Dymchurch 1923 Paul Nash
I live
about 12 miles inland from the little coastal town of Dymchurch on Romney
Marsh. The small cafe I have frequented there for about 30 years had recently
changed hands. It was, at last, a brilliant cold sunny day so I hoisted out the
ebike and decided to toddle down there to have lunch and see what the new
owners had done to it.
It was
the Easter holidays and there is an amusement park about 200 yards away so the
cafe was teeming. But a small elderly man at a table for two offered me the
place opposite him. I ordered my meal at the counter (meat pie, chips and mushy
peas if you are interested) and joined him.
" I
hire out sun loungers on the beach and popped in for elevenses" he said.
His accent was pretty heavy Geordie and I commented that he had originated
somewhat north of the Kent coast. That got him going.
He had
been born in Northumberland and did his National Service in the RAF (so must
have probably been at least 80). After his two years service he had fetched up
in London, served an apprenticeship in the building trade, stayed there and
eventually married and moved to Hastings. "You have kept your Geordie
accent still", I commented. "You never lose it lad" (Lad - I am
84!) he proudly replied. This opened the flood gates and I was treated to all
his working life story.
Being of
a size and enjoying horses he had been a part-time jockey. He rose in the
building trade to become a site agent until his retirement at 60. "So what
are you going to do now?" his wife asked him. "I bought a dozen
donkeys and hired them out for beach rides. I also had a couple of fields
nearby at Camber Sands and hired them out in season as overflow car
parking". He had three daughters, one in insurance, one a solicitor and
the last an accountant. "So they did all the paperwork for me and I
collected all the cash. Some nights when the wife and I cashed up there
was five grand lying on the table, It was cash in hand, boy - they paid me
for the donkey rides and for the car park when they parked, so no paperwork or
invoices and my daughter kept the tax man sweet".
When he
had been doing this for 20 years the family said he should slow down a bit.
"So I sold the donkeys and the fields and bought 30 sunloungers to hire
out on Dymchurch sands as I could see a niche for them. That's what I do
now".
He rose
to go. "Come down to the beach sometime for a chat" (he loved to
talk). By now I had tuned into that Geordie accent - still there after some 60
years. I got on with my meal, reflecting how a simple invitation to sit with
him had gifted me with an encounter to remember.
By the
way - the new owners have transformed the cafe with redecoration, good food and
friendly atmosphere. I shall return to Ivy's Tearoom in the High Street.
13 comments:
Amazing what you can learn when you are out and about...if you are willing to listen.
A good encounter...and thanks for the café recommendation!
Helen:
Yes indeed. Kipling said he kept "six honest serving men":
"I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who."
gz:
I can definitely recommend a stop off there if you ever cycle that way
I love Nash drawings..and Ravilious too. Just the right atmosphere
Sounds like you had a good day! Hooray for you! I enjoyed your encounter, but not as much as you did. Your ears must work well. Thank you for the ride. We rode down the back road today as the sun was out, but in the Minx, not bicycles or motorcycles through 3 small "towns." No matter how long between visits, the waitress at the last town knows what we want to drink.
Vita:
Sounds like a relaxed day out. That waitress is a good 'un. They must hang on to her.
My former trade encourages me to be suspicious, to link up this with that and then ask questions. When in doubt, Cherchez l''argent.
The bit that's interesting is Geordie's post retirement, some time in the nineties because he's the same age as you and me. I retired in 1995 on a salary of £31k. Peanuts now but respectable then. But way way below a situation that sometimes paid Geordie as much as £5k a day. Even if we halve that (£2.5k) he's earned my annual salary in about two weeks.
But he kept this up for twemty years. Assuming his earnings were limited to the summer season (say three months. that's 90 days) that's a quarter of a million a year. Or about £5m over 20 years. You bet he'd need the assistance of his accountant daughter when it came to paying his taxes. And, since I happen to be very well informed about HMRC practices. the idea that all this could be done without invoices, etc, would mean that proving any kind of allowances would be hopeless, thus he'd be paying the maimum tax rate of 40%. Yes but... Surely there'd be payments to donkey minders and people who took cash at the car park; legitimate expenses. "Of course," HMRC would say, "but show us your accounts." Alas, accounts tend to be printed on paper or some equivalent.
I discussed this with VR my guru in these matters. "Was Geordie what you might call 'a bit of a character'?" she asked. From your account I said I guessed so. "Ah," she said in her knowing way.
RR:
Well he certainly could talk and one has to make allowances for his age and loquaciousness. i formed the impression that there may have been some embellishment there. He did say that income was only in the summer months and he enjoyed Malta off season, so i expect he shed some of the cash there.
Quite a character, as VR commented in her dry way.
Avus, your lunch with Geordie was a wonderful experience for me as I loved to hear of his stories. I wonder if there may have been a wee bit of exaggeration but then at his age (and mine, only 83) there is room for expansion of the past. Wish I could be there to lunch with you but I am far, far away, in Arizona, USA.
Lovely story of a chance encounter.
Hello to all,
I'm very sorry to inform you all that Mike passed away on the 17th December 2023, after a short Illness. This came as a shock to us all and I know you'll miss speaking with him here, as much as I'll miss reading his blogs. Thank you all for keeping company through the years.
Nick Knowles, Mike's grandson
It is good to see your comments on my blog...but I miss your blogging.
Hope your daughter is ok in Oz...another blogger's pictures and writing I miss
Nick, just picked up on your comment.
Sad news, we always intended to meet, but never made it
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