June 6, 2024 • 26 mins
Echoes from the Mountain - Creative Sparks - D Day Special
Talking to June Heaton about her memories of her father who was in the Royal Navy during WWII and how weaving helped him at the end of the war cope with shell shock.
Join Loraine from Gracious Mountain Therapies as she explores how hobbies and crafts can boost mental health. She will talk to people from all walks of life about how they have found solace, inspiration and resilience through their own pursuits, hobbies or crafts. Creative Sparks, is a podcast dedicated to harnessing the power within us to nurture mental health and wellbeing across all age groups.
Echoes from the Mountain is a podcast by Gracious Mountain Therapies
Echoes from the Mountain YouTube Channel can be found here
Music by Chris Collins, Indie Music
Ready to climb your own personal mountain and looking for help? Loraine is an accredited BWRT practitioner, clinical Hypnotherapist and Advanced EFT practitioner. Book an initial consultation at https://www.graciousmountain.co.uk/book-online
If you would like to support my podcast and YouTube channel I do have a buy me a coffee page https://www.buymeacoffee.com/echoesfromthemountain
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/creative-sparks--6181083/support.
Talking to June Heaton about her memories of her father who was in the Royal Navy during WWII and how weaving helped him at the end of the war cope with shell shock.
Join Loraine from Gracious Mountain Therapies as she explores how hobbies and crafts can boost mental health. She will talk to people from all walks of life about how they have found solace, inspiration and resilience through their own pursuits, hobbies or crafts. Creative Sparks, is a podcast dedicated to harnessing the power within us to nurture mental health and wellbeing across all age groups.
Echoes from the Mountain is a podcast by Gracious Mountain Therapies
Echoes from the Mountain YouTube Channel can be found here
Music by Chris Collins, Indie Music
Ready to climb your own personal mountain and looking for help? Loraine is an accredited BWRT practitioner, clinical Hypnotherapist and Advanced EFT practitioner. Book an initial consultation at https://www.graciousmountain.co.uk/book-online
If you would like to support my podcast and YouTube channel I do have a buy me a coffee page https://www.buymeacoffee.com/echoesfromthemountain
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/creative-sparks--6181083/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
Welcome to Echoes from the Mountain CreativeSparks, the podcast where we explore the
incredible power of hobbies and crafts andthe natural world to nurture our mental health.
I'm your host, Lorraine from GraciousMountain Therapies, and I believe that
(00:33):
the passions we pursue outside of ourdaily routines can be our strongest allies in
finding joy, building resilience and weatheringlife storms. Today I am welcoming back
my mother June Heaton, this timefor a D Day special where she is
(00:57):
going to share with us a fewchildhood memories about her father, who was
one of the brave sailors who foughtduring World War Two. Both my maternal
and paternal grandfathers were in the RoyalNavy and fought in World War Two,
and I am lucky to be ableto say that both survived. So we're
(01:23):
talking today to my mother, JuneHeaton, about my grandfather, Charles Ernest
Brazier. Would you like to tellme, first of all, what granddad
did during the war. He wasin the Battle of Battle of Dunkirk on
(01:44):
the destroyers were over there. Ithink one of them, are quite sure.
There's ah Miss Kelvin. I thinkhe was on one of them.
And what did he do? Whatwas his job? Ammunitions and torpedoes when
he was in the submarines, thingslike that. Weapons they knew good say,
(02:07):
so he was he would do thingswith ammunitions, ammunitions and weapons.
He was a CPO, which isa chief pety officer. And how long
was he actually in the Royal theybefore he ran away to see when I
think it was the last of theold sailing ships. I think he was.
(02:29):
He said he was about thirteen orfourteen at sign because my grandfather was
a farmer and my dad just didnot want to do a farming and he
ran away and he ran away tosee and in those days, you know,
they took him on board, andyou know that was that really,
(02:51):
So we were specifically going to betalking about World War two and the fact
that he had shell shock which todaywill be known as PTSD after the war.
Can you tell me your recollections ofthan because obviously how old were you
(03:13):
then? Not very old? Iwould say around between ten and twelve at
ten eleven twelve. Issue was afterthe war, and I can remember my
brother, my mother and I wentto meet him off the train at Portsmouth
Harbor, and this was because hewas coming home for like a leave.
