When time allowed, Ted enjoyed pottering in the garden. At Elfrida Crescent, despite a large family of children marauding around it throughout the year, he managed to plant and harvest large numbers of vegetables. Some of the most successful were the potatoes and the runner beans, although without doubt for us children it was the beans which were our favourites because they grew so tall and dense that they served as very useful hiding places during the many games that required them.
Ted grew tomato plants but the sunshine seldom seemed to be sufficient to ripen the fruit, therefore, often, at the end of the summer, they were picked whilst still a dark green colour, individually wrapped in newspaper and placed in warm, dry places, such as drawers, until they had, miraculously it seemed, ripened and could be used at a Sunday tea time.
Peg enjoyed having some flowers to view, not that she had too much time to observe them other than when she was pegging out or taking in the washing. Therefore, in the back garden, facing away from the house, Ted had planted out a small grassed area at the end of which the vegetables began. On its right, up against the fence shared with the Bicknells, he tried each year to give Peg a little bit of brightness with a few blooms; the ones which stick chiefly in mind were the wallflowers, which seemed to be able to survive against most odds which they encountered, and the antirrhinums.
From time to time, against the left-hand fence where the sun seldom seemed to shine, the children would plant out the seeds which had been donated by the “Flower Lovers League” and if they were lucky they might grow a crop of black fly infested nasturtiums. However, Mother Nature was usually the most successful and would produce arrays of bright yellow dandelions or delicate little daisies.
Another area where Ted would plant flowers, which even extended to roses, was in the front garden. This place was a valley-like plot under the front window. The walls of the valley were formed by the house on the northern side and on the southern side by a very steep sloping grassed bank topped by a privet hedge and then the pavement. This was an area which received maximum protection from the wind and sunshine for the majority of the day, thus it was a good area for planting. It had the advantage of being one part of the garden which was not often played in by the children but, equally, it was an area which received too few visits from the watering can. Plants needed to be sturdy to survive and the roses were but they could never be described as prize blooms.
In moving to Farmstead Road in March 1952 the family quickly discovered that they had a house with more rooms but very much smaller gardens. Ron (19) was away in Egypt in the army, Pat was by now aged 16 and very much the young lady, however, because she was born in November she wouldn’t be able to leave school until July when she would be well on her way to 17. This left Vic (7), Ken (12) and George (14) to spoil any gardening that Ted might wish to indulge in. However, the boys were happy to find that the front garden path with the back gate as a wicket made a flatter, though shorter, cricket pitch than the one to which they become accustomed in Elfrida. Therefore, the only part of the garden which was subject to their maltreatment was that stretch which ran parallel with the front path and which, together with the street outside, served as the cricket outfield.
The back garden was a strange little triangle but a nice size for Ted to make his mark on. One of his early ventures was to buy Peg a fruit tree. This tree, a Conference Pear, was planted in front of and about 8 feet from the kitchen window. Possibly the intention had been that it would produce, in due course, shade and fruit, a wholly delightful present except that Peg did not like pears. Further, the presence of particularly high mature trees between the house and the sun resulted in plenty of shade and about the only spot not in the shade would have been the top of the pear tree. Although Peg did not like pears fortunately a number of her children did.
Ted installed a shed, planted shrubs, built a cold frame from a former window which became available when all the old Crittall windows were replaced and generally enjoyed himself. Once the boys had stopped playing cricket in the garden he was, at last, able to work on the front. The former outfield, except for the road, was put to grass seed and a row of roses were set along the path to form a flowering hedge. The lawn was stocked with spring flowers, particularly daffodils. All this work complemented that which he had done to the front of the house. For many years the centre piece of the lawn was a Laurel Bush and in the three other beds facing and at 90˚ to the street were bushes of sweet smelling roses throughout the summer months. Each of the beds had annually a magnificent display of daffodils and tulips.
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