Bill and Nancy Clay

On my first day at secondary school a group of us new pupils wondered after lunch to the edge of the large playing field. An entirely artificial wrangle broke out between the merits of the various school houses. As we had ben arbitrarily allocated to houses and we knew nothing about them this was totally inconsequential. Except that it had a major consequence for me. I was one of only two boys in the group allocated to Barfords house. Perhaps naturally we sought to defend Barfords and extol its virtues. The other Barfords boy was Anthony Clay.

Partly as a result of having been forced into common cause we developed a great friendship. We had some things in common, both only children, both struggling to find our feet in a new environment. Whereas I was the only boy from my village Anthony was one of several from his. However they were not boys with whom he was particularly friendly. We shared interests in cars, trains and mechanical things generally.

As our friendship blossomed we exchanged visits and before too long I was invited to stay. The Clay household was a revelation to me. They were much younger than my parents but they also had a young outlook on life. They were considerably better off and Bill Clay was becoming established in a managerial role. Nancy Clay also worked as a secretary ( at a time when many married women didn’t ) at the local cold store. Butchers and the like didn’t have their own refrigeration facilities then so they kept stock in the centralised store. Chores were shared in the Clay household and I remember Bill vacuuming during my visit.

Bill was thin but wiry with a toothbrush moustache. Nancy was a slightly faded blonde, still pleasant looking in her mid to late thirties. They were openly affectionate with one another. Nancy was Pigeon, or Pidge for short in Bill’s vocabulary. Looking back with my adult eyes I realise how they valued time together. On one occasion we were put to bed early with a portable radio on the landing which I realise now was a cuddle opportunity for them in their room.

They were very spontaneous. One fine summers day they decided to go for a picnic to Lake Vynwy in Wales. Bill had a pre war Morris 8.It managed the hills  although apparently he had cases where he had to reverse up taking advantage of the lower reverse gear.  Bill had several brothers, all motoring enthusiasts. One had a Morgan 4/4 open sports car. I remember he gave me a lift home. I don’t suppose we went above 60 mph but we seemed to be flying along.  In an era when DIY was almost unknown Bill was very handy , good at fixing the car and whatever was needed. I later found his father was a craftsman with a big home workshop.

The Clays had a telephone; the first I had ever seen in a private house. Bill was manager of the bleachworks of a big local tape mill. Generally he wore his responsibilities lightly but one weekend he was worried about a problem batch until reassured by a phone call.

All of this makes out that I was more interested in the parents than my friend. This wasn’t the reason at all. It was more the case that Anthony’s home was a window on a different world. The Clay’s were very interested in Anthony’s hobbies and friends. Because we were avid train spotters they took us to both Rugby and Crewe, two important rail hubs.

One feature of my visits I greatly relished was playing with Anthony’s Hornby Dublo train set. This was something I greatly desired but without electricity at home was quite impossible. Anthony had both a model “Duck4 “ shunter and “Duchess of Atholl” Pacific class main line engine.

With hindsight I guess they saw me as a good  friend to their cherished son. I was a serious slightly bookish boy. My mother was very concerned that I show good manners and insisted I thanked the Clays for their hospitality. Anthony liked visiting us because he enjoyed being in the middle of the country rather than the suburbia where he lived. Apparently Nancy saw me as rather old fashioned which she liked.

Looking back I picked up a lot of ideas about family life from the Clays. If you want to see it in class terms I guess it was an introduction to the middle class. Even some small things like keeping a log of fuel purchased for cars I copied from Bill. As he pointed out anything else led to guesswork on consumption. Odometers ( mileage counters ) are usually pretty accurate although I did with one car go as far as to check ( pretty nerdish I know ). It was accurate within experimental error.

Economic update

The pound has recovered pretty much all its losses to rise above 1.40 to the dollar. This is at least in part due to the weak dollar. Another part is the global upturn and yet another factor is increasing confidence in a decent EU trade deal.

It is however sad for the country to see the Eurozone powering ahead while Britain’s growth is subdued.