Happy Father's Day to all the father's in the Singleton family and extended family.
Thanks to all of you that answered the recently posed questions. Not a 100 percent response, but I hope you will have fun reading the answers that were received.
These are the questions:
Relate your happiest memory as a kid
Where did you go swimming?
Tell a favorite memory of your father (In honor of Father's Day in June) :-)
Tell about a bike you had
Tell about your first very own car.
These are the answers in the order that they were received~~
Jonathan's answers:
Happiest memories: playing in the sun in the front rockery at debdale road with my plastic soldiers, drawing dragsters, thanks to a load of old custom car mags found at the skip, drawing lancaster bombers (from the front) going as fast as lightning down debdale road on the old blue bike with white tyres.
Swimming in grantham leisure centre, and nash out door pool where I famously had a fit and conked out. Also sutton on sea
Dad, making the bionic man video and hanging out of the sun roof of the brown cortina at the aerodrome. Dads big forearms! And his party time organ playing with everyone gathered round
Bike , already mentioned the blue one, then there was the tomahawk 9 small version of the chopper), then, mum thought dropped handlebars where dangerous so had to take her to talk to donray so he’d tell her otherwise for my first racer after passing 11 plus.
Fang the van, bought in telford or somewhere £350, rotten front wings, mum and dad thought I was crazy, but fixed it up and saw me through university for about 5 years, 1972 moggy minor van red. Sold without mot for £350 after 5 years use and god knows how many litres of engine oil.
Tony's answers:
My happiest memory as a kid - Very early memory and not a happy one was when Dad was having a shave in the kitchen during the war. He was looking into the mirror and a bomb dropped down the road and shattered the mirror and a couple of windows. Bath night was a bit of a hoot. We had a galvanized steel bath with handles that was brought in from outside, placed in front of the fire, and slowly filled with hot water (kettle by kettle) before the two of us were forced to get in and wash.
I did everything possible to get out of going swimming because I didn't like the water. We hid in places in school when it was time to walk a quarter mile to the pool (Tony still doesn't like the water at 68...note from Sharon)
Tell a favorite memory of your father (In honor of Father's Day in June) :-) - One of my favorite memories was the 52 mile all day trip with all four of us in the van to go to the seaside. That's where the phrase "last one to see the sea is a sissy" which was always a challenge from Dad when we were two or three miles away. Another occasion was when I was given a can of water and a paint brush to paint a wooden fence around the chalet at Butlin's Holiday Camp. (Could never understand why the fence needed so many coats ~ it kept me busy all day long.) Another time was when we would walk to Auntie Ada's down to the harbour in Ramsgate and accidently, on purpose, find coins in the grass verge on the way down. It transpired that these coins were thrown ahead of us by Dad, unknown to us.
Tell about a bike you had - don't remember where I got my first bike ~ it must have been for one of my birthdays ~ as I remember, I was about 8 - 10 years old. I needed the bike then for paper rounds and things to get some money.
My very first car was a 1951 Austin A40 Devon like the one in the photo. I sold the Motorbike and bought it in 1961 for 125 pounds from Mick and Heather Barratt. At last after all those years of paper rounds starting at 3:00 am every Sunday morning and all those bike rides to work and all the gear we had to wear on the Ariel Leader we could now go on a trip in the rain and stay dry. This car came with a heater which had been fitted by some previous owner, a radio the size of present-day PC and fitted in the boot with cable controls and electric windscreen wipers. It had a 1200cc engine which would let me go up Gonerby Hill in 3rd gear without even slowing down and had lots of sentimentality for me because it was the saloon version of dad's latest van which I used to drive for him. We took the car all over the place including Scotland and Wales with a hired 10ft caravan on the back, we had to change the head gasket many times due to an inherent design fault (one in Elgin on the beach in Scotland) and we had to have a gearbox replaced for towing the caravan too hard. Lots of stories about this car, some good, some bad, but I would love to have another drive in it today.
Dawn's answers:
1) Going to the beach on a winters day & just running around. I loved Steam Ralleys too.
2)Oasis leisure centre had flumes & slides & a wave machine, cool!
3) When Ma was in hospital, Pa took us to a minature village, dunno where. That was cool.
4) A British Racing Green bike, that would be cool now but i looked like a right square wally on it, thanks parents!
5) A Classic car. We can't remember exactly wot it was.. A Vauxhall Victor i think. Black exterior, white roof. Red leather bench seats. Hand break was a pull one under the wheel. Was wicked, but kept breaking down on me & costly on the fuel.
Terry's answers:
1) Going to Butlins Holiday Camp at Skegness and fancying a girl with a pony tail on the roller skating rink.
2) Used to go swimming at the open air pool at Witham park. I was hard in those days!