(03:38):
Really he was in Chimney Castle andthey put them there to recover from what
they used to call shell shock.He went to Chimney Castle. Can you
tell me about that? Well,only that it was a place four p
(03:59):
people that were severely shot in shock. And as I was trying to say,
when we met Dad off that train, because I was very excited,
you know that sort of age youwould be, I'm going to see my
dad and all this sort of thing. And I was horrified, and I
couldn't stop crying inside myself because Dadcouldn't walk, He shuffles, he couldn't
(04:27):
talk, he stuttered, and hecouldn't get my name out of his mouth.
And it took us ages. Ithink we missed about two fairies.
It took us ages to get fromthe station down to where you got on
the ferry, and then of coursewe had to get him off the ferry
the other side, and then tryingto get him on the bus was a
(04:49):
joke. Okay. So the ferrywas that Portsmouth to Gospelt ferry. Yeah,
because you lived in Gospel at thetime, yes, yeah, yes,
and then of course it because agesto get from the bus stop to
that al bungalow. And at thispoint on I was really broken, I
(05:10):
think, and I just grabbed thedog, Judy dog and the dog leader
and I just walked. I know, I walked. And then I didn't
want to go back home. Iknow I didn't want to go back home.
But of course you have to doin these situations, and in time
you get over it. But Iknow that Dad was put on well I
(05:36):
suppose he was on to Masapo.Can't get the word out to Masapo.
I know, almost up until theday he died, because the doctors did
try to get him off it,but they you know, by this time,
I think he was walked on it. I want to talk to you
a little bit about I disturbed amemory that you had when I started weaving
(06:00):
and I had a table loom onthe table, and I can remember you
coming up to me and saying thatthe noise of the shuttle going backwards and
forwards had triggered a memory. Canyou tell me about that. Yeah,
because Dad had a weaving loom andthey were encouraged, obviously in Charlmley to
(06:23):
have occupation, occupation and art andcraft or whatever it was. And Dad
bought this loom, which drove mymother up the wall. And of course
in those days we only had aradio. You didn't have anything else.
Of course, you're listening to aradio program and you've got this clock clock.
(06:48):
And then not only that, butit took up the table. And
we lived in a bungalow which wasvery small, and of course we couldn't
use the tabe people until Duddy hadfinished his what he was doing. He
made some very pretty actually it was. It was pink and blue and it
(07:14):
was like a lace squares and heused to tie the squares up in the
middle and then cut and he usedto make flowers out of that and they
were made for dressing tables. Becausesold quite a few of those, I
remember, yeah, many. Troubleis, I didn't wash very well,
(07:36):
okay, because they all went intogether, which was not a bad idea
really, because people needed new ones. Okay. So he was taught to
weave at Chimney Castle and that wasto help him with his shot. And
then he made scarves and with thesquares and the the half diamond of Dutch
(08:05):
shape, you know, and hedid all those Yeah, he made quite
a bit on that loop. Howlong did he do that for? I
would say for about three or fouryears really, and then he got into
(08:26):
model yachting and he used to godown Walpaol Park and anybody in Gospel of
my age group would know my dad, I think, because he was heavily
involved with the sub mariners and alsothe yacht club. Mum and Dad used
to Mum did the teas down theair and yeah, yeah, So the
(08:48):
three or four years that he wasdoing the weaving, did you see improvement
in him? Well? It kepthim occupied, don't all. They told
me he was an occupier. Hewas occupied. He wasn't stressing. It
was he because you said that whenhe first came home that he was shuffling
(09:09):
and that he was stuttering. Yes, now, obviously I came along a
lot later, but I don't rememberGranddad stuttering or shuffling. Wouldn't do,
would you know? I just wonderedhow long he was like that for.
I can't put a time, tobe fair, I'm honest with you.
(09:30):
I can't put a time on it. And I would assume then it must
have been, you know, sortof a good year or even more than
that. But of course it wasgardening, it was keeping yourself going.
It was I suppose, relaxing.And even though he was, as I
said, you know, he wasunder quite a bit of medication. But
(09:56):
when he got angry, he gotangry. And I always remember he lost
his temper quite quickly. And Ialways remember, I'll never forget it.
My bicycle had a puncher, andyou know, Dad, as you do,
he got the inner jew belt andthe bowl of water, and he
was trying to find the hole andhe couldn't find a hole in this thing.
(10:20):
And all of a sudden he pickedup my dike and he literally threw
it from the back door where hewas right the right down to the fishpond.
