In April 1948, Mother passed away. I have no memory of Dr Marriott’s wife moving out, except that an upstairs window had to be taken out for a piece of furniture to be removed. A new chapter in my life then began with Dr Forster, his wife and her two sons. I remember them moving into the White House as I was asked to help by directing where and which room this or that was to go. A very large lorry and a smaller lorry arrived. I was very surprised to see that one of the removal men had been a prisoner-of-war with me. After a chat and a coffee they started to unload the large lorry. When it was empty I said that we had broken the back of the job. One of the men laughed and showed me that behind the wardrobe in the lorry were books, books and more books. They were put into the room which was called the study and piled up to the ceiling. They stayed there some time until I was able to make some shelves to hold them. Later I was told that I could borrow any books that I wanted. There were several volumes of Punch magazine which I looked through. I was settled in my job and I found Dr Forster and his wife easy to work for. The Ministry of Pensions sent me to Roehampton Hospital where there was a tropical disease unit. Tests showed that I was clear of any diseases. My right leg (where I had polio) was stronger, as I had been doing exercises. The doctor said that they would lay on some treatment for me. I never heard about the treatment and on making enquiries about it was sent to Ipswich Hospital to see an orthopaedic consultant. When I told him why I was there he said that he could do nothing for me as it was over three years since I had contracted polio.
A while later we were on holiday in Crewe, visiting Edith’s family when I had an attack of malaria so the Doctor was called in. After various questions about where I had contracted malaria and how often I had these attacks he said that he had cured his brother-in-law and he could cure me. He put me on a course of yellow tablets which caused my eyes to go yellow and also my skin, making me look very ill. Dr Forster came down the garden one morning and said that he had been reading about these pills and felt that I should stop taking them as they could cause liver damage. This was one thing that they had found at Roehampton, that I had an enlarged liver. Every year we visited Edith’s family in Crewe, using the money from our Co-op dividend to pay for the train tickets. I always worked on bank holidays and then took extra days off at Christmas. There wasn’t so much to do in the garden and it made a nice break.
Gradually the garden changed. I dug a sunken pond surrounded by lawn. The tennis court was in regular use and those that came said that it was very good. I used to spend a lot of time maintaining it in the autumn. Mrs Forster asked me one autumn if, after Christmas I could do some decorating inside the house. This became a regular pattern. They were very large rooms so I was able to move everything into the middle of the room. I enjoyed the change and I was in the warm. I used to know almost exactly how much paint and emulsion I would need for each room and then in very small print write it on the wall behind a piece of furniture, mirror or picture.
I still had all the garden tools I was used to except there was no motor mower as Dr Marriott had shared one with a gentleman across the road. I was able to use it one day a week. Dr Forster said that he had one but his brother-in-law was giving it an overhaul. I had a very good push-mower to use but with the tennis court and all the other grass there was little time for other garden work. I was very near the end of the mowing season when the motor mower arrived. The frame work and motor with lots of bits and pieces were all in a box. It was an Atco stroke mower, an old model I had not seen before. Putting it together was fun!! It turned out to be a 16-inch cut and a very good machine. It took all of one day to cut all the grass. Later Dr Forster came to see me for a chat about the garden. He said that he had noticed that I spent a lot of time cutting grass. He assured me that he wasn’t complaining and I pointed out that the lawns were important for the garden to look well cared for. The odd weed in a flower bed would not be noticed but an uncut lawn would stand out. I know that he agreed with me because some time later he took me to buy any tools that I needed. We didn’t come back with a new mower but he ordered one with a two-foot cut.