— The Continent & the UK ~ Apr 23 – May 26, 1957
A quote by George Behrend …
The Orient-Express is mysterious,
the Train Bleu is chic,
the Sud-Express is dignified,
but the Rome-Express is majestic.
We boarded the Rome Express after the porter threw our bags through the windows ? We had two adjoining compartments and once the conductor made the beds, Lindy and I fell onto our beds and crashed but mom and dad found it terribly claustrophobic and had a terrible night! ?
We arrived at Paris’ Gare de Lyon at 9am and there was a lot of shunting going on, then we got to Gare du Nord and more shunting happened! Had a delicious lunch and as there were two carloads of Victoria passengers, we were not lost for company!
The Olsen family were friends and their son, Roy, who was a couple years older than me, joined me in a compartment and the two of us sat and yakked about all sorts of things as we headed to Calais. I remember as the train went through a tunnel, Roy reached over and gave me a very clumsy kiss, on the lippy lips!!!!
My first kiss ?
It made such an impression on me that I remembered it 61 years later (at the time of writing)!! ?
Just before arriving at Calais our passports were checked and then the train stopped and we all moved to the ferry heading to Dover. The sailor who was helping us with our luggage advised dad to reserve seats on the “Golden Arrow“, which was the train taking us from Dover to London.
The ferry sailed shortly after we boarded and boy, was the English Channel rough! I thought I would throw up all the contents in my stomach overboard – ugh! Daddy said that Roy also got very seasick so perhaps we were barfing in unison over the rails! Tee hee ?
Arrived on the shores of Blighty and headed for the “Golden Arrow”, the sailor carrying our luggage for us. Dad paid him and then gave him a nice tip for his advice, so he toodled off smiling! We were very please to find ourselves in a compartment with no one else!
After we had tea, dad invited Uncle Cookie (? don’t ask as I don’t know ? ) and Roy to join us for drinks.
April 24 ~ arrived London
Rocked into Victoria Station at 7:50pm and no one was there to meet us ? How sad ?
Got a cab to the Montana Hotel, which was at 67 Gloucester Road in Kensington.
My folks were very happy to see a large bouquet of roses in their room from Joanna Ramsey (whom I’ve spoken about on other pages – see — Linen Chest and Paquerette & — United Kingdom ~ May 9 to Sept 2, 1953) and so we started unpacking to get ready for bed when, half-an-hour later, Joanna burst into our rooms! She really was like a mini typhoon – LOL! ?
We fiddled faddled around and got ready then we all went to Dino’s Italian restaurant, which was only two blocks away. Had a great dinner and were exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel. Crashed after having a bath and slept like a dead person!
The next couple of days dad was busy with trying to find out when we could collect our newly ordered Vauxhall from Hudson Motors and both he and mom were saying how much they enjoyed staying in South Kensington – so close and handy to everything – and wished they were spending the whole month at the Montana instead of going down to Carshalton!
On Saturday the 26th we took Joanna to see “Damn Yankees” at the Coliseum for the 5:45pm performance; although dad wasn’t impressed, we girls found it great fun and enjoyed the show immensely ?
We all came back to the hotel and had dinner before us kids headed up to bed while the grown ups enjoyed liqueurs and a chat after their dinner!
The next day Keith Spencer, a friend from KGV, and his two pals came to see Lindy and they went out for the day. Mom had gone to Leslie to order a suit (who was Leslie and was the suit for daddy or was it for mom? No idea!) so dad and I walked to Kensington Gardens, mooched along Bayswater, Park Lane and then back to the hotel.
That evening mom and dad went to Albert Hall to see the Tchaikovsky program by the London Symphony Orchestra without Joanna as she’d rung to say she had to stay home and look after her mother who fell ill. Dad was impressed with Clyde Lythgoe, who was the soloist and he said Lythgoe played neatly and without mannerisms, as well as praising the LSO!
Monday the 29th was a bright and cool day. Mom and Lindy went shopping and I stayed in the hotel doing my school work while dad headed off to Vauxhall and the Automobile Association (AA).
