As remembered ...

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Mum’s pride and joy!  The apple of her eye!  Could do no wrong! …mmm.  They were born towards the end of the war, identical, happy little boys.  They attended nursery school in Brookhill Road when only two years old (probably to give mum some relief whilst coping with another baby). It must have been awful for them to be separated from their mother.  They were polite, quiet and really quite gentle and always dressed the same.  

 

On a couple of occasions when Mum was incapacitated, they were sent away, first to a hospital environment and later when they were about seven years old to a home in Bushey.  They grew as one, jokers with a wicked sense of humour who thought it very funny to antagonise siblings whenever they thought they could get away with it. They were very naughty but only because they thought it was funny and they played on the fact that as they were identical blame could not be attributed.  They loved the outdoors and were a delight to take out – climbing trees, making camps, jumping the brook, fishing, anything actively daring.  The back garden housed rabbits, mice, grass snakes, stick insects, tadpoles, frogs and even a fox.  They loved animals.

 

They attended Ashmole School in Southgate but didn’t really learn anything as they mucked about.  When they were put into separate classrooms Mother complained to the school.  When they left to embark on a working life, Audrey arranged an interview for an office job in London.  They looked very smart in blazers and grey flannels.  However, when they got lost and asked for directions in London, someone offered to take them.  After chatting on the way, he told them he was looking to employ and actually offered them a job at Cobbs & Jenkins (Materials) Warehouse, John in the Patterns Room and Roy making the tea!  Being cooped up didn’t last long.  John did a bit of engineering work whilst Roy found a job on a building site.  This must have been the first time they were independent of each other!  But they remained mutual in not getting out of bed in the mornings, despite mum’s efforts of repeated calls and shouting “Porridge!”  Their last taste of working for a living was for a friend who offered them a job in plumbing and heating.  

 

In 1969 Roy and John decided to travel to the Far East, which led them to joining the Hare Krishna movement and becoming priests in Mayapur. 

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Rene 2020

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My earliest memory of the twins was in the early 1970s.  Roy had left John in India and returned home to make sure he definitely wanted to become a Hare Krishna and was staying with us at Pine Grove.  He had shaved his long ponytail off and his hair had just started to grow so he looked like a 'skinhead' which wasn't a common sight in Brookmans Park in those days!  One evening he came to pick me up from Brownies in what I remember as a hippie van.  Mum obviously hadn't warned Brown Owl and consequently she wouldn't let me leave with him.  Being extremely shy (at the time!!!) I didn't say anything but eventually a friend of mums persuaded Brown Owl that he was in fact mum's brother and I was allowed to go.  I'm not sure how long he stayed with us but I remember that as we had no spare room he slept on the lounge floor.  This was directly beneath mum and dad's bedroom and dad was not very happy being woken up by the early morning prayer chanting, so maybe not very long!  He gave me a gift of a tiny bottle of a strawberry scented perfume called 'Krishna Prema' which I treasured long after the perfume had gone.

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Tracy 2020