Uncle Alan

Younger than my dad by 4 years and still going strong at 83. Called in to see him yesterday and learned something that I didn't previously know which also happened last time I saw him. Dad was one of nine children and they lived in two adjoining houses but before grandad brought that second house, my dad, Alan, brother Charlie and sister Pauline slept in the Anderson shelter in the garden every night all the way through the war. No light, no heating, but on the plus side, they were closer to the outside loo than those in the house. Unbelievable. Alan tells me that the shelter is still there. It is set into the ground and concreted over so removing it has been too daunting a task for subsequent home owners. I plan to go see it and photograph it. It was dug out by hand and the children were roped in to use a pram to transport the soil to a nearby field where I would be unloaded. They must have made hundreds of trips, literally.

Alan retired from Vauxhall aged 55 where he was an estimator. He spent a year doing not very much other than playing golf but got bored. By trade, he was a pattern maker and still had contacts in this line of business through his work at Vauxhall so he started doing pattern making on commission from his garage. He wound that down in later life but hasn't stopped altogether, his last job being last month, 3 days work that paid quite handsomely. I wonder if he would be willing to take on an apprentice :-)