14. March 1940
Dear Angela
Your letter arrived on March 8th and I was at home when it came. Please excuse me for not writing, but we have just been having the exams, and I think I have done fairly awful in everything as I did not do any “swotting”. I think my writing has become worse since the exams, that is because we have to write so much in such a short time.
It has been snowing now for two days but the sun comes out and melts it. I am fed up with the sight of snow and I think snow at Easter is going to be terrible. We are getting three weeks holiday at Easter but we are advised by the Government not to return home - out of about 400 boys evacuated about 390 are returning home - it shows what we think of the Government’s advice. I went to see my uncle the other week, he is an officer in the Army and is camping near here, we had a great time at the camp and had an “army tea”. If the war lasts I will be in the Army or Air-Force in three years time - I have very pleasant prospects haven’t I.
I managed to escape St Valentines Day this year although my pal did not. I still have a problem to work out, as a few months ago someone sent me a pig’s tail with a piece of blue ribbon on, and a short note! Does anything like this happen in America?
We have not had any football for a few months now as the fields were either under snow or water, I rather enjoy playing in mud. I bet you looked beautiful “up to the eyes” in mud after hockey.
I read a “Piedmont Highlander” which one of my pals got from his correspondent. It is much more “free and easy” than our school mag. ours is published once a term and is fairly “dry” consisting of a few works of art, literature and reports of the school societies. It also seems as if your school is much different from ours. Ours seems to be much more strict than yours even though it is considered fairly “democratic” over here. Well so much for “ours” and “yours”.
I think pencil sketching is much easier, as you can rub your mistakes out and hide them with shading. I have some sketches to do for the “Bedan”, and the “Editorial” has to be drawn. It will be published in about three days time so I have plenty to do - but why worry? I will try anything once.
I am hoping to go for a ride in the Clevelands on Saturday if the snow has gone. It is great to ride on the moors and you often find ruined abbeys with their proverbial “ghosts” who walk at midnight. We usually ride to Richmond to see the girls from our school, of course we go to see the ancient village. I will be seeing, or at least hope to see some of the girls at home at Easter.
Well I must close now, but I am hoping for the best, expecting the worst so that I won’t be disappointed - this applies to the exam results.
Yours sincerely
Harold
P.S. Please excuse the crossing out
14 March 1940
12 February 1940
12.2.40
Dear Angela
Received your letter last week, so it has taken about three weeks to come over. If you sent your letters straight home (that is billets) I would only get them one day sooner, and as we are still hoping to get back to Sunderland you may as well send them to Sunderland. But you can do as you please.
I have turned a “crook” in the last week ----- no not quite a burglar. I will explain. As you know we have a job to get a week end leave. Well last week a pal and I wanted to go home and give mam and dad a surprise. I wrote to my uncle, who is in the army, and he sent me a letter as if dad had written it asking me to go home, ------ that got my permit. I then took a hand in the dealings, and wrote a letter as if my pals mother had been writing, I was quite “motherly” telling him not to get his feet wet or he would catch cold etc. ----- this obtained a permit for him. We then discovered that we had not enough money for the fare, so we rode the 50 miles and got home at 10 am after starting at 6.45 am. We have just returned - in the train as the snow was too deep to ride. Well that is all to say about my “forgery”, ----- it was quite exciting riding before dawn in the dark.
I suppose you will have heard by now that we have had the coldest winter for45 years. The snow thawed last week but last night a fresh fall of about one foot has arrived.
I hope that you got through your finals OK. I have some exams in about a months time but I am just going to hope for the best, it won’t be much use. Although it is a little late, I wish you many happy returns for your birthday. I don’t know whether I told you but I was sixteen on November 10th 1939.
We had “pancake Tuesday” last week, it is a day when everyone eats a kind of flat cake which is cooked in a frying pan, it is an old religious custom. Do you have a “pancake Tuesday” in America? Next Wednesday is “Valentine Day” it is a day when you send comic cards which express your feelings towards someone, no name is put on them however. Do you have Valentines in America? I will explain about the “flicks”, it is a slang term for the films, it comes from the days when they used to flicker on the screen. The other sentence which you couldn’t understand is:- if a person pays two shillings he can buy two one-shilling seats, and as he does not need two seats and he wouldn’t pay for a “boy friend” it works itself out. Do you understand now?
We are now doing America in Geography and it is a terrific size compared with England. California seems to get very little snow or rain and I think you should be thankful that you do not get our weather.
I must close now, please excuse writing as I am half asleep after a hectic week end at home and getting up in the “middle” of the night to ride 50 miles on my bicycle which is just about falling to bits.