My bike, okay, And I'llnever forget that ever, was just
so frightening. But then after youbut then afterwards he calmed down. He
calmed down. That was an effectof the shell shock, which to a
(10:46):
child of that of my age asI was then, was shot horror.
But of course Mum, you know, sort of calmed in down, gave
him a cup of tea or whatevershe did, you know, so he
calmed down. He was all rightafter that. But we did have episodes
like that which you know, asI say, George George child, which
(11:09):
of course by the time you camealong, which was oh good. Quite
a few years later he's a pastedor that, you know, although he
was still on his you know,to Mezbell whatever it was. So do
you think that the the hobbies thathe had, I mean, obviously the
(11:33):
weaving was the initial thing and somethingthat he'd learned almost as an occupational therapy.
But then later on in the lateryears with the model yachting that only
helped him. And then also thegardening because obviously he loved his fishpond,
didn't he. And he also gota job working for a lady Gord missus
(11:56):
Hewett, who used to live inAlston. He helped her with her gardening
and he used to work it likean allotment for her. He looked after
her vegetable patches and he brought usobviously good eat home from from that and
he worked for her on a Saturday. I remember that. And later in
(12:20):
life, what was the jobs thathe did? Then? Did he stay
in the Navy? No, hewas invalided out basically, he was he
was, you know sort of Sowhat what other jobs. Didn't he work
at a firework factory at one pointhe works for Panes Wessex. Yes he
(12:41):
did. Again it was all todo with weaponry and he was m od,
okay, what did he do theMTBs? Can you explain what an
MTB is? Was that during thewar or no, it was after the
war, and again it was towardsthe end of because it was he was
(13:07):
in the vern and nature miss Vernonas it was then, and I always
remember, because of clothing coupons andeverything else. You can just imagine.
I always remember Dad saying, well, meet me to come down to the
ferry. And I went on towhere the submarines were birthed and Dad came
(13:35):
along in his motor torpedo boat andhe took me along by Stokes Bay for
a ride on this motor torpedo boatthing because I had to go to Stokes
bade peer at that point, becauseStokes Bad did have a peer. Of
course, he pulled it up tofull speed, didn't he. And I
got so I got absolutely drenched inseawater, and of course when I got
(14:03):
home dripping wet, my mother wentabsolutely mad. My coat said, no
cubeans to buy another one. Hemeasured it. Oh god, So he
got into a lot of trouble thatday as well. Was my fault?
Was it? I was drenched fromhead to foot? Oh good. Did
(14:26):
he ever talk about his time atdan Kirk, No, no, no,
no, no no. But tothe day he died, were you
know, to the day he died. He always went out on the eleventh
of November. Yes, yes,and he never missed. And they took
(14:48):
him out if he was in theWar Memorial Hospitals to remember that, Yes,
And they put him in a wheelchairand he had he's buried and he's
medals and he got help there eventhough he was dying himself. Yeah,
he got out there and he gotout there for his mates, as he
called. Never gave up on that, never mhm. And he died a
(15:11):
few days later. He in recollection. Yeah, because we've got we've got
a photograph of him. We hada photograph. I'm saying that she couldn't
can't find it at the moment.I'm sure we will find it. I
had a big one enlarged of that, which I gave to the sub Mariners
(15:33):
Association. Yeah, because they theycame and they marched at my father's funeral,
the sub Mariners Association. I knowthat he also had quite a big
link with HMS Alliance, which isthe museum down gospelt Way, which is
a submarine and he was one ofthe first guides on that and he used
(15:58):
to tell his story. I canremember when I was probably about eighteen or
nineteen, him sort of talking hiswar stories and us chuckling in the background
as he was being probably the longest. Oh no, Dad, you used
to get inside. Yeah, Dad, you should get into trouble because he
(16:18):
did like to talk, my dad, and he was a great guide,
and people ask questions and Dad tookhis time and answered them, I suppose
really, and of course being asubmarine and everything else, he had a
lot of stories to tell. Andthey used to say, come on,
Charlie, move on, move on, move on, because the other guides
(16:40):
watched to pass it and there wasDad still talking and obviously not a lot
of room in the submarine. No, there's not a lot of room in
the submarine. Yes, but yeah, and he had managed to get quite
a few artifacts, I believe inthe museum there by talking to people and
oh yeah, oh, this isa great founder. Absolutely, yes,
(17:03):
I can remember there was a pieceof cake that he was talking to somebody
about, a piece of wedding cakeor something, and I think that's in
the museum because it was never eaten, and I think that was down to
him talking to somebody that had cometo see the submarine a story. Is
(17:26):
there anything else that you would liketo tell our listeners about the use of
hobbies and crafts, etc. Tohelp our mental awareness? Well, definitely,
if you've got if you occupy yourhands, put it that way,
(17:51):
it's certainly you're doing something so makesthe brain think of other things of rather
than dwelling on bad things. Soif you're creating something, you're involved in
that creation and you've forgotten, youforget, you tend to forget. You're
(18:11):
going to another world if you like. But it mentally it helps you tremendously
in my opinion. I know withGranddad, obviously he started with the weaving.