After lunch dad and I hopped on a tube to head to Hudson Motors in Acton Town, picked up the car and drove to the hotel. Parked it then got back onto the tube to Mansion House and started looking for Lime Street. Finally found the Liverpool and London Globe Insurance Company at 4:55 pm … phew!! … only to find it was the wrong office! ?♀️
Yikes ☹️
Dad and I struggled back to South Kensington by bus utterly exhausted, stopping at Dino’s for a drink! I was pretty chuffed to read that daddy said he really appreciated the way I bore all his mad rushing about to find Lime Street ?
Yarsah, ah is fowah showa da best dotter \o/ ?
Had dinner and mom and dad scooted off to chat with Joanna as we were heading down to Carshalton the next day!
April 30 ~ arrived Carshalton
We left the Montana at about 11:30am and arrived at Carshalton, to be given a very warm welcome by Joy and Hammy!
Dad remarked at how nice #2 looked, having had a fresh coat of paint and looked clean and homey! We went to our rooms, unpacked and put our stuff away then it was time to prepare dinner. After we’d all eaten, mom and dad went to Epsom with Hammy and Joy for a drink at the pub while Lindy and I crashed in our room.
The next couple of days we girls stayed at Carshalton while dad went to London to fix things with insurance companies and God knows who else then as mom was feeling under-the-weather on Thursday, dad thought he’d get us out of the house so he invited Maureen to join us to see a Doris Day movie called “Julie” at the Regal Cinema in Purley. My father didn’t say how we enjoyed the movie but he did say that the Regal was a very nice cinema ?
Apparently inside the cinema had ribs in the ceiling which spread out like sunbursts from the top of the arch and recessed panels in each side wall had a decorative tree design inscribed on their surfaces. All very Art Deco and attractive!
We all spent the next couple days doing things like shopping, dad fixing up insurance for the car and our luggage, taking a trip to The Oaks to see if it’d changed at all since our last visit in 1953, driving around London with mom taking movie clips, lunch at the Silver Kettle and the oldies visiting Hammy after dinner when we went up to bed.
Keith came to Carshalton on Sunday, May 5, to see Lindy and after lunch we all piled into the car and dad drove to London. He dropped Lindy and Keith off at Grange Park in Enfield, then we went to Royal Festival Hall to hear Emil Gilels play.
My father said that Gilels played Brahms, Chopin and Debussy wonderfully but it was his performance of Stravinsky’s “Petrushka” which really amazed him! Dad said he played with such power, such technique – simply unbelievable ?
Went back to Carshalton and while we were having afternoon tea, Joy’s neighbours popped in to say hello so I went upstairs to do school work while the oldies sat around and talked. After dinner mom and dad took Joy to Hammy’s where they stayed till 1am.
The weather was cold and had been cold since we landed in London, so mom and dad weren’t very impressed with that!
I don’t understand why mom and dad went to see Eileen Joyce playing at the Royal Albert Hall with the LSO because they didn’t enjoy seeing her four years earlier ? True to form, they didn’t enjoy her playing the second time around! However they did enjoy Sir Adrian Boult’s conducting and they saw Princess Alexandra; she was there to support raising funds for Vellorel Hospital in Southern India! Funnily enough, during the interval a lady asked my mother if she was from India ?
Tuesday, May 7, dawned bright and frosty – it was 14 degrees below the May average! We headed off to Canterbury at 10:25am and arrived at 12:45pm.
Had lunch at Slatter’s and — a little bit of trivia to share — apparently the building which housed Slatter’s on St Margaret’s Street, and which was considered a real eyesore, was finally demolished 60 years later, in 2017! ?
After we had lunch we all trooped to the Cathedral for a looksee!
The verger, Mr Baker, took us all around for a quick tour and he was a very amusing and interesting guide, giving us lots of information which wasn’t in the guide book!
We drove back to Carshalton once the tour was finished when it started to rain and get very hazy, which made dad quite tired since he was behind the wheel!
Got back to the house by 6.20 and we all headed to our beds after dinner, being tired from the trip!
The next day dad zipped around London doing things about the car and preparing for our travels to the Continent, then in the evening he and mom went to a concert featuring Myra Hess with the LSO. She played Beethoven’s No 4 in G major which they both enjoyed. At the end of that piece, she accepted the Royal Philharmonic Society‘s gold medal on behalf of Bruno Walter and then the LSO played Mahler’s Symphony No 4, which was supposed to be one of his happier compositions.
