Zambia World Wide

We arrived home and began to settle into our own home for the first time since we were married. It was more like a second honeymoon, we had looked forward to having our own house for so long, it was a dream come true to actually move in. After we moved in there were a number of improvements we wanted to make so money was a little tight. There is something about your first home as a married couple, I think however much you move the first home is always remembered. It was about this time I decided to change my job, I applied for a position of maintenance electrician at a local food processing factory which I was successful in, and so I left the Generating Board to start work in the factory. Once again I was very lucky as the job I had taken on was interesting and while there would learn a great deal which would benefit me in the future. The year after we were married we could not afford a holiday overseas so decided to book a holiday in UK. We decided to go to North Wales an area we had never been to. We stayed at Conway, a lovely little town on the Welsh Coast which had a small but picturesque harbour. There were many quaint shops in the town, it was possible to spend a whole day wandering in and out of the tiny shops which sold many unusual souvenirs and gifts. A number of the shops were what I called shell shops as they sold only gifts that were made from sea shells, the variety they sold was unbelievable. We also went to many places ie:- Caernarvon, Mount Snowden and Bedy Gelert of which there is a great story which I will try to remember. The scenery around North Wales is really lovely and I don’t think my description will do it justice. Walking through country lanes, past babbling brooks, running streams and waterfalls with the sunlight streaming through the trees and silence but for the sound of the insects and birds. The peace and tranquillity is unbelievable, it was a different world to our daily lives.

The place we stayed was similar to a motel in design, small wooden chalets dotted around a grass area beneath the trees. There was a small restaurant and lounge where people could meet but as the chalets were self catering most people ate in. North Wales is a long way from Great Yarmouth and the route is cross country and at the time there were no motorways. I have just remembered the story about Bedy Gelert I think. A knight went away to fight in the Crusades and left his faithful hound Gelert with his wife so she would be safe from harm until his return. When he arrived home he was told that his wife had been killed by a wolf. The villagers had to bury her, he arrived at his home and being very sad but also angry that his hound Gelert who he had trusted to keep his wife safe until his return had let him down. When Gelert ran to meet him, pleased to see his master return, the knight being very angry drew his sword and killed the hound. Some time later the knight was wandering through the woods and found the body of a wolf, he knew then that he had made a terrible mistake. He took the body of Gelert and buried him by a waterfall nearby which is why the place is called Bedy Gelert, the true meaning is Bed of Gelert. It is said the knight never recovered from the death of his wife and the slaying of Gelert, which he was guilty of.

After our holiday in North Wales we started on the improvements we wanted to make to the house. Money was a little tight but then it usually is for most young couples, we had a coal fire in the lounge and a boiler in the kitchen for hot water. This seemed a waste so we decided to install a back boiler in the lounge and central heating throughout, it also meant we could enlarge the kitchen by removing the Boiler and chimney breast. With the help of a plumber and bricklayer that was what we did. We also had the gardens to sort out, when we moved in they were rough ground and needed to be levelled and lawns laid etc.. We also wanted to concrete the driveway and garage base then have a garage erected. By winter most of the work was complete. During the winter we decided we wanted to go overseas for a holiday in the summer but wanted something different to the usual tourist locations. We finally chose Yugoslavia, back in 1970 it was a country not yet involved in tourism, although I believe it became a popular tourist area in later years.

We stayed in a small fishing village near Senji on the Adriatic Coast. The village was built around a tiny harbour and all the village activity centred round the harbour. Both sides of the harbour there were white sandy beaches, so there was plenty of space for walking or just lazing about and swimming. There were no beach stalls or bars along the beach so we would take our food and drink for the day or return to the village for lunch. There were times when we would go to the harbour at lunchtime, most days there would be a returned fishing boat grilling fresh fish on a charcoal grill. A chunk of fresh bread, freshly grilled fish and a carafe of cherry or apricot brandy, was a very enjoyable lunch. Whilst there we tried the local beer and wines but they were too dry for us, so we kept to the brandy. There were many small Islands around the coast and it was possible to hire sailing dinghies or canoes. On some days we would take a packed lunch and spend the day canoeing round the Islands, stopping on one for lunch and a swim. One day we took a boat trip around some of the larger Islands and were amazed at the number of nudist colonies on the Islands, in 1970 nudism was rare in UK.