John Glenn

Until I saw his obituary I hadn’t thought about John Glenn in years but seeing it took me back to February  1962. He was the astronaut on board Friendship 7. I hadn’t long been at college in Loughborough. It had been a very depressing time for the Western space program. This was a time when all the space firsts had been Russian ones. First artificial satellite, first animal in space, first man in space.

I was keenly interested in space travel. I had joined the British Interplanetary Society at 17 or so and been to a lecture given by them in Birmingham. I was very aware I had no formal qualification but that didn’t actually matter, except in my own mind. All that was required was an interest in space travel and paying the subscription. I recall the lecture was about a suitable fuel and the conclusion was helium-3. The reason completely escapes me now but it seemed a logical answer at the time. I don’t remember why I asked a question but I do remember my embarrassment when I didn’t fully aspirate the h at the start of helium.

The BIS was at that time a collection of enthusiasts who were looked upon as cranks. Although it had many serious members and developed plausible plans, for example for a trip to Mars, the environment was only slowly changing. At the time the Apollo moon missions were very much in the future while a UK Astronomer Royal had declared that space travel was bunk not long before.

The Glenn mission was in a Mercury capsule on top of an Atlas missile. The objective was to go briefly into earth orbit for three orbits and then return. This was a very big deal indeed- the first US manned satellite. The whole mission was broadcast live. It was fairly convenient in UK time being in the early evening with launch about 4 and return about 9. I lay on my bed in my student room listening to the broadcast breaking only to go to dinner at 6. Dinner on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays was a formal meal ( this meant collar and tie ) and the timetable was precise, be at the table at 6 or go without.

I was too hungry to go without so I took the interruption in my listening. Otherwise I was locked to the broadcast for the whole time of the flight. I was worried, like many others, that the re-entry phase was very hazardous and this concern under laid the whole flight. A successful launch was gratifying but it wasn’t over until a safe return. America had an unfortunate history of failed launches.

The start of the exploration of space had been supposed to occur in the International Geophysical Year ( actually more like 18 months ) back in 1957-8. Among many ventures ( a UK Antarctic crossing among them ) America had planned the first satellite launch with a specially designed Vanguard rocket. Amid great embarrassment it blew up on the pad and pride was only recovered later when a cobbled together missile based system achieved orbit. By then the publicity had been stolen by a series of Russian “Sputnik” satellites. I can remember watching Sputnik 2 passing overhead. If you were in the dark and the satellite in sunlight it was clearly visible as a rapidly moving star.

The Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin had orbited the earth in 1961. The whole run of Russian space successes had caused great anguish in the West. Not only were there military implications but more broadly education, particularly technical education, was called into question.

Thus the Glenn mission salvaged some Western pride. It wasn’t the first but it was a significant achievement. I was very gratified.

Frances knows my penchant for weak jokes so she collected all her cracker jokes for me

Q Where does Santa go if he is sick

A the elf centre

Q Why did no one bid for Rudolf and Blitzen on eBay

A Because they were two deer.

Q Why is it getting more difficult to buy advent calendars

A Because their days are numbered

This latter reminds me of the great bargain at the Fabric Guild which was an Advent sheet with a day printed twice. It must have some use but I’ve never figured out what.

Morale better

I’m expecting lots of flak after my last post ( what a killjoy I hear you say ). My excuse is that I am labouring under a heavy cold and that has coloured my view.

Later on Christmas Day Frances, Alison and Ellie visited. We exchanged presents and passed on those for the other kids at Birmingham for Christmas  I was reminded yet again how fortunate we are with our children and grandchildren. It would be tedious to recount all their various abilities and achievements perhaps suffice to say how proud we are of them. We derive a lot of interest from hearing about their news.

Perhaps one quiet boast is permissible. Frances had been shortlisted for the University professional of the year. She modestly thinks that the new library building manager is probably more deserving. He is also shortlisted. The move into the new library and merging in some departmental holdings was a big job and it was completed on time and in budget. There were hiccups along the way; .worst being when they had a water leak and damage.

We concluded our Christmas with an orgy of television viewing. “Call the Midwife” in their Christmas edition was even more sentimental than usual; something I would not have thought possible. My cousin was a midwife in the East End in the fifties but she hardly talks of it. Her main point of contact with the programme is that she is also intensely religious. In her case she was much influenced by Billy Graham who was a noted US evangelist of the period. Knowing I’m not at all religious she rarely talks of it with me. Unmarried, she had a taste for venturesome holidays when she was younger.  In our family it is widely accepted she was very much influenced by her aunt, her namesake, whose nursing career she followed.