Dad said he really didn’t care much for Mahler and his gloomy works ?
The next day for some bizarre reason Lindy and I stayed in bed all day so mom and dad went to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square to check out the paintings.
The Gallery was founded in 1824 and houses over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th Century to 1900. The present building was designed by William Wilkins from 1832 to 1838. Only the façade onto Trafalgar Square remains essentially unchanged from this time.
My folks spent about two hours wandering around the left wing only before coming back to the house. Dad picked up Hammy and brought him over for dinner and afterwards they sat and talked until past 9, when dad took him back to his house.
Friday, May 10, was the first warm day that we experienced in the UK! Dad went into London and did some things then came home and changed before he and mom collected Hammy and went to Drury Lane to see Robert Morley in “Fanny“.
This musical opened in England — after running on Broadway for 888 performances — on November 15, 1956. It was a tale of love, secrets, and passion set in and around the old French port of Marseille and as well as Robert Morley, the cast included Kevin Scott, Ian Wallace and Janet Pavek. It was a great musical and they all enjoyed it ?
They took Hammy home by 11 and stayed for salmon and cucumber sandwiches which Hammy produced before coming back to Carshalton.
The next day was a big surprise! Dad got tickets for us to see The Platters at the Palladium. It was neat to see an American group, whom we listened to on the radio, perform and was something we all really enjoyed, especially us young ‘un ?
On Sunday, Dave Tate, another friend of Lindy’s from KGV, came over to see her and spend the day. Mom, dad and I left them to go to Royal Festival Hall to get tickets for the concert on Tuesday then had a cup of tea at the Thameside Restaurant. The weather was really revolting – showery and cold ?
Sir Adrian Boult & Yehudi Menuhin
Came back to Carshalton and I helped mom make dinner. Afterwards mom and dad went out to listen to Sir Adrian Boult conducting at the Royal Albert Hall. Dad said they had tickets up in the stratosphere and there was a stench of the loos where they were sitting. Ugh!
Yehudi Menuhin then came on and played with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and when he finished, Sir Adrian sat in a flautist’s chair until Yehudi came out again to play an encore, which the packed house demanded!
When they got back they found Dave was still there! No information as to whether dad took him to the train station or what ?
On Monday evening we went to the Duke of York’s Theatre for some “kultchur” ?
“The House By The Lake” was about a brother and sister, Maurice and Stella, who plot to murder their half brother, Colin. Flora Robson was playing the part of Janet Holt, Colin’s wife, who also wanted to kill him ?
It was a very suspenseful play and I enjoyed seeing Flora Robson in real life.
Dad mentioned that we saw Violet Dekker there but I have no idea who Violet Dekker was! Obviously a friend but was she a friend from HK or just from the Victoria I cannot say ?
Mom and Lindy met up with Joanna the next day to go shopping while daddy and I went to Ebury Hotel looking for a friend of dad’s called Mr Kickson but he wasn’t there, so we went to Gloucester Place to see another friend of dad’s, Mr Haynes, who was out.
Went to the British Museum and spent two hours roaming around there before having lunch at a place called the Continental on Museum Road. Then we got a bus to Victoria and went to the Ruben Hotel on Buckingham Palace Road and, lo and behold, Mr Kickson was working there but he was out.
Killed 45 minutes at the News Theatre at Victoria Station before catching the train to Wallington. News Theatres were cinemas which specialised in short films, like travelogues or cartoons, sports or fashion events showing continuously, but they didn’t necessarily show news.
We picked up the car and went back to Carshalton where we had dinner before dad picked up mom and Lindy from the station. Lindy had had her hair done at Raymond’s (Mr Curly Wurly) so was feeling all grown-up!
We all went to Royal Festival Hall with Maureen to listen to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by William Steinburg.
The next day I went with daddy to pick Joanna up and on the way we stopped at the Ruben Hotel and dad finally got to see Mr Kickson. Dad said he hadn’t changed and it was great to see him again, so I can only assume that they were good friends in Hong Kong!
