Where to begin...

 Hi D,

Hope all is well..  

We’ve had a great summer, not sure if I previously mentioned..  

Me and M. went to Cornwall and the Eden Project as well as a quick jaunt to Hastings.  The heat has been amazing but that’s all coming to an end..   Like my last Job!

So,  in the meantime Ive been painting the flat, which I’m desperately trying to hang on to.  I’m hoping to sub-let the small office room on Air b&b; now that the pandemic seems to be a distant memory. Brixton is very trendy (again) and flat / house rentals are having the ‘Foxtons’ effect all around me.  I’ve dug my heels in this long so if I can get another year out of the flat then that’ll be great..  Today I’ve got an upgraded fibre broadband being installed too.

Since I’ve had some time on my hands and Mags has been in South Wales; doing up her mums new place which turned out to be a total wreck,  i’ve turned my attention back to my comics collection.

Not just reading them but buying individual bags and backing boards to keep them pristine.  Funnily enough its also stirred up thoughts and memories of the times when I bought them.  But I’ll leave the negative stuff for now!!

Ive actually got some questions that you might be able to help me with. That are indirectly associated with me trudging up my past, again….

- One of my friends has been studying Vedic Astrology in India and wanted to know the time that I was born, so that they can do a chart for me.  Unfortunately my birth certificate is only a basic one (I remember my mom saying that Harold wouldn’t fork out for a more detailed one) And has only the place and basic details on it.  Any chance you might know my time of birth ?

- I told someone I worked with that my mum went to a girls boarding school in Henley on Thames,  they told me (since they seemed to know) that there weren’t any such schools there.   It was always a mystery to me why she went away. However; she did tell me a story about breaking out at night and getting away with it, which someone later copied and got caught and suspended for.  Can you remember the name of the school, or is there a lot more to all this..?  She said that the daughters of service men had the opportunity to do this..   in my mind this all seems a tad unusual.. any memories / thoughts..  ??

This is a bit of a weird one..  I used to answer the house phone (sporadically) and people used to ask for the ‘Grand Wizard’; This is obviously a Freemason thing.    I was always told that it was a phonebook mix up, but he did disappear to his ‘work club’ on an evening once a  month!   I never saw any masonic paraphernalia in the house.  I had friends (when I was older) whose Dad’s were in the ‘Masons’ and they all knew about it.  Just another oddity of an unusual upbringing…. Do you know anything..?  (Might explain a few things)

BTW:  I read this about Rayleigh recently:  

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/visiting-rayleigh-a-castle-a-cottage-a-church-and-a-windmill-55717/

I never knew about the Dutch house until I saw it when I got the train to yours…   

This just popped in to my mind…. Grandad said he was going to write his memoirs when I was staying with him in Billericay; after I had been working on the cruise ships.  Did he ever start..?  

I’ve yet to get the cine projector (that you gave me along with the super 8 films) working properly, as it needs some new (old) rubber parts.  It might be easier to pick up a new projector to be honest but I’ll see if I can find them…. :)

I hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to hearing back from you

All the best.

T...