Thus Pat had returned to her home county. We now lived only 10 miles from the spot – in Aylsham – where we had met at a dance on the evening of 16th May 1944.
The apartment looked beautiful. I fixed for a Stannah stairlift to be installed for Pat. The kitchen was huge and was equipped with more gadgets than we had ever had in our lives. When we had brought in the 2000 books from the boxes in the garage, it soon became a home. Once again I was only five minutes away from a swim – through a small wood and out on to the cliffs of the north Norfolk coast. Noel Coward was quite wrong when he said “very flat, Norfolk”.
Our first concern was to make arrangements for the Golden Wedding celebration on 7th February 1998. Let Pat’s diary record of the event take up the story.
“Our Golden Wedding Day has shone with sunshine and love. Jack and I have shared a wonderful day of celebration with our dearly loved family of sons, daughters-in-law and seven grandchildren – and with close friends. Ray and Jane, David and Sally, Erin and Hannah, dear Audrey (bridesmaid) and Edna, cousin Joan, and Alan were with us, sharing our happiness.
The day began with Jackie and I exchanging our own greetings and gifts, he giving me a lovely silver and gold British Empire brooch and I presenting him with a handmade bust of Brahms and two Mozart chamber music discs.
Happiness then continued with the arrival of dear Richard and Sue, Graham, Julia, Claire, Simon and Colin. It was marvellous to welcome them at the flat, all looking so well. We were overwhelmed with a large box of many home-made little presents from the children; and biscuits and chocolates and coffee and foods bearing a gold motif; a spoon with rings and a special Golden Anniversary thimble, all gifts delicately wrapped in shiny gold paper. The children watched with quiet delight as I lifted all these little parcels from the box and unwrapped them. Richard and Sue enjoyed looking over the apartment, admiring greatly.
Whilst they were here, Ray and Jane drove into Norwich to collect luggage from Jonathan and Natalie who were arriving there at midday on the Jetlink from Stansted and were to go on to the football match between Norwich City and Manchester City without the encumbrance of luggage. Before the match they were to join up with James and friend Ivana (arriving by train from Cambridge) and Graham (driven there by Sue); Sue collecting them all after the match and after she’d done an afternoon’s shopping. In the meantime Richard supervised the other four children in the Links Hotel swimming pool.
In the early afternoon Peter and Tricia arrived at the flat: it was lovely to see them; they too enjoyed seeing the flat and were impressed. Whilst they were here, Jack left to pick up Audrey and Edna at Cromer Station and delivered them to the Hotel. Later, we and Peter and Tricia drove in convoy to the Hotel. Jack was checking on arrivals – Alan was in, Catherine and Ashley (her RAF friend) were in, Joan and her travelling companion Rita were in – and I went to Audrey and Edna’s room to have a nice little talk with them.
Jack and I were watching anxiously from our window for Sue’s party from Norwich: the match would have finished at 5.00 but Norwich on a Saturday football day sometimes approaches gridlock. At last, at 6.30, Sue arrived with Jonathan, Natalie, James, Ivana and Graham, in good time for all our loved ones to assemble at 7 pm in the dining room allocated to us; everyone so beautifully dressed, introductions all round (Ray and family arriving by taxi), photographs by a professional photographer, so jolly and amusing and complimentary, arranging us all for about a dozen different groupings.
Our special dining room was splendidly set out for 25 places with a long oval table, so lovely. Along one of the walls, Jack had arranged photographs of me during 50 years of marriage under the heading In Praise of Patricia and subdivided into six decades ranging from 1940s to 1990s: the display proved to be of great interest to all (and a surprise to me). Hotel staff circulated with pre-dinner drinks.
Dinner began at 8.00: mushroom soup or mixed fruits for starters, roast lamb main course, chocolate gateau or pavlova for pudding, coffee and liqueurs – everyone enjoying their meals and with happy conversation. A lovely celebration. At dinner’s end Jack made a little speech, which began with our meeting on 16th May 1944 ten miles away from here [coincidence – his Squadron number then was 214 – our Hotel room number this evening is 214!] and concluded with the wish that all the younger marrieds should enjoy as much happiness as we have had. Ray proposed a toast to us.
