 |
| Pat Lomax and "the gang" |
 |
| reverse |
My mother was most certainly social. She went to London to study music and like her son, found the man(I found a woman!) to spend the rest of her life with. The big city seemed to suit her. However she returned to Tottington via (Whitelegg Street) Woolfold near Bury, and settled back into the family residence of Brookhouse, just inside Tottington by virtue of being the Tottington side of the stream. But of course she was a great tennis player and represented her university at Wimbledon. The pictures below, I guess are separated by about 15 years. The names are quite familiar to me - and I met these people quite frequently as I grew up. I really do remember Basil, his second name was Brown. He and his wife, Barbara had 3 children and I spent a lot of time with them. Nicholas the oldest became the proprietor of the hardware shop opposite the library. I think he was older than me. Tim was a good cricketer, don't recall any representative honours, but I recall that he was linked with Lancashire Cricket club in his teens. There was a sister too, Zoe - quite a bit younger than me. We spent a lot of time going up the "cat steps" to see "Nick and Tim". I recall my Dad looking after the garden when they went away on holiday. There was a Xylophone in the garage, which we all seemed to manage to make noise on.
They had quite a big garden with a pond in it at the top by the main road. There was a large lawn with a crab apple tree overhangit. My mother used to take the crab apples and make jelly. Invariably us kids threw them at each other - which used to seriously peeve her. Their house was at the top of the path that led from the "Cat Steps" and their drive led onto Turton Road. There was a little side entrance half way up the drive. No idea what happened to them. I suspect that Nick, Tim and Zoe are still around.
I suspect this photo must have been taken around 1940. I would also suspect that these were all Bury Grammar School ex pupils too. I recall the women in the photo more clearly Brenda was a particular friend, she had a daughter called Pamela who I was expected to play with! We went round to Vera's house quite regularily - I could find it now if I had to. Don't really remember Hazel. My mother and I walked everywhere. It was quite a while before the family had a car.
 |
| Pat Martyn-Clark - Tennis prizes |
My mother was married at this time, also smoked, you can see a cigarette in her hand. I also remember this extremely garish dress. Most of her clothes she made herself, with my Gran's help, She was really quite frugal. However she played for Bury Tennis club and we had a mantelpiece and a cupboard full of cups. She played at a high standard and was really competitive. She also had a fearsome grip, this may have been because she used a man's racket. She bought a Dunlop Maxply every year.
I recall Betty Ray being her partner in the Ladies doubles. The names of Gordon McNeill and Gordon Hargreaves were also familiar. She called them the "two Gordons" I suspect that all four of them played mixed doubles too. I was never sure of what my father made of this tennis malarkey. Got to admit I never thought about it. He was quite a loner, good runner in his time, I'm told. He was an avid reader, liked classical music on the radio and worked on his lessons. I suspect he would not have wasted his time. There's time to do a mini biography on my father. There are some more pictures of
Pat's early days here
 |
| Summer music school 1943 |
 |
| No Idea! |
Got to add a picture here, probably belongs in the early days datastore but its going here. However my mother is the one in the middle with the mini-skirt - 20 years ahead of her time. Heaven only knows what her father thought at the time. I suspect the picture was taken somewhere in the Tottington, Bury area. The next picture is entitled "no idea", certainly feel that again it is something musical. My mother may be a little older, but not much, certainly pre - London.
Comments
Post a Comment