman, was a wonderful watchdog! After a short while and towards what was called the phony war, we offered to have my sister's daughter, Doreen, to stay from the East End of London as we thought it would be safer for her. Arthur, Doreen's father, brought her down to Port Talbot and the first thing he saw when they alighted at Port Talbot station was a bomb crater. He commented, " I thought you didn't have any raids here!". That was about the only one we did have. I understand that Port Talbot was like a pencil on the map and not an easy target. We had many alerts and heard lots of planes, but they were enemy planes laying mines in the bay. As we sat on the beach one day we watched a ship coming across the bay, riding high, when suddenly there was a loud explosion and the ship split in the middle and went down. We were told that it was on its way to Fishguard to be degaussed (pronounced de-gowsed).( To learn more about this click the link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degaussing ) as there was no equipment at Port Talbot. We were all very scared. Doreen didn't stay with us long. Her parents missed her so much they came and took her back to Barking, where they bravely stuck out the war.

If you found this interesting you might like to look at my new blog
"Every Picture Tells a Story"
http://brianfuller75.blogspot.co.uk/
 

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 15 Off to Dover

Front Garden of 142 Lower Rd. River Easter 1950

Back Row Eva, Frances, Eileen Fuller

Front Row Brian Fuller, Mother Fuller, Linda Fuller, Mrs Leverett (Eva's Mum), Mary

Frank Joins Immigration

In 1935 I had a feeling that Frank's work was getting a little tedious and he was not enjoying it. A note was sent round the Board of Education, where he was working, saying that the Immigration Service was being extended and applications for transfer were being considered. Frank talked to me about it, warning me that if he was accepted it would mean moving, leaving relatives and friends etc. I said, Where you go, I go with you." So he applied and was accepted. It was a move we never regretted. We put St Teara up for sale, but didn't get any takers. Frank's sister-in-law, Madge, decided she would like it. Frank and his brother Walter had a gentleman's agreement: Frank went on paying the monthly repayments so as not to interfere with the mortgage and Walter refunded the money to Frank.

Temporary Midwife

Before we moved, Frank had to do six months training in Folkestone before he was given a commitment to Dover Immigration. I remained in Laindon, with Mum and Dad, and Frances. One night after we had all gone to bed at about 11pm, there was a knock on the front door and I thought, "Good, Frank has arrived home", but it was Frank's niece Vera's husband also called Frank. He looked white and really worried, "Could you come" he said, "Vera's very bad". So I hurriedly dressed and went just a few minutes walk to their house. Vera was expecting a baby, but not for some weeks. Frank went for the doctor and when he arrived I had to assist at the birth! The preparations for the birth had gone a bit wrong, so there were no clothes for the baby. I went and got some of Frances's and we dressed the the baby boy up in those. That was my one and only maternity case!

Move to Dover

Soon after that episode we moved to Dover. When Frank was training he lodged in Frith Rd., and I went down for a day or two to look for a house. We found one, which a builder had built for his own family. It wasn't quite finished, but livable. It was in River and part way up a hill, so the garden was very steep. We were there for six months and then Percy Hertley, an Immigration Officer, who lived at 142 Lower Rd. who was to be transferred to Croydon, asked us if we would like to rent his house, that he was buying ready for retirement. We were very pleased to do that; it was much more suitable and had a garage. We lived there from 1936 to 1979 and were very happy. When the war came, rather than leave the house empty, Frank and Percy came to an agreement whereby Frank continued the tenancy paying half rent - there were no rates to pay - but, keeping our furniture there, we were able to keep the Army out. The Army did take the house next door and a lot of damage was done. Unfortunately Percy died and Frank offered his widow an increased rent, but she wouldn't hear of it. Then she also died, and the guardian of their son, who was mentally disabled, wished to realise his assets and invest the money, so we were able to but the house as sitting tenants. Everything worked out for the best. It seemed that God's hand was guiding us.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 14 Mum and Dad arrive, and Our first car

Bullnose Morris (not the actual one!)

Mum and Dad come to live with us

For the first two years following Frances's birth I was no at all well and I used to put our things in the pram and go to my mother's at Central Park Road. My nerves were bad and I didn't like being on my own while Frank was at work. After a while Frank suggested we ask my Mum and Dad if they would like to come and live with us. My youngest sister had married and left home so they were on their own, but at that time they didn't want to leave their friends. However after a while my eldest sister , Ada, and her husband, Jim, decided they would leave East Ham and start buying a house in Barking or Ilford, asking Mum and Dad to go with them to help pay the mortgage; that is what they did, but they often used to come and stay with us. Then, when Frances was about 4 years old and I was very much better, having found a lovely friend, Mrs Gibbons, Mum and Dad said that, if the offer was still open for them to come and live with us, they would like to take it up, which they did and of course we were very pleased to see them. Obviously we needed more accommodation and so we got an estimate for an extension. It was around £180, but the insurance company would not lend us the money. We didn't have £180 of course, in fact we didn't even have a bank account, so we just managed.

Car Owners

It was about this time that Frank's sister Lena and her family came home on leave from Malta. Ben, Lena's husband, bought a Bull-nosed Morris as this was cheaper than shipping his own car over for the duration of his leave.(At the top is an example of a Bullnose Morris)
When they were due to return to Malta, Ben offered the car to Frank for £15. We hadn't got £15 and Frank couldn't drive anyway. However Father and Mother Fuller were keen for Frank to have it and lent us the £15. Ben took Frank out a few time at daybreak and all was well. We became the proud owners of what would now be regarded as a vintage car. I can't remember how long we had it. I know we went to Little Holland in it, visiting relatives. Those were happy days before the Second World War.
Soon after we moved to Laindon a school was built nearby and when we had Frances we thought that would be very convenient. However, new rules were made and, when she reached school age, the school that were told she had to attend was a good mile away; she went once and didn't want to go again. She didn't like the dinner and said the rice pudding had to be cut in slices! We arranged to send her to a private school, but she never started there as we were just about to move to Dover. When we arrived in River she was able to attend the village school there