Harry and Maisie’s wedding.

After my demobilisation, February 1946,  I returned to Scottish Union at their Newcastle upon Tyne branch where I worked in the fire department. Except for short spells as an inspector at Carlisle and Middlesbrough, I remained at that Newcastle branch until my retirement in 1980, after 43 years’ service. 

I met Maisie, my future wife, when she started work in the same Scottish Union branch and we married in 28th January 1949. Two years later we moved to a house in South Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne where we had our only child David. 

In 1974 our son left home and his work meant that he lived for times in Ireland, France, The Channel Isles, The USA and most parts of England but we stayed in regular contact and met whenever possible. 

After retiring Maisie and I enjoyed visiting National Trust and English Heritage properties, holidaying in Bournemouth and visiting family and friends whenever possible. To this day one of my favourite places is a greenhouse I’m allowed to sit and have my lunch in at National Trust Baddesley Clinton.

In 1992 I was registered as blind (due to Macular degeneration) and had to give up driving. Apart from that, Maisie and I were both blessed by being Healthy for our ages and continued to do daily walks or trips to lots of places.

Harry and Maisie at their home in Newcastle

We lived in that same house happily until Maisie passed away peacefully at the age of 92 in 2015, we had been married for 67 years. After losing Maisie, I continued to live in that same house largely supporting myself until Covid19 arrived and some good neighbours (John & Chris and Nicola in particular) started to support me in many ways. I was very lucky not to have dementia or alzheimer’s and my brain kept working OK.  Most days I even managed to complete the Yorkshire Post crossword. I learned IT skills and swapped emails with friends all over the world. My son supported me from his home in Solihull (West Midlands) in many ways and I was truly happy with my life.

On my 100th birthday (June, 4th 2020) I was asked by neighbours Chris and John to “pop out onto your drive” where I was surprised to see over 100 neighbours standing (in Covid safe groups) on the road outside my house all clapping and cheering. My house was covered in bunting and as the crowd sang “Happy Birthday Harry” my son David and grandson Tristan, who had secretly travelled up from the Midlands, suddenly popped up in front of me. The BBC TV Look North team then made themselves known to me and interviewed me for that night’s programme.  Tristan, who shares my birthday (4th June), gave me my 100th birthday telegram from the Queen. For once in my life, I was “nearly” speechless. 

[Video of this BBC programme available on YouTube (click here)].

At the end of December 2021, I had an infection that one day caused me to lose reality and body strength which in turn, caused me to fall and injure myself. I was rushed into Newcastle hospital but there was no permanent damage. I did however loose some mobility. My son visited me and the Doctors told him that I had eventually come to the stage in my life where I needed 24 hour support and it was unsafe for me to return home and live there by myself. They suggested a care home. David instantly said “nonsense … I’ve always promised him that when this day came I’d take him home and look after him and that’s what I’m going to do”. And he did. When I was released from Hospital my son and grandson, Tristan, took me to my home for a few days and then we headed south to his home. He lived in a 3 bed semi in Chelmsley Wood, in the north of Solihull borough and in the following weeks David and Tristan altered the top floor of the house to be a place where I could live. I have a bedroom, a bathroom and a “studio” for my daytime activities. David’s attitude was that I had always been an extremely independent person and I therefore needed to continue to manage and run my own life. The entire house is smart with voice control for curtains and blinds, doors, lighting, heating, bathroom, etc and there are rails everywhere to allow me to walk about. The voice controls are important as I now can’t stand up straight and therefore can’t reach light switches, curtains, etc. We can voice communicate electronically all over the house and there are CCTV cameras that allow the chaps to “keep an eye on me”, which I appreciate. I also have a facility that wherever I am in the house if I have an issue I can’t handle, I just have to say 2 words and the system phones David and Tristan and helpful neighbours Darren & Hazel and Julia.  Over the last couple of years my mobility has declined a lot and they have continually altered the house to suit me. Charities, Blind Veterans UK and The Macular Society, have continued to help me for many years, not only with literature and chats, but also by supplying me with clever equipment such as a mug full alarm, screened text magnifier, hand held magnifiers, non-slip pads, etc. I have a chair on wheels in the studio now that allows me to wheel about easily. I still email friends a lot and I do “life talks” over the phone for groups of people from Blind Veterans UK and The Macular Society. (The life stories help listeners with mild dementia recap their lives and this can stall the dementia for short periods of time). Currently, I am still able to cook my dinners, make hot drinks, wash up, dress, use the loo, shower and shave, listen to talking books, make phone calls, etc. by myself, for which I am very happy.  David and Tristan work hard to keep this system working for my needs and they still have to do the boring things like shopping and cleaning. David was right about my independence, I don’t think I’d still be alive if I had everything done for me, there’d simply be no reason to get out of bed.