Personalities Continued..

Sitting at the back of Victory Hall waiting for my parents did let me see a variety of characters. Doc Miles from Ernesettle was one, an early practitioner in the new NHS. He had an enormous number of patients and almost all poor. He would always come late and sit near me having been on call. He would find bits of paper from his pockets and would meticulously roll them into perfect balls and seek to log them down a series of knotholes in the dancefloor with deep concentration. But he was obviously following the meeting he’d suddenly shoot up and express a most passionate argument and then sit down returning to knothole filling.
Harry Wright was a simple boilermaker in the Dockyard but like all his Methodist colleagues he was a brilliant figures man. He could talk through a Council budget in a clear way committee by committee without notes and make it interesting and bear in mind in those days computers weren’t heard of so it was pure knowledge that made him so good.
He also set up the Devonport Supply Society which ran a drapery and clothing shop under the Hall in the ope.Many people paid in so much each week and could buy clothes,shoes and most importantly coal in the winter.If enough people joined Harry could buy a couple of lorryloads and have them delivered to individual homes at quite a saving for someone buying on their own.He had an office above the corner shop which was owned by the society and at one time was a Lipton’s store quite large.
Tim Harvey was a local Councillor and was a chemist in Station Rd and a huge advocate and supporter of the new NHS along with Scotsman Peter Ross another Councillor living in North Down Gardens next door to the Coop shop.Also in the actual park was a terrace of houses which house Betty Batchelor and her Mum Mrs Reeby and next door Mary Jago a Catholic both would become Councillors for Ford along with Dorothy Briscoa who lived in Warleigh AVE next to the tunnel to the Ford Hotel.
On the Conservative side there was a lady called Mrs Grafton who stood for the Tories time after time and in bad years came close to winning and I can’t recall if she ever did win an election but she was well known and was quite a fighter.
Harry Wright was quite a rambler in the countryside along with Best Harris the City Librarian they along with Fred Story would bring slideshows of their walks around the city to show communities some of the places perhaps noone had heard of before.In the top of the canteen wall they put a ledge and a hole for the projector to show the slides.Bearing in mind no one had cars at this time unless you were wealthy it was always well attended and hopefully many made a visit to some of the spots when they were able get a car.These were very popular meetings as many as 100+would attend.