page-visits since September '09
The following reminiscences by Steve Field have been compiled, with his permission, from some of his correspondence with 'Chandos Secondary Remembered' during 2009.
I grew up in the Kenmore/Chandos school system and now reside in the USA. My life has been a little different from most people I have met - one of the primary reasons I found your site about Chandos.
I lived and grew up above the Post Office on Honeypot Lane across from The Honeypot Pub.
We shared the flat with my grandparents and grandad would have me go over to the Honeypot
and get him a jug of beer, during the week, from the ladies' cosy.
On Saturdays, as a treat, he would let me 'chalk up' for darts down the road at the Belmont Inn (I think).
Free pop and crisps helped out my math and we always ended up with shrimp or mussels from the vendors trailer in the parking lot.
Grandad was a pretty good 'arrows' player ending-up with a couple of Guiness Tournament awards for first place.
(Later on I realized he bore a startling resemblance to Andy Capp - the cartoon character.)
As a serious darts player, he had a board in the front room. I still play the game and love it.
An unfortunate part about that was that there were a lot of people and police officers in the local neighborhood that knew me by sight.
Consequently my mother knew most of my adventures before I got home. Took me a while to figure that out - but most were kind in reporting my adventures.
From Peter Watson (December 2011):
This is odd because there were no shops or flats across the road from
the Honeypot Public House at that time, only semi-detached houses.
Steve's description sounds much more like the post office which used to exist across
the road from the Queen of Hearts Public House some half a mile further up Honeypot Lane.
The Post Office has been changed into a butchers and the Queen of Hearts has been knocked down and replaced by new flats.
The Honeypot public House appears to still exist (it is still shown on 'Google Maps' street view) as do the houses opposite to it.
I wonder if Steve's recollection of the name of the pub he was referring to are wrong,
I could certainly believe it when I see how patchy my own recollections are.
I thought that you might be interested in this wee anecdote and thanks again for the memories.
Steve's response:
Pete,
I stand corrected, it was indeed the Queen of Hearts.
My recollection has dear memories of the Honeypot because of my grandfather and his darts where he played.
It used to be opposite and close to the "Allotments" where
granddad had a plot, and grew veggies, beets, spuds and rhubarb.
A Sunday am ritual used to be to clean out the weeds.
Interesting that the Post Office is now a Butcher, I wonder if the guys at the end of the parade, next to the alley, took it over.
One of my pursuits may help you remember me. I took-up Judo which ended up putting me on crutches for about 3 months. I always rode my push bike to school, a fixed-wheel George Grosse. I took one of the pedals off and rode one-legged.
Mr Snell, the PE teacher, never forgot me. My dad would go evenings with his buddies on the Open Gym program. They always played 5-a-side soccer, not the basketball that Snell wanted. With an errant shot at goal, dad took out a large chunk of plaster next to the entrance door. That was pointed out to me in front of the class, my dad was my hero !!
Mr Baker was my French teacher - but, being an engineering freak, I wanted more “Shop Time” but was denied. I tried to get out of the class by miss-pronouncing many of the verbal readings in class. I earned the title of 'Moronic Maggot'. I aced my exam though. I don't think he ever got over that.
I was mechanically inclined by nature, Mr Wilcox and Mr Webb helped encourage me on a path to an apprenticeship, which I served with the Metal Box Co. in Borehamwood. This enabled me to travel the world while making a living. I ended up in the USA in '79 and have made this my permanent home. I never went back to thank them and would like to take this opportunity to do so. They certainly taught me the meaning of “Learn To Live”.
The school trip to Lucerne with Mr Webb was a blast. Being a little more adventureous than most, I encouraged a few guys to investigate the local night life. Well, needless to say, we had a really good time and consumed a little too much cheap wine and got back late. Mr Webb just smiled when we got turned-in by the hotel staff, and said that our hangover would be our punishment.
