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The Townend Family Letters

Correspondence from the 1930s - 1940s between members of the Townend family
HPV + LJT Letters 1933 to 1935

1934 July

From LJT to Annette

P&O.S.N.Co.
S.S. Cormorin
July 17th 1934

My darling Annette

It was such fun and so unexpeced, getting your letters at Suez – Yours sounded very busy with all the preparations for Speech Day. I am so glad that Joyce and Mrs. Petrie were going down to see you and take you out.

Its tiresome that Richard cant get away before the morning of the 31st and very tantalizing that we shant see you till the 1st Aug. – but it cant be helped – Its not worth getting you across in two batches – I am glad I had not a whole lot of things arranged for the week-end of the 20th July for we dropped a propella blade a day out from Suez and have to go slow – so shall be two days late in Marseilles. All the people who had counted on being in London on Saturday afternoon, have been sending off cables and wireless messages, altering all their plans.

Your tennis marks seem good. I am longing to hear how you did in the Concours exam. It was a bit of luck that you had plenty to talk to the examiner about in the viva part of it.

There never seems much news to give on board ship. I expect you remember the last voyage we did pretty well – and one voyage on a P&O. is very like another – except that this is a badly run ship – We had a couple of rough days out from Bombay. I did not attempt to get up, as I was fairly comfortable as long as I lay in my bed. I slept almost the whole of the first day – (I had no idea I could sleep so much -) and I slept and read all the next day. Since then it has been calm and not too tiresomely hot. There was a burning wind blowing off the desert as we came through the Canal yesterday – but I did not mind it. Port Said was hot and stuffy and we only went ashore to buy Dad some socks. Its heavenly now – and I hope will stay like this to Marseilles.

Pat Clyde’s mother and sister are on board and we have had several chats to-gether. Mrs. Clyde says she remembers seeing you and Rosemary.

A most extra-ordinary collection of people came on to the ship last evening – We think they must be a Cook’s Tour or something of the sort. There is one great fat woman who has a very thin white dress – just skirt and sort of bib in front, held in place by braces over the shoulders and crossing over the back. Her great fat back and arms are burnt to the colour of bully beef and look too awful for words!

Is’nt it funny – there are three people on board who are going to look at St Monica’s with a view to sending their daughters there?

I think this will just reach you before you leave school – and I probably wont be writing to you individually again before we meet – How thrilling it is!!!

Best – best love
from
Mum

From HPV to Annette

S.S. Comoria
July 20th

My dear Annette

Somewhere between Sicily and Sardinia: we passed Stromboli at 4 last night: I did not see it. Yesterday was not a good day for me: intense weariness marked it: maybe liver, in which case I should do more – or maybe the reward of overdoing it, in which case I do less. The Compromise reached is to eat less. But really I have not anyhow eaten much. Even filling my pen has not proved an effective means of making my handwriting to be legible. A pity that the worst writing so often hides the poorest thoughts: offering no reward to the decipherer of it.

All voyages are uneventful even when things happen on them. A blade off a propeller – a man with D.Ts, - a small fire owing to wires fusing – a woman with a huge beefsteak back exposed by her manner of clothing herself, fat legs with pimples on them and bright red toe nails: all these things should break the monotony to some effect. But they do not. I hear of and gaze on them with languor and indifference. All the world foams and speaks indignantly of our being a day late. That comes of making plans: they are upset when things go wrong. We however have no plans except to be at St Malo by the time that you arrive there – and so we remain like the Just man of the Stoics quite unmoved.

Two letters from you at Suez which I read with interest. I shall hear with pleasure the result of your Concours. The chief art of a viva is to talk of something familiar. As for me I progress not at all. It is in vain that I read French books: the words filter through memory into oblivion – one ought to have a network of phrases to catch them in. If I had but done as is expected of persons doing the Linguaphone course – if I had written essays about each record after learning it, - things might have been different. – The library on this ship is a very bad one: and I relied upon it for diversion during the voyage. A mistake.

Much love
Daddie