Tuesday
Chiswick
Dearest,
Thank you for another very nice letter. You are an angel, you know, and when you write letters like these I love you more than ever. Cheerful letters they are, which bring a real “homey” atmosphere with them.
Now about this long weekend. Before we begin making any determined plans, will you let me know exactly how much we have in the old oak chest, not forgetting to deduct the £2-5 which I will need for slops? And also find out what the fare will be for you. I think it is about 28/- but I’m not at all certain. I’ll ask Charlie what they charge for breakfast but I know that the charge for a room is 4/- a night. Dates will have to be worked out and I’ll get one of our “experts” on the job. If you came down on a day when I was on the forenoon watch I could meet you and are you out to Dot’s because I’d be off from 1.30 to 8 and would also be off from 3am but it would be impossible to get to Chiswick, although I could get to the Union Jack! Then there’s another point. Would it be better to come down mid-week and go home say Saturday or Sunday? You see everywhere – trains, buses, cafes, theatres are jammed with service people up in town on weekend leave whereas in the week we’d have places like parks and river banks almost to ourselves. Then, if you wanted to, you could stay on for Saturday and Sunday, I would be off for one of those days and you could get out with Jack and Dot. Let me know what you think and then give me dates for a Tuesday or Wednesday in following weeks. Another complication is that at the end of this month or early next month they will be leaving here and going into their new flat and I expect they’ll be fairly busy but we should know the date of their move soon.
You will only have three days here, you know, so you won’t get all the “sights” in and in any case you will find that many of them are missing in wartime. The changing of the guard, for instance, as there are only lads in battledress now and I think all unnecessary procedure has been cut out. I haven’t seen the Bloody Tower myself and I think that, too, is closed to all but an officially conducted services party. No. 10 Downing Street can only be seen at a distance as there are barriers at the end and passes are needed. Sorry, love, but it isn’t my fault and I’m only telling you these things because I don’t want you to be disappointed when you get here. Now, in the best Admiralty style I’ve passed the buck to you so will you answer some of these questions and then I’ll start inquiring about dates, etc.
Many thanks for the latest bulletin on your “plotting” progress. I’m glad you managed to get some muck. Get as much as you can for you’ll need it all. In your last letter you said Neville had orders for a couple of “loads”. Does that mean he delivers a full load and, if so, what does he charge for it? I’m glad to hear that Reg is taking over Russell’s plot because that will mean all that bramble by the rhubarb will go, as well as a lot of other rubbish. That will probably mean you will have fewer weeds, especially if you can keep those on the bank cut down before they run to seed. That is a great breeder of weeds, isn’t it?
Well, love, there’s not a lot of news. Yesterday after writing to you I got the trolleybus to Kew Bridge and walked along the river to Kew Gardens where I wandered about for an hour or so. Spring is definitely in the air. On Sunday in Richmond Park courting couples were quite frequent and one fellow was lying on top of a girl in a very suggestive manner. Yesterday at Kew it was just the same. Couples lying on the grass or necking quite unembarrassed by passers-by. I was jealous and did miss you then! Never mind, I’ll have my chances soon, I hope. I only hope that the weather holds good. Now I must slip off to the post and then have a bath.
All my love, sweetheart. I’m so glad you are feeling so much better. Keep it up, angel.
Ever your own,
Arthur X
Mar 021943