I was born at an early age in Preston in a road as far to
the west of Moor Park as PNE Football Ground is to the east. I went to a
school in Fulwood where, in
spite of my being left handed, I was made to use my right hand. This had
two effects. The first anyone will see who tries to read my writing. The
second is that I developed a bad stammer in my teenage years. The effect
was that I found it difficult either to start a conversation or to join in
one. So, if I seem rather incommunicative or short of small talk, blame
that school!At the end of the 1930's the family moved to Ashton where my parents had formerly lived. We went to St Michael's Church and later we had a Sidesman called W.E.W. Petter (of Canberra fame). I went to Preston Grammar School and joined the School Scouts. For most of the time our Scout Master was in the RAF in India and the troop was run by the Troop Leader and Patrol Leaders (14 - 18 year olds). In most of the school holidays we went to the Headquarters Camp Site at Great Tower on the east coast of Lake Windermere. In all, I spent about six months in camp and I still can't use a primus stove. I then got a letter saying the King wanted me in his army (or words to that effect) and six months later that he wanted me to go to Egypt, where I was for over two years. For various reasons, several of us were licensed as Lay Readers in the Church and I claim to be the only Corporal who has preached to his Commanding Officer. Corporals do not often preach to Lt-Colonels! I came home in the spring and went to Durham University in the October. I did not have a distinguished academic career (but can put B.A., Dip.Theol-Dunelm after my name if I want). I was College Captain of Boats, Assistant Secretary to Durham University Boat Club and, for two years, President of the Durham Colleges Student Christian Movement (SCM). After Ordination I went as a Curate to Holy Trinity, South Shore and was put in charge of St. Christopher’s by the (then) railway bridge on Hawes Side Lane. On summer evenings we got the trains coming up from south station making a wonderful noise. If it was a spoken part of the Service we just stopped and let it go past - sermons in several instalments! I then went to St. Christopher's Lea. Before the war it was ribbon development along Blackpool Road, but later had four housing estates. The first was Larches on the south side of the road. To get a house you had to have two children, you then got two more in celebration. We had a Sunday school of two to three hundred children from the whole parish. On the south side of the road we had the Savick estate which was mainly re-housing from where the University now is. Further out on the south side were the English Electric houses (so called then). If a man worked at Dick Kerr's on Strand Road he took his sandwiches in an old gas mask case; if he worked at Warton he took his lunch in a briefcase! (not really!) On the other side of the road was the Atomic Energy Estate. The houses were allocated according to grade. So you knew what the income of the resident was. This apparently led to questions like "why can they have a new car on such an income when we still have this old thing?" (I forgot to mention the Lea Road Safety Committee of which I was chairman, which petitioned Parliament for the M55 – and got it!) After 10 years I moved to Wrea Green where I was expected to know everybody (and more or less did) and who was related to whom. One Christmas at Ballam there were 23 Communicants and two of us were not related! I retired in 1993 and moved to Fairhaven. I was invited to join Probus, and now you have done me the honour of electing me as your President. I hope I can fulfill the Office to the satisfaction of all concerned.
Rev Robert Wells |