On 19 July 1943, I
was born in Blackpool, (that's the town with the football team!) on the Fylde
Coast, and there I spent the first thirty years of my life. I lived at the North
End (nothing to do with that other football club), of the town at Norbreck,
where the cliffs are covered with grass, the hotels are small and quiet and
where the crowds of holidaymakers are never seen except when they pass on the
tram on their way to Fleetwood market. Of course, when I was a child, Fleetwood
was noted for trawlers and fish markets, rather than clothes markets. The Fisherman's
Friend
factory remains, but the fishermen have gone.
I attended Norbreck Primary School and then Arnold High School and, on the whole, I enjoyed my school days. I worked hard at those subjects which I liked and did the minimum amount of work (or less) for all the others, and my reports clearly reflected this! They contained frequently those immortal words "could do better." I never knew that exam stress existed.
I went on to Bishop Otter Teacher Training College in Chichester, not really
in order to learn how to teach, but
— yes you've guessed it— to continue doing
those things I liked: sport, English and Religious Instruction.
I discovered that I didn't like teaching, so I left college after two years and
eventually joined the Civil Service. I spent 12 years as a visiting officer in
the Social Security Department (National Assistance Board when I joined) and
then worked in various
other departments until I took early retirement in 1995. Retirement
has
since proved to be a complete misnomer. I then worked part time for the Pastoral
Care
department at Royal Preston Hospital, and I still spend half a day a week voluntarily
visiting in the Ribblesdale Ward. In September 1999 I started my current part
time employment as a lay worker for the Preston Circuit on the Cottam and Longsands
estates.
In 1976 I married Harold, a Prestonian born and bred, and thus began a 25 year long discussion on the merits of Matthews and Finney— pointless of course, since there is nothing really to discuss!! I gained not only a husband, but a 17 year old stepson, Stephen who is now married with two children. Harold has always been a Roman Catholic, attends St. Clare's, and I have always been a Methodist. Stephen and his family attend an Anglican church, so both my family and my work is ecumenical.
My days are still full of all the things I enjoy: hospital visiting; work on Cottam and Longsands; my hobbies, (knitting, cross stitch, embroidery); local preaching; holidays, family visits; watching sport; etc.
N.B. housework does not figure at all in this list!
© Fulwood Methodist Church
17:18:32 Wednesday, 26 October 2005
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