A Journey Into The Past

Victoria is in Wales visiting her daughter Lucy who works in an artisan food shop in Powys. Her visit has come to an end and Lucy's boyfriend Dave drives her to Holyhead as she is getting the train to London to visit her son. On the way to the station, the conversation was like any other conversation when a parent would be leaving a loved one and wouldn't see them for another few months or so.

‘So when will we see one another again?’

Dave pulls up outside Holyhead railway station, and waits in the car while Lucy walks her mother to the train, with Victoria completely unaware of what is about to happen next, and before she boards the train, they say their goodbyes.

‘Well Lucy I guess this it until the next time’ says Victoria getting emotional’

‘I guess you're right’

‘How long have you been with Dave now?

‘Two years, you do like him don't you?’ asks Lucy worryingly

‘I think he is brilliant, and perfect for you’

‘Thanks mum, I feel he's helped me overcome my troubles’

‘Well I have met him many times, and I feel the same, which comforts me greatly’

‘Your being called for the train, you'd better go’

‘I had, bye darling’

‘Bye mum, love you’

‘Love you too’ says Victoria getting onto the train 

‘Here's my seat’ says Victoria to herself and getting out her magazine 

‘My seat, my seat, my seat’ says Harrold to himself ‘Here we are, hello and good afternoon to you’ says Harrold sitting down on the seat across from Victoria 

‘Hello’ says Victoria turning the page of a magazine 

‘Am’

‘Yes’

‘Sorry, it's alright. The trains starting to move, looks as if were on our way to wherever we are going’

‘You're not Harrold Wilberforce?’

 ‘Victoria Langford’

‘I thought it might you, but I quickly thought to myself that Victoria and Samuel are living in New Jersey’

‘I moved back with the children in 2002 a year after Samuel died, and bought a house in Torquay’

‘That is terrible, I'm so sorry to hear that, was he ill for long?’

‘Samuel went down with the twin towers’ says Victoria ‘I'll be back. I'm sorry, I'm, it maybe more than twenty years ago but I'm still not over it’

‘That is completely understandable. You should have contacted Arabella and I when you got back’

‘I looked you up when I got back but you'd left London’

‘I was ill in 1999, the stress of a barrister had got the better of me, so we sold up and we bought a place in by the river Thames in Oxfordshire’

‘And are you happy there?’

‘We love it, the house is beautiful, the garden is manageable, we are close to everything which makes it ideal. Isn’t the Welsh coastline along here absolutely beautiful?’

‘It’s beautiful, just like the moment the train crosses the Menai Straits and goes along by the Snowden’

‘What about you, are you happy in Torquay?’

‘Ah yes, that was the ideal and unexpected choice’

‘In what way was it unexpected?’

‘I'd been looking in several areas, and then I saw this beautiful Georgian house looking right over Torquay, and I just thought to myself, let's have a look at it, so I did. It looked big from the outside, but the drawing room measures the depth of the house, the room on the other side was the dining room with a galley kitchen behind it and only had three bedrooms. The drawing room is dual aspect and has doors leading out to a patio with views right over Torquay. Samuel always loved sailing and when we were living in England, and when on holidays in Torquay, he would always take a boat out. I thought the house was to small but then there was space on the other side where I could build out a larger kitchen and forth bedroom because as soon as I saw that patio, I imagined sitting there looking beyond the front garden at Samuel sailing his boat, and that's what made me buy the house’

‘It sounds beautiful’

‘It helps greatly because it distracts me from his terrible tragedy'

‘You have been through a terrible time, and I cannot imagine what it must have been like for you’

‘That wasn't the only thing’

‘Please tell me if you feel able to’

‘The children were one, three and five at the time, my parents couldn't get over because all the airports had been closed, and I never ever felt so alone, and that's another why I moved back to England’

‘That was terrible for you, and how long was it before they could get over?’

‘My parents realised there were planes flying to South Carolina, and my parents have these old friends that live there, Mr and Mrs Saunders. They come over to England once a year, and they've always said that they have a spare bedroom and they are welcome to come over and visit them anytime. My father called Mr Saunders at some ridiculous time like 2.am American time, and explained the situation. Then Mrs Saunders came on the phone and said they were to come over’

That was extremely kind of them, but South Carolina is a bit far from New Jersey’

‘Your right, it was going to take them two to three days to get there by train but when they came downstairs after unpacking, Mr and Mrs Saunders said that they were going to share the ten hour drive, and drive them there’

‘You were extremely lucky to have such nice people at a time of crisis’

‘My parents said no, but they wouldn't take no for an answer, and next thing there was an unexpected knock on my door, and it was my parents’

‘Mr and Mrs Saunders were so good to go to all that trouble’

‘I thought I should ask them if they would like to stay over which I did, but they said no as they had a hotel booked nearby. I asked them which hotel they were staying in. It has a fabulous dining room with a very expensive menu. As a thank you, I called the hotel and got them a 150 dollar voucher for the dining room, which was to be given to them when they arrived’

‘That was very thoughtful of you, how did the children take it being so young?’

