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Family Decision Time Despite the fact that dad had enlarged his business, he came to the conclusion that the days of the small business man were numbered because of the expansion of the Co-op. He therefore started to make inquiries about migration, his first choice was Canada but they weren't looking for bakers at their stage of redevelopment after the war years, his next choice was New Zealand, where he got the same answer. All of this had taken quite some time to negotiate with writing of letters and waiting for replies. Mum's sister, husband, and son had migrated to Australia during 1948 and were always singing it's praises and said they were more than happy to nominate us. So during 1950 an application for migration was lodged with Australia House.
It was March 1951 before approval was finally given and dad was told it could be anywhere from six to twelve months before we could get a birth on a ship. He was told not to sell his business until he was notified by Australia House, that was not good enough for dad, he promptly put the business on the market and when it sold; the family, without me, went and lived with his parents in Willesden.
Personal Decisions 1949 for me was a time when I had to leave school, which I did not want to do, but the secondary school system had no provisions for keeping students on after they had attained the age of 14. When school resumed after Christmas those of us who had to leave were interviewed by staff from the careers section of the labour exchange and given forms to fill out as to our choice of occupation. If you had not already decided what you wanted to do, you only had two choices in Northamptonshire at that time, and that was farming or the Boot and Shoe industry.
I had made up my mind what I wanted and that was to work in the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, so I was provided with the necessary contacts. I discovered it was not easy, you could not just apply for a position. Their criteria for employment was that you first must have at least two years previous practical experience at a recognised nursery, three years at an Agriculture/Horticulture College, and then sit for their entrance examination.
I had set everything in motion by initially obtaining a position with G.A.T.Mayes (Geoff) of Rose Acre Nurseries, Doddington Road, Wellingborough. His father owned the nursery and a shop in the high street of Wellingborough. Geoff had a small section of the nursery where he specialized in growing Dwarf Conifers and Clematis as well as doing small landscaping jobs and garden maintenance. I started working a 48 hour, six day-a-week for the princely sum of £2 and thought I was made. I couldn't have wished for a better company within which to start my career. I was well on my way to completing my practical experience and was due to start at St Albans Agriculture College in 1953.
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Decisions 1949 |
