I was raised by my grandmother as my mother died when I was born and my father was in the Army, training soldiers for WWII.
My grandmother was secretary of the local Old Age Pensioners Association, who met one afternoon a week to socialise, sing the old songs and have a cup of tea. Once a year they organised a day trip to the seaside – usually Margate, Broadstairs or Worthing – which was subsidised by the National Federation of Old Age Pensioners. We were fairly poor and couldn’t afford holidays away, so these trips were looked forward to very much by me, as I always went with the old folks.
When I was ten, an order went out from the head office of the NFOAP to the effect that, from now on, only members of the federation could go on trips. This meant that my only annual visit to the seaside would be stopped.
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Now, my gran was a wily old girl and, on checking through the rules, she discovered that they had omitted to state a minimum age for membership. You can guess the rest!
At the tender age of ten, I became a full paid-up member of the Old Age Pensioners Association. I must have been the youngest member ever. I was very put out because I couldn’t have a lapel badge.
Bernie Dent, Seaford, East Sussex.