Then he went on to his modelyachting where obviously he would look after
the boats and polish them. Thatwould take him time. Oh yeah,
(18:33):
exactly. And then they because whenDad first started, they were just ordinary
assailing boats and they had to goaround the boy. They had all these
and they had loads of other peoplewere with them as well, and they
used to have these races. Butthen in time they went on to radio
controlled model yachts, which was newin those days. And then I mean
(18:55):
Mum and Dad were heavily involved inthe international that they had down wallball Park
in Gospel. I don't know whetherthey still do. I couldn't tell you,
Okay, Mum and Dad were definitelyheavily involved in that, yes,
and also then his gardening and thefish pond, and obviously that helped to
(19:17):
relax him. From what I'm hearingyou say is that it doesn't matter what
your pursuit is, what your hobbyor craft is, and that you can
change and develop. Oh yeah,of course you can absolutely. I know
in my own little world here.I mean, I've changed from from my
(19:41):
embroidery and I went on to dothe Chinese art, which I thoroughly enjoyed
doing. But there again I wentas stop. I went in a stop
because I couldn't afford. I wantedsomething different and I couldn't Well, we
didn't have a lot of money andI couldn't affoord. It was one hundred
(20:02):
and fifty pounds or something for acourse in watercolors, and I thought,
I can't fold that. And thenI happened to see in Crowney Art Center
that they had a free day ofthis Chinese art, and I thought,
I don't even like do you knowthe images of Chinese thing? So I
(20:26):
went in a bit of a stop, but I went because it was free.
And then of course I got hooked. I got totally hooked on it.
And I got hooked on it becauseI can't really draw, or not
a drawer. I've never drawn,but with the Chinese way, they do
it in such a way like ifyou're drawing a bird, they just do
(20:47):
a dot for the eye, andthen they come over for the head,
like and a half sea the letterS and it be a swan, would
be a figure too, and thingslike that. It all made sense to
me. And then you put aV on the front for the beak,
(21:08):
and then you can really create.You can create, and there was I
not being able to do anything.Oh. I got so elated, and
I came home and I was sohappy, singing away in the car on
the way out, what did it? Yay? And then I've done a
lot since, you know, it'ssort of and it was a learning curve
(21:33):
and it just shows you that nomatter how down you are, you can
come up, and you can comeup big time if you just got to
find it. You've got to lookfor it, and if you don't go
out there and so a lot likecarties, you know, I don't want
to do this. I'm not goingto do this, and went through that
door in a strap and I cameout on a high. You know,
(21:55):
it just just shows you, reallythat you can do it. You can.
Okay, Well, thank you verymuch for giving your time and your
memories of Granddad, and we willspeak to you again soon. I'd like
to thank my mother June, forwanting to share these memories with us on
(22:18):
Creative Sparks. And before we close, I'd like to share with you a
couple of poems. The first isthe girl Guide poem we used to sing
to the bugler's taps. Day isdone gone, the sun, from the
lake, from the hills, fromthe sky, All is well, Safely
(22:44):
rest, God is nigh. Donot stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I donot sleep. I am a thousand winds
that blow. I am the diamondglints on snow. I am the sunlight
(23:08):
on ripened grain. I am thegentle autumn rain when you awaken in the
morning's hush. I am the swift, uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled
flight. I am the soft starsthat shine at night. Do not stand
(23:30):
at my grave and cry, Iam not there. I did not die.
That was. Do not stand atmy grave and weep. By Mary
Elizabeth Fry And finally, in thewords of Winnie the Pooh by A.