My Aunt Win, the eldest of mother’s sisters, was famous within our family. Also unmarried ( until very late in life ) she was opinionated and bossy. She was also thoughtful and kind. As a working class girl between the wars she went into domestic service. Always ambitious she was fortunate to work for a doctor who encouraged her to take up nursing. Among other things she drove an ambulance during the Coventry blitz. After the war she went to Canada for a couple of years because retirement was too quiet for her.

It must have been a twist of genetics because her brother and sisters were all rather conventional. My mother’s only mild rebellion was to avoid domestic service and instead become an apprentice milliner. Unfortunately she entered the trade just as it was dying as the fashion for hats was falling sharply. She never worked as a milliner but in shoe shops instead.

I mention my midwife cousin because I suspect she had a major role in my life. Living in Coventry she was evacuated to my parents at the start of WW11. Clearly she was a charming little girl and my parents fell in love .My father, who had been rather diffident about having children, succumbed to mother who wanted a child of her own. I was always told by relatives mother was disappointed I wasn’t a girl although she never gave any hint to me. Anyway I was born in the middle of WW11. My father was 40 and mother 36 so they couldn’t have waited much longer .My mother was great at many crafts, sewing, knitting, rug making, doll making. She must have been disappointed that I was uninterested.

Lowish Christmas spirit

I can’t remember a year that I’ve approached with so much apprehension as 2017. I’m convinced the referendum was a disaster and the US election of Donald Trump beggars belief. Apart from being a thoroughly obnoxious individual his policies, such as we know of them, look thoroughly bad.

On a personal level our Christmas isn’t looking wonderful. Annette is recovering from a virus infection and I’m just starting one. We have resolved to avoid our plans for visiting Frances for the family rendezvous because of the infection risk. Alison has kindly said she and Frances will visit us to collect presents etc. We are holding a pile for kids which we don’t want to chance delivering.

At least I have some festive jokes

The U rated one

Q What do you get if you cross Santa Claus with a duck?

A Christmas Quackers.

The vulgar one ( from the Vicar of Dibley nativity episode! )

Santa Claus has a mince pie stuck up his bottom. He goes to the doctor. The doctor examines him  and says “ no problem, I’ve got cream for that”

Grandchildren at Whitby

We took a week at Whitby partly trying to tie down all the things which need doing and partly to entertain Frances and the kids for a couple of days. Frances came up by train and we met in Scarborough. Martin is on holiday so was able to be with us most days. Lindsey is full of ideas and advice about fulfilling our holiday let ambitions. In fact Lindsey will be our day to day agent .

Already she is full of details and is preparing our web site. She now has the experience of a year letting out the cottage attached to their house at Fylingthorpe. This has been quite successful and has whetted their appetite for more. Whitby may be more of a challenge because of the scale of the completion. We have learned that of six flats in our house only one will occupied full time. Four of the others will be holiday lets with us as the fifth. We also met a neighbour in a small cottage( subdivided from a large house ) who is also similar to ourselves occupying sometimes, letting sometimes.

Having Frances , Alice and Ben to stay.did mean we spent some holiday time. Bizzarely Ben knows about “knock, knock” jokes without understanding they need a joke. So he comes out with some quite surreal variants. As Frances says he understands the structure without understanding the joke part. One day they went to the play area in nearby Pannett park and then to watch the new J K Rowling movie. On another we walked to the beach at Robin Hoods Bay and then Frances inspected the much changed house at Fylingthorpe which she hadn’t seen before followed by a fish and chip meal back at our flat.

Ellen came for a sleepover with her cousins. It is easy to see that Ellen will be a handful in later life. Miffed that she had a plastic beaker instead of a glass like Alex she went and swapped on the table. Anticipating protests she then put a reserved notice on her plate. I have to admire her nerve. I’ve always found Ellen, who can be quite charming when she wants to be, very amusing. Although very self confident within the family I’m told she is quiet at school.

Martin and Lindsey are quite knowledgeable about rock pool life and are in a project to assess certain properties. Martin collected samples of rock pool life during our walk on beach at Robin Hoods Bay. These he used to demonstrate to the children the different types, mainly crabs but a couple of small fish and a ragworm. I had never seen a hermit crab before as it tucked itself into a discarded shell it had found.

The beach around this area is famous for jet, fossilised monkey puzzle tree, which is used in jewellery. There must be a dozen shops in Whitby making and selling items made from jet. It is very difficult to spot particularly against the amount of coal and black stones on the beaches. Even side by side it can be difficult to tell them apart.  Jet is quite valuable and much sought after. Jet is a very slightly browner shade of black , takes a fine polish and is less dense. Lindsey is developing an eye for spotting jet and she has some success.