Then I opened presents, wonderful gifts of love for us. From Peter and Tricia, a marvellous framed tapestry Tricia had been working on for months, of flowers, and Challen piano keys, with our names embroidered on it. From Richard and Sue, three magnificent framed photographs of Jackie and me taken two months ago under Richard’s instructions by Jon Marshall, the largest one printed on canvas; so lovely, so wonderful a memory of our Golden Wedding. From Jonathan and Natalie, a pair of handmade handsome gold-waisted goblets and lovely photograph frame. From James, Catherine, Ashley and Ivana, a beautifully flowered plate. From Ray, Jane and family, a pair of Waterford Millennium Love crystal flutes and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot. Alan gave us a very attractive ornamental dish; Audrey and Edna a Crown Derby ornamental trinket box; and Joan a gift presentation of Moet & Chandon. I was quite overwhelmed with emotion – so happy that we, as family and friends, were all together for a very special celebration.
The evening ended with fond ‘goodnights’. A marvellous day. Dear God, thank you.”
Now we have lived here in Cromer for nine years; dear Pat is 82 and is still a glamour girl, despite her Raynaud’s, Scleroderma and other ills; I’m now approaching 85. I’ve taken on a few tasks here – Finance Director of the Company owning the Collective Freehold; Treasurer, Membership Secretary, poster printer and lecturer on this and that for the Cromer Society, a cultural community; and a member of the Committee of the Friends of the Cromer Hospital. It sounds all very familiar (to Eastbourne), but that’s it – no more – the tasks are straightforward and pleasurable. Well, the first one has had its aggravating moments, but that’s to be expected. At least the “simpatico”s exceed the barrack room lawyers and the complainers.
We continued at first to travel to interesting places. In 1998 we took a very pleasant holiday, with Ray and Jane, in Puerto Pollensa at the northern tip of Majorca; and later that same year, again with them, on a conducted tour of all the Baltic capitals. In 1999, we spent our 51st wedding anniversary in Tenerife and visited the western United States yet again (with a very special purpose, explained below). In 2000, we travelled to the Isle of Man (another special purpose) and to Wales and to the southwest including the wonderful Eden project, still then in its construction stage. And to come up to date, we liked Tenerife enough to return there in 2001 and 2002 for subsequent anniversaries and later sailed across the Irish Sea to Dublin and a literary search. Scotland in 2003, and then we had to call it a day. From then on, 2004 (a very difficult year for us both) and beyond, we have had to forgo major travels.
Peter has now retired – at 52! – and is playing the Stock Market very seriously. Tricia has moved from a state school to a private school and finds the work much more rewarding but the travel more tedious. Eldest grandson James has completed an MA course at Sussex and has gone to Heidelberg and Berlin before returning to Sussex for his Doctorate. His sister Catherine, after University at Bristol, has joined a large Magazine Company and is doing well as a Senior Marketing Executive: shrewd girl she is. Richard has taken Actuarial Executive posts in the Isle of Man, first with Hansard International and now with Zurich Insurance, and has installed his large family in a stunning new home in Douglas. Sue continues to run and walk marathon distances around the world, has taken a position in Barclays Bank and at the same time manages to bring up five very able children. The eldest Graham is reading Computer Studies at Huddersfield.
