My Royal Air Force Days

I thought I had better get in first with a potted history of my RAF days. So here I am, Acting Air Vice Marshall Singleton reporting for duty. This was my joining photo taken at RAF Bridgenorth for basic training in 1962( I was threatened with court marshall for not having a shave) . Then posted to Compton Bassett for a year radio training which is 6 miles from where we now live. Next 6 months at RAF Locking for final training, and Sept 63 off to Cyprus for 2 and a half years. Back to UK and I went to High Wycombe where I met that well known gent Ken Whitten followed by a 3 yr stint in Singapore(Ken was also there and I had to invite him over for weekends so that I could get his beer ration). Then posted to Henlow(ugh) and quickly volunteered for Malta. Returned from Malta in Feb 73 for final 6 months at Little Rissington and then out into the world of civvy street. There were ups and downs of course but I still think they were the best years of my life.

lammy heaven

ok now you're talking my language..., heres some pics of my lammys, the old li150 (1958) as used here as our wedding car, mum decorated /camoflaged it and josep drove rachael the 200 or so metres of rough terrain to get to the tree (the wedding tree). the other picture of me fixxing the carburettor spring was taken when i should have been getting dressed about an hour before kick off, the carb dicided to stick open meaning that rach would have arrived not quite as sedately as we had planned!!

the other jet 200 (1982 ) in its hayday just prior to being flmed for an advert (forget what for), i had to entrust a very mod, looking actor to drive the thing for the film , he;d never driven a moto before, all went well.

unfortunately many of the lights got nicked one night during out trip round menorca. we spend the night in a tent inside an old military bunker on the beach, and in the morning some sod had half-inched the stuff!!

still have both but both need another refurb

by the way one of my happiest memories of the wedding and probably ever is driving back from the river on the wedding day all suited up, no helmet, followed by friends and feeling like i was living some sort of 1960s, dream...great!

Lambretta Story, Circa 1958

This is the scooter, the Lambretta LD150 that caught fire. I dragged it into the small workshop one night to do some work on the fuel shut-off valve because it was far too cold outside. I drained the tank beforehand, of course, and once inside, removed the valve. Unknown to me, the valve was designed to leave a half gallon of fuel in the tank as a reserve supply. This came gushing out into the shop, which was being warmed by a paraffin heater. You can guess what happened next. The fuel caught fire. The workshop was so small that I had wedged the scooter behind the only door, making it very difficult to open the door and get out.

The rest of the story….Mom and Dad saw the flames from the kitchen and came to the rescue. In Dad’s rush to get to the workshop, he kicked over the bowl of fuel that I had drained earlier, thus getting fuel on his slippers. Hence, the expression, "adding fuel to the fire". The burning fuel spread outside and set fire to one of Dad’s slippers. He didn’t seem very amused at the time.
The fire was soon put out without assistance from the Brigade. The whole scooter was stripped down and completely resprayed.

Footnote: The whole time Tony was dictating this story to put on the blog, he couldn’t keep from laughing just thinking about it.

Stay tuned - we may do one of all modes of transportation from the UK bike to the USA motorhome at some time.

Dawn Gets Publicity on Blog

Email message from Dawn to Sharon

Hi Sharon, how are you?? I had a look at the latest blog and Uncle Tony is looking fine!!! Some great pics on there, how funny. I'm forwarding you some pics of my latest family additions!!! Hope ur both well, Love Dx

Dawn's latest family additions. The guinea pigs are cute and the names are so clever.

Skipety Pig.................................Marzey Pig

Cocoa Pig...................................Fuzzy Pig

Four Generations

December 1969. Left to right, Mr. Cupit, Mum, Tony, Dad, and front row Mr. Cupit's Mum, Harry Stow (Mrs. Cupit's dad), Mrs. Cupit, Susan and Chimp (sorry--Jonathan)

Oldies from Terry

Here we go again. This is Tony and myself who at the time were the scourge of the neighbourhood and were subsequently given an ASBO (antisocial behavior order) each. Tony was 5 yr & 4 months and I was 1 yr & 9 months. The next photo I believe was taken at Grandma Singleton's and features mum, and Tony who is learning potty training without the potty.

The Elders

Here are a few extra photos I have just found.

A rare one of Harold, Mother and Roland together.

A very good one of Dad playing his favourite game.

He used to take me every thursday night to the billiard hall

for about two years. I'm still pretty good so long as I can

see the balls.

