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Any home loving sailor would tell you of the excitement that is generated on a homeward bound ship. As you cross the oceans and steer a course for home ,you begin to think of all the things you might get up to this time, the girls you might meet, old shipmates who might be in port, those relatives that you had?nt seen for sometime. Sometimes your thoughts would turn to the superficial, a new suit, the Locarno or those new clubs that were springing up in town.
It was known as the ?channels?, the feeling of euphoria that comes over everyone returning from a long voyage ; sadly I did?nt have the ?channels ? this time. I had a lot to settle when I got home, I had solicitors to see and had to face M. and bring this chapter to a close.
We reached the Manchester Ship Canal in the third week of April ,it was wonderfully mild and boded well for our leave. When you sail up the Canal you have to lower your topmasts, you would?nt get under all the bridges if your mast was too big, our was rather large in that it was situated on the Monkey Island above the bridge. The whole mast had to be lowered and , as it was hinged ,it would lay across the top of the bridge housing and hang forward over the main deck. It was a fraught business but we got her down and then she had to be stripped of her stays and aerials, you did?nt need to be afraid of heights when you did this. You had to walk along the lowered mast, like a funambulist ,arms astretch to get your balance and the get along there to the top ,which was now above the deck, it was unnerving but you soon got stuck into it..
As we were cruising up to our dock the rummagers piled aboard. I was way over the top with my cigars , cigarettes and booze, I was looking at a hefty fine or the customs surcharge. I got everything I had and put it on my writing desk so that it was in full view, no good trying to put one over on these guys.
It looked like a good tobacconists and off licence. My cabin mate said I was mad, well, that maybe so but some times fortune favours the foolish.
When the rummagers came in and saw my store they looked at each and then turned to me ? Who the hell does this belong to?? one of them asked. I stood up and went across to the desk top, ? The cigars have got to be shared out between my Dad and some of his brothers, the cigarettes are for my Mum and my elder sister. Now, the whiskey is Dads but the brandy is for my Mum and the Rum is for me to give the lads at the club for sippers?
The rummager looked at me as though I was a bit short in the upper storeys ? Are you aware of what you are allowed to bring in sir?? ?Yes? I answered ? but it is?nt for me ,it?s the families Christmas presents? He shook his head and said ,?Put it in your case before my boss sees it , and ,hope you have a good homecoming?
We paid off the Athelcrest on April the 21st, time to go home.
It was mid afternoon when I got to Liverpool and I did?nt know where to go, I was a little shamefaced about meeting my parents and so I went to my sisters in Garston.
We sat and I told her as much as was decent about why I had left M. and asked if I could get my head down there for the night, she was happy for me to stay but urged me to go and see Mum and Dad before the night was out, they would be upset if they thought I was home and had?nt been to see them.
I left my gear at Jessies and took a little case with some goodies in. I had?nt shaved off my beard and was wearing a colourful straw panama, not a sight you would usually see in a mid week in Liverpool. As the bus neared Walton I felt the need to see Grandma and Granddad Hengler, I could pop in for a little while and see how they were, I still felt very close to both of them. It was getting dark when I knocked their door in Eton Street, I could hear Grandma wheezing her way to the door; it opened a crack and she looked at me. ?Er we don?t want anything? she said. I was amazed ,she thought I was an Indian door to door salesman. ?Pliss , pretty lady, you will like what I have?.Come look I show you?
?Siid? she yelled ? There?s a darkie on the step and he won?t go away? ?Grandma, it?s me, Brian? She craned her neck forward to get a closer look,? It?s alright Sid, it?s only Dickie Mint home from his travels?
It was lovely to sit with them in the dining room ,a plate of Grandmas scones and a hot cup of tea. Granddad ,being an old salt was full of questions as to where I had been this time; it was more than a year since I had seen them and they were totally unaware of my situation. I did?nt enlighten them ,it was just good to be a grandson again.
I caught the bus to Kirkby and walked from the stop to Mum and Dads with a stomach full of butterflies.
I need?nt have worried about my reception, there were no recriminations or I told you so?s, jut a warm loving welcome . There was no question of going back to our Jessies that night, Mum made up my old bed and I went to sleep resolved to bring these proceedings to a close.
The law firm that the Consul had engaged for me was in Castle Street and it was there that I found the man charged with getting my marriage dissolved. He seemed a mere boy, dressed in chalk striped pin suit and matching tie and handkerchief, looked dapper ,but was he good?
The court case was to be held on the 6th of May, my birthday, did that bode well , I hoped so.
I saw my solicitor twice before the court case, he told me a silk would be acting for me in court, I asked him what that meant and he told me that it was a lawyer and that he was the best. I was impressed but totally ignorant of how these things worked, it seemed I was in safe hands. My leave then took on a different tenor, a little enjoyment was called for and so I embarked upon a bit of night life, and what a place was for night life then. There were clubs galore and lots of groups , the Pacemakers and the Beatles were just the tip of the iceberg, even my cousin had a group, Arrow and the Archers. Fusty old Liverpool was now thriving with places of entertainment and the girls were never more beautiful than they were then. I had a whirl of one night stands and , before I knew it ,it was May the 5th.
I phoned my solicitor and asked him when he planned a meeting with the lawyer, that in 24 hours we were due in court. He went very quiet and said that he had been briefed and would meet in court at 9.00 in the morning.
I met the lawyer next morning and found ,to my dismay, that all he had was some notes from the solicitor and so he had our case moved to the bottom of that days business while he sat with me and went through the whole thing from scratch. Fro where we were sitting we could see lots of couples being called into court and leaving no more than twenty minutes later,some even sooner. So it was?nt going to be a marathon then.
We were called at 11.00 and were ushered into the magistrates court, the old ushers had seen everything and could have written books about what they had witnessed therein.
M. sat across the courtroom with a policewoman by her side. As the evidence was presented by our advocates ,the Usher who stood near me was nodding ,?Yer?ve got this in the bag kid? M. sat ,her face a crimson colour as my lawyer questioned her about the horrible tales that she had written, the policewoman moved away from her. The usher leaned over me,?You?ve nothing to worry about son, you?ll walk away from this?. We broke for lunch and the policewoman who had sat with M, came over to me, ?Come and have some tea with us ? she said. She patted my arm and said ?Soon be over? I was comforted by these sentiments and we resumed our seats in court to carry on. The afternoon wore on as the lawyers picked holes in statements and I watched as the clock neared five. The clerk to the Justices called for an adjournment for a month hence and I grabbed my lawyers arm and told him I would be back at sea then, ? Would the court indulge my client and continue the hearing now as he has to be back at sea in two weeks time.? The atmosphere became glacial ?Yer kin kiss this one good bye son, the chairman hates sailors? the usher whispered.
No one had mentioned that I was in the merchant navy and the frosty faced chairman turned to me and said that they would indeed continue the hearing.
I was screwed over six ways to Sunday.
Knowing what I know now, I could have sued the solicitors for malfeasance but back then, I just accepted that I was going to have to live with the courts decision.
A chunk of my earnings was going to taken in maintenance and that seemed so unfair, I was taxed as a single man but had to pay out just as much as a married man.
The solicitors said that they would appeal against the decision and gave me a whacking great bill. It was with great relief that I joined my next vessel ,a Cunarder called the Saxonia. It would seem strange sailing with a full Scouse crowd again.
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