3) Dad used to take me to play billiards(only occasionally would he play snooker) every thursday night for two or three years. Just the two of us.
4) The only bike I can remember having was one where I fitted drop handle bars to make it into a racer and then coming off it on my way home from Dave Maltbys at night in the snow.
5) My first car was an Austin A70 (circa 1947) bought by two of us in Cyprus. After a while I bought the guys share and it was all mine. Seem to remember paying £25.00 each for it. I did some work on it and took the air filter off(quite big) and put it in the boot. It caused quite a stir when I was stopped and searched at a Greek road block. They found this in the boot and I think they thought it was part of a machine gun. Funny now, but not very at the time.
Jacqueline's answers:
My happiest memories as a kid was when we all lived at the Grange near Malmesbury. Building dens out of the straw bails, playing hide and seek in and around the farm buildings, fishing in the local stream with jam jars tied up with string, riding my Dad's BSA 250 and managing to bump it into the rabbit hutches. Also "tied up puddings" in other words steamed puddings - "tied up puddings" came from my Brother Alan as he would bring home bits of string from the cow cob nuts bags and ask Mum to make a "tied up pudding" of course in those days you used to have to tie a piece of muslin over the top of the basin whilst it steamed away - yum.
Swimming - hated it and still today I don't really enjoy it especially if I get splashed - yuk.
Tell a favorite memory of your father - Difficult call this one. One memory I have which I thoroughly treasure is one Sunday the family had a day out at the seaside in Weymouth. Well Mum and my sister June really liked to sit and enjoy the sunshine whereas me and my Dad and two brothers chased around the beach, played football, hired a pedalo, built sandcastles and just generally enjoyed each others company. That was a brilliant day. Another superb memory I have of my Dad was when we took Mum and Dad to Majorca for a holiday and we hired bikes. No not my Dad - he wanted to "ride tandem" so Dad and Mum hired a tandem it was so brilliant to see my Dad enjoy himself so much as he was in the driving seat and in control just larking around. I enjoyed all his "Irish Jokes" and Shaggy Dog Stories particularly the time when we went to Wales with Tez, Mike, Tony and Mum and Dad. We sat in a pub and all evening Dad and Tony were telling jokes. It had Mike, Mum and myself in stitches so much so that my sides ached from laughing - brilliant. I MISS MY DAD.
I had several bikes but my favourite by far was my brother's Moulton bike - very classy. It was the first I think I'm right in saying that had small wheels. After Steve had finished cycling back and forth to school on it I had the pleasure of taking it off his hands. I recall stripping it down into what seemed a million bits and laying them all out in the garage. The reason for the strip down was because I wanted to paint it and make it a little more "girlie". I did manage to get it back together and was very proud of myself.
My first very own car was a Triumph Spitfire in emerald green back in the mid 1970's. Still remember the Reg Plate now XPC 465 N. Fantastic loved it to bits. Owned it for many many years and was heart broken when I had to trade it in - mixed emotions really very very sad at having to get a "sensible car" but oh so excited and delighted as I was expecting Michael which more than compensated for my loss of my beautiful "Spitty".
Relate your happiest memory as a kid Where did you go swimming? Tell a favorite memory of your father (In honor of Father's Day in June) :-) Tell about a bike you had Tell about your first very own car.
Sharon's answers
My happiest memory as a kid - My family went to the Black Hills and stayed in a knotty pine cabin. My cousin, Donna, and her parents were with us. Whenever I go to the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, I always look for that cabin. Another family vacation was with family friends to Elitch Gardens near Denver, Colorado....a huge amusement park that is still in business today.
Where did you go swimming? My home town had a very nice swimming pool (a diving tower, and two smaller boards for diving). My parents always bought us a season pass to go swimming if we took swimming lessons at the beginning of the summer. Consequently, I took courses for years and have taught most all my neices, nephews, and grandkids to swim.
A favorite memory of your father - Years ago my brother and I used to be very good at opening Christmas gifts early and wrapping them back up again so no one knew we had snooped. At least we thought no one knew. One year we were doing our "snooping" at Christmas gifts and when each of us got the wrapping off of our packages from Dad, the box was nailed shut. It was also impossible to get the paper back on the wooden box. We have laughed about this for years.
A bike I had - the first bike I had cost $5.00 (used, of course). I didn't really know how to ride a bike very well when my Dad took me to pick it up. He let me ride it home and I remember running into a parked car on the way.
My first very own car ~ My first very own car cost me $100.00 in 1960. I believe it was a 1950 green Chevrolet. When the car needed more oil than gasoline at fill-up time, I stopped driving it. This was about the time I moved to Washington D.C., so I bought another older car when I got there by train.
