Dad

 

 

Its Fathers Day here in the UK and inevitably I've got to thinking about my late old Dad. Very few photo's show both of us together but I did find this ghostly kodak misfire of us in the rolling landscape of the Isle of Man, one of the last family holidays we had together before my Mum sadly left us all too soon in 1977.

 

 

My Dad was called Cliff. An unusual and old school name nowadays, but it suited him well. The son of a mill worker and a postman,  Cliff was one of five. He was intelligent and had the most beautiful handwriting I've ever seen. In World War II he was just 19 when he joined up as a sailor or more specifically a 'Sparks' on account of him operating the ship's radio. He was also the ship's barber. He met my Mum during the War. She was a WREN, the women's branch of the Royal Navy.

 

 

Besides fighting a War, Cliff did lots of things in his 66 years, short by today's standards. He was a wallpaper and paint shop owner, a book-keeper and for many years managed a large cash and carry wholesalers, Richard Oldham Ltd.

 

 

I often went with him to Richard Oldham's because it had a large toy section for the trade. My memory of exactly what was there is a blank but I remember the place was full of Sixties plastics like Pifco torches, plastic framed pictures of the Haywain, settee arm clip-on trays, red ketchup bottles, key rings, barometers and everything you didn't need but loved to have!

 

 

I once did a day's work at the cash and carry, sweeping up mostly. My Dad wrote me out a wage slip for £100. Peevishly he charged me £99 tax so I ended up with just a pound note! Still, I was chuffed.

 

 

Cliff liked to play snooker, be with friends, be in the sun, drink whisky [his nemesis] and read. He read war and spy novels like The Eagle has Landed and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He also subscribed to Readers Digest and knew every word in the 'wordsmith' section before he read them. He had a tremendous vocabulary and used to announce to me ' Son, I am both omnipotent and omniscient!'. It was only years later that I knew what the difference was! His love for books and words was his enduring gift.

 

 

So. here's to Cliff and Dads everywhere. A good book, a comfy deck chair and one more day in the sun! Thanks Pop.