A. Milne. If ever thereis tomorrow when we're not together, there
(23:55):
is something you must always remember.You are than you believe, stronger than
you seem, and smarter than youthink. But the most important thing is,
even if we're apart, I'll alwaysbe with you. If you have
(24:22):
a hobby, a passion for theoutdoors, or a simple love for crafting
that has helped you through a toughtime, I really would love to hear
from you. Your experience could bethe beacon of hope someone else needs to
hear. You can reach out tome via email at Lorraine at Graciousmountain dot
(24:44):
co dot uk, or find uson social media at Echoes from the Mountain
or Gracious Mountain Therapies, or whynot visit the website on www dot Graciousmountain
dot or go dot UK. Iam Lorraine from Gracious Mountain Therapies and you
(25:06):
have been listening to echoes from theMountain Creative Sparks D Day Special. Tomorrow
is story time and I will bereading the third chapter from Heidi by Joanna
Spury. I hope you will joinme till then. Take care and remember
(25:29):
you are not alone on this journeyof discovery. Together we can create a
chorus of resilience.
Welcome to Echoes from the Mountain CreativeSparks, the podcast where we explore the
incredible power of hobbies and crafts andthe natural world to nurture our mental health.
I'm your host, Lorraine from GraciousMountain Therapies, and I believe that
(00:33):
the passions we pursue outside of ourdaily routines can be our strongest allies in
finding joy, building resilience and weatheringlife storms. Today I am welcoming back
my mother June Heaton, this timefor a D Day special where she is
(00:57):
going to share with us a fewchildhood memories about her father, who was
one of the brave sailors who foughtduring World War Two. Both my maternal
and paternal grandfathers were in the RoyalNavy and fought in World War Two,
and I am lucky to be ableto say that both survived. So we're
(01:23):
talking today to my mother, JuneHeaton, about my grandfather, Charles Ernest
Brazier. Would you like to tellme, first of all, what granddad
did during the war. He wasin the Battle of Battle of Dunkirk on
(01:44):
the destroyers were over there. Ithink one of them, are quite sure.
There's ah Miss Kelvin. I thinkhe was on one of them.
And what did he do? Whatwas his job? Ammunitions and torpedoes when
he was in the submarines, thingslike that. Weapons they knew good say,
(02:07):
so he was he would do thingswith ammunitions, ammunitions and weapons.
He was a CPO, which isa chief pety officer. And how long
was he actually in the Royal theybefore he ran away to see when I
think it was the last of theold sailing ships. I think he was.
(02:29):
He said he was about thirteen orfourteen at sign because my grandfather was
a farmer and my dad just didnot want to do a farming and he
ran away and he ran away tosee and in those days, you know,
they took him on board, andyou know that was that really,
(02:51):
So we were specifically going to betalking about World War two and the fact
that he had shell shock which todaywill be known as PTSD after the war.
Can you tell me your recollections ofthan because obviously how old were you
(03:13):
then? Not very old? Iwould say around between ten and twelve at
ten eleven twelve. Issue was afterthe war, and I can remember my
brother, my mother and I wentto meet him off the train at Portsmouth
Harbor, and this was because hewas coming home for like a leave.
(03:38):
Really he was in Chimney Castle andthey put them there to recover from what
they used to call shell shock.He went to Chimney Castle. Can you
tell me about that? Well,only that it was a place four p
(03:59):
people that were severely shot in shock. And as I was trying to say,
when we met Dad off that train, because I was very excited,
you know that sort of age youwould be, I'm going to see my
dad and all this sort of thing. And I was horrified, and I
couldn't stop crying inside myself because Dadcouldn't walk, He shuffles, he couldn't
(04:27):
talk, he stuttered, and hecouldn't get my name out of his mouth.
And it took us ages. Ithink we missed about two fairies.
It took us ages to get fromthe station down to where you got on
the ferry, and then of coursewe had to get him off the ferry
the other side, and then tryingto get him on the bus was a
(04:49):
joke. Okay. So the ferrywas that Portsmouth to Gospelt ferry. Yeah,
because you lived in Gospel at thetime, yes, yeah, yes,
and then of course it because agesto get from the bus stop to
that al bungalow. And at thispoint on I was really broken, I
(05:10):
think, and I just grabbed thedog, Judy dog and the dog leader
and I just walked. I know, I walked. And then I didn't
want to go back home. Iknow I didn't want to go back home.