We drove Joanna back to Carshalton and, after lunch showed her the sights then drove her home after dinner. Lindy went out with John Penn, the young man from the Victoria, and his buddies to see “Fanny” and then have dinner at the Latin Quarter. She rocked in at 2:30am on Cloud Nine as after dinner, they’d gone to a nightclub in the West End!
John Penn came to get Lindy at 11:30 the next day and dad found out that he had a projector and splicer, so dad asked if he could borrow them. John said “no probs” so dad drove him to his house in Purley and picked up the objects. Dad spent the day fixing up his 8mm films so that they were all on a large spool for an uninterrupted showing that night ☺️
John asked if he could show his films as well so both he and daddy showed their films off, then John rode home on his bike while dad drove to his house to return his items.
Mom and dad went to Joanna’s the next evening as she was having a party for them and while they were out, one of Lindy’s old friends from HK, Jo Stanton, came over for dinner with us.
On Saturday evening dad went to a Masonic meeting then on Sunday we collected Joanna and drove on to Cambridge to see her sister, Izzy, whom we first met four years earlier.
She had two young men to introduce to Lindy, Brendan somebody and Derek McLennoch, and they joined us for lunch at the King’s Parade Restaurant. After that we were invited to Derek’s flat, where dad took some photos before the boys took us punting on the River Cam!
When we finished bobbing up and down the river, we had tea at the Garden Hotel and headed back to London at 6:30. We dropped Joanna off at her flat in South Kensington, Lindy and I got dropped off at Carshalton, then mom and dad headed to Hammy’s house in Wallington called “Maskee” for a dinner party ?
My God, I never realised how much fortitude my parents had in those days – driving here there and everywhere – and, of course, these days there would be no way that would happen – what with all the traffic on the roads!
They got to Maskee at 9:20 and dad said they were greeted with a group of people who looked extremely hungry and tired that they arrived s It was late but once things got going, everyone relaxed, ate and drank, and they all ended up having a great time! Phew! That was a relief ?
Monday, May 20, was shopping in Knightsbridge Day! Went to London and spent up big at the Scotch House! Mom got me a green duffel coat (for £6!) and knee-high socks to go with it, plus a purse, while dad ordered a Black Watch jacket. It was a lovely store with lots of gorgeous things so I think both mom and dad had to use a lot of self-control to not splash out the cash there ?
We did a lot of window shopping before going to the Copper Kettle for dinner and then headed to the Royal Opera House to see “Aida“. Poor old dad – he was feeling very self-conscious attending the opera in his day clothes but said it was a relief that our expensive seats were secluded so no one could see us in our scruffy clothes! Thank God for that! Phew!! ?
I remember Lindy and I could hardly contain our giggles because most of the cast were rather fat, and when there was a scene of someone leaning against the props, they started to lean over and we were sure that it’d end up crashing to the ground; and also the earth-shattering experience when Aida and her lover Radamès would come together in an embrace, both being rather fat and stocky!
Daddy would glare at us so we were trying not to shake with laughter but I ended up snorting and my mother squeezed my hand, either in annoyance or in sympathy – not sure which as I didn’t dare look at her! ?? Amazing what sticks in the brain from all those years ago! ?
Joanna rang the next day saying that Derek, the fellow from Cambridge, wanted to take Lindy out. Joanna was excited but Lindy was meh and declined the invitation!
Tuesday was uneventful but on Wednesday, the 22nd, we all went to see Mr & Mrs Hennessy who lived in Blackheath. Midge Hennessy used to work for mom at Linen Chest/Paquerette when her husband Pat, an Army officer, had been stationed in HK.
They were a wonderful couple – no kids, which was a shame – but they made up by making me feel like one of the family! I really loved seeing them and we had lunch, afternoon tea then dinner at their place. Sometime during the afternoon we all went to Greenwich Park and stood on the Prime Meridian line, which I thought was rather fun!
I’ve now found out that the line is, in fact, WRONG! ? They’ve recently discovered it should more precisely be 0.001472° (102.5m) further east! How ’bout them green apples! ? Lied to for all those years! *Sigh* … who can one trust!! ?
