Part 3 : Our Early Married years, from 31^st March  1962 to 1965                              

We started our married life with just one week in Grange-Over-Sands, in Cumbria. This was arranged with a person that I worked with a Westinghouse on the up-grade of the railway system from Crewe to Manchester / Liverpool and the electrification of the system. He had used his additional income to purchase a B&B in Grange, as a source of income for his future. I think we were his first guests.

 I called at the place we had stayed in Grange, some time in 2000, when returning from a sales visit in the area. It was still there, albeit is was now quite run down and did not knock at the door for obvious reasons.

 All we can remember of it now is that we had a good week, and saw a number of places, like Kendal & Windermere, and the weather was just about OK. They had made us very comfortable and the room looked out across the bay, over the sands to Morecambe, and you could see the lights at night running down the promenade.

 However, it was also at this time that Barbara started to feel a little unwell, and we put this down to all of the work we had put in for the wedding, and did not take much notice.

We just both agreed that on our return to Middlewich, Barbara should go to see the doctor, which she duly did. We were having to live, at this time with Mami, her step mother, until our “New House” was made ready to move into.

 This new house was at 71 Hayhurst Avenue, and was not quite finished enough to move into, and as this turned out must have been fate, for what was to follow.

 Therefore, as it turned out, on my first day back at work, I was greeted on my return at about 5.30pm to find that Barbara was in bed, was very ill, and was not able to move, being in considerable pain, in her lower back. There was a message from the doctor to go down to see him as soon as I returned from work, for an up-date as to what was the problem with her. 

This I duly did, jumping on my bicycle, and going down to the doctors to find out what was the problem. At the doctors, with no appointment, I had to wait until the last to get in to see the doctor, a good doctor, but not renown for his bed manor. 

I knocked on his door, went in, introduced myself as Cliff Astles, Barbara Astles husband and he had requested that I came down to see him, following his earlier visit to Barbara in the morning. From what I can recall these were his exact words:-

 Oh Yes, Barbara Astles. Well unfortunately she has a very bad infection of her kidneys. 

There is very little that we can do about it, she will either get better, or she will not !!!

 I am sorry to have to tell you this as you have just got married, but some you win, and some you lose !!! 

At that point I think that I just went blank, as I did not ask him for any more information.

 I just went outside, got on my bike and rode home to Barbara to see what we could do to make sure she recovered. I was very upset and in tears all the way home, completely distressed about Barbara’s potential situation, and was then determined to make sure that she did get better and recover.

We had been waiting for some 5 years to get married, from when we had first met, and NO ONE was going to take that away from us. Wt we had a long and difficult way ahead, but are still both here to tell the tale.

 (Barbara was NOT told the correct information, re what the doctor has said, until some considerable time later when she had fully recovered. This recovery took some months, but with the treatment and support provided by Mamie, her “adopted parent” and both of us we managed to get there in the end).

 Mamie, was informed as to what the doctor had said when I got back to her house, and she immediately put into operation the plans to get Barbara better.

 She obtained some virgin barley wheat, which was boiled and strained, using muslin cloth into a glass bowl. Into this bowl was then added fresh lemon juice, with which to make a palatable drink. This was given to Barbara 5/6 times a day. Barbara was also unable to eat very much and she was provided with beaten eggs, mixed with PORT and this was what maintained her until she started to recover.

 We moved into our BRAND NEW HOUSE, in Hayhurst Avenue, Middlewich, six weeks after our return from our honeymoon, but it took a very long time (years) for her to recover from her kidney infection. Barbara returned to work when she had fully recovered and it was within the next 12 months that found out that we were to have our first child. What an up and down year that had been, but we had our very newly built, own house, a front and back garden with both roses in the front, and I was to grow much edible produce in the back, during the spring and summer of 1963.

 When we first moved into the house there was NO TV, NO WASHING MACHINE, NO FRIDGE, not much of anything really, but we had invested in a new bedroom suite, a bed, and the rooms were all carpeted and all the windows had new curtains. We were very very happy with our life style, and what we had both bean able to achieve, in such a short time. 

