A few weeks later, safely installed in Northern Ireland, I started to put on a bit of weight. As it turned out, putting on weight was something that, throughout life, I had to struggle to avoid.
Initially my parents went to live with my father's father. It appears to have been an arrangement that suited neither party, and we soon moved to a nearby flat in the same terraced row - Ardmore, in Hollywood , Co Down. We lived here until 1949, when the family moved to Knockagh, a house in High St, Hollywood, and not far from Ardmore. I assume the move was because my brother Charlie was on the way (he was born in March 1949) and that the Ardmore flat would have been too small for a family of four.
My father's mother, that is my grandmother, died here in Jan 1947, and my grandfather re-married in Dec 1947, which my parents considered indecent haste, and indicative that he had had an ongoing liaison with Isabel Young during the long period of time that his wife had been living in England. Isabel wa 46, and my grandfather 66.
My own claim to fame at Ardmore, was that I would knock on the doors of other flats asking if the ladies had any saucepans for me to lick, and eventually they started saving saucepans for my visits. I have always enjoyed food.
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| Ardmore Terrace for various angles | ||
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| I was baptised at Holywood Parish Church of Ireland on Church Rd, Holywood. Polyphotos were part of family life, before people had their own cameras, and both me and mother have them here | ||