Heather grows up

As I had said in my previous paragraph Ronald Reid was 15 in 1956. That made me think back to what was going on in Scotland around that time. In 1954 the rationing ended and my sister said that the first thing mum did was to buy sugar and butter and a tin of condensed milk and make some Scottish tablet – a little like fudge but firmer. I remember that we were allowed to scrape the pot afterwards. In 1955 Billy Graham toured Scotland and also in 1955 the Royal family also toured Scotland and I have a photograph of the Queen visiting Dundee. In 1956 my sister Ray and I were taken into Dundee by mum to get our “sugar cube.” as protection against polio. Salk’s killed-virus, injectable vaccine had been used in many parts of the world but now Sabin’s live-virus, oral polio vaccine (administered in drops or on a sugar cube) was given. There had been a recent epidemic in Ireland and the NHS recommended all children to receive a “sugar cube” This virus is now eradicated in most of the world. Around this time the Jute industry so crucial to Dundee
was floundering as more polypropylene bags were replacing jute. Also jute was used to back linoleum – a favorite flooring for years – and it was being replaced with vinyl kitchen flooring. Urquart Lindsay and Robertson manufactured machines for the jute mills and their business declined. Dad lost his job as the chief buyer and was now unemployed. Dad had many contacts from his years there and got a lead to be a rep for a company in Sheffield called Daniel Doncaster who sold drop forgings. Working on the other end now he was an excellent salesman and became a chief rep of the company. I did not really notice much of this as the late fifties and early sixties came along. My friend Evelyn and I were busy with Girl Guides and youth groups and the frequent dances at Monikie Hall. This was the time of full skirts and frilly net underskirts and later shift dresses and mini skirts. I never liked the mini skirts but my sister Ray did – probably because she had nice legs!!!
She is seen here with cousin Betty.

Ray took up skiing and in the winter and made trips to ski slopes of Glenshee further north. We swapped bedrooms with mum and dad as they felt we needed a larger room – especially as we started having more clothes. Ray was now working and I was in my third year at school but also worked Saturdays and holidays in a Veterinary Practice in Dundee. With some extra money I could buy makeup but dads comments were “Who gave you a black eye?”
I remember going to a dance at Monikie and Ray let me borrow a lovely white cotton pique dress with a full skirt which was highlighted with large red flowers. She had really elegant white strappy high heeled sandals which I “borrowed” but got a real “telling off” when I got home due to the fact that my feet were larger and I stretched them! Now in the “big bedroom” we had a large wardrobe, two easy chairs, dressing table and a built in electric fire where the old coal stove was. The two new spring interior beds had a bedside table between where our small radio occupied pride of place. We would listen to the “Top Twenty” on Radio Luxembourg every Sunday but since it finished at midnight we turned the sound down – in case mum and dad would wake up – and leant towards the radio listening intently. The other place that my friend Evelyn and I went was The Beach Ballroom in Carnoustie. They had a summer series of bands and that is where one night we listened to “Clint and the Tornadoes.” By this time Elvis was really famous and my sister was still in love with him. One of the songs I liked was “Save the last Dance for Me” by The Drifters and of course Twist and Shout was popular. Jiving was still in but The twist was also a hit. Evelyn and I always left early as we had two buses to catch so we could be home on the last bus to Newbigging. One night at the dancing in the Summer of 1962 I met an old school friend Lena Bushnell who was going out with the bass guitarist and when I said that I had to leave early she said “Stay to the end and I will ask if the other guitarist “Ronnie Rhythm” will take you home.” That was not his real name it was Ronald Reid – remember the young boy at the beginning? Another major thing happened in my life at the end of that year – my sister Ray emigrated to New Zealand where she became an Air Stewardess for Air New Zealand. Before getting her own apartment she stayed with our Aunt Rettie – mum’s sister – who had emigrated some years before. Ray became an excellent seamstress – with Aunt Rettie’s guidance – making many of her ballgowns for company functions.

