60 The Last Time I Saw

1966, when I left Twydall Juniors and went to Upbury Manor, was the last I saw of many people. A family move from Crundale Road to Aylesford Crescent, in 1968, distanced me further. In 1970 I went into the dockyard, and in 1975 I returned to hometown Bolton, taking these memories with me.  Here then, is the last time I saw…

Miss Rusted: Twydall Junior School, October 1966; though I was a pupil at Upbury Manor by then, I attended a jumble sale in the school hall one evening, where Miss Rusted was in charge of a stall.

Robert Capes: 1967, Beechings Green. Goofy Robert, an older kid from Minster Road, had me and other innocents spellbound after a game of football one evening with a lecture on the facts of life.

Diane Wright, Lindsey Bennett, Stephen Austin and Steven Bonneywell were already at Upbury Manor when me, Kevin Garlick, John Greenland, Clive Ward, Paul Parker, Diane Clark, Susan Johnson, Linda Barnes and Diane Oakenful got there. Glenis McLaren, Trevor Williams, David Wood, Michael Regan, the Springate brothers and Angela Porter were younger Twydall kids who’d turn up at Upbury later.

Paul Prickett: 1968/69 A year above me at Twydall Juniors, Paul looked after me when I joined him as a delivery boy at the International Stores on Twydall Green. Twelve hours at 2/6 an hour paid fifteen bob a week for riding one of these.

Janet Knight: 1968/69 A much older girl that I knew by sight at Twydall Juniors. Janet was on the staff at the International Stores. The manager there, Mister Sullens, besides being a very nice chap was the father of Kevin ‘Salty’ Sullens.

Graham Deaville: Elham Close, where he lived, late in 1969/early 70. I was delivering the Evening Post when he called ‘Gerarard!’ (As I’d once written my name at school)

Lavina Heath: Bumped into her in the alley between Arnold’s and the Wool shop, around 1970.

Graham Channon: 1969-1973 An older kid I knew by sight at Twydall; used to see him calling for a mate that lived opposite me on Aylesford Crescent.

Diane Clark: In 1971 she was in a party from Upbury Manor that visited the Dockyard Training Centre (I kept well out of the way till they’d gone), where she made a big impression. Indeed, ‘the blonde bird from Upbury Manor’ was the talk of the place for the mischievous way she slid a ring magnet up and down a steel tube.

Stephen Browning: 1972 approx. On my way to Gillingham, I was walking by the bottom of the golf course on Beechings Way when I saw Stephen on the opposite side, walking towards Twydall. Whether he saw me or not I don’t know, but I was at a low ebb at the time and lacked the gumption to speak.

Stephen Wallington: Elliott’s Social Club’s summer fete 1973.

Nigel Robinson: Rainham Mark Social Club 1973. Nigel was the drummer in the group playing on stage one night. We gave him a big cheer when he chimed in with the high pitched ‘we just haven’t got a clue what to do!’ as they played Sweets’ Blockbuster. 

Charlie Slociak and Andrew Nichols: Rainham Mark Social Club, approx 1973. They were home on leave from the army.

Terry Browning: Sometime around 1974 I was cutting across the Langton playing fields when I saw Terry dominating the batting in a school cricket match, just like his brother used to do. This might have been my last sighting of him if he hadn’t turned up at the Rainham Mark Social Club some months later, cadging pints because he was nowhere near old enough to pay for them.

Alan Stewart, Stephen and John Saunders:  saw them regularly at the Rainham Mark Social Club till 1975. The Saunders boys I only knew by sight but I always said hello to Alan.

Colin Clifford and Peter Stephens: Rainham Mark Social Club, approx 1974. Me, Bimbo and John Greenland once played snooker with them in the games room above the main entrance. ‘Get me two cheese rolls and a saveloy, will you’ Colin piped up when it was my turn to get the drinks in. So I came back from the bar with a tray of drinks plus two cheese rolls and a saveloy which Colin duly scoffed. And he never did pay me, the bugger.

Robert Kyle: seen working in Brompton 1970.

Willie Bee, Kenneth Kinski, Dave Franks and Brian Hazell were older apprentices that I recognised as former Twydall boys when I started at Collingwood, the Dockyard training centre in 1970. Another older Twydall boy, Trevor Robinson, was in the same intake as me.

Susan Johnson: At a pub on the Lower Rainham Road, approx 1972.

Clive Ward: Like me, Clive attended Upbury Manor and the Dockyard Training Centre. My I last recollection of seeing him came after a Gillingham v Millwall League Cup tie, in September ‘72. There’d been mayhem in the ground that night. Dozens of Millwall supporters had been escorted from the terraces by the police and in anticipation of further trouble after the game, my little brother and I left our seats in the main stand (where we’d gone for safety) before the final whistle. Vulnerable from the moment we stepped out on Redfern Avenue, it alarmed me to see our customary route home obstructed by a shady looking bunch on the corner of Toronto Road. We crossed the street to avoid them, but when they crossed over too, we sensed malicious intent and turned back.

‘How many of them have you arrested?’ I asked a policeman near the players’ entrance.

‘Four or five,’ he said.

My heart sank.

