Stan and Grace

  The Nurses Home, General Hospital , Nottingham Sunday, 12.15 a.m.    My dear Stan, You will no doubt be surprised to see “Sunday” written on my letter when I said that I wasn’t going to write until Wednesday but I just could not wait until Wednesday to write to you.   I must thank you, Stan, for the lovely time you gave me whilst I was at home and I did really enjoy being with you, you know.   I have thought seriously about things since I came back (tried to think, I should say) and I have come to the conclusion that I am losing the second round! I did promise you a snap but have not been to collect them yet so will send you one in my next letter.   How about you sending me one of yourself?   I suppose you will say you haven’t got one.   If you have not I am going to see what I can do about a camera when next I go home, or maybe you are camera shy! How do you feel after your vacation?   I felt pretty miserable yesterday but am get...

 Staying with their parents, Stan and Grace now had a few days to spend, getting to know each other.  Because she had to attend a lecture on Monday evening, Grace arrived in Doncaster at lunchtime on the Tuesday (24th) and they planned to have lunch together  before catching to bus back to Grimethorpe.  It appears that Grace had to leave, probably around lunchtime, on the Friday, so they only had two full days and two half days to spend together. What was Grimethorpe like in the 1940's?  Prior to the sinking of Grimethorpe Colliery in 1895, Grimethorpe was quite an isolated rural settlement with three or four farms, including the impressive Jacobean Hall Farm, which stood across the road from Grace's parents' Council house on Brierley Road.  By 1942, there were two collieries: Grimethorpe and Ferrymoor, served by a huge network of railway lines to transport the coal.  Alongside the collieries there was a brickworks. The village had been built at the sa...

Note: 22 March was Stan's 23rd birthday Grimethorpe  Sunday My Dear Grace, I am rather disappointed that you couldn’t make it today, but I realise that work must come first and so I am patiently waiting for Tuesday to come around. I shall be waiting for you at Waterdale, so look out for me won’t you.   We should just have time to have some lunch before we catch the 2 p.m. bus to Grimethorpe. If you have only been out once in the past six weeks you will be ready to hit the high spots, I should imagine. Will you have to be back before Friday?   My Father is organising another Nursing Association dance.   Remember what happened at the last one? Well, it’s very difficult writing at the moment.   My brother and sister are chasing the dog round the table and its proving too hectic for decent letter writing. Until Tuesday therefore “au Revoir” and much love. Stan This photo shows Stan's younger brother and sister, John and Janet, with their dog, Kiltie,...

The Nurses Home General Hospital Nottingham 20/3/42 Dear Stan, Thanks for your letter.   I am so sorry to disappoint you but I shall not be going home until Tuesday.   I start my nights off on Sunday but have a lecture Monday evening from 6 – 7 p.m. and it is too late to go home after 7 p.m., so I have to wait until Tuesday morning.   I shall leave here at about 9.40 a.m. and arrive in Doncaster at about 12.20 p.m. at the Waterdale Bus Station and catch the 2 p.m. bus home, so if you are not doing anything of importance on Tuesday – well – I will leave the rest to you.   By the way, a bus leaves Grimethorpe at 11 a.m. and arrives in Doncaster at 12 MD. I suppose if I tried hard enough I could get Monday’s lecture excused but I have decided not to as I take an exam a fortnight on Monday and I must pass it, I should hate to fail and have to sit it again. I am looking forward to my nights off, I feel so tired these days, I feel ready for a little relaxation. ...

The Nurses Home General Hospital, Nottingham 9 / 3/ 42 My dear Stan, Thank you for your last letter.   I was pleased to hear that you had succeeded in postponing your leave.   You know Stan, it was a good job really that I did not have this week-end off as I am just back on duty after being off sick for a few days.   It was nothing much – just a boil on my wrist. I hope you will excuse this awful paper – not very elegant is it?   I came on duty without mine having a few minutes to spare I decided to answer your letter, so had to tear some paper out of the back of the treatment book.   I suppose a letter on this paper is better than none at all. By the way, you must not worry yourself about my getting into trouble with Matron.   I shall not do that, she is really quite reasonable and always looks at both sides of every story.   I am pleased to say that I have definitely got the 22 nd – 26 th but it starts on Sunday and I might have a lecture...

 Today,  Stan was promoted to Acting Sergeant, which means a move from 10 Corps Royal Signals to 9 Corps.

  The Nurses Home, General Hospital, Nottingham. Thursday 26th  10 a.m.   My Dear Stan, I am so sorry that I cannot get my nights off as I said in my previous letter.   I honestly did not know until this morning that Sister had changed them and I sent you a telegram as soon as I came off duty.   I do hope that you get it in time.   I am really sorry if it has messed up your leave. You see, I have got another staff nurse on now and she has not had a day off for last month and she cannot have the nights off that she wanted as we are taking all emergency cases that particular week, so Sister decided to give her the nights off that I had asked for.   I was furious when I heard about it and went to the office immediately.   Of course, as she is more senior to me I just had to let her have them. Sister then tried to make me have from the 12 th – 16 th but I put my foot down and said no, as they were no good to me.   She wanted t...