‘My youngest Lucy suffered the worst’

‘But she wouldn't have known what was going on’

‘She could sense that something was very wrong even though she was only one at the time, and she was balling her head off, and absolutely nothing would calm her down whatsoever. That affected her at school because all she could remember was the crying but not what it was about, even though it was explained to her over and over again’

‘So she wanted to have the memory but couldn't satisfy herself because she was too young to remember’

‘That was it, but she'd seen programmes about it, realising that her father had fallen victim to it, and it was like the jigsaw that she's never been able to piece together’

‘And how is she today?’ 

‘Actually I've just come from visiting her, because she's living in Wales now’ 

‘That's fantastic, and how is she getting on?’

‘She’s loving it, and she has got a lovely boyfriend called Dave, and he and the locals have done wonders for her. What about you, I’ve told you all about me, but first, like me, are you going all the way to London?

‘I have to change at Warrington Bank Quay to get a train onto Oxford where Arabella will meet me’

‘Next month there is the Torquay regatta, I’d love if you and Arabella would come over for it and stay with me’

‘That is most kind of you, I’ll mention it to Arabella’

‘Anyway tell me about your lives in Oxford’

‘Well Arabella and I are thoroughly enjoying life there, and we live in a small village called Christchurch on Thames. We are on the edge of the village and a stone's throw from the river which makes it a glorious place to live. When we saw the house, it was a little more than what we wanted to spend but everything seemed to so perfect about that we thought it would be well worth going for’

‘It sounds fantastic, please tell me more’

‘The house is Cotswold stone, and when one goes through the hall door, they go into a lovely beamed hallway with a snug to the right to the right, and a large behind it. To the left there is a drawing room, and when we looked at the house, the room behind it was being used as a dining room. When I stopped practising in London, and told them we were going to find a place around Oxfordshire, word quickly got round Oxford University, and next thing I received an email from personnel asking me would I be interested in lecturing law students three days a week part time, I thought it would be nice to continue on my law career if I could so I took them up on the offer, and the dining room became my study’

‘And are you enjoying it?’

‘I like it very much, there isn’t half the pressure there was in London, and the university is very social as well’

‘That sounds nice, in what way is it social?’

‘Some of my pupils would ask me to join them for a drink on the occasional Friday’

‘And would you go?’

‘Oh I would, because it would always be fun. I remember one Friday in spring of last year, we went to this riverside bar, and I went over to look at this beautiful that was parked up on the other side, and as I stood at the edge, I slipped and went straight into the river’

‘Oh my God, that is terrible, were you okay?’

‘I was fine, just a bit wet, that was all. The first thing I did before I got out was to look at my pupils who were surrounding me and say. I am going to give you all an evening lecture, and that is, when you are standing near the edge of a river or a canal, always look at the ground first or you might end up in the water like me. Then they all got me out and brought me home’

‘What did Arabella say?’

‘She thanked them and said they looked like starved students who hadn’t eaten in weeks and asked them to look after me while she went and got some groceries’

‘Did they do that?’ 

‘They did, and she came back, and cooked the most enormous Shepherds pie, and they dug into it, and eat two big helpings’

‘That was very generous of her to do all that’

‘If someone arrived at the door, Arabella would immediately organise food’

‘She sounds like a very hospitable person. So what do you do with the time you have to spare?’

‘We have an antiques market every Friday that is just up the river and I am there when the door opens at 7.am’

‘And do you buy much?’

‘Oh I’ll always come back with a few things and then put them around the place’

‘And what does Arabella say?’

‘She seemed fine with it at the beginning, and then one day I come home from lecturing, and there is this tiny little hatchback sitting outside the house’

‘And whose was it?’

‘She told me that the car we had was getting on and was a little too big for us, and it was time for something smaller’

‘I don’t believe it’

‘Not only that, she told me that I was using it to go to furniture auctions and markets and it was the only way of putting a stop to it’.

‘I’m sorry, I just can’t stop laughing at the whole thing’

‘You’re not the only one’

‘What was your reaction?’

