Reference
AU10/102/1/130
Title
Typewritten letter
Date free text
10 October 1962
Production date
From: 1962 To: 1962
Scope and Content
"I am having a final clear up of correspondence before I depart on the Far East tour, and I find I have two letters of yours to answer. Many thanks for the Beds. Magazine. It is a wonderful 1/6d.worth. I spent several weeks in Yorkshire after leaving Hoscote, visiting many friends, and returning to the Waddingtons ever and anon. My youngest cousin-twice-removed Christine was married at Selby Abbey to a very charming young man called Robin Norbury. His father is dead, but his grandfather is still very much alive, and is Sir Lionel Norbury the eminent surgeon. When I was in London two weeks ago, Christine and Robin were staying with the grandparents in Welbeck St. and I was taken along to see them. I think she is very fortunate, as Robin is a fine fellow, and they seem a very nice family. They are settling in Winchester. I think that Anne, the other cousin, will be getting engaged soon, so there will probably be another wedding to attend when I return home.
The weather at Hoscote was pretty grim throughout August. The raspberries were very late, but we got in quite a lot towards the end of the month. The partridges were also rather scarce this year, but we had several dinners of them. Personally I prefer the pheasants - but they don't come along until later, when I have left Scotland. I have at last finished my various inoculations. I had the smallpox and cholera (no.1) doses in July. The latter had me out for 24 hours. I had cholera (no.2) yesterday and am still feeling the effect. The yellow fever one I took in London, but there was no reaction. So now I am more or less ready to go. I do not know the sailing date from Rijecka yet, but it will probably be about the 26th. George Petrie and I will get driven down to Dover to the ship, and go by rail to Rijeka. There is a through carriage from Ostend, and we shall have a sleeper; so it seems the easiest way. If we go by air, we have first of all to get to London (then we may get held up by fog) then fly out to Zagreb; and then get from Zagreb to the coast. We expect to be in Hong Kong about Christmastime. So it will be Japan in January. We don't expect to get back in Rijeka till late March or early April. I had thought I should probably want to settle down here for a bit after that; but my friend Robert Arlen is pressing me to go with him to the Wagner Festival at Bayreuth next summer, and bookings have to be in before Christmas. So I shall have to leave him to do it all. We want to attend a complete cycle of "The Ring" (four operas) which I have heard twice at Covent Garden, but the production at the latter is very old-fashioned, though I believe they are trying to brighten it up now.
What changes indeed at Ampthill, with a new Rectory and Rector, a curate, and new schools and all. I was amused at Andrew's lifting of that paragraph from one of my magazines. But it is still necessary, and even the BBC is guilty of referring to "Reverend Smiths".
My cousin Anne and her friend Muriel took over my flat for August, and apparently enjoyed their stay very much. They prefer to go abroad in the winter for ski-ing. As they had Sydney Crouch's flat next door at their disposal, Anne's parents came down for a few days.
We are having some wonderful Indian Summer days now - no winds, sunshine and blue skies.
Mr.Heath was here a short time ago, but he is busy in Brussels again. He stands up to his terribly exhausting life wonderfully well. But he seems to have a very ebullient spirit.
In London I took advantage of a free afternoon to see Wesker's play CHIPS WITH EVERYTHING - a savage play - a very bitter description of life in the ranks of the RAF. I could hear echoes of my dim and distant youth, when in World War I, I suffered for a time under irate NCOs.
I am trying to decide what books to take with me. My first idea was the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which I have in a new edition in one volume but it is much too heavy. So I am making a collection of Penguins, and paperbacks generally. As it is a foreign ship, there is not likely to be an extensive English library. I understand there are 10 other British passengers in addition to ourselves; so if they all go supplied with paperbacks we should be all right.
In any case, we have so many ports of call, that we shall be going ashore every few days. I have been given masses of addresses of people I am supposed to contact on arrival at the various ports. I doubt if I shall have time to see half of them.
I hope you keep well during the winter. I expect we shall be heartily sick of the JESENICE by the time we have had five months aboard her! It will be all the more delightful to look forward to coming home.
I hope to send postcards from various places en route ... so until then, Goodbye!
Yours sincerely,"
Level of description
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