Chapter 14 January letters
Susan Dudgeon to Peggy Brading -1st January 1951
Dear Peggy,
And a Happy New Year to your family as well! Thank you very much indeed for your part in the refrigerator. I have a feeling I know who did the organising and choosing! It works splendidly and the weather is mild enough that I really was glad of it, especially over Christmas.
Titty and co. came for a week over Christmas and Roger came late on Christmas Eve and went on Boxing Day. It was my turn to do Christmas dinner this year, so we had 11 people. (Bridget couldn't come until Boxing Day and Mr Farland went to stay with Bess.) It all went pretty well.
Bill now has some confused ideas about Father Christmas arriving on a motorcycle and not really having a beard. This idea has spread round the infant part of Horning with astonishing rapidity – little Susie Johnson told me that Father Christmas had brought her sister Carolyn a pair of roller skates on a flying motorcycle and Carolyn had fallen off them. (It turned out that Carolyn had fallen off the skates and broken her collarbone, but Susie thought I needed to know about the flying motorcycle first.)
Bridget still hasn't got anything arranged about going to Australia, but she's working in Bedfordshire and spent Boxing Day with us.
I hope your Christmas was a happy one. (Bill is rather envious of your snow).
Love, Susan
Peggy Brading to Susan Dudgeon -January 5th
Dear Susan,
I'm glad it's been helpful. Yes, we had a lovely Christmas and the children and I stayed until the New Year so we did get to enjoy the snow at Beckfoot. Susie is currently greatly taken with piano at Beckfoot – it's mostly rather random plonking on it, but she does it rather well and was busy experimenting with notes that are nice together. She's not having piano lessons unless she asks for them though. I won't have my daughter MADE to play an instrument.
It was actually Nancy who organised the 'fridge. (I did give her pretty strict instructions on what to look for though.) Anyway, she ordered it when she went to see Aunt Helen in London just before Christmas. Aunt Helen came for Christmas so it seemed an odd time to visit her, but you know what Nancy is like once she's got a plan in mind. I got a rather nice blouse out of it for Christmas anyway.
Do you think you could possibly be the tester for the Cook's badge and the First Aid badge when you come to visit in March? It will be jolly nearly the whole company taking one or the other so it's a rather big ask but I would be very grateful. To my relief Nancy passed the 5 doing Map-reading and the 6 doing the Signallers badge. They said she gave them a terrible grilling though. She managed to keep a straight face examining Barbara for her Rabbit-keepers badge too. Barbara knows it inside out and back to front anyway.
Love to all,
Peggy
Susan Dudgeon to John Walker 8th January
Dear John,
Thank you very much for your part in the refrigerator. It is a wonderful and really useful present and no, of course I don't mind people putting Christmas and New Year presents together like that! Not having to shop nearly every day will be wonderful. It's not the shopping itself that takes the time; it's the number of people who want to stop and gossip, or try to pump me for gossip.
Roger rang yesterday to say that he is off to Korea after all. Probably not for as long as six months he says. It was a pretty hurried 'phone call. He's probably on his way by now.
We did talk on Boxing Day, the four of us, about the Australia business, and are all totally convinced that it's completely unfair. We can't officially make any decision about it until Bridget is 25 and we all think that someone (Bridget) should go out and look at the place before it's final. Roger is going to feel especially badly about it, I think, if you don't let us have our way on this. I say, our way, but maybe it is their way – after all, I was married to a naval officer however briefly.
With love from all of us.
(The enclosed picture by Bill is him sailing the wooden boat from you and Nancy. The red crayon bit is Titty rescuing the boats after both Ed and Bill both let go of the string. Ed let go by accident, but I'm not so sure about Bill.)
Susan
Roger Walker to Rowan Marlow- 8th January
…Yes, my darling, I am indeed on my way to Korea. It's certainly the first time that I've thought "I hope this isn't going to be too long – at any rate, so near the beginning. From which you can probably already deduce that I'm missing you rather a lot already …
Edward Callum to Nancy Walker- 9th January
Dear Auntie Nancy and Uncle John thank you for my baot with love from Ed
Titty Callum to Nancy Walker 9th January
Dear Nancy,
Thank you very much for the ball for Rosemary and the wooden boat for Ed. They were warmly acclaimed the moment they were opened and the boat has already sailed in the river with one end prudently fastened to a piece of string. (Susan's idea). Admittedly both Bill and Ed let go of their string, but both boats were rescued safely.
Susan rang yesterday to say that Roger rang to say that he was going to Korea –he will already be on his way there by now.
The 'fridge was splendid. Thank you for doing all the organising about that. We were rather dreading having to come back to find various bits of pipework frozen in the hall, but have been fortunate in the weather.
No news from Dot yet.
Love to you all at Beckfoot,
Titty
Titty Callum to Roger Walker 16th January
Dear Roger,
Dick's mother phoned early this morning to say that Dorothea had twins yesterday. They are a little bit earlier than expected, but only by a couple of weeks and twins often are. A girl and a boy, so not identical. Everyone's OK, but they haven't chosen names for the babies yet, or if they have they haven't told us. ….
Nancy Walker to John Walker 20th January
….. both over 6 pounds, which seems jolly good going for twins and everyone fine. Fiona Elizabeth and David Callum McGinty.
Roger Walker to Rowan Marlow 27th January
…..All three letters reached me at the same time. I expect it's the same for you….