Having arrived in Shropshire, we stayed with my grandparents, Alfred John Morris and Elizabeth Ann Bagnall, in their house at “Wrekin View”, Hill Top, Madeley; this was in order that my parents could do what they had been asked to do to calm things down and we hadn't anywhere else to live until we found somewhere. My father, meanwhile was trying to find a job as the one promised to him before we left Feltham, had been filled by someone else, by the time we got to Ironbridge.
Within a few months of arriving, however, the same neighbours were writing to the council saying that we were only waiting for the "old couple" to die so we could take on their council house - they even convinced my grandmother of this.
Luckily, my father managed to find a job and a house, in Ironbridge, so we moved. Unfortunately, all the time we had been staying with my grandparents, our furniture, etc, that had been in "safe" storage, had not been looked after, properly, and had deteriorated to the point where most things had to be replaced.
However, my first reaction, on arrival in Madeley, was one of great surprise, almost shock, at the sight of roads without pavements and, to me, single-decker buses looking more like toys. I was used to double-deckers, of course, but these, to mem as a chiild, were magic!
Then, just behind my grandparents house at Hill Top, and across a large field, I slid through a fence, down a steep but short dirt bank, and into the woods – something, as a Londoner, I had never really seen. I'd seen fields, we had them in Feltham, but not woods, not like these - this was spellbinding! I walked in amongst the trees, the ferns, and the bracken, then stood, quietly soaking up the stillness and listening to the soughing of the breeze as it eased its way through the leaves; nothing here seemd in a hurry. I remember, as a kid, thinking that this was what the world must have been like before people came along. This, too, was magic, but a much greater magic.
Even with the rustle of the leaves, and the songs of birds, far away, and high above, there was an almost-silence and I loved every minute of it. I walked and walked and met no one and never came to the end of the woods. I walked like an American indian (or how I thought American indians walked!), stepping over dried twigs, only lightly treading on firm, dry ground, so as not to leave footprints, avoiding damp patches and tall grasses, for the same reason, so as to leave no trail for the white hunter to find me. Well, I was, only, a kid!
I found out, later, that those woods ran down from Madeley to the river at Coalport and behind the Lloyds, and for some mile, perhaps, along the river bank. These are all memories, now, as it was sixty years ago! But they're lovely memories!
I went home to bore my mother to death with my excited recounting of my adventure. All I can say, is it's a pity adults grow up - I never intend to.
The only blot on the landscape was that, within a few days of arriving at "Wrekin View", I had to go to school - the one at "Madeley Wood", roughly half way between "Hill Top" and Ironbridge, down (and up!) Madeley bank, which was the steepest hill I had ever seen - we didn't do hills in Feltham.
It was so steep that the single decker buses, and most vehicles, wouldn't attempt to go up or down it in winter. Once, and only once, did I try to cycle up it on a bike with just a single gear, and I, almost, managed to but it was very hard work and I had to stop once (alright, perhaps, twice, even thrice - well, I was young) for some time to get my legs to stop wobbling! Well, I had to walk up and down this hill to get to school in the morning, to get home for dinner and back to school, and then to get home when school was over for the day. It was, then, that I learned how to walk with the least strain - look down at the ground and imagine there's no gradient, no slope, you're on the flat, breathe slowly and relax everything above the hips, letting your legs do the walking. Think of anything other than what's in front of you and save as much energy as you can by relaxing each leg as it leaves the ground. It worked, for me, and I have never worried about walking up steep hills - mind you going everywhere by car may have something to do with that.
I was shaken by the big difference, there was, between the small single-roomed school, at Madeley Wood, that served as a classroom for both infants and juniors, with two teachers, and the two schools, within a stone's throw of each other that I had attended - Cardinal Road Infant and Hanworth Road Junior - many rooms and many teachers.
I was, also, shocked by the boys' toilet, which was small, outside, had no roof, and built into the bank so that brambles and all sorts of wild plants grew over the top of the wall, bent down and tapped you on the head at the most inconvenient moment - it was very distracting and unpleasant. On top of that, all types of strange creatures came from nowhere - and there was a smell that would make a skunk hold its nose. It was revolting! I tried to ensure that I went to the toilet at home before leaving for school and, going home, on the way up and down the bank at dinner time and going home time, there was always the woods! I wonder if that's why I love trees so much?
My mother was right, my teachers didn't speak like my Uncle Bill, unfortuantely, most of the boys did - and did they swear!!! Those young kids used language that I still don't know to-day. Even Gordon Ramsey would be embarrased - well, perhaps, not. And sex! They knew it all, except that, when I got older, looking back, I realised that they knew all the words and used them in exceedingly crude fashion but it was mainly talk.
I'd always loved reading and writing but here, it seemed, football, bad language, sex talk, and dirty jokes, by children up to the age of ten, were the hobbies and pastimes.
There were two teachers; Miss Oliver, the Head Teacher, and a lady assistant whose name I've forgotten. They were both good and easy to understand for which I was grateful.
Within a few days of my joining the school, Miss Oliver, who was teaching fractions to one group of children, the younger ones, found that I had been taught both fractions and decimals, so she got me to sit with the older children and show them what I knew about the latter. This, I was pleased with because I love sharing knowledge but it didn't win me any points with some of the lads, especially the school bullies. Mind you, my London accent didn't help much!
Within that first year, we moved down the hill to Ironbridge, and a house along the River Severn; no. 11, "The Wharfage". I still had to go to that school so, there was no respite from walking up and down the hill, as Madeley Wood, is half-way up the bank and both halves are about as steep as each other and about as long!
While at Madeley Wood school, I passed the eleven-plus examination and moved on to Coalbrookdale High School; the walk to school was, now, all on the flat, all along the "Wharfage", by the side the River Severn until I turned right up "Dale End" and there was the school - but, now, I travelled by bike. It only took five minutes to get there - even so, because of the nearness I was, well almost, always late. My excuse was, if you live too close to anywhere, then there's no way to make up for lost time! It was then that I postulated my theory, which, I reckon, is up there with any of Newton's Laws - "That distance (d) times time (t) is equal to the motion of a Hercules bicycle (H)", which, in fact, because my bicycle pump didn't work, is a constant - so, the mathematical equation for this law is, "d x t" = "H", and, therefore, because "H" is a constant, then as "d" increases, so "t" must decrease - ipso facto, and in other words, or to put it another way, on the other hand, quod erat demonstrandum, the further you have to travel, the less time it takes - but only if you are riding a Hercules bicyle! So, being so close to school I was on a hiding to nothing - the laws of nature were against me. No, the teachers didn't believe me, either.
