I was born in East Hull. During the war my family evacuated to Lincolnshire (1941), where I went to a rural school. When we came back to Hull we were like refugees and lived in temporary accommodation. My mum dogged the corporation for a council house, which after two years she achieved. We got a house in North Hull, but sadly, after only two weeks there, she died of a cerebral haemorrhage. I was ten and my brother was four. It was a terrible tragedy.
Fortunately, my father, who was an orphan and had been to sea, was good at domestic life, especially washing and darning. Determined to keep us together, he brought us up single-handedly. We were a one-parent family before the term was coined.
At Fifth Avenue School, I was placed in the B stream with Miss Holland. She was a very caring teacher and advised the other pupils, all girls, to treat me kindly because of my sad loss. A small group of us devised a play based on the book Little Women. I played Elizabeth, the girl who dies young. I lived my sorrow through that part. It was healing for me. I did well in her class and went up into the A class that year.
Nowadays, I enjoy my later years. There’s always something new to learn, life is a wonderful learning process. Time goes faster, though – as I go slower. But it’s no matter. Life is good.
I became a poet. I have lived in Hull for most of my life. It’s been a good place to be. This poem is about my love of the city. As a child coming back from Lincolnshire, I was fascinated by the way the train comes in by the waters of the Humber.
