“BRIAN - not the name I would have chosen had I been asked, but there, I wasn’t so I didn’t. I have lived with it for some time now and I guess I should have got used to it… I can remember long long ago always wanting to be called something beginning with ‘R’, Ron or Reg or something. Names beginning with R seemed to have some authority about them. Not like Brian. That's neither one thing nor the other. Having said that I cannot truthfully say it's been any hindrance to me ever, at least not to my knowledge… Looking back I have been very fortunate I guess - no real problems, except the war, no major catastrophic events and a good wholesome existence. I thank good grandparents, good parents, Pat and the subsequent family for it all.”
These are the opening words Brian wrote about himself 12 years ago when he put some of his memories down in what he called “The Life & Times of Brian 1936 ’til 20??”.
Brian was born in Woolwich on 4th September 1936. His mum was a shirtmaker and his father (who came from at least 3 generations where the first born males were called John) was a tailor’s cutter. They lived in a new build house in Welling, Kent. The day before Brian’s 3rd birthday war broke out and that had an impact on his life from thereon. His father was called-up and Brian, together with his mum and his aunt, lived in a terraced house near Charlton together with his grandparents, his great aunt and her shell-shocked husband, their three children and a lodger. Brain’s memoirs tell there being an Anderson Shelter in the small back garden and of him sharing a bed with his mum in the same bedroom as his aunt, his cousin and his great aunt. He recalls lying awake at night wondering why if the trams passing by in the road below were travelling from right to left, did their shadows on the ceiling travel in the opposite direction.
After the war Brian returned with his parents to live in Welling. He became lifelong friends with Ken Guerrier and Bryan Nicholas as they went through school and College after passing the 13 plus exam. Brian was no real academic and favoured physics and woodwork as opposed to the sporting and artistic vocations.
Brain’s first job was as a filing clerk in the Estimating Office with Siemens Brothers that made telephone systems. He gained an apprenticeship as a toolmaker then progressed to a student apprenticeship learning about all things radio and telephony before moving to the Marine Radio Laboratory. Pay wasn’t great, but after several years of hard slog of night school study through the early 1960s, Brian qualified as a chartered electrical engineer. This set his future career and led him to his first encounters with computers and automated machinery.
In September 1959 Brian and his mate Ken rocked up in Ken’s van at the Yorkshire Grey in Eltham (then a pub/dance-house, now a McDonalds) and it was here he met Pat. After a short engagement they married in June 1960.
By 1961 Brian was working in Rochester designing systems for sophisticated aircraft that could fly under the radar and, with a bit of support from his aunt, he and Pat bought their first house in Rainham. Brain’s then neighbours (Ron & Janet Mahaffey) still live in the house next door and Ron has told us of his recent thoughts of Brian and the good long-lasting job they did building their garages in the early 1960s when an infill panel between the garages first blew out during a storm a few weeks ago.
As the additions to his family in the 1960s grew with Tara - a black spaniel, a son Paul in 1964 and a daughter Janice in 1967, so did Brian’s hankering to live on the south coast. Brian secured a transfer to GEC in Portsmouth designing test equipment for torpedoes. The better job enabled Brian in 1971 to buy the bungalow in Maytree Gardens which was to be the family home from then on and a base for entertaining family and friends.
After learning archery at night school Brian and Pat became founder members of The Forest of Bere Bowmen in 1974. The club grew quickly and achieved notoriety in the archery community under Brian’s leadership and remains strong to this day. Brian, himself was a keen archer and, drawing on his love of woodwork, made his own longbow which, after a few arrows shot, was retired to the wall in the dining room. Archery filled much of Brian and Pat’s spare time over the next 35 years and fuelled many happy memories, holidays and lasting friendships.
Brian’s other past times included tinkering with woodwork and photography. Visitors to Maytree Gardens will know the tale of the heavy tiled coffee table in the lounge that Brian made. When it came to photography, Brian had used his garage as a dark room teaching Paul & Jan the basics of image development. But it was only when home computers became a thing that Brian was in his element changing images in a way that he had only ever dreamt of previously.
The early 1980s saw a career move to managing space projects with work on communications satellites and this gave him overseas travel opportunities. He found it amusing in Japan that at 6’1” tall and being a balding European he stood out from the considerably shorter, black haired crowd in the streets of Tokyo.
At the age of 62 Brian retired and continued an active life teaching archery and enjoying his family, friends and holidays. Since the early 1970s he and Pat owned a caravan which was the mainstay of family holiday accommodation and tended to dictate his choice of car even in early retirement.
In 1989 Brian was thrilled to welcome his first grandchild, Megan, to the world and over the next few years he was further blessed with Rhys, Gavin and Callum. All have kept him on his toes over the years and provided him with immense pride.
Sometime in the early 2000s both Pat and Brian discovered they had Parkinson’s Disease - a condition that began to have an impact on their life and their mobility. Sadly, Brian’s beloved Pat drew her last breath in January 2014 after more than 53 years of marriage. Brian didn’t expect to outlive Pat.
In 2015 came the news from Megan that he was to be a great grandfather. Now he has two great grandsons in Harry & Zach who Brian enjoyed nothing more than to watch them play and discover the world around them.
One thing Brian did embark on recently was some DNA analysis as he was curious to his ancestry. Before he learned of the results his condition deteriorated with a difficulty in swallowing and, after a short stay in hospital, Brian drew his last breath on Wednesday 16 March with Jan and Paul at his side. Brian is now with his beloved Pat - which is where his heart has always wanted to be.
And Brian, I can tell you that the results are in - you are 64% English, 18% Scandinavian, 11% Irish and 7% middle European - so now you know!