I went to Leiston to sign on at the Labour Exchange and a few days later saw a well- dressed man coming down the path. On going to the door he introduced himself and said that he understood that I needed a job in gardening. In our conversation he said that it wasn’t much, mainly grass cutting and hedge-trimming. That didn’t inspire me and I said he could have a look at the sort of work I had been doing and showed him the White House garden. He was impressed but I told him I was not interested in his job. It turned out later that he was an undertaker and also a manager of the Ogilvie Homes in Aldringham. He came again a few days later and was a bit more persuasive and I agreed to meet him at Church Lane, Aldringham one morning. There I saw a long row of twenty houses with a room in the middle called the reading room. The manager, Mr Whitewick met me and showed me round. I was not impressed – overgrown shrubs, borders full of weeds, a large lawn more weeds than grass, a shed containing tools and a small patch where some of the residents had small allotments. We then got into his car and went to the other houses in Aldringham. Here there were 20 bungalows plus a reading room, also a lawn in front and a large patch of rough grass both at the front and the back. There was also a large shed big enough for at least two cars. In here were also tools, all set in place. The houses and the bungalows had a small bed in front under the windows planted with rose bushes. These were covered with mildew and blackspot. In the shed was a lawn mower and I remarked that I had not seen one at the other houses. Mr Whitewick told me that they used the same one for each site, the boys from the farm would move it for them when it was convenient. I told him that when grass needed cutting you couldn’t put it off. At that moment the Matron appeared and asked if I was going to work for them. Mr Whitewick replied that I wanted another mower and she said “Well, get him one then”. We went back to the houses which were known as the Church End and sat in the car and talked. I told him that it was not at all what I was used to and that the place was a mess. After that he told me that the trustees had told him to employ me and I said well I will need a house. That’s no problem he said and told me what money they were offering. It was much more than I had been earning and I nearly fell through the floor of the car. I took the job and learned later that the manager was good but slow about getting things done.
We eventually moved into Central Road, Leiston on December 3rd and there was snow that day. Luckily I had been able to decorate before we moved in. After Christmas I began to think how some of the land at the homes could be used and wondered if I could cultivate a patch to grow vegetables for the residents. It was always my habit to work round a garden at least once a week, more often if time permitted, pulling up a weed here and there, cutting the grass when it wanted doing not when it needed doing. By the time Easter came I had in mind what needed doing, the lawn needed treating to get rid of the weeds, the roses needed more soil round their roots. Many of them were standing on three roots like a three legged stool. I had already started on the shrubs, trimming and digging round them. There was one resident there who I had seen before. It was Mr Smith who had given us the chicken at Reydon. One day he said that the garden was beginning to look like a gentleman’s estate garden.
I soon found out that I could have whatever I needed, within reason – a ride-on mower with a rotovator attachment and enough weed and feed to treat all the lawns. A farmer ploughed a patch to grow vegetables for the residents and everything was going very well. There was Trustees’ Day every summer and they came to look round and have lunch in the reading room at the church end. They were able to have new potatoes and broad beans from the garden. In the afternoon they had a meeting deciding all matters concerning the running of the homes. It was decided that I needed a bigger mower. I had already adapted a three-wheel truck to be a trailer so that the mower and things could be moved from one end to the other. In the autumn we ordered a hundredweight of daffodil bulbs. The shrub borders were looking better. I always walked round with a hoe catching the weeds before they grew and shed seeds. The roses recovered from black spot and grew strong and I managed to find enough rosebuds to decorate the table for the communal Christmas lunch. I planted tomato plants under the windows. The variety I chose was ‘Big Boy’ and some of them weighed eight ounces.
When I was 63 the government encouraged early retirement, which I took. This was expected to help the unemployment situation in the country. I am proud of the fact that I left the gardens a better place than I had found them and I enjoyed the work, the friendships and the cups of tea. One old lady of 86 refused to have her kitchen decorated unless I would do it, so I got the job. I asked her how she liked the central heating which had been installed just before I started work there. Her reply was that she didn’t like it as there was nowhere to spit!! (She smoked Woodbines). I have always loved a challenge; I believe we can all do anything, within reason, if we try.