But of course you have to doin these situations, and in time
you get over it. But Iknow that Dad was put on well I
(05:36):
suppose he was on to Masapo.Can't get the word out to Masapo.
I know, almost up until theday he died, because the doctors did
try to get him off it,but they you know, by this time,
I think he was walked on it. I want to talk to you
a little bit about I disturbed amemory that you had when I started weaving
(06:00):
and I had a table loom onthe table, and I can remember you
coming up to me and saying thatthe noise of the shuttle going backwards and
forwards had triggered a memory. Canyou tell me about that. Yeah,
because Dad had a weaving loom andthey were encouraged, obviously in Charlmley to
(06:23):
have occupation, occupation and art andcraft or whatever it was. And Dad
bought this loom, which drove mymother up the wall. And of course
in those days we only had aradio. You didn't have anything else.
Of course, you're listening to aradio program and you've got this clock clock.
(06:48):
And then not only that, butit took up the table. And
we lived in a bungalow which wasvery small, and of course we couldn't
use the tabe people until Duddy hadfinished his what he was doing. He
made some very pretty actually it was. It was pink and blue and it
(07:14):
was like a lace squares and heused to tie the squares up in the
middle and then cut and he usedto make flowers out of that and they
were made for dressing tables. Becausesold quite a few of those, I
remember, yeah, many. Troubleis, I didn't wash very well,
(07:36):
okay, because they all went intogether, which was not a bad idea
really, because people needed new ones. Okay. So he was taught to
weave at Chimney Castle and that wasto help him with his shot. And
then he made scarves and with thesquares and the the half diamond of Dutch
(08:05):
shape, you know, and hedid all those Yeah, he made quite
a bit on that loop. Howlong did he do that for? I
would say for about three or fouryears really, and then he got into
(08:26):
model yachting and he used to godown Walpaol Park and anybody in Gospel of
my age group would know my dad, I think, because he was heavily
involved with the sub mariners and alsothe yacht club. Mum and Dad used
to Mum did the teas down theair and yeah, yeah, So the
(08:48):
three or four years that he wasdoing the weaving, did you see improvement
in him? Well? It kepthim occupied, don't all. They told
me he was an occupier. Hewas occupied. He wasn't stressing. It
was he because you said that whenhe first came home that he was shuffling
(09:09):
and that he was stuttering. Yes, now, obviously I came along a
lot later, but I don't rememberGranddad stuttering or shuffling. Wouldn't do,
would you know? I just wonderedhow long he was like that for.
I can't put a time, tobe fair, I'm honest with you.
(09:30):
I can't put a time on it. And I would assume then it must
have been, you know, sortof a good year or even more than
that. But of course it wasgardening, it was keeping yourself going.
It was I suppose, relaxing.And even though he was, as I
said, you know, he wasunder quite a bit of medication. But
(09:56):
when he got angry, he gotangry. And I always remember he lost
his temper quite quickly. And Ialways remember, I'll never forget it.
My bicycle had a puncher, andyou know, Dad, as you do,
he got the inner jew belt andthe bowl of water, and he
was trying to find the hole andhe couldn't find a hole in this thing.
(10:20):
And all of a sudden he pickedup my dike and he literally threw
it from the back door where hewas right the right down to the fishpond.
My bike, okay, And I'llnever forget that ever, was just
so frightening. But then after youbut then afterwards he calmed down. He
calmed down. That was an effectof the shell shock, which to a
(10:46):
child of that of my age asI was then, was shot horror.
But of course Mum, you know, sort of calmed in down, gave
him a cup of tea or whatevershe did, you know, so he
calmed down. He was all rightafter that. But we did have episodes
like that which you know, asI say, George George child, which
(11:09):
of course by the time you camealong, which was oh good. Quite
a few years later he's a pastedor that, you know, although he
was still on his you know,to Mezbell whatever it was. So do
you think that the the hobbies thathe had, I mean, obviously the
(11:33):
weaving was the initial thing and somethingthat he'd learned almost as an occupational therapy.