Walking in the opposite direction wasn’t going to get us back to Twydall very fast, but the name of the game was survival. A hope that we might circle around the ground was dashed when I spotted another bunch of Neanderthals. It seemed every escape route was covered, till I noticed what appeared to be a footpath behind the facing houses, which ran parallel to the railway line. That footpath took us to the lower end of Gillingham Road. As a left turn to Livingstone Circus would have taken us back into the war zone, we turned right, toward the level crossing. More bad news; a bunch of Herberts were strung out on the footbridge.

‘Lynch!’

What a relief! It was Clive Ward, his brother Peter and a few more Twydall kids. And did they have a tale to tell. Having entered the ground shortly before kick off they’d approached the massed ranks at the Rainham End with a chant of ‘Gilling-ham,’ not knowing it was occupied by the visiting army. As the enraged Millwall fans surged towards them and the terrible truth dawned, Clive and his pals turned and fled. They only got away by scrambling over the wall, where Clive was helped on his way by a Millwall supporter who leapt up and thumped him on the lughole.

‘Then you haven’t seen the game?’

‘No, we legged it down here. We’ve been here ever since.’

I shouldn’t have laughed but I did, to think Clive had paid to get in and had nothing to show for it but a thick ear. Then it was my turn to tell a tale and once everyone had heard about the trouble in and around the ground, the decision to stay clear of the war zone was unanimous. All’s well that end’s well though. Everyone got home safely, albeit by a strange route that took us around Woodlands cemetery and ended with diagonal short cut across the waste ground that faced the golf course on Beechings Way.

Karen Swandale: Dewdrop pub 1972/73. Karen was part of a group sitting around a table in the Lounge. I’d not seen her in years and I’d liked to have thanked her for her kindness to me in the infants, but I was advised not to by Bimbo. Reluctantly I agreed, as Karen seemed oblivious to us and the idea wasn’t without the risk of getting a punch on the nose from a misunderstanding boyfriend. 

Tony Davidson: A one-time enemy that I shared a drink with a couple of times in Dewdrop pub, approx 1973. Bimbo Hollands, who had got to know Tony quite well, was our common denominator.

Charlie Elliot: Dewdrop pub, approx 1973. Another old enemy that I ended up having a drink with due to mutual friend Billy Hollands, who’d got to know Charlie at the college they attended.

David Webb: working at Woolworth’s on Gillingham High Street, approx 1972.

Linda Webb: approx 1973. I wouldn’t have known the Webb’s had left Milsted Road if I hadn’t spotted Linda putting milk bottles out on the doorstep of a house on Beechings Way, and how she’d grown. When I told old pal Billy Hollands about it (we’d all been in the same class at Twydall) he talked me into ringing her, but with him sniggering in the phone box we only succeeded in showing ourselves up. Days later my Mam asked me about it (probably bumped into Mrs Webb at the shops). Faced with owning up or blaming my good friend, I did the honourable thing and blamed Hollands!

Peter Ward: Twydall Green, near the post office, around 1973/74.

Andrew Akehurst: Rainham Mark Social Club, 1974. I’d always been impressed by his ability to perform a midair flip. And he proved he could still do it.

Linda Underhill: her family left Crundale Road and I never saw her again. Or did I? Sometime around 1972 I noticed a beautiful blonde working in Marks & Spencers on Gillingham High Street. Something about her seemed familiar, something that compelled me to look back as I was leaving. To my surprise she was looking back at me. Quickly, we both turned away. Was it Linda? I don't know. I left the store and didn’t go back.

Stephen Austin: last seen in a fast food place at Livingstone Circus/Napier Road, in 1974.

Malcolm Aitkin: Rainham Mark Social Club, approx 1974. Sitting quietly at the bar with a lady I presumed to be his wife. I thought about going over and saying hello and buying them a drink. Then I thought better of it and let them be.

Keith Larkins: seen regularly at Rainham Mark Social Club until 1975.

Brendan Wright: occasional sightings at Rainham Mark Social Club, early 70s.

Ray Smith: occasional sightings at Rainham Mark Social Club, early 70s.

David Prentice: seen occasionally at Rainham Mark Social Club 1974/75.

Brian, David, Michael and Kelvin Wren: odd sightings around Twydall till 1974.

Ian Newman: occasional sightings, social circuit, up till 1975.

John Greenland: saw John, an old friend, at Upbury Manor, the Dockyard and socially until 1975.

Kim Erswell: After attending different secondary schools our paths crossed again as dockyard apprentices. We attended the same college class on day release and I saw him socially a couple of times, most notably one night in the Belisha Beacon when the bugger slipped a laxative in my pint. This would be around 1970-72, though I bumped into him once more on the top road, around 1976, when visiting my family.

Paul Parker: a friend throughout our time at Upbury Manor. Paul’s family moved to Lowestoft in 1970. Thirty years later he contacted me through Friends Reunited. It was brilliant to reminisce with him and meet up a couple of times. Paul died in 2014. His memory lives on.

Kevin Garlick: Kev stayed on at Upbury after I left in 1970. I saw him socially, on and off until 1975, and met up with him again years later. My blood brother and I remain friends to this day.

William Hollands: I was the best man at his wedding. He was the best man at mine. Still in touch after all these years.