Tidworth - The Ram Public House A popular drinking establishment which was built in 1848. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Where shall we go next in our whirlwind tour of the village of Tidworth and its entertainments? We have a choice of a Pub, A Bookmakers or yet another NAAFI.
We'll start with the Pub. The only public house I knew of was "The Ram." I don't know the origin of the name, but as it was in a rural area where sheep, amongst other farm animals could be found, the name certainly didn't seem to be out of character with the area. It was hardly a new establishment as it dated from 1848. It had worn well though, despite the passage of literally thousands of soldiers through its doors. I always remember there being a welcome given to hospital staff when we visited. I remember visiting, not too frequently though, with friends, and with my girlfriend, who later became my wife. I was not, at that time at least, too familiar with the ways of drinking and "knowing my ales." I will only say that the brewery supplying The Ram was Brickwoods which I believe was a Southampton brewery. I was told by the more experienced drinkers of the day, that it was "a good pint." This I won't contest-all I will say is that I have tasted others since then that suit my palate better. The favourite games in the pub were the inevitable darts and dominoes. I never took part in these as (a) I wasn't safe with a sharpened pencil in my hand let alone a tungsten tipped mini-spear, and (b) what the hell is this dominoes thing all about anyway? Way over my head it was, and still is!
As popular as The Ram might have been with the local populace and the military, I reckon there was one place that was equally, if not more popular. What could this place be? It was none other than Captain Keith Hurts' betting emporium, the local Bookies. I have to admit to being attracted to the place in my early days in Tidworth. I heard so many of my colleagues talking about winning pound after pound in the bookies, that I became tempted to try and do likewise. Thankfully, I soon discovered that it was a fallacy that riches were just waiting for me to collect. My first Theatre boss was a keen visitor to this establishment-in fact I seem to remember he almost lived there! The bookies, strangely enough actually became a popular place for me a little later.
One of the ways that the Hospital Management Team found to keep their staff amused was by having Regimental Weekends. For those not familiar with this term, Regimental Weekends were a legitimate use of a soldiers time and energy in terms of using cheap, if not free labour at weekends to tidy up the local area, apply coats of paint to peeling woodwork, cut grass etc, so that the areas around the hospital and barrack areas were always "ship-shaped and Bristol fashion." Sorry about using a naval term, but I couldn't think of an army equivalent. Sadly though, they were occasionally used as a form of punishment. If the Regimental Sergeant-Major (RSM) and or Company Commander carried out a Barrack Room inspection whilst suffering with a hangover, or having lost at the bookies or whatever else might have upset them, they would declare a Regimental Weekend as punishment for even the most minor problem discovered during the inspection. To cut a long story short, we had an RSM with a heart for a short while, prior to his accepting a Quartemaster Commision. His wife knew my wife, via the Wives Club. I had a record of being late for work at one time, so, this particular RSM, and I promise you this is true-bought me an alarm clock to bring my lateness to an end. He would also, on the occasion of a Regimental Weekend, make me report to his office mid-way through the Saturday morning for "Duty Runner" duties. Always my task was the same. He would pass to me an envelope with his bets for that day along with cash, and send me hot foot to the bookies. From there, having collected his betting slip, I should return to his office prior to being dismissed for the rest of the weekend. All this happened because of the Wives Club. For anyone who doesn't know of such clubs, the Cosa Nostra could learn a lot from them in terms of influence!
The third and final social centre was the NAAFI complex in Station Road. Within could be found a Bar and a Store cum Supermarket. Without doubt, at the time I was there, this was the biggest store in Tidworth. Later a Ten Pin Bowling Alley was built next to the store. An instant hit, it served as a popular place to meet and have a burger and a drink as well as to hire a pair of shoes and throw overweight balls down an immaculately maintained runway, with the expected result that all ten pins would be knocked over as one. Not, strictly speaking, always the case for me. Nevertheless, great fun was had by many. It helped us while away an afternoon or evening. I look back and remember how I enjoyed making others laugh with my failures, while they continued to improve. I seem to remember that I never received an invitation to join the hospital bowling team. Still, their loss not mine.
As well as the complex having a bowling alley, it also was blessed with a manager who appeared to have been separated at birth from both a sense of humour and any conception of good manners. Popularity was not a word that featured in his vocabulary. Many a young soldier was removed from either the bar of bowling alley for at might have been a minor misdemeanour. Now, this is where the story really starts.
At this time I was married, and renting a small flat above the Green Grocers part way up Station Road. I had married before I reached the age of 21 years, so didn't qualify for a Married Quarter. (Don't worry, the wives club sorted that one out for me after just a few months.) At the back of the building was an alley way that ran the length of the hill, up to the NAFFI Complex. One Sunday morning we were awoken by a member of the local Constabulary. (My wife, bless her, immediately said that I had been at home all night and didn't do it anyway, whatever it was.) Casting flippancy aside, "whatever it was" turned out to be the discovery of the NAAFI managers body in the toilets of the club. All of us living in the vacinity were questioned for some time about whether we had seen or heard anything "suspicious" overnight. Regardless of the lack his popularity, he did not deserve to have his life ended in was was later reported as a violent way. The bowling alley was closed for some time. I will be honest and say that I was shocked by the whole affair. It took some time for the earlier happy atmosphere to return to the premises. Eventually there was an arrest and a prosecution for murder committed in the course of a robbery.
