Bill's Office

I can always remember him saying when we were very young during any discussions, “Wait until we take power.”

When he used to come and stay, if he was going to some meeting or other, I was always amazed at the amount of things he took out of his raincoat pockets. He used to say it was his office. Then the odd tin of beans would appear too, so I think his coat was his pantry as well. He used to come to meetings about Consett Iron Company and their red dust, that we didn’t know was taking place, but he had got to know via the grape vine somehow. Mum and her sisters would always worry about him. I couldn’t count the times she said, “Ee, our Billy, he’s such a clever lad you know.”

I do know that we were always made to feel very welcome when we came to stay, wherever Ray and he were living at the time, and they always seemed so happy.

Audrey - a Niece from ‘Up Home’, from the pamphlet that celebrated Bill's 80th birthday.

Picture: Bill's mum and dad.