A FAMILY CHRISTMAS 1956

The story below is a copy of my December 2014 ~ January 2015 Pensioners Platform column in the Torbay Times newspaper:-

Happy Christmas One and All

DESPITE the troubles in Europe and the Middle East during the last few weeks of 1956, life in austere, post-World War II Britain carried-on regardless. I had just turned ten years old in early October 1956 when an insurrection in Budapest, Hungary suddenly became a global flash point. Less than one week later, Israeli forces invaded Egypt and, after five days’ fighting, Israel controlled the Sinai Peninsula.

In the days that followed, the public unrest in Budapest spread across the rest of the Communist nation but, on November 4, Soviet forces stepped-in and brutally crushed the uprising with tanks and air raids. At exactly the same time: in a poorly thought-through, politically stage-managed attempt to stop the fighting between Israeli and Egyptian forces, British and French troops landed in Port Said, Egypt. That was the opening act of what was to become known as The Suez Crisis.

Not since the end of World War II just eleven years earlier, and the uneasy Korean armistice of July 1953, had armed conflict between nation states brought us so close to the brink of a third World War. But that’s how it was as Christmas 1956 approach.

Nevertheless, by mid-December, the indomitable British spirit seemed to be gaining the upper hand, and this was made clear to both my nine year old cousin Geoff and yours truly, by our extended family’s determination to hold the usual Christmas knees-up.

At that time, I was living with my parents and older brother Barry on a pre-fab estate near Mottingham in south-east London. We’d moved there in 1951 from my birth place of New Addington near Croydon, because my Mum wanted to live closer to her parents and three younger sisters, all of whom lived in the nearby Grove Park area. In fact, Mum’s next eldest sister Ivy lived on the same pre-fab estate, just around the corner from us, with her husband Harry and cousin Geoff.

It was invariably Auntie Ivy’s prefab that served as the family’s gathering-place over bank holidays, and Christmas 1956 was to be no exception. However, December 24, 1956 was a Monday so all of the men-folk were at work. Indeed, most of them would be back at work the day after Boxing Day, so that year’s Christmas knees-up would be a one night affair only, on December 25.

Cousin Geoff & Yours Truly Outside Auntie Ivy's Pre-Fab Mid-1950s

As usual, Mum, Dad, Barry and I spent most of Christmas Day at home so, by mid-afternoon, our gift exchanges, Christmas dinner and the washing-up that followed had been completed for another year. But there was much more to come later in the day. At around 5 o’clock, we all wrapped-up warm against the chill, because there had been a light dusting of snow a few hours earlier. The four of us then walked the two hundred yards to Auntie Ivy’s pre-fab.

By the time we arrived, all three of Mum’s sisters Ivy, Vera and Tess, and their respective husbands were busy with their allotted chores. While the aunts prepared supper and snacks, Harry and Bert were setting-up the bar in the crowded kitchen. Uncle Arthur, meanwhile, sat on the living room floor with Geoff playing with a couple of Geoff’s new Dinky toys, watched-over by my maternal grandparents.

No sooner had we stepped into the warmth of Ivy’s prefab, my Dad was handed a pint of beer and escorted by Vera to the piano in the corner of the living room. Nan and “Nandad” applauded and chorused, “Good old Les,” as he placed the beer on the top of the piano and made himself comfortable. Moments later, he tickled the ivories in a brief warm-up, before settling into his opening medley of standards and popular melodies.

And that set the tone for the rest of the evening. A good old-fashioned sing-along echoed around that little prefab into the early hours, and when Dad wasn’t providing the music with his piano-playing, Bert’s new record player supplied the entertainment. Some of the oft-played recordings I recall from that Christmas night knees-up were Ronnie Hilton’s version of “No Other Love”; Perry Como’s “More” and “Glendora”; Frankie Vaughan’s “Green Door”, plus “True Love” by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. But the undisputed hit that Christmas as far as my family was concerned was “Woman in Love” by Frankie Laine.

All in all, and in spite of the troubled world in which we lived, it was a thoroughly enjoyable, cosy, Yuletide family gathering. Fifty-eight years later, the world is still a troubled place, but that’s no reason to deny ourselves a little bit of warmth, joy and good cheer during this Festive Season. So, here’s wishing you a very Happy Christmas and a trouble-free 2015.