Well thats all I remember of social facilities in Tidworth from days gone by. I'm sure there were more. If you remember any that I have missed-do let me know, via the comments facility at the bottom of this article. Many Thanks.
Image via Wikipedia"When I was a lad........." How many times have you heard that dreaded saying? Usually it comes from the mouths of the older members of society and is often accompanied by a lecture/sermon. The lecture/sermon usually goes on about just how lucky young people are today. "I never had half of what you lot have got these days-and you still ain't happy."
Image via WikipediaHeaven forbid that my thoughts on how people like me spent our leisure time back in the "swinging sixties" in Tidworth comes over like a lecture/sermon. If it does, please look upon me with a certain amount of sympathy.
To put the period and the things on offer in Tidworth into perspective, I should explain a little of my background. I arrived in Tidworth from the Junior Tradesmans Regiment, Rhyl. In those days Rhyl was a bustling holiday resort during the summer. It came with the obligatory fun fair on the sea front, candy floss, sticky sticks of rock and fish and chips by the pantechnicon full. In the winter it was a cold bleak seaside town with little to recommend it other than the Flamingo Cafe, or perhaps the splendid views out across the bay, which on a good day afforded a view as far as Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Being a Junior Soldier, earning just 3/6d (went up to 6/- a week later) a week, the summer attractions were largely beyond my pocket. Some young soldiers got "support" from home in the form of postal orders. I was one of the many who didn't.
Prior to Rhyl, I lived in the small Buckinghamshire village of Twyford. There was little in the way of social life there I can tell you! The village hall housed a Youth Club that seemed to be available only occasionally. Not a lot to get excited about there then!!! To be honest with you, the move to Tidworth opened up a whole new chapter in my life, my social life that is. So what did we do to amuse ourselves back then?Those of you of reading this who remember more of the life we led in Tidworth than I do, please leave your memories in the "comments" section at the end of this article. I'll then publish them for you, fully credited to of course.
The NAAFI is usually the place to start. The hospital had its own club/bar. My memories lead me to believe that it consisted of little more than a long bar, a room filled to the brim with tables and chairs, a fruit machine, and a toilet area. The air within the cluttered seating area was permanently blue. No, not with bad language, but with the acrid smell of blue/grey clouds of smoke. The decor was a kind of nocotine colour. I defy anyone to remember seeing any colour other than brown on the walls. You'd think that being Medics and Nurses, there would have been more consideration given to health wouldn't you? Not for one moment, the idea that smoking would lead to ill health didn't cross the mind of anyone using the place-or so it would seem in those days. Another aspect of defiance of any advice regarding future good health manifested itself in the amount of alcohol consumed on a daily, weekly basis. Medics have in the past, been renowned for their apparent alcohol consumption abilities. Members of regiments who held the belief that the average medic was rather less manly than others, were soon relieved of that belief having lost in a drinking competition. I'm sure it is no longer the case and that habits have changed (as if!!!)
What about beyond the four walls of the NAFFI bar? Just along the road was the YMCA. I used to visit the cafe part to buy a Vanilla Slice from time to time. Not once did I find myself queing for service except during NAFFI break time in the mornings-good cheap place for the local squaddies for a cup of tea and a sticky bun mid-morning. Beyond the morning breaks, the place was not the epicentre of social events.
The Garrison area was blessed shall we say, with a cinema and a theatre. If I remember correctly, the cinema was run by the Army Kinema Corporation (AKC) It was a temporary arrangement, following the burning down of the original cinema, which was down by what was known as Hampshire Cross. This was simply a cross roads point. It was rather more significant than that though. It was the point where the two "Tidworths" collided!! One part was in Hampshire, the other in Wiltshire. My memories of movies I saw in the temporary cinema are confined to Kubricks "Clockwork Orange." The Garrison Theatre, while not open every day of the week, did stage some excellent presentations. Most were visiting pop stars of the day performing their hits. I also have memories of dances being arranged from time to time. (I hope my memory is right about this.)
What else could we get up to of an evening, or even during the day? Staion Road was the "main street" of Tidworth. Here could be found a green grocers shop, owned by Shaw Porter. There was a chemist, a dry cleaners, a cafe and a NAFFI store. (There were other shops, but I don't remember them.) The cafe, The Vic as it was known was most poular with the hospital staff. So popular I would suggest, that if they stopped using it, it would have risked closure. There was a juke box that never seemed to be quiet for longer than it took to load the next disc, pretty young ladies serving the coffee and a good sandwich when required. An altogether good place to be.
As you might guess, there were more places than mentioned above in such a large and important Garrison village. I'll get on to those in the next part of this look at social life in Tidworth mid to late sixties. Look out for Murder Most Foul amongst other things!!