I close now wishing you
All o’the best
Harold
20 January 1940 - South Otterington Church, North Yorkshire
I suppose that you will also be wondering what has happened to this letter. You posted yours on December 18th and I received it on January 19th, that is yesterday. Well I suppose, it is lucky to get any letters at all because of the war. I must thank you for the Xmas card I think that it is a very good “lino cut”. I hope that you received my Xmas card in time. If possible I will send you a print of one of my sketches, it was printed in the “Bedan”, that is the school magazine.
As you can see I am still away from home. I managed to get home for16 days at Xmas and was at six parties and never in bed before 3 o’clock in the morning, so you can tell what kind of time I had. I did not feel like returning but I had to as I sit my first exam in July. I hope to sit another exam when I am 18, to go to University and be an architect. This is looking ahead however.
We are having some great fun now as we have about 6” of snow. It snows nearly every day now. Before it snowed we had 12° of frost and I had quite a lot of ice-skating, it is great fun. One day I was on the ice for 5 hours. I went and swept some of the pond this afternoon so that we could skate. Tonight I went “sledging” with the two boys in my billet, we had a great time on the banks. These sports may sound alright but as it is about 10° below freezing point it is very cold. You will laugh if I tell you what I had on to keep me warm:- two shirts, one waistcoat, one “pullover”, one sweater, two pair of trousers, two pair of stockings and football boots. I looked very “tubby”.
I was supposed to be on our under 17 cross country team to-day but the team we were running against were ill with measles. I am glad that the race was put off because of the snow. Last Monday I ran 4 miles over terrible country in 10° of frost, when I finished I was blue.
We saw three German planes the other day but there was no anti aircraft shooting. Mam and dad have seen the shells busting around the planes at home and they saw one brought down. As yet we have had no bombs and we do not want any.
We see most of the American films over here and I think that they are better than most of the English ones. Do you see any British films? My favourite film star is Loretta Young. At Northallerton we do not see the films until about three years after they have been released, as it is so small.
We are rationed now but nearly every one is taking it as a joke. I could not get any writing paper with lines on and I had a job to get envelopes. So please excuse the writing.
Well I must close now, it is still “as card as owt” or “”could as owt” which means as cold as anything.
I will leave the letter open until I manage to get a print from the printers.
I remain
Yours Sincerely
Harold
-------/-------
Sunday 21st
I did not get up until 10.30am this morning. I then went sledging on a new “run” which has a series of bumps in it. I had three crashes into the hedge and am feeling quite sore on my hip bones. I went skating again this afternoon but it began to snow and I got “home” looking like a snow man. There is now about one foot of snow and some drifts about six feet deep. It was the coldest night we have ever had last night, it was supposed to have been 24° below freezing point. The bath will not empty as the pipes are frozen and even the water taps inside were frozen There has been a cover of frost inside our bedroom windows for quite some time.
I may seem to be talking about the weather a great deal but it is the only topic of conversation over here.
I will leave letter open until tomorrow at latest. I am enclosing some Australian stamps.
Monday
Will definitely close now as I have got the first print which is enclosed.
Yours sincerely
Harold
8 December 1939 - Allowed home for Christmas
Dear Angela
I hope you receive this letter sometime near Xmas, I have tried to judge it so you will. We have been having very cold weather, snow and ice. On one day it was extra cold and remained at -9°C all day. We are hoping to have some ice skating here, we do not get any at home because the ponds and rivers never freeze thick enough.
I am still enjoying myself in spite of all the troubles of an evacuee. Some of the boys have not been very lucky in their billets because they have got in with some “queer” kinds of people. I have been very lucky. We have had a great debate here as to whether we should be allowed to go home for Xmas or not. We (the boys) have beaten the Government because we can go home if we wish, and no one can force us to stay here. I will be going home on Dec. 22 cond and I will return on Jan.8th. My pal and I have been having a queer time lately because we went to the “flicks” last week (a 1/- seat costing 2/- can you work this out?) and this week we found out we were “broke” and have had to be careful with our money until our next allowance came from home.
I am now in the middle of the term exams, we have a week of them two each day, they began last Thursday. My friend and I got “fed up” of “swotting” last night and went to the cinema (on our own this time!). We did just as good in the exams as if we had worked all night.
I am now training for the school Cross-Country team, we are running against the “Royal Signals” at Catterick next week. I have been “ploughing” through some of the dirtiest farmyards I have ever seen. Do you have much cross-country running in America? The school was very proud of an old boy yesterday because he has been chosen to play for Oxford University Football team.
I am now talking “Yorkshire” altogether, I have got some of the very funny Yorkshire “sayings” off now. We meet farmers every day and hear new proverbs etc., some of them are very funny. The last one I heard was that a man was “too lazy to shiver when he was cold”, this is in standard English however. Did you understand all my talk about the dialect? Have you any dialects in America?