The investment in the house, and equiping it out was a major step forward, note, NO

HIRE PURCHASE, or debt of any kind (except of course the house). We had saved and paid for the wedding ourselves for some 120(ish) people, we had purchased and furnished the house (cost £ 1,850 for the house alone, quite a great deal in the early sixties), and this cost included a specially chosen fireplace, fitted with a BAXI under floor piped airflow system (state of the art in those days). No money to spare, so to speak of, and we started to make sure that ALL bills would be paid, fully and on time !!!

 We obtained, from where ???, a small rectangular tin box, with a fitted and hinged lid (we still have this) and it was divided into three separate compartments. One was for the mortgage on the house (we had NOT paid in full for this, but we had saved sufficient for a deposit of some 25% for the mortgage with the local County Council, which was quite normal in those days). The next compartment was for County Council rates, and the other was for the costs of gas and electricity.

 There were many times, so Barbara told me, much later, that in those very early years, that she would “raid” the “gas & electricity” compartment at the end of the week (paid weekly in those days with the money actually in a brown packet, placed into your own hand !!) for perhaps a bag of potatoes and some minor groceries to “see us through the week”. The money taken was ALWAYS put back after pay day, and only the gas and electricity was raided in this way. Things were tight.

 The shop that we did most of our local shopping at was in Hayhurst Avenue, just across the road, and down a short way from where we were living. This has recently been removed due to lack of customers, and has had two detached houses built on the land.

During 1962, we were able to purchase our very own, FIRST CAR, at the high price of some £7.50, yes that is correct £7.50, or seven pounds ten shillings, in those days. 

This was a car purchased from a friend of mine from college at Hertford Technical College, Tony Sadler. The car belonged to his Dad and they were selling it to get something better for the family, and Tony (who had been my best man at the wedding) said we could buy it for this price, as this was more than they could get for it Part EX. 

The car in question was a Morris 10, black (as they all were), and we were only the second couple to have a car on the whole of the Chris Earle, Manor Fields building Project. There being some 125 (ish) houses on the housing estate, quite something to have a car at the age of 22/23, especially as we were also in a new house. However, we were in need of some independent transport as we needed to get Barbara to the hospital in Crewe quite frequently to have check ups for her kidneys.

 During 1962/63/64 I was working for a number of companies that provided me with the very important “day release” for me to continue my studies for my ONC and then my HNC technical qualifications. 

I finished with Westinghouse, then went to STC, testing out, and installing their very own design of “electronic communications” units, based at Footscray, in Kent ?.

 These were still at the design and development stage and I was requested to go and stay down there, initially and to take part in the installers training programme etc. This I accepted, short term as far as I was concerned, and for a few weeks, with Garry just a baby, Barbara and I stayed in Shenley, North London for some 6- 8 weeks, at a relation of Barbara’s called Auntie Nellie. We had a good time there with her, and went into London on Sunday’s to see the sites in our own car with Garry, and local shopping.

 However, this was always, as far as we were concerned, just a short term jobbing position. No way was I considering going around the country, installing their FAX type product, with my family left in Cheshire. With the training at an end I was then requested to “fill in” with other jobs around the UK.

 However, this I did NOT DO, as finally I had my HNC qualification in my hand, and I was able to get a position with GEC at Kidsgrove, in COMPUTERS !!!!

 In those days, at Westinghouse anyway, I was paid £10 ten shillings (or ten guineas) per week. I was also paid £4.00 per week “expenses” for working outside the London Office.

Hence, for  £14. ten shillings per week, we lived quite well, ate OK, had our own house, ran a car, very tight, but we did it. The money was very similar at STC, with outside working expenses; I think the salary was a little more.

 Barbara and I both now enjoyed our new house and this was a time when I was first introduced to the joy of having a back garden, full of vegetables, and flowers, with the front garden planted to lawn with six standard roses and many bush roses.

