29 January 1959
My dear Len and Margaret
This is Tuesday evening. Father has gone to the Masons. I hope he’s not too late to get back. We went on our usual drive, made it Corbiere again, it’s been a truly lovely afternoon, nice and sunny. There was a certain heat in the sun, but in the shade it was rather cold. Kay had taken a bucket in the boot of the car, she was hoping to find some horse manure on the roads. Arthur wants some, this is not easy to find these days. In olden days it could be found everywhere, you could get as much as you liked.the horses are much fewer now. Anyway all she managed to find was just a handful in Mont Rossignol. She said she would continue to bring the bucket when we go out until she can find some though I think the cow manure would be better and could be found more easily in the fields.
Roselle is busy in the kitchen making a lemon pie for tomorrow. She will very soon be here with me. I have made up a very nice fire with coal and logs, it is blazing beautifully. I hope Rose will not be too long.
Father attended an inquest at the hospital on Friday afternoon and another one yesterday . He seems to be going strong in these things.
Oh by the way before I forget to tell you this I must get on with it now. D&H F have parted again, this time it’s for good. She’s not coming back. About 3 weeks ago, D went to London for business I think. H went with him, she knew well what she was doing though, she did not come back with him. She said she would stay on for a few days longer & stay with her sister & brother-in-law. They live in some part of England. After a few days that D had been back she wrote to him to send her £20 which he or the old people did, so at the weekend D got news from H’s brother-in-law where she had been staying telling him that H had left them on the Sunday afternoon & that she had gone to the North of England with the fellow she had been carrying on with and that she would not come back here. You see when she went away with D she knew very well that she would not be coming back.
Don’t mention anything of what I say, but it appears that she has left a tremendous lot of unpaid bills behind. When the old people and D went through things last Sunday they were horrified to find all these bills for meat, bread, milk, butter, etc. which had not been paid. These bills amounted to quite a lot of money. She had hidden them in a tin. D had given her the money for the house but she did not pay anything, it seems she had kept this money for when she would go away. This is a shocking state of affairs, but between us it seems that D is not much better than she is, so it seems that one is as bad as the other. Now the old people are landed to take care of the two children. It now remains to be seen if D is going to live in the house by himself or if he will go to the old people. I have an idea he will stay in his house, so that he can have more freedom.
Now for some different talking. Many thanks for your letter card you wrote on the train back from London. You seemed quite pleased the way they had received you, that your appointment was quite satisfactory. You say that you learnt much that you did not know before. You say that this job is that you would be the Area Manager for the West Riding of Yorkshire & that you would have five Representatives working for you. You also say that the appointment is on a commission basis. Well apart from the money you would make on Bank, Accountant, Solicitors & 2% on anything introduced direct from an investor, in addition you would get 10% over-riding commission on everything introduced by the Representatives. You would also have a car & £200 a year expenses, does this mean you would have to pay any expense on your car?
Now apart from all this, which probably sounds quite good if you get the business, does this mean that there is no salary at all? On a commission basis you have to work hard to make your money, don’t you think so? Of course I must say you understand these things better than we do, because I must admit we don’t understand them at all. Well Len, this is left to you & hope you will decide what is best for you, but you certainly must give it a lot of thought & also a lot of consideration. If you did take this job, that means you would still going North. It seems you can’t get away from living North, it seems a pity. One thing I would like to impress on you is that if you took this job & you would have to buy a house, I hope (if possible) that you will be very careful to take a house in an area where you don’t get the floods . I hope you will think of that. Yorkshire is not a very warm place, is it? But then it’s cold everywhere in winter. I can’t tell you any more on this subject, only that whatever you do will be the right thing to do, so be very careful and think well, but do not worry yourself.
Well, my dear ones, I feel most sorry to say that the lovely plate is not up yet. Dad had bought some wire and nails, thinking it would go up on Friday when Kay and Arthur would be coming. I had brought it down in readiness. In the later part of the evening just before supper, Arthur said he would put up the plate. Dad gave him the wire , he said this wire was not the kind that was needed. This was a plain brass wire, Arthur said it was the stranded one, a finer wire, so I was once more disappointed the plate did not go up. Father has had some other wire especially for hanging pictures, so all being well I’m hoping to have the pleasure of seeing it up on Friday. I’ve waited so long I don’t want to be disappointed any more if possible.
Roselle phoned Barbara on Sunday to see how Auntie Flo was. She is getting to the end now, she is gradually dying. The doctor told Barbara that she would not live long now, in fact he can’t understand how she’s keeping alive. I think any day now we will hear that she has passed away & really it will be a blessing when she does. She has lingered a long time. Barbara said it’s terrible to see her, she is terribly discoloured, all this is painful to her family to see her in this state. I will now have my cup of coffee, it is now 9:45 pm. Trusting you are all well & that your weather is improving.
Thursday AM
Delighted to receive your letter this AM. Sorry to hear about the disagreement between your wife & yourself & the ‘bowler hat’ or as Margaret calls it ‘pot hat’. You wearing a ‘pot hat’ reminds me of Mr Allboys from the Sun Works. Well if that’s your choice, what can we say? We are amused though. As my letter to you is finished & Father is going to mail as he goes to town, will answer yours next week.
Now about changing your job, I feel a little uneasy about it. I don’t think I’m impressed on working on commission basis without a salary attached to it. You know, you won’t always be young, or if sickness arises which happens. You know I think you must feel a salary behind you. We told Eddie about it last eve, he wouldn’t take a job without a salary. I don’t think Arthur would be very keen either. Don’t say anything about them when you write, they often read your letters. Eddie says why don’t you see Lloyds[1] in London, they might do something for you. Anyway Len don’t think I’m trying to push you off this job. I’m not but be very careful & think well all details.
Lots of love to all from us 3,
Love, Ma xxx
