Where was your first home together? Can you describe it? Our first home was at 1 Broadmead Close, Hatch End which we still own (1998). It is a small semi-detached corner house built on the Pinner Park Estate in the 'thirties' which were built to rent initially. They were therefore well built and in fact in the last few yrears the estate has been elevated in its status to a conservation area. Why did you choose to live were you did? As your grandad and I both came from Hatch End we knew it well and it held a number of attractions for us. In the early 1960's, Hatch End still had very much of a village atmosphere so it was pleasant yet convenient for London. It was near Wembley which was where Polybags had moved to after its origin in the back of a sweetshop in Hatch End. Also of course our family were there and we felt it was nice to be near them. How much did you earn in the early years of your marriage? Did it seem hard to make ends meet? Earnings were uncertain. It is difficult to work out exactly what they were but we both had savings. Many of the household items we started of with were second hand. Can you remember the prices of some of the things you used to buy regularly? Weekend joint of beef Price then £1 Price now £8 Loaf bread Price then 1 shilling Price now 65pence Icecream cornet Price then 3d Price now 85pence Where and when were your children born? What were their names? What did they weigh at birth? Joanna Clare 3.10.65 Bushey 7lb 6oz Sally Maria 14.5 67 Edgware 8lb 1oz Jonathan Walter 1.5 70 Bushey 9lb 8oz Philip Walter 29…5.73 Bushey Where did the children go to school? What did they do best at? Joanna started at the local state school, Grimsdyke, which is where your Grandfather went. However, in the early 'seventies' there was a trend for mixing age groups and for informal teaching. When she was seven, she spent some afternoons playing with sand and water with five year olds. So we entered her for Haberdashers' Aske's school examination and she passed. Eventually all four children went to Haberdashers', the other three after going to a private preparatory school first. When they started the fees were about £70 per term. Where did you go on holiday when the children were young? We went to a number of different places; the Isle of Wight, Bognor Regis, Norfolk, Fairbourne in North Wales where the Beloks' had a holiday home, the Crieff Hydro several times where there were sports competitions; also Marlborough summer school courses on two occasions. So our holidays were mainly taken in this country but we went twice to Majorca once camping in the south of France (1976) the year of a heatwave in Britain! Did you have any difficult times when the family was growing up? Both our mothers' died when our family was very young. Mum Davies died in 1969 and my mother eighteen months later when Joanna was five, Sally three and Jonathan six months. Philip, of course, was not born. Philip had to have an operation when he was four for an undescended testicle and Sally had an accident with her small finger on her left hand. I shut the car door on it. This was a traumatic experience. Jonathan had a broken arm and one or two injuries in rugby matches. Philip suffered from childhood asthma. But of course what totally overshadowed all the 'difficult' times of the children growing up was the appalling and overwhelming tragedy of the death of dearest Philip at the age of twenty-one. He died in his lodgings at Birmingham University on March 18th 1995 after taking a drug (diamorphine) in the Guild. He was found by his flatmates dead in bed sometime during the Saturday. A friend was later convicted of supplying the drug to Philip and he was sent to prison for five years. We had no idea that Philip was taking drugs except for cannabis. Did you have any time for hobbies and what are your happiest memories? There was not a lot of time but I enjoyed skiiing holidays, tennis occasionally, French classes and gardening. In the very early days I belonged to the local amateur operatic society and sang occasionally in the Pinner choir. Our happiest memories were activities when the children were together, Christmas, holidays etc. Times when they were taking part in school functions, the Sunday School and when we saw their success and happiness. Occasions like the Queen's Jubilee Hillview Road Street Party which was held in fancy dress - most of all love and humour and enthusiasm for life which we were all so fortunate to have. What did you enjoy doing together? Our activities were often connected with Polybags. We used to have days which involved calling on customers or making deliveries. We had a house at Worthing where we spent time and this enabled us to call on another company which we owned close by. We played tennis together and occasionally Badminton. Although we both enjoyed gardening we did not always see eye to eye but we learnt from our differences.