 Barbara’s father, Alf Evans was a very keen gardener, and perhaps was the main inspiration for my gardens, and the effort I put in to make them both nice, and productive with an excellent crop of carrots, onions, peas, runner beans etc. Alf provided me with quite a number of dahlia “roots” which were duly installed in the sides of the back garden, and these produced a wonderful show for the late summers / autumn. They were pulled and held for safety (frost) in our new garden shed, that we had purchased, and these were re-installed in the garden for the next summer show.

 Barbara continued to work (full time, 8.30-5.30, and some Saturday mornings) for a local Middlewich company, F Coupe and sons, a manufacture of baby clothes (now demolished to make way for new old peoples home). By this time she had been promoted to a supervisory position, and was the head of the Despatch Dept for the company, in addition to running the household, shopping, cleaning etc.

 I continued to work long(ish) hours for additional cash, worked in the garden, when Barbara would allow it (she was the person that made sure that ALL of my college homework was done, well before I needed it to go in for marking, and that more than enough “studying” was done in preparation for the final course exams).

 I continued to work for companies that provided a “day release”, for me to continue my studies to try and obtain some kind of formal qualification in electrical / electronic engineering, in addition to full time employment, that also provided a degree of “additional” overtime for more money. I also had to do some night school classes, which were part of the HNC course, but these were now scheduled to be on the same night as the day release, which worked out AOK.

 I had, by this time made new friends at day release, and one in particular was John Thompson (John lived in Sandiway, Northwich). When we were near to the exam time he would come down to our house on Monday evenings (bring his girlfriend with him) and we would do revision for the exams. It just so happened, that this night, was Barbara’s “Baking Night”. Barbara used to bake for us to have some home baked cooking, for the “sweets” after the main meal, both in the evenings and at the weekends.

 These were pies, cakes etc and our favourite was to “sample” the home baked apple pies (plate size) when we had finished our studying. Barbara used to bake one apple pie, just for us to eat, when we had finished our studies, we were allowed to eat it ALL of the apple pie, if we had done some proper studying !!

  It was also at this time that we had found that Barbara was pregnant with our first child (Garry as it turned out), and would do the baking, then fall to sleep in the living room, whilst Johns girlfriend just sat with her until we had finished studying, and were ready to eat the pies !!! 

Needless to say, we both got through our first year of the HNC course (two year course), and then when in the final weeks of the second year of the course John just informed me one week at college that he had had enough of studying, and over the weekend had signed up with a shipping company in Liverpool, as a 2^nd Engineer.  I tried in vain to get him to continue with the course, and then go to sea, as we had just a few months to go to finish. However, he said it was in the family blood, and off to sea he went. We saw him a number of times after that, briefly, and when he came back from one of his trips, and we then had Garry, he had bought Garry a huge teddy bear back from Sri Lanker (or Ceylon as it was then). We have some photo’s of this some where ??

John then disappeared from our life, no doubt, to do his world wide sight seeing. I have tried a number of times to track him down, but to date have not succeeded, I must give this another go as I know where he had lived with his mother and family, ah well. 

(I have now (2007) tracked John down, and he works for himself, as a “contract electrician” down in South Wales, and lives in Chester).

 We continued living in this way, very happily. No SMOKING, or DRINKING by both of us, it never entered our minds to do so. We used the car we had purchased at weekends, many many times, but on one trip to see Barbara’s sister in Crewe I went out to a local garage to just “see what they had in better cars”. It was after this day that we purchased our first “good” car. This was a Vauxhall Velox, and we have some photos of this car somewhere. It cost us some £145.00, quite a lot in those days, particularly for us, and we got £10.00 for the car we had bought for some £7.50, some 12 / 18 months or so ago.

 Our first son, Garry was born on the 21^st August 1963, some 7lb-8 ozs, in the BARONY hospital at Nantwich. Barbara and baby both very well, we were so very happy about this event, but it took some 3 / 4 months for us to get some proper sleep. Normal, we now know, but this is such a shock to both of your systems, that it too difficult to describe to anyone.

 Now, new pram, new cot, new everything for the baby, what a nice time for us all.

 Barbara had looked beautiful all through her pregnancy, looked after herself well, worked until she was 7 months, and than finished work. Had many happy hours, at the back of the house, picking, shelling and eating many garden peas,  and other fresh vegetables, so I remember.  