We have found problems with various traffic jams when we have travelled before. This time our journeys were straightforward except for occasional roadworks. These along the Yorkshire A roads were no problem. Past experience has shown that the A64 just beyond York can be a problem. There is a long stretch of single carriage way connecting two stretches of dual carriageway which is very busy with awkward junctions  and can be a severe problem. The A64 York to Scarborough road is strange but we have learned to follow patiently waiting for the patches of dual carriageway.

Information Science

My first job after graduating was in Information Science for Unilever at Port Sunlight on Merseyside. I had a bruising time in my final exams failing the organic practical test. Despite this I got a degree although not as good as I had hoped. My personal tutor grumbled that students who fail exams were not usually awarded degrees and strongly suggested I should be relieved by the outcome.

Nevertheless my confidence was shaken and I resolved to seek a job which did not involve practical work ( not “on the bench” in the jargon of the time ) After some searching I took the job with Unilever. Information Science was very new and the Unilever laboratory was among the leaders in the field. Essentially the job was in two parts- archiving and indexing research reports and current awareness which meant keeping project teams abreast of everything they needed to know.

In a sense this was acting as a super librarian. The difference was that we were expected to become close to the scientists in our particular areas and actively seek out information for them. This was a two way process; we searched the scientific literature for them and they came to us with questions.

There wasn’t much tuition- it was a case of learning on the job. It was a bit easier in that the team of about ten was in transition and four of us were  new. The section manager arranged for all other section managers to individually talk about their current projects which gave us an overview of the laboratory activities. With a total complement of about a thousand and about 250 scientists the activities were many and various. Essentially the laboratory supported the Unilever soap and detergents business so this meant everything from basic surface science to product development and test. There were also active groups supporting engineering, plywood and adhesives and other activities within the interests of a large and diverse company.

I was allocated analysis, engineering and the hard surfaces product development division. This latter covered mainly dishwashing and floor cleaning but as its name suggests any type of hard surface cleaning. This contrasted with personal cleaning and fabric cleaning; the other main product development groups.

The job posed many challenges. The project scientists varied a lot in their attitudes from those keen to be helped through to those who scoffed. What made my life difficult was that essentially I always knew much less about the projects than those working on them- I soon learned to be humble.

The engineering group were easiest. They were company trouble shooters so they had many and varied interests mainly around wear and corrosion. Their job interested me and I relished the compliment their section manager gave to me ( couched in careful language “ quite useful and helpful”.

An event occurred which was to be very significant for my whole career although I didn’t realise it at the time. The Divisional Manager of Hard Surface Cleaning, Bill Bone, decided to get all his staff together and spend a day brain storming possible advances. He asked me to take notes and produce a list of the ideas. My section manager straight away said I would be overwhelmed and suggested I record the whole session and then take notes afterwards.

This is what I did spending a weekend reviewing the tape and producing a summary of the ideas proposed.

Bill Bone obviously at least then knew my name and sometime later suggested it would be good for me to take a secondment to his group for six months to widen my experience; to see life as a consumer rather than a producer of information. My boss agreed. I had severe doubts but I judged it would not be politic to refuse. Bone was big wheel in the organisation and a request from him carried the force of an order.

It turned out to be a turning point. I enjoyed  product development and I was quite effective. I left information science and my secondment grew into a year and then two and then a permanent position.

I was fortunate in my first section manager, Arthur Johnson. It was his first managerial position. He soon said how I did my job was up to me as his role was to set the objective and facilitate my work. I got on very well with him; he was quite free with advice, and this was usually sound, but all the time he emphasised that is my responsibility to meet the objectives as I saw fit.

Too much food

Every year I have a Christmas problem with food. Not the usual seasonal over indulgence. It arises because I have two book club meetings on the same day, the first Monday in the month. In the morning it is Bookworms, the Lichfield U3A bookgroup, and in the evening our village bookgroup. Both have Christmas meals and I want to attend both. So two Christmas meals in one day!

The two bookgroups are quite different in character and our Christmas meals reflect that. Bookworms is all suburban, middle class, well heeled ladies.( except for me ). So they want to choose a posh restaurant a little way out of town. I go along with the choice although I wasn’t impressed last year. Sure enough I’m not impressed this year either. Expensive and pretentious food although they did manage the crunchy Brussels sprouts rather than the usual wishy-washy ones. I’m not a foodie but even I know there has been a revolution in the cooking of this Christmas staple. The trick so I’m told is not to do a cross cut and boil as in the past but to just stir fry whole sprouts.

