Charlie’s story began in Canada. His parents emigrated there with his brothers Len, George and Ray, due to a deep depression at home on the farms. Charlie was born there in 1928, followed by his brothers Jim and Gordon, and spent his early years on a small farm that they were granted. Times were hard and the family lived off whatever nature could provide, until things became so bad his parents were forced to borrow 5 dollars; this broke the terms of their assisted passage and they had to return to England when Charlie was 4.
Charlie first recalled living in Tintown, near Hastings, a council estate for families on low income, with houses made of steel, freezing in the winter and like an oven in the summer. Throughout Charlie’s childhood it was always a struggle to make ends meet and his family never seemed to stay anywhere long, moving to a number of different farms and smallholdings throughout the country for work. The family also continued to grow, with two sisters Joy and June, joining the 6 brothers.
As Charlie grew up, he often worked alongside his parents – collecting horse droppings for the garden, hop picking, pole stripping. He said that they didn’t know what a toy was, they were considered a luxury. At the age of 13 and a half, Charlie left school to join his Dad and older brothers working on a farm in East Sussex. In Hampshire, they grew and built beds for watercress, and would go out at night looking for eels, using a sharpened dinner fork to spear them. He said it was great fun and they were delicious to eat. On another farm, the whole family were working there in one capacity or another. Pop, Charlie’s dad, was the maintenance man and rabbit catcher, Charlie was the dairyman, with his sister Joy rearing the young calves; his brothers drove tractors, ploughed the fields and worked as mechanics, with June, the youngest, at school in Winchester.
Eventually the family moved to Ashwell, and this is where Charlie would remain for the next 60 years. His first job was driving potatoes to London and Manchester, before he became a concrete tipper driver, building a runway for the Vulcan Bomber at Cottesmore. Charlie recalled how one afternoon, on the last load of the day, the concrete had started to set in the lorry. He was told to tip the concrete using the side tipper into a trench; he obliged, but the lorry went with it as well. Although there was no damage to the lorry, Charlie was fired. It didn’t hold him back though and he went on to get a job driving an earthmover, a job he loved, until the aerodrome was finished.
Throughout his life Charlie had a love of driving, and of cars. In fact, if he could drive everywhere, he would! He fondly remembered the “proper posh” car his family had in East Sussex in the 1940s and 50s, an Austin 12.9 tourer with a canvas hood. He went on to have many different cars and campervans throughout his life and was particularly proud of the restored Morris Oxford he bought from his friend and neighbour, Fred, in 1995.
It was in Ashwell that Charlie met Eva and set down roots. Eva’s father let them move into the bungalow on the farm in 1962, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Eva and Charlie worked together on renovating the house over many years; it became a true family home for Jacky, Steve, Karen and Bev, but was also a place for the extended family (brothers, sisters and their children) to gather. I am sure everyone gathered here today has many fond memories of family times at Ashwell.
There are also fond memories of childhood camping holidays, often spent with other members of the family; before their first camping holiday, his brother-in-law Tony asked Charlie “what if we get robbed in the tent?”. Charlie replied “no one will rob you when you’re camping”. The very first night that June and Tony were camping in the New Forest they were robbed, making a great story for when they returned! Charlie spent many happy holidays driving at home and around Europe in his campervan and his grandchildren loved days out with grandma and grandad.
Throughout this time, Charlie worked hard to support his family. He worked shifts at Pedigree Petfoods for 20 years, cooking and steaming pet food, before taking early retirement. Charlie had saved enough into his pension to ensure he lived well in retirement, in fact he said he had never had it so well.
His later years were spent at home in Ashwell with Eva. He loved crosswords, jigsaw puzzles and scrabble, keeping his mind active until the very end. They both had a passion for gardening and Charlie was a true expert at growing vegetables. He would grow enough runner beans to feed an army and would regularly place the surplus from his vegetable patch on the garden wall to share with the village. This is who Charlie was at heart; a generous and kind soul.
He was also a man who had a particular way of doing things ….. and he was not shy to share with others his opinion on how things should be done! Whilst this may have been frustrating at times, he was often right and there are many here today who will miss his wisdom.
Charlie had a number of health issues over the last ten years, but struggled valiantly on to support and take care of his dear wife Eva. After Eva passed away in October last year, his health declined rapidly. Although he will be sorely missed, there is some comfort in knowing they are together again now.