I remember 'Lawrence Childs' was the “Head Boy” - or close to - at the time. A really nice guy who was genuinely interested in others - blond hair, always well dressed. I was a prefect and got to know him in our break room. When I confided in him that I was going to take an apprenticeship he advised me that I was next-in-line for his position and could go on to Downer for further education - but I never did. Some 3 to 4 years later he took over a small tobacconist/candy store on Honeypot Lane - close to the Post Office. I stopped-by and was recognized. We had a long conversation about our futures. I was particularly interested in his owning of a business, which he described in great detail, including his attitude toward employment. I respected his reasons for taking on that responsibility and heeded his words. We met several times after - until I completed my apprenticeship and obtained a BSc in Engineering. At that point I started to travel the world, something I had always wanted to do.
One other person that I would like to mention and regain contact with is Derek Bennett. He became one of my best friends. My father told me that if you can count more “true friends” than fingers on one hand, you are a lucky person. Des was #1 and here is the reason: we met while at Kenmore; he was a big guy, me pretty average size (his class photo is on the Kenmore site, back row in the middle). Des is a kind person that respected others but had his own pace of life (a little slower than others) - many thought that he was, in kids words, “stupid”.
After meeting him I found his outlook on life refreshing, I was quick to criticize and act on my opinion, he would analyze and then make a decision. I guess it was similar to “opposites attract”. That said, we became friends. We went through secondary school and an apprenticeship together, with many “mini adventures” involving people and travel. We always covered each other's back and offered advice on the situation at hand with no criticism of each other's decisions or actions. Our parents were also involved and, I would like to think, became friends.
We both had an interest in travelling to other countries to experience their culture; together we laid out a plan. We left our place of employment and became contractors in manufacturing. We doubled our income and experienced other work environments.
After some time at an increased income level, we purchased an ex-military Austin Champ Jeep with a 2 ton trailer. After some modification at Des’s place - he was the only one with a garage - we filled the trailer with sustainable food from the local 'Cash-and-Carry' and decided that the plan was to head east through Europe until we ran out of money and resources - an end point was never decide upon. We both wanted to get to Nepal in the Himalayas for different reasons (- I was the mountaineer, he 'the seeker'). Our parents were not too amused, but were still supportive.
As a point to celebrate our disconnect from normal life, we decided to toast each other on the Champs Elysees in Paris. We had purchased a bottle of cheap, sparkling wine, the type with the plastic cork. Sitting atop the trailer while parked there in front of the Arc de Triomphe, I was elected to open the bottle, which I did, and promptly hit a gendarme in the head with the cork. After a very heated conversation, in French, the gendarme left. Des looked at me and said “I didn’t know you could speak French that well”. I guess the “Moronic Maggot” - that’s me - would have made my French teacher, Herr Baker, very proud!
The trip continued until Izmir in Turkey - ironic that the cruise from Chandos went there. Our rear differential (axle) started suffering problems. We limped back to Istanbul to seek repairs, no luck. Being engineers we ripped it apart at a campsite and transferred all drive to the front axle.
Time to head back home, until we got to Stavros in Northern Greece. We found a beach campsite that was deserted, found the owner, who let us stay for free, this was October and the average temp was 73°F. This was too good to be true, we both wanted to stay there but supplies were low, as was money. However, fish were plentiful and sustaining, we fished, sold our blood in Thesolonika just to stay there. We met many of the locals and experienced their hospitality. We left for home at the end of November.
The trip home was, by our standards, uneventful. We got home safe and sound, two weeks later, Des found a contract job for us in Israel - big money. After an interview, we left the next week … to work for the military.
After working in Europe and Israel which covered several years, I ended up in the USA and now have my own machine shop - not a huge operation but a situation where I don’t feel I have “worked” one day in the last 10 years.
Drafting this has been fun … my memory is not that bad and I would hate to not convey these memories to others that were in that era. I have found that it evokes emotions and memories, something we should all share. Having shared many of my experiences with my kids, my daughter, Troy, introduces me as “This is my DAD, he is crazy, get used to it”. She has no fear, I don’t understand where she gets it from! My son heeded the “Nothing is impossible” approach and now makes a good living involved with video games. Latest adventure was the “Ultimate Gamer” on TV - Jamal is his name.
My wife, Lee, has endured me for 28 years, and has a career that I encouraged when we were broke.
I love her dearly.
If you knew Steve or you would like to get in-touch with him about his 'story',
please either 'Contact us' or contact him directly through Friends Reunited.
page-visits since September '09