She recovered very well and we spent many hours enjoying our new family. Our plan was never for her not to go back to work, outside the home; her new “job” would be to work at our family home, and be, as she has said many times, to be the “nest builder”, and what a good job she did with this new “role” in her life.  

By 1963, I had finally passed my college exams, had the qualifications I needed to get a better job. I had my HNC, my passport to a better position in a company, better prospects for the future, and hopefully better money, which would be VERY welcome. 

I applied to GEC at Kidsgrove, Staffs and was awarded with a position of Test Engineer, working at the Kidsgrove Plant. I was put to work testing out sub units, and progressed very quickly to a position of Senior Test Engineer. In this position I was responsible for the testing out of some Industrial Units for the “New” steel mill, on the Blue Mountin’s Project, in Australia, and also the computer systems and Industrial monitoring units for the new WYLFA NUCLEAR POWER STATION, Anglesey, in North Wales. 

After a short time with them, GEC “split” off the “Industrial” part of their operation at Kidsgrove, and made two independent companies. One GEC Industrial Systems, one GEC Computer Systems. We were then allowed to decide which of the companies we wished to continue to work for and I decided that it would be Computers, for the future, not Industrial.

 I was not to know at that time BUT the reason for the split was that GEC had formulated a “deal” with an American company, working out of West Gorton, Manchester, called ITT Computer Systems, to form a new computer company called International Computers Ltd, or ICL as today it is known.

 Well, as you would expect, things began to slow down a little at ICL Kidsgrove, as the ITT company senior management thought that they had “bought out” the GEC side, and I considered that I was not going to wait any longer to find out what direction things may go. I applied for any vacancies with FERRANTI at Wythenshawe that may be available.  I was interviewed, and offered a much more senior position, as a section leader, in their test dept, with much more money etc.

**** As an aside, what I found out later was that they had “lost” the contract to supply the control monitoring systems for WYLFA, to GEC, and they wanted my experience and expertise I had obtained with GEC for them. I had been effectively “head hunted” for the first time in my life!!! ***.

 However, during the time of my considered management “in-decision” at Kidsgrove, and subsequent phase of job hunting, the company had also been planning, and when I handed my notice in to start at Ferranti, I was marched in front of a newly recruited General Manager, for their “yet to be announced” new manufacturing facility, for ICL at Winsford Cheshire.

 I was then “re-recruited” by the then new General Manager, a Mr Victor Barnes, to be a test dept section leader, in their new factory at Winsford, with a MUCH HIGHER, and increased salary, a better job, position, and just a few miles from where I was living, in Middlewich, and NO travelling to Manchester !!

 As you would expect, I accepted the new position, went through a training position, and set about organising at Kidsgrove, how my new test dept’s would operate at the new facility, at Winsford.

 During this time, with full support from Barbara, I worked very hard at my new position, and in the fullness of time moved my new test dept’s to Winsford Cheshire, just 5 miles from home, YEH.

Barbara, by this time was now also pregnant with our second child. A two bedroom house had to be exchanged for a three bedroom house, and this we purchased from the same builder, at 46 Elm Road, Middlewich, Cheshire.

We sold the old house for £2,400, and purchased the new one for some £4,200(ish). At the time of moving, our second baby was just TWO WEEKS to go, and as we had purchased a house right at the back of the estate there were NO ROADS, or FOOTPATHS  to the property. As you would expect, even at this very late stage of pregnancy Barbara went through the new house with her usual zest for making sure it was fit for her children to go into. She also went back to the old house, in Hayhurst Avenue, Middlewich, we had just left and cleaned this from top to bottom, to make sure the new young people taking over had a “new house” feel to it, just as we had had, only just a short time before.

 We had been in the house for just 10 days, when I had to run Barbara to the hospital in Nantwich, where she gave birth to our new addition, Jerome Astles.

