Noreen Vincent

Those of us who are interested in local history will finda conversation with Graham and DesireeSmith fascinating. In 1944 Graham was born inBletchley in a semi detached house at No.40Bletchley Road, which is now known as Queensway.The house is no longer there nor is the field that wasnext to it in those days, instead the space is occupiedby theA1 Insuranceshop.Desiree, althoughnotborn inBletchleycame to livethere whenshe wastwelve daysold. She was born in Wrotham, Kent in 1944 duringan air raid. Apparently whilst her mother was actuallygiving birth to her the midwife and nurse heardthe doodlebug coming closer and dived under thebed, leaving her mother to get on with it. Her grandparentsat that time lived in Church Green Road,Bletchley, and so her father evacuated Desiree andher mother to live with them for safety. As Grahamsaid if Hitler had found out about Bletchley Park‘scode breaking facilities they would have been in fargreater danger than if they had remained wherethey were. So both Des and Graham grew up inBletchley and had what they describe as a ―society‖wedding in July 1966. They were the last couple tobe married in a church in Bletchley Road, for on thefollowing Monday morning, Bletchley Road was renamedQueensway. The catering for the weddingwas provided by the ―Co-operative Society‖ whereDes worked, with the sit down meal costing 15 shillingsper head (75p) and the evening buffet costing5 shillings per head. (which is 25p in today‘s money).They spent their first night in London at the BonningtonHotel on a bed and breakfast basis and thencontinued on to Margate for the rest of the week.They recently compared prices of the equivalentroom for a one night stay at the Bonnington, on thesame July weekend including the First Class rail farefor a weekly return. In 1966 it cost them less than£16.00 and in 2011 the cost would be £519.60. Theyhave two daughters and since then Des worked for28 years in the Reprographic Department of theOpen University. In the past Graham was always akeen sportsman playing Rugby for his school, cricket,tennis, high jump, bowls , and so on, but after fiveknee operations he has had to restrict his activities toboard games, cards, darts and gardening. Both Desand Graham enjoy a quiet day‘s fishing together.They are keen gardeners, which is why they appliedfor, and were lucky enough to be allocated, a4Getting To Know Youlower ground floor apartment No.018 so theywill be able to continue gardening in pots on theirpatio. They are looking forward to life in the village.******************Fred & MyrtleWhen we all move into the village, Fred andMyrtle Patrick will occupy apartment No. 318.Myrtle said ―Wow we made it by luck, judgement,fate or prayer, who‘s to say, but we are in Hurrah!!!!!‖Myrtle was fifteen, when she and Fred met. She livedin Dunstable and went to a local dance and Fredwas there. He had driven in from Harlington on hismotor bike. Although Myrtle felt very grown up atnearly sixteen, Fred must have seemed very much aman of the world having been in the R.A.F. with toursof duty in Egypt and India. He had turned down theopportunity to become an instructor at Henlow, preferringto travel instead. After leaving the services heentered the motor industry at Vauxhalls in Luton andworked his way up the management ladder.Myrtle also worked in Luton and would travel in fromDunstableevery morningby train– theycalled it the‗DaisyPicker‘ becauseittravelledalong soslowly.The popularidea was that you could jump out of the front compartment,pick the daisies and get back onto thetrain by the time the last compartment caught up.They would meet briefly on the station bridge beforegoing off to their work.Fred and Myrtle married in 1955 and had two children,Allan and Ann, both of whom have families oftheir own. Myrtle stayed at home whilst the childrenwere small and then took a job in a small local dairyas the laboratory manager. She was there for eightyears but then as both sets of parents needed help,she gave up the job to enable her to give them thesupport they needed. She is a good cook andfriends would often ask her to make various items offood for them and from small beginnings she beganto build a successful catering company. Theybought a house which had been neglected but hadthe advantage of rundown outbuildings and extensivegrounds. It was very hard work but they graduallyrestored both the house and the outbuildingswith the help of their son, daughter and daughter‘sgirl friends who were always willing to put up withchipped nail varnish and broken nails to hold ham-