Saturday, 8 December 2007

`Alpha' and Better




I have published a new book about St Nicholas at Wade By Mikal Cole called `Alpha' and Better here is a sample. .




Chapter One
BSNAW - Before St Nicholas at Wade
I was born on Saturday 24 August 1946, at about 10.30am, in The Canterbury (now Kent and Canterbury) Hospital and being a person who only complains when things are really bad was named `The Purple Terror' by the staff on the maternity wing, basically because I did not like being kept waiting for my food, (some things never change, do they?J). Saturday's child has far to go!
My parents William James Cole (born 26 April 1917) and Lilian Elsie (born 6 September 1916 (nee Pettman) were first cousins and got married in Napier Hall, Gillingham on 27 December 1939. Actually my mother was born on 7th but as Grand father left the house he turned to Granny and said `She was born on the 7th wasn't she?' `No! the sixth.' Came the reply.
When he returned with the Birth Certificate it had the wrong date on it and Granny told him off for being a `great fathead' but they didn't bother altering it and all her life my mother has had something in common with the Sovereign of this Country in that they both have `an official birthday' and an ordinary one.

Posted by at

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 02, 2008 4:05 pm

    I lived in St. Nicholas at Wade for eighteen years and brought up three children there. It is a lovely village and we were very happy there. Mikal very kindly sent me the book for Christmas as I have lived in America for eleven years. I am still in touch with Mikal and his wife Margaret, who is a good friend of mine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 30, 2008 10:42 pm

    Does anyone remember anything about Hon. Mary Palk who lived at Hall Farm House and died in 1966?
    I think she was buried at SNAW.
    I am writing a book on her family.
    Iain Fraser

    ReplyDelete
  3. J. NeilsonAugust 12, 2008 10:20 pm

    I have just received a copy of the book today and am really looking forward to reading it.
    Yes SNAW is a lovely little village.I spent most of my chidhood life there leaving in 1959. I lived at "Broad View" 2 Summer Road and would love to talk with anyone about their village memories.
    Jacqueline Neilson nee Scott

    ReplyDelete
  4. J. NeilsonAugust 16, 2008 7:12 pm

    I am finding the book very interesting and am having a lot of memories coming to me. You mention Charmain Ashdown, The last time I was in contact with her she was in Australia.
    I spent my whole childhood in St Nicholas at Wade. First living at Frost Cottages in the area near the Thanet Way. My Dad worked at Shuart Farm. When I was quite young we moved to Summer Road. There were, I believe only 6 houses on the road then. The Wheadon family were our neighbours and their one daughter Jacqueline and I were friends for most of my life there.
    I can remember most of the names (and some addresses) of the people we knew and that I attended school with. Both the village school and King Ethelbert Secondary Modern School. I do hope some day to return to the village and refresh my memories. On two previous trips we drove through the village and saw my house on Summer Road, also visited the Village Post Office. My first time was in 1976, my old school chum Roger Todd now dead, came to Westgate where I was staying with another old school chum Mavis Burnage (nee Attwell). Roger was driving) me up to London to meet my husband Jack who was arriving from the Middle East he was on a 6 month UN Peacekeeping misson.
    The second time was a quick trip on our way back to Somerset where we were for a couple of weeks in 1990. We had been in Eastry visiting my elderly Auntie.
    Glad to discuss any other dates, names and places with you anytime.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownNovember 30, 2008 10:50 am

    Well slap my face with a wet kipper!!!!
    This book was published over a year ago and Today for the first time I found this site!!
    It just goes to show that you should ALWAYS read the publishers comments, Sorry Michael! It's there on the last page.
    Thank you all for your comments but three important people in the book have since gone to meet their maker but all over 90 years old.
    MiKAL (soon to be famous author?)

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownNovember 30, 2008 10:58 am

    Just had a senior moment!

    For my comment above 'last page' read 'Page 123'!

    MiKAL

    ReplyDelete

Comments, since I started writing this blog in 2007 the way the internet works has changed a lot, comments and dialogue here were once viable in an open and anonymous sense. Now if you comment here I will only allow the comment if it seems to make sense and be related to what the post is about. I link the majority of my posts to the main local Facebook groups and to my Facebook account, “Michael Child” I guess the main Ramsgate Facebook group is We Love Ramsgate. For the most part the comments and dialogue related to the posts here goes on there. As for the rest of it, well this blog handles images better than Facebook, which is why I don’t post directly to my Facebook account, although if I take a lot of photos I am so lazy that I paste them directly from my camera card to my bookshop website and put a link on this blog.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)