In this first instalment of Charlie’s account of Whitsun weekend 1926 it does seem to take Charlie a little while to settle to the task. First he eulogises at some length on what it is that gives his favourite parts of North Wales that something extra for him. Then we get a glimpse into some of Charlie’s thoughts on religion before finally he seems to settle to his task of describing the first stage of their overnight ride – which took them as far as Chester.
I was very intrigued by his reference to ‘Rude Boreas’ – which in my ignorance I had to look up. It turns out that Boreas was the Greek god of the north wind! So, I think that we can take it that things were pretty windy – in all probability a headwind. In fact I have the reader at a slight advantage in that I have read the other instalments and thus am in a position to advise you that this is a subject that Charlie will be returning to in the subsequent instalments.
But above all of these references that one that really sticks out for me is the throw-away reference to the Hindley Boys being part of the coal lock-out. Now, sad to say, I am not a great student of modern/social history so I didn’t immediately recognise this – though it didn’t take much searching for me to realise its significance as a consequence of the general strike! What I find most remarkable is that one of the most significant political and social events that occurred, certainly in that year – but possibly even in the whole decade – should warrant so little comment from Charlie. And yet he has no difficulty whatsoever, writing at length about his love of the North Wales countryside.
The general strike lasted for 9 days from Tuesday 4 May to Thursday 13 May. It seems that Friday 28 May was a holiday because “Whitsuntide decreed that we others should be free from the Thursday night” though Charlie seems not to have set out until after 9 in the evening on the Friday. At this time Charlie would have been 21 and I imagine still an apprentice and perhaps this provided him with enough security to give so little care to the monumental events that were going on around him. Yet, we know from what Charlie wrote about his long periods out of work in The Dole that he was to become very much affected by the future economic conditions.