Apart from this my traditional Christmas meal was very so-so. The pig was in a very fatty blanket, the roast spuds poor and the turkey heavily processed rather than carved from the breast. I punished myself also with traditional Christmas pudding. It was a Nouvelle Cuisine portion ( ie. minute ).

Actually the conversation wasn’t uninteresting. We had the “ I’ve been to so and so, oh yes I’ve been there…”. All very” I’m OK, you’re OK” as I recall from my course years ago .I avoid talking about my foreign travel which has been minimal anyway this year. I had to confess some time ago going to Australasia for our Golden Wedding which aroused more interest than I felt warranted. The other subject is that after an agonising wait one lady has moved into a newly converted flat in the centre of town. She has an awkward daughter “ on the autistic spectrum” who has left the family home to live in another flat in the same complex. I don’t live in Lichfield and much local gossip goes over my head.

I feel a complicated relationship with the other members. I write the group blog. They are all nice enough and in some ways quite surprising. We have a former probation officer, a nurse and several teachers. I have to say I’m treated quite well as the token man- I’m usually asked for the male viewpoint in discussion. I have occasionally tried to steer the book  choice to something with some technical or historic meat but this usually fails.

Our village book group is quite different. At present I’m the organiser although hopefully I will relinquish this role in the spring. I had recovered sufficiently by the evening to enjoy my fish and chips and apple pie. I hadn’t deliberately chosen the special offer menu but when a member pointed it out I was happy to pay less than half the luncheon price and for superior food- definitely a success for our village pub. One active member is waiting for a brain tumour operation and hopefully once she has convalesced she will take over the running of the group. Rather than discuss a book each member was asked to present a favourite item of poetry or prose which yielded some surprising choices.

So I finished up rather full but not unpleasantly so and with the feeling I had done my social duty.

Later in the week we went to Dickensian “Penny Reading “ in Tamworth Town Hall. It is possible that Dickens did appear there himself although the firm evidence is lacking. It was delivered by an actor who specialises in these one man shows. Essentially he gave an account of Dickens life as seen by the author himself with interludes of Magwich and the Bill Sykes/Nancy murder. The whole was organised by the LitFest group and, as I’ve now resigned, it was slightly strange to see the event from the outside as it were.

I’ve active in selling tickets even so and it was gratifying that several people from our bookgroup attended. The venue was superb and quite a few wore Victorian Costume.

Visit to Whitby

Martin and family live on the outskirts of Robin Hood’s Bay. Alex and Ellen go to Fylingdales school which happily is very close to their house. Even year Robin Hood’s Bay holds a Victorian weekend around the end of November. The school holds a mini concert to coincide with Victorian weekend.

The concert supplements the traditional nativity play. It is held in St Stephens church which is also the venue for a big display of Christmas trees. After Queen Victoria arrives to open proceedings, there is a ceremonial switching on of the lights. This is supervised by a local radio presenter and broadcast on local radio.

We have been able to attend for the past three years.  Alex has graduated from the cornet to the trumpet. This year he played a short trumpet duet. It appears Alex has some real musical talent. He is also playing with the Esk Valley junior band. This is an ad hoc group tagged onto the full Esk Valley band. We heard a little bit of their rehearsal but unfortunately we will miss the full concert. I was rather surprised at how many amateur musicians there are in the area.

We also went to the Winterfest market. Held in Whitby Pavilion this featured many stalls and was supporting the Air Ambulance. While we were there the local U3A had two bands performing. I was surprised ( and a bit daunted ) that Susan, Lindsey’s mother attends many U3A activities in Leicester including three walking groups.

On our last visit the new TV programme , the Grand Tour, was visiting. This is the new Clarkson/Hammond/May venture for Amazon.  This is a ( sort of ) successor to Top Gear. We watched a stunt which involved someone fished out of the River Esk by the swing bridge in the middle of Whitby. A source of local pride is that Jeremy Clarkson has declared the drive over the moors from Pickering one of the best drives in the country. A part is through bleak but beautiful moorland. I have never seen anywhere like it elsewhere in England.

As our flat is in one of the very old parts of Whitby Annette has been trying without success to find out about its history. More recently  Mariners House, where our flat is situated, was an ARP centre in WW11 with its basement an air raid shelter. Then postwar for some 40 years it was the municipal offices( along with a neighbouring house with connecting door still visible ) before conversion some ten or twelve years ago. There is still evidence of its municipal use in the elaborate fire alarm system.