With my sister now in New Zealand I was enjoying the room to myself but I did miss her. When you are separated from someone it makes you remember all the good things. Why remember the fights we had as siblings, let’s remember all the times we looked after each other. The times that Ray made up stories about the fairies that lived in the tulips or in the large bulbed Christmas lights. I never ever saw them but to a four year old they were real! Also the night that she cycled with me all the way to Wellbank  – a village 5 miles away – so that I could say sorry to someone. As I had said previously dad was now a rep for a company in Sheffield and he had to drive down for quarterly meetings. Dad also used these trips as an opportunity to visit his mum – Grandma Warner who lived in Sheffield. One summer my friend Doris and I accompanied him on a visit to see Grandma and my cousin Chris took Doris and I to a Club that the teenagers went to. By then the Beatles were a hit and we danced to “Please Please Me.” We also visited Aunt Grace. Aunt Grace lived in London and we thought it was really cool that we could go to a disco in Kingston upon Thames – a short distance from Surbiton where Aunt Grace lived. Dad was not too sure about us going to a “London Disco” but our cousin Patrick – about 10 years my senior attested that it was OK – providing we were driven there and back by dad!! Where was Ronald Reid at this time ? He had given up his job in an Engineering firm and the band Clint and The Tornadoes were now touring Scotland so I did not see him much. At one dance he played at earlier in the year the other band was the Beatles who were not really known at that time. The Beatles got famous and Clint and The Tornadoes disbanded and went back to their respective jobs. The following summer I took my new boyfriend – yes Ronald Reid – or who I called Ronnie to meet my Aunt Grace and also cousin Christine and cousin Angela who were all in London at the time. He also met my grandma and Uncle Tom when she visited us in Scotland. A few summers back dad and his cousin Raymond and friend John Moon helped him build a summer house to the side of the house. It had electricity and when visitors came to visit mum and dad slept out there on a nice pull out couch. I never offered to stay there as there was no lock on the door – even although there was a gate and fencing separating  that area fro the front garden. Mum would love it out there in the Summer and would enjoy sitting reading her Agatha Christie books or other crime novels. Netherby continued to be a wonderful place that family and friends loved to visit. Uncle Jimmy – Aunt Jeans husband – took this picture Front row – mum, Florence Moon, Heather, Uncle Tom, cousin Betty, Aunt Jean, Grandad. Hiding at the back are daddy and John Moon.

I had at one time thought that I might have been a Veterinarian with my love of science and zoology but during my two years working holidays and Saturdays at a Veterinary Practice I realized it not to be so glamorous and also required many years at University. Another reason that I did not want to leave home for University because I would have to leave Ronnie. Just before I was to graduate from High School we had a job fair and I learned about being a Laboratory Technician. I applied to the Anatomy Dept in the Medical School in Dundee and started a few weeks after graduating. During the time that I was completing my training as a med tech I found out that my friend from school Maureen Grieve was also training to be a Med Tech. in another town where she had moved to. Her dad and brother had been drowned in a life boat accident and then the year later her mum died of cancer. She had moved from the area to stay with her sister in our final year at school. About the same time my Uncle Tom had a stroke and he came to live with us for a little while. He had stayed with Granddad Anderson in the Hilltown and it was at the beginning hard for him to get up and down the stairs. Mum and Aunt Jean looked in to see Granddad every week but I think that Granddad felt life was without meaning anymore. Aunt Jean went to visit one afternoon and smelt gas – Granddad had taken his own life. Tom continued to gain more strength and went back to the house in the Hilltown to live until he moved to a ground floor flat close by. Ray was settling in to living in NZ and loved the sunshine. She was like Aunt Jean and suntanned easily. I on the other hand was fair like daddy and just burned! I remember Ray sending a really nice shift dress that she had made – how I wish I could fit into that now – and also a Geisha girl ornament for my dressing table. Ronnie was really proud of the car he bought and he left it very clean. In December of 1965 Ronnie asked to speak with dad privately. He asked if he could have permission to ask for my hand in marriage. Luckily dad did not think back to the time that a young man who played in a rock band came to take me out. Ronnie had been dressed in a black shirt, tight black pants, a pink tie and to complete the outfit he wore a pair of white shoes. Dad said yes and Ronnie was to make him very proud when later he went back to University and did a Technical Teacher training, then a BSc in Pure Mathematics and a MSc in Pure Mathematics. On Dec 14th 1965 Ronnie proposed with a diamond cluster ring – we were engaged!