‘I said to her, well Arabella, it really does not bother me because I do miss that Volvo estate we had from 1982 to 2008, now if you will excuse me I’m going to retire to my study. A few days later, I told Arabella that I had to go to a meeting in Cheltenham. She thought nothing of it until she saw me getting out of the drivers door of a Volvo 240 estate’

‘You didn’t go and buy another one did you?’

‘On indeed I did, and I am so happy with it’

‘What was Arabella’s response?’

‘She said nothing, and a few weeks later the Victorian rectory next door to us came up for sale. It had several acres, was not listed, and had been empty for quite some time. It was for sale in several lots, and the derelict two acre walled garden was one of the lots because it had access to the road’

‘Oh please, don’t tell me she bought the walled garden?’

‘She did indeed’

‘My God, and what did you do with it?’

‘We opened it up as a community orchard’

‘And did you manage to restore it?’

‘it was an amazing project, and what we did was asked the locals if they wanted to be involved in the restoration anyway big or small’

‘And did that happen?’

‘Oh people were very interested indeed, and most of the community got involved. I remember people roping in their youngsters because they thought it would be good for them’

‘When Covid hit, what happened with the orchard?’

‘As you know, distancing was the main factor, so what we did was, we thought the elderly living on their own would be the loneliest. So what happened was that locals came in and picked eating apples and they brought to the old folk living along, even if they lived outside the village, and that gave them the chance for a chat and pass the time of day’

‘That was a lovely thought, and I’m sure they loved it, and what happened regarding the cooking apples?’ 

‘A local bakery took them, and was able to make enough crumbles for everyone to enjoy on the village green’

‘So is all well with it now?’

‘It is indeed, and since Covid, crumbles are made with bruised apples and someone comes along in a van that serves tea and coffee, and every week during apple season we meet up with all the locals in the orchard. Then we thought what about the summer months, so towards the end of Covid, we started growing raspberry bushes as they would be ready to be be picked then, and they could be used for bakewell slices giving opportunities for meet ups in the summer’ 

‘That is lovely, and you are both very kind to be doing that’

‘We don’t like the elderly to be left on their own and feel isolated’

‘And if they are not able to get to you, what happens?’

‘Shortly after we started it all up, a local bus link got involved for elderly people that might have difficulty getting to it’

‘That is fantastic, and would you do anything at Christmas?’

‘Oh the village comes alive at Christmas, and everyone makes mince pies, and brings them onto the village green where we will eat them with mulled wine, and carrolls will be sung, and that’s when the whole village gets involved’

‘It sounds delightful’

‘You should come down some Christmas and stay with Arabella and I’

‘Thank you that sounds lovely’

A few hours later, the train pulls out of the station before Warrington Bank Quay, and an announcement is made that it will be the next station.

‘Well Victoria, it looks as if the next stop is me, here is my mobile number’

‘I’ll ring it, and then you’ll have mine’

‘Here we are in the Warrington Bank Quay, it was great to see you again Victoria, and to be back in touch’

‘Come here’

‘I’m so happy to have found you’ says Victoria breaking down ‘You’d better go’

Later on that evening, Arabella collects Harrold from Oxford.

‘Hello Harrold, and how are you?’ asks Arabella pulling out of the parking space

‘Great thank you’

‘And how was the train journey?’

‘Very surprising indeed’

‘In what way?’

‘I found myself sitting across from Victoria Langford whose on her way to London to visit one of her sons’

‘You mean Samuels wife’

‘More like Samuels widow’

‘I need to pull in. What do you mean Samuels widow?’

‘Poor Samuel went down with the twin towers on September 11th 2001’

‘Oh my God, get me a tissue, and what is she doing over here?’

‘She moved back to England with the three children and bought a house in Torquay. There’s a regatta on next month, and she has invited us to go down and stay with her’

‘That is so kind of her, do you have her telephone number?’

‘I’ll call her now’ 

‘Gosh Harrold, that was quick’

‘I have Arabella beside me, she wants to talk to you’

‘Arabella, how are you?’ It’s so good to hear you’

‘Harrold told me about poor Samuel, I cannot tell how sorry I am’

‘Thank you, that is so kind of you’

‘Harrold also told me that you are visiting your son in London, so on your way back to Torquay, why don’t you come and stay with us for a few days?’

‘Thank you Arabella, that would be lovely, I would really love to do that’

A few days later, Victoria’s visit to London comes to an end and she heads down to Oxford, and is met by Arabella and Harrold.

The End