My Northern Adventure by Henning Edwin;

Author:Henning, Edwin;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: 2019-01-21T00:00:00+00:00

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Church in Central Southampton which was destroyed in the blitz of Southampton a year before.↩

Letter 35

New Brighton,

Cheshire

Good Friday, 1941

My Dear Mum,

Another week has passed. Today finds me staying at No 10 Ormiston Road, of the above town. It is very still; the sun is obscured and yet it is not dull. Although there are no brilliant sunbeams and it is very mild, it is even drizzling now for a minute or so.

I am alone with my thoughts. The landlady and her younger boy have gone to Nantwich to join Stanley at his billet, just for the Easter Holidays. Mr. Will is working most of Easter. I still sleep at No. 3, and I have Breakfast there. Chas. has gone to Southampton for 10 days. The occupants are No. 10, where I am writing this letter this afternoon, are the mother and father of the landlady’s husband at No.3. Naturally, they are an elderly couple, and are very homely. both are from Southern England; one from London, and the other from Devon.

Raid news continuing from my last comments on my letter of the 7th, goes on as follows; Monday night was ‘hot’. The alert sounded at 9:30 in the evening, and 45 minutes later, the first planes dashed over, not so directly overhead as in raids hitherto. These, as well as scores of others were met with intense AA fire, which for whole minutes blotted out any other sounds. The raids lasted for 7 hours with only a few breaks. A number of ‘unbroken Easter eggs’ were lying about next morning, none of which were near here. A few H.E.s were dropped at Old Swan (neighbouring district to Childwall), through which I had passed on Saturday afternoon during my excursion.

This morning, I took a short walk to Liscard with C.A.R. I discovered even more damage, done in the March Blitzern. It was caused by another mine. The end of a road and several adjoining streets are scarcely recognisable as such. A motor shovel crane is at work shovelling up the piles of wreckage, and remains of houses. I visited St. Mary’s, Liscard, where I saw the organ. This will be another for my collection.

I have had dinner at No. 10 today, and when I want to practice I go over the road. I have spent some time at music today. Part of this afternoon I practiced at St. James.

On Tuesday and Thursday of this week I have visited the Cathedral at Liverpool. Each time it has been during the lunchtime. On the former occasion I did not have the chance to hear the organ but on Thursday just as I was leaving I heard the heavy footsteps of the Organist approaching from the Entrance and so I stayed on. He started by doing chromatic scales on various stops, and with his marvellous extemporizing ability developed many melodies and harmonies from them. I stood for some time watching and suddenly I saw all the stops on the right-hand side fly out and – you have never heard anything like it.

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