The next day Keith Spencer came to see Lindy for the day while dad was in London doing all kinds of things in preparation of our luggage being delivered to the ship, making sure the car was properly serviced and what-not, going to the bank and sending any excess baggage which we wouldn’t need back to Hong Kong!
After dinner daddy told Keith to scram and said he felt sorry for Keith having to cycle for 6-7 hours before he got back to his home! Ai yah! Keith must have been very keen on Lindy to ride his bike for such a long time to see her then go back! Sheesh, I don’t think I ever had a suitor who did that to see me!! ?
Daddy took Lindy and me to “Maskee” to see slides – not sure if they were our slides or Hammy’s. Shame he didn’t give us his slides of HK when he was there as that would have been super interesting to look at now but I’d think our interest was pretty bland when we were young! Ahhh to have a time machine and go back to those days to see for myself at my age now!
Mom had told daddy that when he came back from the bank and gave her money to go shopping, she went to Woolworths in Wallington to buy stuff and when it came to paying for it, she gave the cashier a £5 note which dad had got from the bank earlier. Apparently that was a poop-load of money in those days so the cashier asked mom to see the manager. The lady was Auntie Pammy, whom my parents knew, so there was no problem and mom said Pammy looked better than ever!
Well that was good! Would have been embarrassing if mom had been carted off by the local plod for being a foreigner and having too much money to spend in one note! ?
Friday, May 24th dawned cold, wet and windy but I was excited because we were leaving England for the Continent in two days time! Woot!!
After lunch we all got in the car and went to Knightsbridge to pick up dad’s jacket from the Scotch House. He was so disappointed when he tried it on as it was so badly made and needed quite a bit of alterations! He was very displeased but and after much grovelling, the salesman promised that it would be fixed and could be collected tomorrow which placated my father!
We had tea at Dino’s then went to Leslie’s (was Leslie a tailor?) and picked up Joanna, who was waiting outside Kensington Mansions. We took her home, watched TV for a while and then took her for dinner at the Copper Kettle, which had been renamed Casa Pirelli! Had a great dinner and then took her home, said a teary goodbye to her and drove home.
Went back to Scotch House the next day and daddy was very happy to find that they’d done a great job with the alterations and his jacket fitted perfectly! Had lunch at Fernando’s Grill in Knightsbridge and enjoyed it immensely, especially after finding out the history of the building. It was King Charles II’s stables back in the day!
Drove to Trafalgar Square to take photos and then mooched around thinking that the ballet we had tickets to was starting at 3pm. Got to Covent Garden at 2:15 only to find out the ballet started at 2pm ? Ooops!
My father thought the dancing was better than in 1953 but the Corps de Ballet was still pretty ragged and not as good as the Festival Ballet.
We came home, Lindy and I crashed after dinner and poor mom was packing until 1am!
Sunday the 26th arrived and we were seen off by Joy and Maureen, Hammy, Wilfred and Uncle Bob (?) at 10.20am.
We arrived at the Mackenzies’ house at 12:30 and Sandy showed us the Mulberry Hotel on Goring Road, which had a lovely restaurant and we treated them to lunch there.
We said goodbye to the Mackenzies at 4:20 and headed to Dover, arriving at 7:50pm. We went to Hotel de France for dinner and then went for a very short walk, because the weather turned cold and windy and wasn’t much fun for sauntering on the foreshore! Brrrrr!
Headed back to the White Cliffs Hotel and got under the bed covers as quickly as possible! ?
Our day of departure from England was Monday, May 27. Dad checked us out of the hotel at 9:30 and then we had to go to Austin’s to fix the lighter in the car and also a fused panel light. Did some shopping and had tea at Hathaways before dad drove us to the Eastern Docks.
Drove onto the ferry without any problems, had lunch on board and at 2pm, we sailed away from the docks heading towards Ostend.
Belgium, here we come! ?
This video shows the last half of our time on the Victoria, passing Stromboli and Capri, then visiting Naples, Genoa, the Rome Express through Paris and then in London.
1957 Apr 23 - May 26 - The Continent & the UK
Why 1957 was Britain’s happiest year of the last century (Daily Mail)
Yes, 1957 really was the happiest year ever! (Daily Mail)
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