KATHLEEN
Mum was born at Primrose Villa, Dagenham. The fourth child of William and Alice Nicod (nee Blower).
Her mother died when she was three years old and she was sent away to Southsea to stay with Aunt Eugenie and Uncle Norton, where she stayed for some time until her father William had employed a housekeeper to care for the four children. William later married Amy Kettley (the housekeeper) on 15th July 1920 at Romford registry office. He died on 9th December 1927.
Mum attended Beacontree Heath School. She always said her family were the poor relations, but it seems they had a comfortable home, and good food, and she wore black boots on weekday and white one on Sundays. Her father's employment as a policeman, at least was permanent.
Shortly after their marriage mum and dad (always known as Kath & Bert) moved into a new house, 9 Kent Road, Dagenham, Essex. My two brothers and myself were born there. Roy was a poorly baby being born with spina bifida; the first two years of his life were spent in hospital undergoing many operations. This must have been very stressful for our parents, but being so young we noticed nothing. I started school from this house and had a very happy childhood.
In 1949 we moved to 49 Hazelwood Road, Walthamstow, London. Roy was by now well and 100% fit. Dad was a wood machinist and worked for a local company. He was often on short time and money was very short. Mum was a very good manager, the house was always warm and, as mum was a good cook, always ample food. She could make a meal from almost nothing, good plain tasty food. She would never try any new tastes or flavours. (We never had anything spicy or curried). She would make lovely home-made jams and salt down fresh vegetable ready for the winter.
She was also a very good needle-woman, she did excellent knitting, (which was taught to her by her father) and she made a lot of our clothes, even making shirts for the boys from old ones of our fathers.
She was quite a tall lady about 5ft 8ins, quite slim, no fat but a strong build, with raven black hair. She was the disciplinarian, if Mum said do something you did it or else, I had many a smack.
We would go on outings, somewhere easy, like Epping Forest to play in the ponds or in the Autumn to pick blackberries, or trip to London to see the sights.
Every year we would go away on holiday, always to Poole in Dorset where we stayed with an "Aunt and Uncle" no relation but "Aunt" was an old school friend of Mum's. We used to travel in an old car (I think a Morris 8) it would take hours to travel the 100 odd miles. Mum loved to picnic, we would stop off on the way, out would come the primus-stove for a brew.
She worked part time from the time Roy started school. She used to pedal her bicycle to Chingford everyday. She worked an afternoon shift; so that our dinner was on the table when we got home at lunchtime, then off she would go and be home in time for tea.
In 1984 she was diagnosed with diabetes, she coped quite well with this, then in 1986 she learned that she had Parkinson's Disease. At about this time they moved out of London and went to live in Cambridgeshire.
In 1976 my husband Dave and our two children Steven and Tracey left this country and settled in South Africa. Mum and dad came out to visit us in 1979 for three months and this really was the holiday of their lifetime. They had never been on an aeroplane before; they both enjoyed the trip and certainly benefited from the warmth of the sun.
We kept in contact by telephone, as over the years she became weaker and it became more difficult to write, we visited every couple of years.
Dad died from cancer in July 1989. Mum moved into a warden controlled bungalow as she was finding it more and more difficult to manage on her own, over the last few years dad had done so much to help her. Dave and myself returned to the U.K. in March 1991. Mum was now quite a frail old lady, but she could still walk around with the help of her zimmer frame. Although Parkinson's is known to destroy brain cells, she was quite bright. She died suddenly one morning ten weeks after my return.
My only regret now is that I did not ask more about her childhood and young years. (Joyce)