But then later on in the lateryears with the model yachting that only
helped him. And then also thegardening because obviously he loved his fishpond,
didn't he. And he also gota job working for a lady Gord missus
(11:56):
Hewett, who used to live inAlston. He helped her with her gardening
and he used to work it likean allotment for her. He looked after
her vegetable patches and he brought usobviously good eat home from from that and
he worked for her on a Saturday. I remember that. And later in
(12:20):
life, what was the jobs thathe did? Then? Did he stay
in the Navy? No, hewas invalided out basically, he was he
was, you know sort of Sowhat what other jobs. Didn't he work
at a firework factory at one pointhe works for Panes Wessex. Yes he
(12:41):
did. Again it was all todo with weaponry and he was m od,
okay, what did he do theMTBs? Can you explain what an
MTB is? Was that during thewar or no, it was after the
war, and again it was towardsthe end of because it was he was
(13:07):
in the vern and nature miss Vernonas it was then, and I always
remember, because of clothing coupons andeverything else. You can just imagine.
I always remember Dad saying, well, meet me to come down to the
ferry. And I went on towhere the submarines were birthed and Dad came
(13:35):
along in his motor torpedo boat andhe took me along by Stokes Bay for
a ride on this motor torpedo boatthing because I had to go to Stokes
bade peer at that point, becauseStokes Bad did have a peer. Of
course, he pulled it up tofull speed, didn't he. And I
got so I got absolutely drenched inseawater, and of course when I got
(14:03):
home dripping wet, my mother wentabsolutely mad. My coat said, no
cubeans to buy another one. Hemeasured it. Oh god, So he
got into a lot of trouble thatday as well. Was my fault?
Was it? I was drenched fromhead to foot? Oh good. Did
(14:26):
he ever talk about his time atdan Kirk, No, no, no,
no, no no. But tothe day he died, were you
know, to the day he died. He always went out on the eleventh
of November. Yes, yes,and he never missed. And they took
(14:48):
him out if he was in theWar Memorial Hospitals to remember that, Yes,
And they put him in a wheelchairand he had he's buried and he's
medals and he got help there eventhough he was dying himself. Yeah,
he got out there and he gotout there for his mates, as he
called. Never gave up on that, never mhm. And he died a
(15:11):
few days later. He in recollection. Yeah, because we've got we've got
a photograph of him. We hada photograph. I'm saying that she couldn't
can't find it at the moment.I'm sure we will find it. I
had a big one enlarged of that, which I gave to the sub Mariners
(15:33):
Association. Yeah, because they theycame and they marched at my father's funeral,
the sub Mariners Association. I knowthat he also had quite a big
link with HMS Alliance, which isthe museum down gospelt Way, which is
a submarine and he was one ofthe first guides on that and he used
(15:58):
to tell his story. I canremember when I was probably about eighteen or
nineteen, him sort of talking hiswar stories and us chuckling in the background
as he was being probably the longest. Oh no, Dad, you used
to get inside. Yeah, Dad, you should get into trouble because he
(16:18):
did like to talk, my dad, and he was a great guide,
and people ask questions and Dad tookhis time and answered them, I suppose
really, and of course being asubmarine and everything else, he had a
lot of stories to tell. Andthey used to say, come on,
Charlie, move on, move on, move on, because the other guides
(16:40):
watched to pass it and there wasDad still talking and obviously not a lot
of room in the submarine. No, there's not a lot of room in
the submarine. Yes, but yeah, and he had managed to get quite
a few artifacts, I believe inthe museum there by talking to people and
oh yeah, oh, this isa great founder. Absolutely, yes,
(17:03):
I can remember there was a pieceof cake that he was talking to somebody
about, a piece of wedding cakeor something, and I think that's in
the museum because it was never eaten, and I think that was down to
him talking to somebody that had cometo see the submarine a story. Is
(17:26):
there anything else that you would liketo tell our listeners about the use of
hobbies and crafts, etc. Tohelp our mental awareness? Well, definitely,
if you've got if you occupy yourhands, put it that way,
(17:51):
it's certainly you're doing something so makesthe brain think of other things of rather
than dwelling on bad things. Soif you're creating something, you're involved in
that creation and you've forgotten, youforget, you tend to forget. You're
(18:11):
going to another world if you like. But it mentally it helps you tremendously
in my opinion. I know withGranddad, obviously he started with the weaving.
