We took a train from Glasgow early in the morning of the 6th of August. At Manchester we transferred to a train to Rochdale, which is where my dad’s next oldest brother, Walter, lived. We left Rochdale on the 21st of August so we were there for two weeks.
Walter Commins had gone to school with his youngest brother in Southport, so I think these two brothers probably knew each other better than some of their older siblings. Walter married Ivy and they lived in a semi-detached house. They had one son, Michael, who was married and living in his own home when we came in 1966. I still keep in touch with Michael, as he is good at keeping in touch with me. He is the only one of our generation that had the surname Commins. He has two sons and grandchildren so the name will live on through them.
Walter was very kind to us both by housing us and by taking us on many day trips, including Yorkshire, the Lake District and Northern Wales. Shorter trips included Southport and Blackpool. During the two weeks we were in this part of England, there were several rainy days, but we seem to have had leisurely days at Walter’s home on those days and they were able to find nice weather for the longer trips.
We had time to visit shops and meet people. Michael and his wife Brenda took us dancing one evening in Manchester. I remember it as a rainy evening, and Michael had problems with the windshield wipers. As long as he was driving, they worked well, but as he slowed down or came to a stop at a traffic light, the wipers slowed down or stopped too. I remember the dance hall, but I was not the most social person in strange places, though I remember dancing with people there. Michael was a year or so older than my sister, so I think she enjoyed the evening a bit more than I did.
Yorkshire
We took a day trip in the car from Rochdale via Halifax, Leeds, York, Scarborough, Whitby, Ripon, Harrogate, Burnly and back to Rochdale, a trip of a little over 400 km. The records say we were out for 12 hours, not getting back until 10:30 pm. In particular I remember seeing the York Minster and the seaside at Scarborough.
The route would have taken us through much of Yorkshire, including the North York Moors National Park. We saw many of the main Yorkshire towns. I don’t know now what the actual route we took, but given the list of the places we passed through, it would have been a good circle tour of North East England.
Southport
Though my dad was born and spent his childhood in Dublin, he went to school in Southport in England. His older brother, Walter, went to the same school. Because they were Irish, they were Big Pat and Little Pat. My dad never talked too much about his school years, except to mention that he went to church services enough during his years there to keep him going for the rest of his life. The school would have been a residential boys’ school.
Access to Southport from Dublin would have been a boat from Dublin to Liverpool, then a train the few miles north to Southport. As my dad was born in 1911, he was probably attending the school in Southport from about 1920 to 1927.
Uncle Walter drove us to Southport, about an 80 km drive from Rochdale. Southport is on the west coast of England, about 27 km north of Liverpool. Today it is a popular seaside resort town. It has extensive sand dunes. We saw the school that Walter and dad had attended. The buildings were still there, but I’m not sure if they were still used as a private school.
Lake District
This was another long day trip. We saw several of the lakes, Windemere, Grasmere and Coniston Water. Having read so much about the Lake District, it was interesting to have a car tour of the area. I think we were lucky and had a beautiful day for the trip.
Ullswater, Windemere Lake, The Langdale Valley
As I have been to the Lake District since 1966, my memories may get mixed up. I remember the lakes and nature being very beautiful and the towns very crowded. Comments on a postcard: “This part of England looks much like B.C. with the lakes and mountains.”
North Wales
I remember this trip better than some of the others. I remember the castle and the mountains. We first drove to Liverpool, crossing under the Mersey River via the Queensway Tunnel which comes out at Birkenhead. We then drove to Queensferry and from there followed the north coast of Wales, making quite a few stops to see places along the way.
Llandudno is a large seaside resort. Bangor is a university town. We crossed the Menai Bridge and saw the island of Anglesey. We stopped at the castle in Caernarvon, or Caernarfon Castle as it is now called. It is an imposing construction from the 14th century and dominates the skyline in the town. (The name Carnarvon was also the name of the closest side street to where I grew up in Vancouver BC, so seeing the original Carnarvon was very interesting.) We then headed inland via Betsw-y-coed and Ruthin, passing by Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales.
The trip was about 350 km, so another long day seeing the sights. I remember the weather being good that day which made it a very enjoyable trip.
After two weeks with Uncle Walter and Aunt Ivy, we took a bus to Stratford-Upon-Avon on the 21st of August. It poured with rain and Aileen sat by the window, which was leaking. She developed a cold that day. We stayed two nights in Stratford-upon-Avon. We saw all around the town, though didn’t attend a play at the Shakespeare Theater.
