Notes
Note for: Andrew Paul Smith, 1 SEP 1962 - 9 FEB 1990
ANDREW PAUL SMITH
On the day when Andrew first started school he wanted to walk to school
on his own. But I thought it would be best to walk him to school. He
enjoyed school and was interested in learning. He was not very
interested in school sports, but had a go.
He joined 4th Worth Cubs.
He loved to read books and you would find him with a book in his hand.
When he was 10 years old he was taken ill with meningitis and was sent
from Crawley Hospital to Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon where they
made several tests and found he had either an abcess or a clot on the
brain and had to be operated on.
He returned to school after being away for 3 months. The after effects
of his operation left him with epilepsy for which he had to take drugs.
He did not join the Scout Group when he finished with Cubs, instead he
joined the NTC T.S. Glorious as his ambition was to go into the Navy. He
was unable to fulfill this ambition as the medication he was taking
prevented this.
He went on a cruise with the school on the SS Uganda which he thoroughly
enjoyed.
Coming up to his `O' levels the drugs had to be changed to a different
type.
He managed to pass on his exams and then went on to study for his `A'
levels.
He obtained 2 passes to take him to Trent Polytechnic in Nottingham where
he studied Chemistry. He finished his course with a Higher National
Diploma and found a job with an oil company in Leatherhead. During
these years he gained the Bronze and Silver Award in the Duke of
Edinburgh Award Scheme.
The Expeditions were taken in Derby. He also joined 4th Worth Venture
Scouts for a time.
After about 2 or three years in Leatherhead he obtained a job with B.P.
at Sunbury as a Research Chemist and they funded his further studies for
a degree in Chemistry which he passed about a year before he died. So
he had reached his goal.
He made many friends along they way and one of his favourite past-times
was visiting Cathedrals and he went on many Cathedral Camps all over the
country and on several of these was a Leader of the camp or joint
Leader. He met Rachele on one of these.
He also helped out at a Scout Group in Sunbury where he met Andy Rudd
and became great friends.
A lot of the time he was unable to drive so used to do a lot of cycling
and sometimes went out with Andy on cycle runs.
His last place where he stayed in digs was at Ashford near to where he
worked at B.P. Gulli was the name of his landlady. She would often
include him with anything she laid on with her family. Gulli's Aunt
came from India and would often cook Andrew Indian meals which he
enjoyed, and in return he would cook her an English dish.
On his weekend visits home he would often meet up with his old school
friends, Philip Townley, Duncan Saunderson, to name but a few.
He also enjoyed sitting up late having a good old chin-wag with Michael.
Whether it was good or bad advice he was giving I do not know However,
Michael has turned out trumps
He lived his life to the full and managed to achieve the things he wanted.
The day he died he was due to help Andy and Patsy move house, but this
was not to be.
Notes
Note for: Charles Henry Smith, 20 NOV 1910 - 8 OCT 1985
CHARLES HENRY SMITH
Before going on the railway he worked for Cheals Nurseries as a gardener,
which is probably where he got some of his knowledge for gardening.
He started on the railway in 1932 during the electrification and then
went into the Three Bridges extra gang as a Plate Layer; then as a
sub-ganger into Three Bridges gang and then as a ganger at Balcombe
Junction. He then came back to Three Bridges gang as a ganger and when
they disbanded the gangs and made them mobile he went to Three Bridges
yard as a ganger to prepare lengths of track for relaying and stayed
there until he retired.
During the Second World War he was a railway Home Guard.
When the trains used to run at Xmas he was sometimes called out with his
brother George to go flaging or snowing.
In those days we used to have big Xmas parties and George, Dot, Ted and
Vi and families used to be at our house. Sometimes George and Dad used
to have too much to drink at Xmas and so if they were called out they
were unable to go
In his younger days he had a motorbike and never had to take a driving
test and so was able to go on to drive a car. He had an A30 and an A35
and then followed on with a Hillman Imp and lastly a Fiat 125.
When he retired from the Railway he worked part-time as a Porter at
Boots and finally retired at 70.
He was very good at DIY and when we bought our first house he used to
come up to our house at Fetcham together with Bob Watts to help with the
work we had to do to the house.
He used to make home-made wine and beer which tasted good. Dad and Bob
Watts made some wheat wine and distilled it, but they were afraid to
drink it.