I hope you will soon get used to my ironical remarks, I have developed a habit of putting them in letters since I hear so many from the Yorkshire hosts.
I have managed to get hold of a German 40 mark stamp, it is very common and you will almost be certain to have it.
I must close now, I hope you are in the best of health, “but don’t if you would rather not” (another piece of Yorkshire)
I close wishing you and all at home a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.
Harold
P.S. If you can’t understand some of my “slang” terms please ask me about them
19 November 1939 - New digs
8 Springwell Terr. East
Northallerton
Yorks
19/11/39
Dear Angela
I suppose you will be wondering why I have changed my address since my last letter. My new “mother” at the old “digs” took ill and I had to find a new place. I am here with my pal and the people are much more homely than the last place. They are very jolly and we can hardly eat for laughing.
I was home for the weekend after I answered or at least wrote to you. My pal and I got home because we had to buy some new clothes. I got home again for all of last week because I had been ill and the doctor sent me home for a rest. I can tell you that I did not feel like returning, although the people are so kind it is not quite “home”. I wish we were going to get home for Xmas as I have had invitations to three parties, but it is doubtful if we will be allowed home.
I am glad you liked the photo of Barnard Castle, I thought you would like them as I don’t think you have any castles in America. We have quite a number of old churches around Northallerton some as old as 1090 A.D. They are favourite subjects for pen and ink sketches. The oldest church I have ever seen is in Sunderland, it was built about 800 A.D. and is Saxon, the tower is still standing. I have just began to study Architecture and it is very interesting.
I did not think you would have to learn “Shakespeare” in America. We have him until we can quote from almost any of his plays, I like his blank verse but I would much rather have “Wodehouse” “Conan Doyle” etc. I have read “The Tempest”, “Twelfth Night”, “Julius Caesar” and “Macbeth”. We get a test on “Macbeth” in my first exam which comes next July, we get context questions, this is giving the speaker, the person spoken to and the part of the play in reference to about two lines given on the exam paper. We also get questions like this on Modern Poetry. I will repeat you and say “forget that I wrote anything about it” if you get the same.
I think I told you that our Girl’s School is at Richmond, well I rode about 40 miles to Richmond and back, not to see any girls!, but, to see our Rugby Football Team get beaten by Richmond Grammar School. The ride to Richmond is just torture, as Northallerton is in the valley and Richmond is “perched” high up in the hills. We miss our Girls School, because we used to have tons of fun travelling to school on our bikes or in the tram-car with them.
When we came back from Richmond we made a detour in order to pass a very large aerodrome which is nearby. When we went past we saw some of the famous “Spitfires” they were about ready to take off but we could not watch as we would have been taken for spies. I saw a Spitfire last week and it went down our high street about 100 ft high and at about 400 m.p.h. it was a marvellous sight to see.
I haven’t done much pen work for a while now but I have made a passable pencil portrait of my host. Our art course is very mixed now but I manage to be fairly good all round. Last week we had to shade a duster in pencil, it was some job because of the hundreds of shades and folds. I can also imagine you drawing a Roman Toga in pen, it must have been tough!
May I also congratulate you, not on a championship but on your writing. I have always admired it and it is far better than mine. I don’t know what you think of my scribble, it is pretty awful isn’t it. I have an excuse because my fountain pen has been borrowed and I am writing with a fine sketching pen.
You have been lucky having a heat wave we had snow about six weeks ago and there was about two inches of ice on the “beck” which is Yorkshire for stream. We cannot get any more apples as they have all been gathered but we have some very sweet ones from certain orchards. I think I will be writing “Yorkshire” soon as well as speaking it. I suppose you will have heard of the famous Yorkshire dialect well that is what I am refering to. One famous Yorkshire saying is:-
(A father’s advice to his son) “If tha iver does owt for nowt, die it for thee sen. Drink all pay nowt, hear all say nowt, but, if tha iver does out for nowt die it for thee sen”.
If you can’t understand it means:- “If you ever do anything for nothing do it for yourself. Drink all and pay nothing hear all and say nothing”
Another phrase, used in autograph books, is “By hook or by crook I’ll be first in this book”, this is put at the first page or it can be altered to the last.
Thanks very much for the photos, I think they are great and I am sure your first description of yourself did not pay you enough tribute.
I have a correspondent for your cousin his name is George Cutter he is also an evacuee with our school. I have given him the address so he will write first.
I must close now as I have expired both physically and mentally but I should not have left two letters unanswered.
Yours sincerely
Harold
P.S. Please excuse all mistakes
