Friends

With Lyn at Whipsnade

I was very fortunate to have good friends in London. Scott MacRobert from my class had suffered with asthma in Joburg and became a successful architect in London. For a month I stayed with his mother Joan in Roehampton. Scott had published a short history of Putney and arranged for me to meet Mr Smith at West Hill library. Although we was deputy librarian he was without power! I got a job at WHSmith in Sloane Square up until Christmas when we were laid off. The boss's son worked with us and was regarded as a spy. Some assistants were useless and I hated the disordered shelves. I found a b and b in a council flat at Clapham South so went to work on the 137 bus. I left the band b because of cat hairs I my egg. I applied to Tower Hamlets libraries and Michael Goldthorpe told me to shave off the beard. The man who interviewed me had a beard! I got the job and for 6 months worked in Bow, Poplar and Bethnal Green libraries. It was very quiet and  boring not like the new idea stores. Poplar was cut off by roads. It is now closed.
Lynn Stagg a library colleague from JPL said Mrs Clarke had a room at 22 Woodville Gardens Ealing. I could cook there. Lynn was lesbian.


I had a very long commute on the underground but I found I could go to opera and concerts halfway home! Sadly Scott died and by then I had moved at least three times so did not know. Lynn came to our wedding but I also lost touch with her.