INSPIRED by ‘a very full life’ Redditch man Roger Henry Lippett has written a book on his life which began living on the Batchley Estate. He went on to serve in the Royal Navy and wants to share his story.
He was born on January 30 1939 on the council estate, with his dad’s name Henry, being given to him as his middle name.
Here he sheds light on his life family and friends as a social record of sorts that may be of interest to his children, grandchildren and the people of Redditch.
Although he said he had never achieved great wealth or fame he felt his life had moments worth recounting.
In his words: “I now live in the beautiful city of Plymouth in Devon but I will always be a Batchley boy.
“Far have I traveled, and much have I seen and this is my story, serialised in the Redditch Standard.”
Chapter 13
It would not have been until Christmas leave before I would be able to get to Scotland to be reunited with my bride to be.
My task after returning to Devonport was to find us a place to live after we were married.
Someone tipped me off that he had heard of a flat for rent in Alexandra Road and I went to investigate.
There I met Mr and Mrs Lyons who told me that yes, they did have rooms to let and so I had found our first home.
They were a lovely couple. He worked in the dockyard and she was Maltese and they had three children.
They showed me the rooms which were on the third floor.
We had a bedroom and a kitchen / living room.
The toilet was outside at the end of the garden and next door to the toilet was another little outhouse in which there was a bath.
I was very happy to have found somewhere for us to live and our time there was to prove to be a very happy time of which I will recount more later.
I travelled to Scotland at the end of December and stayed with Rose and her family at her house.
The night before we were to marry I went for a few drinks with my best man whose name was ‘Jock’ Newlands.
Jock (I never did know his proper name as he was always known by his nickname) was a leading stoker on the Ulster who I had always liked and got on well with on board ship.
A stag night was out of the question as I didn’t know anyone in Scotland.
I then spent the night before our wedding at Rose’s gran and granddad’s house in Portobello.
They were a lovely old couple who lived three floors up in a tenement block. They had a cosy front room with a big roaring open fire which reminded me of my Granny Lippett’s house in Studley.
We were married in a pretty little church in Tranent, East Lothian, and the minister was a lovely man named Mr Miller who knew Rose from her regular attendance at church.
I had by then, at the young age of 20, been rated as Petty Officer and was proud to get married in uniform as did my best man.
It was a nice ceremony and afterwards we retired to a quiet reception at the Co-Op tea rooms.
On my side, present, were my mum and dad and my best man.
My shipmate Tim was also away getting married and the remainder of the ship’s company was spread far and wide.
Sad to say I had lost contact with my school mates and my friends on Batchley estate – a fact I much regret but my life had changed so much.
After a while at the reception, everyone returned to Rose’s house for a chat and drinks.
Meanwhile Rose changed out of her wedding dress and we left in a shiny big Austin Sheerline for the Caledonia hotel at Edinburgh`s West End, next to the Caledonia railway station where we spent our first night.