Tony (Dad) (Uncle)

Now it's Tony's turn to be featured on this blog. Guess who will be next!!

Anthony Singleton, born 20 January 1941, in Grantham UK

Keep checking back for some Grantham Boys' C.E. School Scholar's Reports that have been found and scanned!!

These first pictures are in the 1940s of Tony
"Hello Mummy" written on back of this picture.







"I tant see that ditty bird" written on back of this picture.









Age - 1 year 10 months










No notes on back of these pictures.














Tony and the Grantham Granadiers Badge, 9-1/2 years old










1948-49 school year (age 7 or 8)











No notations on these pictures of Tony














1957 (age 16) on Lambretta










Tony (no date)












Stan, Evelyn, Tony, Susan











Jonathan, Tony, Neil at Evelyn's house on Dudley Road










Tony in shorts (1990s)











Tony with wax figure of Richard Branson (1990s)

Questions to Answer - Answers to Amuse You

This "Questions to Answer - Answers to Amuse You" blog is to stir up some more enthusiasm and interaction in the Singleton Blog. I see by the "traffic feed" that most all of you are reading the blog. That's great. Thanks. The "traffic feed" that I have noticed recently has shown that people from the following places are also making their way to the Singo blog.

• Oldham, Oldham UK
• Ogallala NE
• London UK
• Buckingham UK
• Pullman WA
• Jonesboro GA
• Coeur d'Alene ID
• Washington D.C.
• Madrid Spain

When we get on the blog, the traffic feed lists Coeur d'Alene ID. I'm not sure why since we live 80 miles south of Coeur d'Alene. So....this accounts for seeing Madrid Spaid instead of Jonathan and Rachael's small town in Spain. Also the UK cities - we can't exactly pin point to whom they belong. The other places - GA and NE can be attributed to the fact that some of Sharon's friends and relatives are looking at the Singleton family blog as well as our travel blog and the Phillip family blog. The Washington D.C. one is a mystery to us. OK....now it's official....Sharon has become an obsessive blogger....trading the smoking obsession for blogging.

Anyway, back to the point of this blog. In the later years of Sharon's Dad's life, during Phillip family dinners, we all took turns asking Dad questions about his life - questions that Sharon had gotten from a very cool book called "Dad, Share your life with me" written by Kathleen Lashier. Hopefully all of you will also answer the questions either by a comment at the end of this blog, an email to Sharon or Tony (singo2@verizon.net) , or preferably by writing another post to this blog. If blogging is not your thing, you can email the answers and we will post your answers on the blog. The questions are below as well as Tony's answers to them.

Tony's answers:

• What bones have you broken and how? Left wrist bone. Trying to vault off the deck of a flatbed truck and missed the end of the deck, landed on the concrete with a straight left arm – this was just after I started the ASC business – 1977.
• How much do you remember paying for an ice cream cone? I remember paying 3d in the 1940s (threepence) (old currency) (for U.S. people – this is ¾ of a cent). The 3d was for a wafer – ice cream slab between two wafer biscuits. Price for a tub was 4d if you wanted more ice cream and a wooden spoon. We used to live next door to an ice cream shoppe. This was an ice cream shoppe in the 40s and changed to a cigarette store in the 60s – Harold Welbourn’s Sweet Shoppe.
• Is there anything you have now that you have kept from your childhood? Tony’s first reaction/answer was "beauty", "cuteness". "It certainly isn’t hair! Just a lot of memories."
• Tell about board games and card games you played as a youth. Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, Wist, Rummy, and Snap. Snap was a game we were playing with our parents at a very young age. Simple game that brings out your alertness.
• Tell about a time when you got lost. Couldn’t find the car once which was a bit worrying, but don’t think I have ever gotten lost. (footnote from Sharon: Tony obviously has forgotten about our time in Boise ID when we were lost!!)

Now it's your turn....everyone....we hope to hear the answers from EVERYONE - spouses and partners included. If you want to see Sharon's answers, you'll have to go to the Phillip blog. Then all those relatives will wonder why people from Spain and UK are reading that one.

And...now for the good and/or bad news...the cute book with all the questions has a question for every day of the year. Isn't that something to look forward to and very exciting!!!

You've all seen the video on Youtube of the tiny terrors. Well this is the old fashioned version of Adam and his Ant.










A very austere looking father and his two sons when ties were in fashion.