 Jem, as he is more known as locally.  Jem was born at the same hospital as Garry, in Nantwich, Cheshire and was some 8lb 10 ozs.  He had a full head of hair and this hair was  2/3 inches long. Now through the cycle again, sleepless nights, changing and the CLEANING of baby nappies. Nappies in those days, were made of  Terry Towling, and had to be soaked in a bucket for some hours, in some form of disinfectant, the fully cleaned off, and then washed in very hot water.

 However, by this time we had purchased a “JOHN BLOOM” twin tube washing machine, and this made a very big difference to the “nappy cycle”, and life in general as the new house was much bigger than the two bed, and of course I had the gardens to do all over again.

 Barbara now had much further to go for the shopping, which was done in the town, and carried back to the house underneath the pram, in quite a large wire shopping basket. This full, with additional hand held bags, with one baby in the pram (Jem), one on top (Garry) was very very difficult to push, particularly where the footpath started to go “uphill” from the British Legion Club to the top of the hill over the Shropshire Union Canal. 

Also, because our house was at the back of the new housing development, the workmen would wait for her get to the end of the footpaths they were installing for the estate, they would then carry the pram, for her, all the way to the house, kids, shopping and all, great.

Not that they would do this today, we very often recall this, and have a good laugh.

 This house was where we spent very many happy years with our growing family (some 16 years in all). Good, very well paid, exciting job, good family life, good neighbours, plenty of friends for the children to have in the house for games etc etc, and this is where in 1967 we had our third son, Darren.

 Darren, against my much better wishes, was born at home, at 46 Elm Road. He weighted in at MORE THAN 11.00 pounds in weight. We do not know the actual birth weight, as the nurse that delivered him only had scales that went to 11.00 pounds. She placed him on the scales and they “hit the scale top” so hard it nearly bent the pointer !!

 She said she had NEVER seen a baby born NATURALLY of that size. We were quite amazed, and when Barbara’s mother called, later that day (having had 10 children) she said that she thought that Darren was as big as a three month old baby, and feed like one.

 However, that was the good side. Barbara had been in heavy labour all night, was very tired with the birth and was extremely exhausted by the time that Darren was born, at 5.25am, on the 3^rd June. What we were NOT aware of was that the nurse had NOT made sure that Barbara was “all clear” after the birth. This was now the second time in our marriage that Barbara was NOT in a very good “condition”. She was very poorly, and after her mother called to see her and Darren, pm of the 3^rd June, said “get the doctor in to see her, NOW”.

 This we did, however before the doctor arrived (which turned out to be the next day, 4^th June) an older mid-wife came to see Barbara, later pm on the 3^rd June. What we did not know was that this mid-wife FULLY understood what the position with Barbara was, and how serious her condition was getting. Later that night, Barbara, still very weak, but at last started to feel better (Darren did NOT sleep for much of that night, and neither did we).

 The next day when the doctor finally arrived, and after a full examination said all now looked AOK, for the time being, but she MUST have much rest. Barbara, rested as much as she could and then slowly started to recover, after a few days, then weeks, was more or less back to near normal, but NOT quite, as we now had THREE boys to take care of !!!

What we did not know until much much later, and when Barbara was full recovered, was when the doctor had called to see us, his considered judgement was, as he put it “on her way OUT, and would not make it”. We had NO IDEA of how serious the position had been at that time. We also found out later that the first nurse to “take care” of Barbara that night had been up for most of the previous night and day, with another Middlewich women, in childbirth. 

This was precisely why I have wanted Barbara to go into hospital for the birth of our third baby. She always said NO, as she wanted to be near to her other children, and did not want to leave them to do into hospital. I wanted to have any birth delivery problems sorted there and then, and as was seen, I had bee quite correct.  

As I have said before, life at Elm Road was very good to us, and the children. Barbara stayed at home looking after the growing family, keeping house, cooking very good food for us all, meals on the table as we walked through the door, house always clean and tidy. 

There are many many stories to be told about our life at Elm Road, my work, friends for us and children, holidays in Wales at the Caravan site in Newquey, where we went a number of times, never even considering holidays overseas, as the boys just loved this time away in Wales. 

These I will expand upon in my next chapter for the Astles.net Saga.

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