Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Title
Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
Thanks him for letters and answering all her questions. Mentions his arrangements for her seem satisfactory and discusses various points. Writes of days activities and mentions his list of things she needs to do including sort out RAF pay and paperwork after birth of baby. Continues with handwritten addendum with more news of activities, friends and acquaintances.
Creator
Date
1941-01-20
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Two page typewritten letter with handwritten addition
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
EValentineUMValentineJRM410120
Transcription
Lido Monday 20th Jan
Darling Johnnie, Today I had two letters from you, one dated Friday & one Sunday. Thank you for answering all my questions, & above all for fixing up the digs & maternity home. You can't imagine how I am longing to get to you. Mrs Jones' establishment sounds very suitable, & I should think that on the whole the “apartment” basis would be best, then I can spend the guinea (or more likely part of it) on buying a little of what I fancies does me good,, such as fruit, veg, eggs (if obtainable) & so on, instead of trusting entirely to her dietetics. However, as you say it might be a good thing to start off with full board, especially as I arrive at a weekend. You didn't happen to notice whether there was gas-ring or anything to heat kettle on in the room, did you? If so, that would be very helpful, but if not I shall doubtless be able to arrange things with her. I hope something can be done about a fire, either our electric one or something, because it would be nice to be able to be alone, & I shall bring lots of sewing & knitting with me & shall need somewhere warm to sit & do it. I'm a bit worried about the fire question – we can't very well do your swotting together unless we are alone. I hope she agrees to our using our electric fire. I'm glad about being able to bring Jane too, it doesn't sound quite nice boarding her out with a gentleman, but I think that when they all get to know her personally I shall probably be allowed to keep her with me. However, we shall see. I am going to enquire here about the possibility of sending a dog unaccompanied from Aber. to Gloucester, it seems to me she would have to change somewhere but perhaps that can be arranged. Then I should always know I can send her down to Miss Clift if all else fails. I note that you will give me a warm welcome when I step off the train. Does this mean I shall be allowed to kiss you, since I may not take your arm in Aber.?
Today Ba & I went up to the National Gallery to a Mozart concert given by Myra Hess & the Menges string quartet. It was lovely, as always, & I did enjoy it so. The weather is lousy just now, with masses of rain & slush & melting snow. Ba is on duty tonight, & so am I from 4-6 am., so let's hope there is no raid. [inserted] there wasn’t [/inserted] I have just written a long letter to Mother telling her about the pram she has given us – she apparently had a couple of days in hospital with a nasty does of flu,but was alright again in a few days.
As regards your list of things I should do, the only one I must admit I had overlooked was advising G.A.T. & I will do that at once. Couldn't they pay the cheque straight into my bank? It would save trouble. As regards the RAF pay, I have to get some form at the P.O.there to fill in, it tells me all about it at the back of the allowance book. Incidentally it says that if you don't notify the birth of a child, on a special form of course, within a month, you don't get extra allowance from the beginning, so we might get that form in advance too, from the P.O.
[page break]
I think your suggestion that I should leave some money with Mrs Neal to pay the gardener is a very sound one. When he comes tomorrow, we are going down to the allotment together, & I should think with tomorrow & next week he ought to be able to finish up everything necessary before the spring sowing. It would be a considerable saving if he doesn't have to come during Feb., when I should think the weather is not suitable for him to do anything on the shelter. As regards the piano, I quite agree with your feelings, & of course I am keener on having the piano kept in playable order even than you, since I shall play the thing when at last we get out own home. But I really think the arrangement I have made will do it no harm at all, in fact do it good, since it will get regularly used which it doesn't at present. Of course you didn't know what I had arranged when you wrote, & I shall be interested to hear your comments when you have received my letters. Mrs Neal has just rung up to ask me to go in there as they have a friend in from New Zealand who has some most interesting photographs to show, so I must stop now & go in. Sweet of her to think of me, wasn't it?
[underlined] Tuesday [/underlined]
It was quite fun last night at the Neal's. They had a proper projector & cine films, one or two professional ones of New Zealand & several amateur ones in colour, which were really lovely mostly of Cairns Park where this gent. & the Neal's brother-in-law live.