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
I am aware that from time to time, fellow Operating Theatre Technicians of a similar age to myself, will visit this site. Apart from one that I know of, all the others were trained in places as far flung as Catterick, Aldershot and Colchester. (I have a very very soft spot in my heart for Colchester-two of my children were born in the Colchester Military Hospital there, as well as my passion for Colchester United Football Club, please see the story below about this weeks victory for CUFC)
Suffice it to say, all Operating Theatre Technician training followed the same training syllabus. Where we differed in Tidworth was what we did after training was completed, and in some instances, during training. These include performing Duty Escort duties and staffing the very busy Casualty Department at Tidworth Military Hospital. (See the story below which was published earlier.) There was however, a duty that I am sure was not part of any other Military Hospital based Operating Theatre Technicians CV.
The duty my friends was that of N.A.A.F.I Guard. (For those not familiar with NAAFI, it is an acronym for Navy Army and Air Force Institute, social club and shopping facilities provided to military families and service men and women. In Tidworth during the mid sixties, it was decided that the social clubs and bars needed a bit of an update. Some were rather rundown and smoke stained beyond belief.This included the Hospital Club, which was possibly one of the busier and better subscribed of the bars.
Instead of renovating a whole host of rundown premises, a decision was taken to build a "Super Naffi" that would have several bars, a dance/disco bar area and a new shop and service the whole of Tidworth. At first it took some getting used to, but in the time honoured way, the local soldiers stuck to their task and settled in quite quickly. After a while though, trouble used to erupt, possibly due to the rivalry between the different Corps and Regiments based in Tidworth. Worse was to come. Break ins and damage began to happen. Just from time to time at first, but more frequently after a while. In an effort to reduce problems, soldiers on fire picquet duty nearby were detailed to keep an eye on the NAAFI and Royal Military Police patrols were increased. The success rate achieved by these two new innovations was zero. So what could be done to help prevent the damaging occurrences?
Meetings were presumably arranged (nothing like a good meeting is there?) but more hot air than the average Icelandic geyser might generate was generated. After a while, the penny dropped for at least one of this group of good, great and possibly useless bletherers. Why not put a guard on THE INSIDE? Wow, a breakthrough for mankind and the military. Despite the decision to do so, the issue was not immediately resolved. Just who would be invited to carry out the duty. The REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers turned down the invitation to take on the duty permanently, their guys had other duties such as on standby mechanic in cases of vehicle break downs ( no AA or RAC for the Army you know) The Regiments in place had similar excuses, sorry, good reasons for not volunteering their guys. So, what, or perhaps who, was left?
Hands up who said the RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps)? Then you and a hundred others are correct. There was a whole hospital full of Medics after all. They would surely take on the duty. And guess what? Yep, our leaders, unlike the leaders of the other Corps and Regiments, said yes, just like the Man from Del Monte! Not once did they protest that medics had other duties such as night duty, fire picquet, duty escort, duty NCO, Duty OSM etc. No, we were to be assigned to the duty.
Just how were we perform the duty? We were given a mattress, a pen, a notepad, a signing in book and a telephone (not mobile) The idea was that we would patrol the NAAFI on the inside once it had been cleared and then secured. We would go from bar to bar checking for damage or signs of a break in. At midnight, assuming that we hadn't by that time found evidence of a break in, witnessed an attempted break in, been beaten to a pulp by an intruder of made a mess of our underwear, we were allowed to settle down to sleep behind the Reception desk.
I will be totally honest with you. This guard duty was not my idea of a good night out. Not only did I not look like a guard dog, but I could not, nor could I hope to display, the courage and tenacity that a well trained canine beast would. I was timid, shy and retiring and not in the least interested in stopping anyone from breaking in should that be his or their wish. A lone medic does not a hero make. My family motto does not contain any word that might possibly suggest anything other than cowardice. I was not the only one with a dread of carrying out the duty. I will not mention any names, but there was one of our number who had a bad reaction. One night when on duty, he reported a break in. True, the response was swift. Military Police arrived, secured the scene of the "crime" and took control of everything.
The medic on duty was interviewed presumably, and that should have been that. He had apparently done as required and prevented a robbery. The one thing that let him down though was that the glass from the broken window was on the outside of the building rather than the inside. It was later shown that this young man had a problem that required some treatment, which led to his discharge from the RAMC. I don't know anyone who knew this guy who didn't have some sympathy for him. He had been put in a position that he wasn't trained to deal with, anymore than the rest of us had been.
So what did this say about our leaders of the day? Nothing complimenatry I would suggest. The bottom line was quite simply,there are horses for courses. Before despatching the horse on the course, it must be trained to deal with all the problems that might be encountered while treading the course. Some refer to "the good old days." Sadly not all of the old days were "good."
Tidworth - The Ram Public House A popular drinking establishment which was built in 1848. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Where shall we go next in our whirlwind tour of the village of Tidworth and its entertainments? We have a choice of a Pub, A Bookmakers or yet another NAAFI. 
