Ash, near Aldershot, 1968

So Will and Margaret have a home
And pledge they'll never ever roam.
There's much to tell of what happened here
But some's not mine to tell I fear.
All I can say is they settled in
This was to be their 'Dunroamin'
May only be a Council house
But no need to move; be great for us.
Will for a while did factory work
Hated those jobs but wouldn't shirk.
Tedious work; didn't deserve it
So back to the army; civil service. Thanks
Civilian work with the MOD
Hankering for the military
Sixth form for me; a grammar school
Janette's sent to grammar too.
Hated all the girls with ponies
Stuck it out a few terms only.
Shunned the girls' school like her brother's
Wanted a school with all the others.
She'd always been the clever one
But chose her path; a different one.
The boys at school are self assured
They're confident, appear matured,
Have opinions; think they matter,
Forthright and not wont to flatter.
'They think', I say, 'they're better than us.'
"But aren't they," says my mum nonplussed.
They're radicals, progressive thinkers
There's little respect for the likes of us.
Everyone's filling UCCA forms
We are not so well informed
Choose a university
Whatever for? They can't mean me?
We'd never thought of such a thing
Found the assumption troubling.
I didn't take or fill one in
University not our thing.
When I finished school I went to work
What will round the corner lurk?

Next episode tomorrow.