My Story

By Marie Phillips. Birmingham, England

My story spans 85 years and has surprised me, when thinking back, that there have been some significant moments.

My earliest memories are the happy six week school holidays spent under canvas on a farm near Porthmadog in North Wales with my very Welsh Mum, her sister, and my cousin. My Dad would take us and come home for work. He had a new car each year so there was a constant smell of new leather making me so car sick, which added to the long journey time. Sunny days helping with harvesting and rounding up the cows for milking and making cream and butter. Mushrooms gathered as they burst through at dawn and making the best breakfast with an authentic taste — so different to today’s insipid offerings. Being rained out in typical Welsh storms and sleeping in the barn with the chickens!! Black Rock Beach to ourselves. Such carefree days — if only I had a time machine!

Mum took me to the farm to recover from a bout of measles when I was six. David Lloyd George, the former Prime Minister, died while we were there and we walked with the daughter of the farm, seven miles to Llanystumdwy for his funeral. Crowds lined the banks of the River Dwyfor and the service was conducted from the large rock in the river where he would sit and contemplate affairs of State. It was then placed on his grave. I doubt many who were there are still alive to tell the tale. We then walked the seven miles back.

My war years memories are vague apart from my parents’ stories of seeing the glow of Coventry being bombed and Mum having to shelter from a German sniper when pushing my pram, and the return home of my brother after six years in Burma. He was seventeen when I was born. He did not tell he was returning and I had no idea who he was when he swept me up.

I went to Bournville Infants and Primary School, which had a strong connection with the Cadbury family and factory. I actually was part of the tasting panel to choose the eventual filling for the Creme Egg.

Dad held a managerial post at the Austin and I remember he was loaned one of the first Minis to trial for a weekend. We were the talk of the road!

I went to grammar school with Anne Jones, who won the Wimbledon Tennis Championship in 1969. I could boast that I beat her in the interform match at school!

After a secretarial course at Birmingham College of Commerce, I worked in the City Engineer’s Department headed by Sir Herbert Manzoni. Then, for a local group of Engineering Companies before marrying John in 1963. We met at the then Locarno Ball room in the City. We moved straight into a three bedroom new build bought for £2,500 and a mortgage of £34 a month. Our daughter Ruth arrived on our seventh anniversary followed by David four years later.  We later moved to our present house 52 years ago.

John’s redundancy when Triplex Safety Glass moved his department North altered our very nice lifestyle drastically in 1980.  John set up as a painter and decorator and I did temping. We kept the wolf from the door and did not claim a single penny in benefits. Three tough years later, after a bad experience with another glass maker and an almost move to Norwich, we were back to square one. Our house almost sold, the children without schools and carless, and the decorating business sold. Back to full time work for me after more temping at the BBC. John took any work available until getting a permanent job at The Austin Motor Company, then known as Rover. It was manual work and frustrating not having to use his brain, but he stuck it out until retirement in 1998. I was luckier and accepted a permanent secretarial post in Personnel at BBC Pebble Mill. Fifteen happy and fulfilling years until I retired, too, in 1998. My last nine years was as the Midlands Co-ordinator for the BBC Children in Need Appeal. A job so varied and more a vocation than work. Not mainly fundraising, but making sure our committee of professionals had all the information they needed to share £4,000,000 annually between qualifying children’s charities in our area. I have the utmost admiration for the people working tirelessly in the interests of less fortunate children, many in heartbreaking situations. I met many celebrities in the course of the job who willingly gave their time for various fundraisers, cheque presentations, and visits to projects. The highlight was being presented to Princess Diana at a Reception for Conductive Education, which we had funded. She chatted about the charity for ages, and I will never forget her easy charm. The BBC’s photographer compiled an exhibition of pictures of Midlands people with unusual jobs and I was “hung” in Birmingham Art Gallery for its duration — a very proud experience.

I met many celebrities in the course of the job … the highlight was Princess Diana … I will never forget her easy charm.

There have been other memorable experiences, some funny and some not, but we have been the luckiest parents and grandparents and our greatest joy is to see our children the best parents to their children — our four grandchildren, who really keep us going.

We overcame our difficulties, celebrated our Diamond Wedding in 2023, and live a contented retirement with the usual aches and pains of age, but no grumbles.