Here's a story that my mum told me.  When she first got married to my father, David.

David lived in Harrow, in London and my mother lived over 150 miles away in Evesham.  When they got married they moved to Harrow. My mum had never been to Harrow or London before for her is was very daunting, moving to such a big city.

This is the story as my mum dictated it to me

"David and I got married in July 1960 we’re going we were going to move to a flat, David had found in Harrow

David said he would find place.  Back in those days there was no mobile phones or internet, people advertised flats to rent by placing cards in Post Office or Newsagents windows.

Anyway David found this flat and we went there and we were on the fourth floor and the kitchen was in the basement.

I would have to cook a meal in the basement and then carry all the stuff to the fourth floor. Then take the plates back down to the basement to do the washing up.

After a few weeks I told him “this can’t go on, we are finding somewhere else.”  David said, you’ll never find a place.

So the next morning, I walked into Harrow, found a street map of the place.

Went and looked at the postcards in various shop windows of flats for sale and or for Letting.

Then called them up from a payphone, (remember them) 

I looked at several flats, found a good one, agreed on the rent and then went back to the ecurrent flat and packed my bags. 

David was working all this day, so I packed his bags and took two at a time them down the 4 flights of stairs and took them to the new place

We were staying in this awful place.

There was a gentleman on the door watch people coming in and out so I had to be very careful to wait for a moment when he wasn't around and then take the bags take them to our new flat.

Then walk back back with empty bags and after I did that two or three times I managed to get everything out of the flat

When David came home that night from work, I met him in the hall and said “we’re not staying here, I've found us a flat, negotiated the rent and moved us in”.

He said, “what in 24 hours? but you don’t know the area”

Little did he know that he had married somebody so driven!