1999 Sharon & Tony

I think maybe some of you may be interested in your Dad's (Brother's, Uncle's) life in the United States since Tony came over here. So....we'll begin with April 24, 1999...our wedding. Pictures show Tony carrying the sign to point people in the right direction.









We were married by a preacher in the Grange (a farmer/rancher building that is used for meetings and gatherings). The next picture shows a bit of the landscape around Pullman and the Grange as well as Tony & Sharon prior to the wedding. Our "wedding coordinator" a friend of Sharon's persuaded us to help strip and totally repaint the whole inside of the Grange just before the wedding. In return, she took care of all decorations and food for the wedding and the reception. There were about 75 people at our wedding. One end of the Grange was for the ceremony and the other end for the reception.


This picture is of Tony & Sharon cutting the wedding cake with granddaughter Cally looking on. Cake was made by Sharon's sister-in-law, Judi from Seattle.










And then a picture of Tony speaking to Sharon's Dad, Ken, after the wedding. Not sure you have heard the story about Tony going to Ken and asking for Sharon's hand in marriage. Sharon wasn't there, but the story goes that after Tony nervously asked, there was a pause, and then Ken said "She can't cook, you know". :-) Now if you were planning a trip to visit, and you are getting worried about where your meals will be coming from because I'm sure you know Tony is not a real whiz in the kitchen....what Ken really meant to say is that "she doesn't like to cook". However, Sharon thrives on organization when company comes - and cooking is part of that organization....so no need to worry...you'll be fed when you visit.

After getting married, we took a trip to UK for three months. During that three months, we spent a short time with Neil in London, Jonathan & Rachel in Barcelona, and Terry & Jacqueline. We took a honeymoon to France, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, and Spain. Pictures are of Sharon and Jonathan in Jonathan & Rachel's apartment in Barcelona, Sharon sitting on Jonathan's furniture - first the "sofa", and then the chair. Believe the chair was in a store where some of Jonathan's furniture was being displayed.









The next picture is of Sharon in Barcelona walking down the LaRambla - which was within walking distance of Jonathan & Rachael's apartment. As you can tell Tony was the picture taker on most of this trip. :-)

The next pictures are of Tony; and Terry, Jacqueline & Tony in the middle of a crop circle in UK. They indulged Sharon (probably because she was new to the family) by going to the crop circle because she had never seen such a thing. :-)

Next pictures are of Sharon & Tony looking at the interesting sofa and table & chairs - possibly in London when we were with Neil....which reminded me of our latest trip to London when Neil & Becky took us around the South Bank and we saw huge pieces of furniture being displayed!

After returning, we stopped off in Seattle for a niece's college graduation, and then rushed home to finish preparations for Sharon's Dad's 90th birthday party for over 30 people at the condo recreation room where we were living at the time in Pullman WA. Picture is of Tony playing Twister at the condo recreation room - Sharon put this one in for Jonathan & Neil - just so you know how Sharon has corrupted your proper British Dad.

Our next adventure was in September - a trip to Sedona AZ to see Terry & Jacqueline on their honeymoon. Not many brothers would invite.... or... accept this kind of invitation!! But...we all had a great time. Sharon & Tony riding horses on a trail ride - horses that only went straight to the BBQ - and no other way.

Other pictures are Terry, Tony & Sharon; Terry, Jacqueline & Sharon; and all four of us at various places in Arizona.

November brought a 50th anniversary party for friends in Spokane WA, and a trip to brother Dick & Cindy's home in Riverton WY for Thanksgiving. Tony is shown with Sharon's sister-in-law Kathie carving the turkey for the dinner.

Of course, in between all of this Sharon was still working at Washington State University in Pullman and Tony had landed a job as a hydraulics consultant in between driving farm trucks during harvest.

Now...in case all or any of you were wondering why I (Sharon) have time to do these blogs....like maybe I don't have a life....well, the answer is that all of you are participating in my therapy....therapy that keeps my fingers moving on the keyboard, therapy that keeps me scanning pictures...therapy that keeps the brain active....all therapy that keeps me from smoking. October 21st was the "Quit Smoking" day for me...and because you all have indulged me with this blog....which encourages me to write more blogs, the "quit smoking" is working. Thank you all.

And...I hope you look forward to more episodes in the USA lifestyle, as we look forward to seeing more from all of you!

The latest thing received this morning from Jonathan was this site http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y--bq_eJzT4

Tony had to explain to Sharon about "Adam and the Ants" and Jonathan's "former?" obsession with them. Very cute video. Thanks.