That leaves Jonathan and Natalie. Here is a remarkable story, a remarkable achievement. In early 1998, Jonathan applied from Aberdeen for two Assistant Professorships in United States Universities. One was in Los Angeles, UCLA, the other was in New Jersey, Rutgers. Both appointments had started with about 150 applicants, a majority of whom were American. Both Universities had whittled the numbers down to about a dozen for interview. The interviews were spaced out in time to the extent that he had to travel to the States twice, Rutgers first, UCLA second. Jonathan’s name by this time was well-known in the IS (Information Studies) field from a number of papers either written or edited by him and posted on the internet. Indeed, it was a Professor at Rutgers who, aware of Jonathan’s writings, invited him to apply for that particular opening. As a result of the interviews, Jonathan was immediately offered the Rutgers appointment at their conclusion. He had to ask for time to consider. He attended the UCLA interview and eventually, the same thing happened: against all-comers he was offered the UCLA appointment. He was sorry to turn down Rutgers, but he felt he had to accept the Los Angeles job. Thus it was that we saw Jonathan and Natalie off from Heathrow in the autumn of 1998. Soon after arrival in Los Angeles, he took up the position of Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, a branch of the University of California, Los Angeles. It didn’t take Natalie long to secure a prestigious appointment as that of Director of the organisation known as the California Center for the Book.
Now you see why it was that Pat and I flew to California in 1999. It was primarily to see Jonathan and Natalie in their new surroundings and we spent time with them at the beginning and end of our visit. In between, we hired a car and travelled north to see sights which we had not seen before: the linking mountains of the Cascade Chain – Lassen, Shasta, Hood and St Helens together with that extraordinary sight of Crater lake formed 7000 years ago by a cataclysmic eruption of another mountain. On the return journey from Washington State, we travelled all the way down the Oregon and California coastlines, pausing at many places, including the majestic trees in the Redwood National Park.
Jonathan and Natalie continued to live and work in Los Angeles until 2005. Early that year they moved to Washington DC because he had been selected to take responsibility of an Assistant Editorship of the Dewey Decimal Classification scheme in the Library of Congress. They travelled as a threesome: a lovely baby – Zachary – had arrived on Christmas Eve 2004 (our 8th granchild). Since their arrival in the capital another development: UCLA have awarded Jonathan tenure in his absence and await his return to Los Angeles in September 2006.
There has been one very sad event whilst we have lived in Cromer. My dear brother Ken died in 2002, just a few weeks after he had flown to London for specialist advice and we had all met for lunch one day at the RAF Club. He looked seriously ill but I never dreamt that would be our last time together. I was asked to write an obituary for a Trade Magazine:
“Kenneth Vivian Furner, 19.4.1925 – 18.10.2002, founder of Harlequin Wallcoverings, has died at the age of 77. By diligence and hard work, Ken made a significant and well-recognised name for himself in the upper range of the wallcoverings business. During the 1960s and 1970s he laboured for many years to build up a wallcoverings design and wholesale business and had succeeded in making the trade name “Harlequin” extremely well-known at the higher end of the market.
At first, he had imported from many different countries – mostly European – and put together sample books with different themes, placing them in some hundreds of retail outlets. Then he went further – to have his own designs made (by Storey Bros in Lancaster) for sale not only within the UK but also for export to some 20 countries around the world – from the United States to Singapore. This was a bold move which changed the whole complexion of the Company and in a sense balanced up the transport arrangements, now both in and out, and the currency transactions, also in and out. He personally designed his first effort for export in the mid 1970s: it was a collection known as HV77 – Harlequin Vinyl valid to 1977. And he went on from there – imports continuing, exports rising.
His Company was known as Harlequin Wallcoverings Limited, based in Essex. He was the Managing Director and, as such, he personally established all the administrative procedures and proformae essential for the success of his venture.
He was ably supported by Terry Collins in UK sales; Ken Broughton in Import and Export; Jack Smith in Accounts; Jim Porter (North) and Ernie May (South) in the field; Ken Buckley in the overseas field; and up to 50 employees at the Company’s peak. Ken’s co-director was Dick Barnett (Finance) and his Personal Assistant was Ross Kennedy.
For the last five years of Harlequin as a separate entity, Ken’s brother Jack joined him as General Manager and a Director on his retirement as AVM from the Royal Air Force. One of the more critical tasks taken over by brother Jack was the ordering of stock. Before Jack arrived, Ken had personally been keeping stocks at sensible levels, judging rates of sale of his import collections and ordering in quantities mostly of dozens. By creating the Harlequin Vinyl collection and establishing links in up to 20 foreign countries, stock orders were to rise to thousands rather than dozens, thus enjoying significantly greater quantity discounts. This was the time before Personal Computers and equations had to be constructed in a programmable calculator in order to make sensible decisions on future demand based on past trend. The vinyls could be categorised under – for instance – plains, stripes, floral, patterned, blown, geometric and so on, and within each group, different colour ranges and complementary designs.