Rachael's answers:
As a child I went swimming at Cannock baths with the school (and loathed it). As a family we went to Great Wyrley High School Pool on a Saturday (?) morning. A friend of my parents worked there, and it was open to staff members & their friends. It was there I learned to swim.
My first “big”bike, ie not a trike,was a purple budgie with white wall tyres. I remember being very proud of it. Neil managed to get hold of a photo of me riding it in a nurses uniform aged 5ish, and included it in his wedding “speech”.
The car I own now –a blue peugot.Jonathan bought it as a 39th birthday present for me.I love it.
Tara's answers:
Used to go swimming with friends on a sat morning at ferndown sports centre.
My first bike I remember was yellow with purple mud guards and White wheels! Classy.
I remember the summer I had chicken pox- it was a very hot summer and my dad built me a slide in the garden to play on and cheer me up. It was fab! We ran a hose pipe on it with a paddling pool at the bottom and slid down at top speed. Loads of fun.
Oh and I remember dad pushing me on my first bike after he had taken the stabilizers off until I rode it alone. You still holding on dad? "Yes Tara" and I'd left him far behind!
Neil's answers:
Happy father day dad!!!!.Christ it’s all been going on on the singo blog. Watercolours, dragons on rocking horses, death by schnow-plough parties, and general daft pics of big brother, Jonathan. Lets hope I’m better at deadlines in my chosen career than what I’ve managed to turn this around with.
Happiest memory as a kid:Finding the ‘cool Nasa’ cap we’d just been given from friends that I thought was lost for ever when blown off whilst I similarly tried to stand out the sunroof with dad driving full pelt along Gorse Lane (fast). We got home and it turns out it blew straight into the trailer we were towing full of rocks for the rockery/fireplace – Result!!
SWIMMING: Once I was allowed to progress onto the big boys pool rather than only being able to swim laps of the varoocka foot wash pool with armbands it was Nash trash and the leisure centre, Grantham. I think I only went because of the chocolate vending machines on the way out.
DAD MEMORY: It always used to puzzle me why dad breathed through his potato filled belly rather than his lungs???!!!. I would be sat all over him while he was trying to sleep off a heavy Sunday lunch in the reclining chair and his ‘then’ big gut would go up and down with each breath almost throwing me off the side of the chair. I still try and replicate it to this day but end up getting a bit dizzy and feeling sick. But I think the best was the period of time we as a family were trying to get dad to stop smoking. This was like a free ticket to buy anything that exploded/stunk/fizzled or snapped shut from the joke shop in order to stuff down the end of his Embassy cigarettes – GOOD TIMES!
BIKE: Raleigh Ultra burner (oval tubing) painted up like a Gt Pro performer. And then a Hutch Trickstar and then.....anything else Andy Ruffle or Gaz top rode.
FIRST CAR:Black moggy saloon for £150. Drove back from Lincoln and stood as an ornament on the drive until it got sold for a bit less. There seems to be a common link here with me and cars
There was so much rain and snow here during the winter our back lawn was flooded when we came home. This coupled with the risk of our motor home sinking into the mire prompted us to get a friend to excavate a large area about 15 inches deep and fill it with aggregate so we could have a reliable place to park it. Then we opened up the workshop to create enough space for a medium sized centre lathe for me to "play on".
Sharon made preparations for family gatherings on Easter Sunday, Mothers’ Day and of course the 4th of July. On one of these events there were 28 people trying to sit round our 12-seater dining table. She continues to paint pictures, blog, crochet, and cross stitch. She convinced me to make her rails to hang on one of our hallway walls so her paintings could be displayed. The grandchildren are here often ~ which keeps her young.
When time permits we still love to go camping to our favourite Meadow Creek spot. I’m afraid swinging an axe to split our quota of winter logs is getting just a touch too difficult so we had to give in this year and buy some from one of our camping friends. I then made a mechanical log splitter.
We spent a really nice week with my cousin Linda and Mike up in Glacier National Park, Montana. Not to see the glaciers, they’ve all gone, but to see how they totally reshaped some of the mountains up there. On the way we visited a pottery shop, a coffee bean factory and a drive round a black bear park. Later in the year we drove out into the wilds of Idaho to a little place called Dixie from where we took a lengthy ATV ride down some 4000 feet to a remote area beside a swift river where they actually had a small sandy beach. People really lived down there and their only access was by small plane or ATV across a narrow bridge.
A week over Thanksgiving at Sharon’s brother’s homes in Riverton WY and Green River WY was a lot of fun and we were fortunate with the weather. We have a Christmas party planned here at home and one more small trip planned to Leavenworth WA for the Christmas lighting festivities with friends the week before Christmas. We look forward to visits from UK relatives next year after our return from being "snowbirds" in Arizona & California.
Retirement is still good to us but we’re all getting older so drink the good wine first!