Then he went on to his modelyachting where obviously he would look after
the boats and polish them. Thatwould take him time. Oh yeah,
(18:33):
exactly. And then they because whenDad first started, they were just ordinary
assailing boats and they had to goaround the boy. They had all these
and they had loads of other peoplewere with them as well, and they
used to have these races. Butthen in time they went on to radio
controlled model yachts, which was newin those days. And then I mean
(18:55):
Mum and Dad were heavily involved inthe international that they had down wallball Park
in Gospel. I don't know whetherthey still do. I couldn't tell you,
Okay, Mum and Dad were definitelyheavily involved in that, yes,
and also then his gardening and thefish pond, and obviously that helped to
(19:17):
relax him. From what I'm hearingyou say is that it doesn't matter what
your pursuit is, what your hobbyor craft is, and that you can
change and develop. Oh yeah,of course you can absolutely. I know
in my own little world here.I mean, I've changed from from my
(19:41):
embroidery and I went on to dothe Chinese art, which I thoroughly enjoyed
doing. But there again I wentas stop. I went in a stop
because I couldn't afford. I wantedsomething different and I couldn't Well, we
didn't have a lot of money andI couldn't affoord. It was one hundred
(20:02):
and fifty pounds or something for acourse in watercolors, and I thought,
I can't fold that. And thenI happened to see in Crowney Art Center
that they had a free day ofthis Chinese art, and I thought,
I don't even like do you knowthe images of Chinese thing? So I
(20:26):
went in a bit of a stop, but I went because it was free.
And then of course I got hooked. I got totally hooked on it.
And I got hooked on it becauseI can't really draw, or not
a drawer. I've never drawn,but with the Chinese way, they do
it in such a way like ifyou're drawing a bird, they just do
(20:47):
a dot for the eye, andthen they come over for the head,
like and a half sea the letterS and it be a swan, would
be a figure too, and thingslike that. It all made sense to
me. And then you put aV on the front for the beak,
(21:08):
and then you can really create.You can create, and there was I
not being able to do anything.Oh. I got so elated, and
I came home and I was sohappy, singing away in the car on
the way out, what did it? Yay? And then I've done a
lot since, you know, it'ssort of and it was a learning curve
(21:33):
and it just shows you that nomatter how down you are, you can
come up, and you can comeup big time if you just got to
find it. You've got to lookfor it, and if you don't go
out there and so a lot likecarties, you know, I don't want
to do this. I'm not goingto do this, and went through that
door in a strap and I cameout on a high. You know,
(21:55):
it just just shows you, reallythat you can do it. You can.
Okay, Well, thank you verymuch for giving your time and your
memories of Granddad, and we willspeak to you again soon. I'd like
to thank my mother June, forwanting to share these memories with us on
(22:18):
Creative Sparks. And before we close, I'd like to share with you a
couple of poems. The first isthe girl Guide poem we used to sing
to the bugler's taps. Day isdone gone, the sun, from the
lake, from the hills, fromthe sky, All is well, Safely
(22:44):
rest, God is nigh. Donot stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I donot sleep. I am a thousand winds
that blow. I am the diamondglints on snow. I am the sunlight
(23:08):
on ripened grain. I am thegentle autumn rain when you awaken in the
morning's hush. I am the swift, uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled
flight. I am the soft starsthat shine at night. Do not stand
(23:30):
at my grave and cry, Iam not there. I did not die.
That was. Do not stand atmy grave and weep. By Mary
Elizabeth Fry And finally, in thewords of Winnie the Pooh by A.
A. Milne. If ever thereis tomorrow when we're not together, there
(23:55):
is something you must always remember.You are than you believe, stronger than
you seem, and smarter than youthink. But the most important thing is,
even if we're apart, I'll alwaysbe with you. If you have
(24:22):
a hobby, a passion for theoutdoors, or a simple love for crafting
that has helped you through a toughtime, I really would love to hear
from you. Your experience could bethe beacon of hope someone else needs to
hear. You can reach out tome via email at Lorraine at Graciousmountain dot
(24:44):
co dot uk, or find uson social media at Echoes from the Mountain
or Gracious Mountain Therapies, or whynot visit the website on www dot Graciousmountain
dot or go dot UK. Iam Lorraine from Gracious Mountain Therapies and you
(25:06):
have been listening to echoes from theMountain Creative Sparks D Day Special. Tomorrow
is story time and I will bereading the third chapter from Heidi by Joanna
Spury. I hope you will joinme till then. Take care and remember
(25:29):
you are not alone on this journeyof discovery. Together we can create a
chorus of resilience.
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