This is so late in the day - but nevertheless very sincere. I shared very precious memories and experiences with (as I knew him) Charlie, especially between the years 1958 and 1965. I spent many an hour at his side in the workshop and we shared holidays more than once. In 1963, he and Chris, and my then-girlfriend, now wife of 58 years, Billie and I went to the Isle of Man together. There are so many 'Charlie-isms' laid down in my heart and memory. When I think about them, I grieve him very much - even though we had not seen each other for many years. We used to laugh about the slogan, "frequent jam", which - he told me - had been a selling-point for his private school in Derby. He would often twit me is I said or did something a bit 'daring' with " .. and him, going to be a Vicar!" Billie and I were really delighted to be able to watch the late Fred Dibnah's visit to Haycock & Son's.
This is something I wrote recently - a poem, yes, but not a rhyming one, I'm afraid:
Easy to say what it was - but, trickier, how
We came to be out that night, or even where,
Quite, the location, now buried in memory’s folds:
And why, perhaps, most difficult of all.
One step at a time, then. We had gone,
Charlie and I, to fetch from a farmer’s field
A tramcar stair-case, for Leicester 76:
For decades previous, used in a rather posh
Henhouse. No item, this for a check-out
Even at B & Q, whose vaunted range
Covers your normal building requisites.
Memory’s awash with guy-ropes and gale conditions,
The rain in our faces, wind in the tarpaulin;
I saw no cash change hands but guess it did.
By hook and crook, loaded to the van’s back
I’d conned my way to borrowing from the Works,
The journey not straightforward and the weather bad
We made it to that Tramway place at Crich
(Very far then from what it since became).
With very best wishes from us both: and greetings to the family, especially Chris of course - as we share so many memories
Fred Dawson
16/09/2024