Although there had been sadness and heartache Christmas and New Year 1965 was a time of celebration for the Reid and Warner family. The early months of 1966 were busy with making arrangements for the wedding but nothing compared to Weddings nowadays. My wedding dress veil and headdress cost 30 pounds I believe that would have equivalent to a month of my wages. I asked my friend Doris to be my bridesmaid and my sister said that she would come over from NZ to be my other attendant. Doris and I picked out a pattern and chose a blue/green shot silk material. One dress was made for Doris by my dressmaker and I sent material to Ray in NZ where she made her dress. The satin pointed toed shoes were dyed to match the dresses. I was so delighted to have Ray come home for the wedding and being a hostess she could even fly at a discount. To this day she still joins me for any major events and like mum and her sister Jean we remain true friends. My dress was a slub silk material with a long train starting from a V of appliqué flowers from my waist down. Another two rows accentuated the straight line of the skirt and simplicity of the dress. The men wore tails and looked very smart. The service was conducted at Holy Trinity, our little church in Monifieth. If you remember in my first paragraph Ronnie went to St Salvador’s so just like mum and dad we were already of the same denomination. Another link was that the then Bishop was the priest where mum and dad got married so we asked if he would conduct the service with our priest and he did. Quite a record to marry a couple, baptise their children and now conduct the marriage of one of them. Dad kept the receipt for the reception – it cost 120 pounds – about $200. Our cake was a rich fruit cake iced with Royal icing and was made by the local baker in Monifieth. The reception for 96 people was held in a lovely hotel in Carnoustie just down the street from the Beach Hotel where I met “Ronnie Rhythm ” four years previous. In 2016 we returned to Holy Trinity and renewed our wedding vows and had a reception to celebrate our Golden Wedding in a new hotel overlooking the 18th hole of the Championship course in Carnoustie . My sister Sarah joined us from NZ and Ron’s(as I now call him) siblings Christina, Fred and Brian. Also in attendance was his groomsman Sandy McMillan. October 15th 1966 was the best day of my life – I had to say that because Ron is my Web designer!!

Although I am stopping my ‘growing up’ story at this point I just want to say something about our mum. I will write about dad at a later date – actually I could write a book about him!! If you have read any of my other stories you will have a little sense about mum where she grew up and what she liked. Just a few points about her before closing. Mum was a true friend to her neighbor Mrs. Sanderson. She would do little things like making extra chips(French fries) because mum knew she liked them – and I would be given them with the instructions “Run over with these to Mrs. Sanderson before they get cold.” Mrs. Sanderson liked perfume – even though she never went anywhere so mum would always buy some for her Christmas. Mrs. Sanderson always kept a china cup – only for Mrs. Warner. Mum would help anyone and always had a smile. Mum loved having Jean and family down on Sundays for a game of cards. Lots of laughter and just a few light curses when her hand of cards was bad!! She loved Netherby, and gardening. She also loved painting in the house but everything would be painted including light switches and door handles. Her needs were very simple and she had some great quotes “I don’t have any problem sleeping, I just don’t think” and when asked if there were any cars coming she replied, “No only a bus.” and lastly “God said it, I believe it, so that finishes it.” We called these “mummy-isms.” When daddy first took her down to Sheffield to a dinner dance at his work everyone fell in love with her and always looked forward to seeing her return the next year. As dad said, “Your mother had an abundance of that intangible thing called charm.” I asked Ron today what he thought of mum – he said one word -couthie. A Scottish word that encompasses all that you would want a mum to be – warm, congenial, friendly and so much more. She loved Ray and I with the most unconditional love and also her grandchildren.

The year was 1980 and Ron and I were back in Newbigging after being five years in New Zealand and we were awaiting a visa to go to live in USA. We had our our son Stuart now age elven and our son Kenneth age three. Mum celebrated her 60th birthday in January 1980. Mum said that summer that it was one of the happiest years of her life having her two grandchildren with her. I was now pregnant with our third child. Mum never knitted before but after we left for USA in September she knitted bootees for her new grandchild and was going to bring them with her as she planned to be with me in November for the baby’s birth. Mum died suddenly of a stroke on October 25th two weeks before her third grandson Andrew Anderson Reid was born. The framed bootees still hang in our house as a constant reminder of a mother who I would be honored to be like.