This morning your parcel of socks & your friend's pyjamas came of course.[inserted] Send any pullovers etc of yours that need washing.[/inserted] I'll wash the latter with pleasure & probably, bring the whole lot up with me when I come. I have confirmed the trains 11.5 – 6.30 – I have to change twice. I was also reassured about sending Jane alone from Aber. to Gloucester, if necessary, but I am hoping it will not be necessary at all. Am going to ring your people & perhaps go over to see them. Lots of love till we meet, Ursula
Darling Johnnie, Today I had two letters from you, one dated Friday & one Sunday. Thank you for answering all my questions, & above all for fixing up the digs & maternity home. You can't imagine how I am longing to get to you. Mrs Jones' establishment sounds very suitable, & I should think that on the whole the “apartment” basis would be best, then I can spend the guinea (or more likely part of it) on buying a little of what I fancies does me good,, such as fruit, veg, eggs (if obtainable) & so on, instead of trusting entirely to her dietetics. However, as you say it might be a good thing to start off with full board, especially as I arrive at a weekend. You didn't happen to notice whether there was gas-ring or anything to heat kettle on in the room, did you? If so, that would be very helpful, but if not I shall doubtless be able to arrange things with her. I hope something can be done about a fire, either our electric one or something, because it would be nice to be able to be alone, & I shall bring lots of sewing & knitting with me & shall need somewhere warm to sit & do it. I'm a bit worried about the fire question – we can't very well do your swotting together unless we are alone. I hope she agrees to our using our electric fire. I'm glad about being able to bring Jane too, it doesn't sound quite nice boarding her out with a gentleman, but I think that when they all get to know her personally I shall probably be allowed to keep her with me. However, we shall see. I am going to enquire here about the possibility of sending a dog unaccompanied from Aber. to Gloucester, it seems to me she would have to change somewhere but perhaps that can be arranged. Then I should always know I can send her down to Miss Clift if all else fails. I note that you will give me a warm welcome when I step off the train. Does this mean I shall be allowed to kiss you, since I may not take your arm in Aber.?
Today Ba & I went up to the National Gallery to a Mozart concert given by Myra Hess & the Menges string quartet. It was lovely, as always, & I did enjoy it so. The weather is lousy just now, with masses of rain & slush & melting snow. Ba is on duty tonight, & so am I from 4-6 am., so let's hope there is no raid. [inserted] there wasn’t [/inserted] I have just written a long letter to Mother telling her about the pram she has given us – she apparently had a couple of days in hospital with a nasty does of flu,but was alright again in a few days.
As regards your list of things I should do, the only one I must admit I had overlooked was advising G.A.T. & I will do that at once. Couldn't they pay the cheque straight into my bank? It would save trouble. As regards the RAF pay, I have to get some form at the P.O.there to fill in, it tells me all about it at the back of the allowance book. Incidentally it says that if you don't notify the birth of a child, on a special form of course, within a month, you don't get extra allowance from the beginning, so we might get that form in advance too, from the P.O.
[page break]
I think your suggestion that I should leave some money with Mrs Neal to pay the gardener is a very sound one. When he comes tomorrow, we are going down to the allotment together, & I should think with tomorrow & next week he ought to be able to finish up everything necessary before the spring sowing. It would be a considerable saving if he doesn't have to come during Feb., when I should think the weather is not suitable for him to do anything on the shelter. As regards the piano, I quite agree with your feelings, & of course I am keener on having the piano kept in playable order even than you, since I shall play the thing when at last we get out own home. But I really think the arrangement I have made will do it no harm at all, in fact do it good, since it will get regularly used which it doesn't at present. Of course you didn't know what I had arranged when you wrote, & I shall be interested to hear your comments when you have received my letters. Mrs Neal has just rung up to ask me to go in there as they have a friend in from New Zealand who has some most interesting photographs to show, so I must stop now & go in. Sweet of her to think of me, wasn't it?
[underlined] Tuesday [/underlined]
It was quite fun last night at the Neal's. They had a proper projector & cine films, one or two professional ones of New Zealand & several amateur ones in colour, which were really lovely mostly of Cairns Park where this gent. & the Neal's brother-in-law live.
This morning your parcel of socks & your friend's pyjamas came of course.[inserted] Send any pullovers etc of yours that need washing.[/inserted] I'll wash the latter with pleasure & probably, bring the whole lot up with me when I come. I have confirmed the trains 11.5 – 6.30 – I have to change twice. I was also reassured about sending Jane alone from Aber. to Gloucester, if necessary, but I am hoping it will not be necessary at all. Am going to ring your people & perhaps go over to see them. Lots of love till we meet, Ursula
Collection
Citation
Ursula Valentine, “Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 25, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/19550.
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