TIMESCAPE – LONDON- Arrival on ss “Strathmore”, across India by train 1951

LONDON, one-year married couple,here we were in the ancient place of history, great writers, the theatre, art museums, the British Museum, the great cathedrals, Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament,  the Tube, endless list of things to see & do. The icing on  the cake: we had arrived in time for the Festival of Britain.  Anticipation and joy.

High excitement as we steamed into Tilbury early on a sunny day in May 1951. Took a London black cab to the boarding house(arranged by friends in London).  Not even the  dampness, drabness  of this strange place could dampen our spirits. Settled in, got our ration cards(which we had to hand over to the landlady) & then rushed off by trolley bus (the nearest thing to a Calcutta tram which I loved) and Tube to visit friends also from India.

Adrian accompanied me to an office employment agency for temporaries (TEMPS)where I took the stenographic & typing test which got me a job  next day for 2 weeks with Lloyds in the City. 10-5pm. 1 hour lunch. No Saturday work!! Different from Calcutta where we worked every Saturday till Noon but 1.1/2hrs lunch. Prefer Sat.off.

We  went on a trial run by trolley bus to the City and while I wandered around, totally shocked by the terrible bomb damage of WWII, Adrian applied and got the audit clerk position at the head office of the famous accountancy firm he had in Calcutta. Starting next day. Pleased!!!  No Saturday work here and everywhere else.

We explored the City & West End of London every day after work (daylight saving time) walking, by trolley bus, double-decker red bus, tube. Festival of London was a free feast of things to do & see. We travelled together to the City for work which was easy, friendly, with the usual elevenses and afternoon tea served by the tea lady.  My temp. job lasted 8 weeks (replacing stenographers on leave), then I moved to another City job in shipping which lasted 8 weeks & so on, sometimes in the West End.  A variety of secretarial jobs, companies, some huge, others tiny, people, bosses and different locations, enjoyed the experience gained from being a temp. Learned a lot.

We longed for a bed-sit, kitchenette, with a place to store the bikes we intended to buy, to be in control of our own ration book, cooking (such as it was, but bound to be better than the boarding house).   After a month friends found us a bed-sit in Hampstead perfect for our needs. It was a delight to move in and do the weekly shopping, “one egg/chop,per week perhaps”.  eat porridge & milk, tinned peaches from Australia, remain thin. Buy a radio. Saturday,laundry, eat, at Lyons Cornerhouse  (all you can eat for 4 shillings + good coffee, go to the theatre…

Discovery: things could be bought on the “Never,Never” . Summer – Time to buy our bikes. I would have preferred a Raleigh, the same as I had in Calcutta, but we settled on a Phillips each. Every Sunday we  biked all over London, sometimes going further afield with bikes on the train. We were able to attend Wimbledon this way.  Getting there after 4pm was cheaper & parking the bikes quite easy. Saw great matches. Piccadilly Circus, the theatre district, wasn’t  half as scarey as cycling through the streets of Calcutta.  In our element, by the time the August Bank holiday arrived, we decided to cycle all the way to Brighton & stay the weekend with Aunt Noreen & Uncle Mark, they invited us.  We bit off more than we could chew. Difficult for me to keep pace with Adrian  & then he got a puncture.  We walked to the next garage & called aunt & uncle. They kindly picked us up in their car.  Had a lovely two days with at the seaside enjoying home-cooked food. We cycled back to Hampstead okay, but decided to trade in our bikes for a tandem

We joined the Hampstead Badminton Club, playing every Friday after which they allowed us  the free use of the heated pool.  Then off to the pub with the members & warm beer & darts.  We were settled & happy.