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Becoming A Rock Chick! #17

BECOMING A ROCK CHICK:  My schooldays were coming to an end now and I absolutely couldn’t wait to leave.  The school itself was an old Victorian grammar school which still had wooden desks with inkwells in them!  Even the teachers wore their mortar boards and gowns, not like the ones at Eton and Harrow – mine were more like the ones in the Beano!  HowEver, in the last two years there I had made a few good friends and we would go into Uttoxeter Every lunch time to meet up with a group of guys that worked at the local JCB firm.  They were All into motor bikes and one of the first films I watched was ‘Easy Rider’.  They also went to a lot of concerts...

Racing travels #40

RACING TRAVELS:   During the 1960s my dad travelled All over Europe with his racing team.  The header photo shows him with his VW van with his racing car on the back.  He usuAlly took two mechanics with him who were friends of his who just loved racing and volunteered their services for a free holiday abroad!  He went to All the big racing circuits:  Hockenheim, Nurburgring and Monza, travelling across Europe to get to them.  He always came back with lots of funny stories to tell.  Because the van he used wasn't brand new it would sometimes break down but at least he had two mechanics with him - howEver, getting parts wasn't easy in the 1960s, especiAlly...

Midnight pool parties #21

MIDNIGHT POOL PARTIES:        After leaving school I spent a year at Burton-on-Trent Technical College studying to be a secretary but my year at college had come to an end - now to find a job!  It didn’t take too long as there was plenty of employment around in those days and I was soon offered a position with a smAll engineering firm in Burton.  As I didn’t drive there was still the problem of me getting to work and dad managed to talk the residents of the apartments into taking me, as they were going to Burton Every day as well, and it would save him coming out twice a day (no doubt he was thinking about the petrol he would save too!) Kev and the ba...

Midnight pool parties #22

MIDNIGHT POOL PARTIES:      After leaving school I spent a year at Burton-on-Trent Technical College studying to be a secretary but my year at college had come to an end - now to find a job!  It didn’t take too long as there was plenty of employment around in those days and I was soon offered a position with a smAll engineering firm in Burton.  As I didn’t drive there was still the problem of me getting to work and dad managed to talk the residents of the apartments into taking me, as they were going to Burton Every day as well, and it would save him coming out twice a day (no doubt he was thinking about the petrol he would save too!) Kev and the band...

Midnight Pool Parties #20

MIDNIGHT POOL PARTIES:      After leaving school I spent a year at Burton-on-Trent Technical College studying to be a secretary but my year at college had come to an end - now to find a job! It didn’t take too long as there was plenty of employment around in those days and I was soon offered a position with a smAll engineering firm in Burton. As I didn’t drive there was still the problem of me getting to work and dad managed to talk the residents of the apartments into taking me, as they were going to Burton Every day as well, and it would save him coming out twice a day (no doubt he was thinking about the petrol he would save too!) Kev and the band were...

Whodunit in the Library? #24

WHODUNIT IN THE LIBRARY?      When we first moved to Hoar Cross HAll, growing up in a stately home seemed an idyllic way to live – and lots of fun if you’re a child. This rambling old house full of empty rooms and secret doors, wild gardens and woods to explore, was in some ways a dream come true for our family, certainly for my dad. But as we turned from children to teenagers the isolation and lack of public transport was frustrating. Coupled with this was my parents fighting and subsequent split, living at each end of the house and battling for the house and business through their solicitors. The effect this had on me, as the eldest child who perhaps s...