Ken worked hard to increase the scope of his business – new collections, new products, new domestic and overseas customers: for the latter he travelled extensively. It was inevitable that, with 25 years of building the name of Harlequin in the market, his success came increasingly to the notice of bigger fish. Towards 1980 first Storey Bros, then Turner and Newall, took him under their wing and eventually bought him out to further his retirement.
Ken was always an avid music lover. Not only did he take part himself in operettas with the local Operatic and Dramatic Society in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, but he also saw to it that his musical enthusiasm manifested itself in his business. It was entirely appropriate that he named his collections for many years with musical terms – Serenade, Symphony, Rhapsody, Concerto and so on. Indeed, he went further by associating the name of Harlequin with cultural sponsorship: Ken, ever eager – quite rightly – to maintain an up-market image, sponsored concerts by the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in each of the three years 1978, ’79 and ’80. Ken and Jack thus met conductors Karl Bohm, Andre Previn and Michael Tilson Thomas in addition to senior members of the Orchestra.
Although Ken left active business twenty years ago, his name for wallcoverings – Harlequin – lives on all over the world.”
I have mentioned that 2004 was a difficult year healthwise for both Pat and myself. At the beginning of the year, Pat was still very uncomfortable with the effects of a shoulder joint replacement; later in the year she had a fall backwards in the apartment, I was horrified to hear her descend into incoherence – she was diagnosed with a clot on the brain; at Addenbrooks the surgeons decided it was too risky to operate; instead she began a course of steroids designed to disperse the clot. Thankfully, there has been no recurrence of those symptoms. However, the scleroderma has taken a progressively firmer grip on her body and she is unable to walk either fast or far, and light steroids have become a daily medication. Nevertheless, she was able to shine for just a few hours with the whole family, assembled at the RAF Club for her 80th birthday, and again in Cromer for her 82nd.
In that same year as her 80th – 2004 – I developed a growth in the bladder. I now know what the word “retention” means and I also know how it feels to be lumbered with a catheter. Looking back on it now, it was amusing that answering a call to speak on “Bomber Command 1942-45” in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, had me travelling back and forth in United Airlines with the wretched catheter hanging. Anyway, it seems that the event went off well. With a Colonel Hal Weekley by my side, together we held a conversation for a couple of hours, staged in front of a theatre audience of 200 and received a standing ovation from them.
And so, at this point in the narrative, I am up-to-date. Life has been good. I have been fortunate, particularly during the war years: I knew briefly good men who saw nothing more beyond their early twenties. In aggregate there were 55,000 of them in Bomber Command alone. I belong, these days, to a long list of organisations: the Aircrew Association, the Bomber Command Association (a Vice-President), the Wartime Pilots’ and Observers’ Association in Canada, the Royal Air Forces Association, the Royal Air Force Historical Society, the Air League, the Air Marshals’ Club, the Burma Star Association, a number of Group and Squadron Associations, the Stirling Aircraft Association (of which I am President) and the Vulcan Aircraft Association. Sometimes I attend meetings or reunions, occasionally I speak. There have been, for instance, a number of speeches I’ve given around the timing of 60th Anniversaries. But we’re all getting rather old – a majority of us are at least in our 80s.
Most importantly, I have been supremely fortunate in my marriage. My love for my dear wife Pat is boundless: how she has put up with me for all these years is extraordinary. We are blessed also with a trio of fine, intelligent and resourceful sons, who have followed on with successful marriages and extremely able grandchildren. It is distressing to see around us in the 21st Century how the institution of marriage has been demeaned; how a third of all marriages end in divorce; and how nearly half of all births are illegitimate.
There is just one more Chapter to write. How do I see life today and what is happening around us?