Retiring Room April 23

Watch Boxes and all that..

I am sitting at home, feeling sorry for myself as I have Covid and other illnesses, reminiscing about the old times, wondering if anyone is interested.

A watch-box job came in while I was Senior Officer, Finchley Excise (North London). These jobs were common in that usually we received a watch box in the post from the Officers at the Parcel Post Depot or airport. These occurred because someone would smuggle an expensive watch or jewellery by wearing it while passing through the Green (Customs: Nothing to Declare) channel, but leaving the new box under the seat of the aircraft or in the ship’s cabin; or sending it by post to their home address.

On this occasion, I received a phone call from the Waterguard rummage crew of an aircraft arriving from foreign, giving me the name and address of the passenger who had bought a new £14,000 watch, leaving the box under the seat. I went to the address immediately, but there was no one in, so sat outside in my car reading The Times.

After about five minutes, a taxi arrived then I saw the passenger pay-off the driver while wearing, awkwardly, an obviously new watch. I identified myself to the shocked passenger, who could not provide a duty receipt for the watch, then admitted that he had smuggled it through the Green channel, not declaring it. I could have arrested him on the spot for fraudulent evasion of duty, but decided to treat it as a simpler offence of failure to declare in the Green channel, so seized the watch as “forfeit to the Crown” then arranged for the passenger to meet me at my office the next day.

I forget the precise amounts, but the duty at 11% would have been about £1540 and the VAT (15% of the duty-paid value) about £2330 - so £3870 in total. The next day I offered a Compound Penalty (instead of prosecution ) for 1 1/2 times the revenue - £5,800 - then restoration of the watch (giving it back) for another £5,800. A £14,000 watch cost the passenger only £11,600, so everyone was happy but it was a very expensive smuggling attempt - thwarted by an alert rummage crew.

Brian Rayden

Strolling along….

London Transport Museum Depot, Acton

Anyone who watches the TV Programme “Secrets of the London Underground” on the Yesterday Channel would recognise this place. Some of it is filmed here at the London Transport (LT) Museum Depot, right beside Acton Town Tube Station on the Piccadilly Line in West London.

Our group of 8 was met by tour guide Mike who used to work at LT offices near Acton, now a retired volunteer. After a quick safety briefing by the Depot Manager – this is a working site staffed by volunteers and train engineers – we were on our way.

After a very soggy winter, the brief for February's walk was to find somewhere for the Walkers Group - not too muddy, not too hilly, and not too far!

A decent pub for lunch was also an essential component. After some research, Burnham Beeches was the chosen venue for the walk with 'The Jolly Woodman' for lunch.

In the event, it ticked all the boxes, and we had a most enjoyable walk with the added bonus of lovely winter sunshine.

After an excellent pub lunch, we raised our glasses to the memory of Gordon Hodson who had been such a stalwart member of our group, and will be greatly missed.

There are tracks at the Depot on which a number of Tube Train carriages are resting, back-to-back, of all different decades from the 1920’s onwards. The oldest example looked just like the ones you can see on the old Western movies with an open gated bit on the back like a form of veranda.

We were fortunate in that the Depot had just had an open weekend attended by over 6000 visitors, so the carriages were still able to be boarded for inside viewing. It was explained that each line used differing styles of trains and upholsteries. The star carriage was the one that transported the late Queen Elizabeth II on the newly opened Victoria Line in March 1969. They even had a large photograph of The Queen in the Drivers Cab with the train number prominently displayed to prove it was the same one.

As we walked around, some of the carriages were being renovated by volunteers, and areas resembled a car garage, with undercarriages exposed and tools and parts lying around.

Strolling along

Desmond Latimer and his walkers team also organise monthly walks combined with pub lunches. Contact Desmond on Mob: 07745173693 Home :-01189785552. sdlatimer@btinternet.com

These monthly walks continue to prove very popular attended by a good number of retired ‘preventers’.

Certainly, climbing up onto carriages from 1960’s and 70’s took some of us back to our childhood days out and school journeys in London. They also hold examples of the ticket machines and ticket booths from 1930’s onwards.

There is also an extensive collection of Posters and Art stored here but we walked straight past this as that is a separate tour.

Cliff Davies

After the trains came the buses. Trams, Trolleys and old Routemasters were on display, including some 1930-1940 coaches which looked like they had come from the film set of Miss Marple. Unfortunately, these were too delicate to board.

The last stop was the LT Shop opened just for us. It was full of books, souvenirs and some items made from the easily identifiable upholstery used on the carriage seats. You can also buy a print of any of their historic posters.

Heathrow CERSA Social Programme 2023

June Brookwood Cemetery, near Woking

May/

June River Thames trip

July Charterhouse, Farringdon, London

Aug N/A

Sept Museum of Rural Life and lunch , Reading

Oct Kew Gardens

Nov Museum of London Docklands

Dec Christmas Lunch

Check website for updates. http://heathrowcersa.blogspot.co.uk

Windsor

Visit and lunch 23 February

A few members met in Windsor for lunch and a chat.

Windsor has a lot to offer in the way of a visit to the Castle, watch the changing of the guard or shopping.

Bridget Kenton

Pete Avery RIP 1956 - 2023

It was with huge sadness that family, friends and ex colleagues learned of the passing of Pete Avery on the I st. February 2023 at Wexham Park Hospital, Slough, Bucks.

Pete was a larger than life character who was hugely popular. He will be remembered for many things but without a doubt for his wonderful sense of humour, his ability to weave stories and to recall jokes with an amazing skill. He made lives richer and brought so much fun. He will be a very difficult act to follow.

He was born in Aberdare, South Wales in November 1956 and was a proud Welshman who soon developed a passion for Rugby, a passion which was to stay with him the rest of his life. He was a fine sportsman and represented Wales in Badminton at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia. Tennis, Squash, Golf, Sailing were all sports that he excelled at as well. He joined HM Customs and Excise as an Assistant Officer in Cardiff and then transferred to Dover where he first became involved in the fight against the illegal importation of drugs. This aspect of law enforcement was to stay with him throughout the rest of his illustrious career.

Pete spent several seasons on the Revenue Cutters and throughout his life he spoke warmly of those days. He says that his love of cooking started at this time when the task of cooking the main meal of the day was rotated amongst the crew.

He joined the Investigation Division in 1983 at 14 New Fetter Lane, London, where he served with distinction on Heroin, Intelligence and Gold Smuggling VAT teams. He then transferred to Branch 5 of the National Investigation Service at Heathrow Airport, where he became a Senior Investigation Officer. When SOCA was formed Pete stayed with the Law Enforcement arm of HMRC and was promoted to Assistant Collector

rank. In due course the anti-smuggling discipline at all UK Airports, of which Pete was in charge, became part of the Border Force. He retired in 2016.

For many Pete will always be remembered as one of the main script writers of the mostly irreverent sketches at the annual Investigation Dinner in the Connaught Rooms. Such humour.

Following retirement, amongst many other things, he indulged in his love of cooking and attended many cookery courses. He enjoyed a time share in Spain, was a champion of fund raising and other activities at Maidenhead Rugby Club, enjoyed a huge friendship group at the Windsor Castle pub in Windsor, was a regular Master of Ceremonies and Auctioneer at numerous functions and loved to host and entertain on a lavish scale at his home in Windsor.

He is survived by his wife Sarah and sons Alex and Cameron.

Pete was a one –off, he was a loyal friend and he will be greatly missed.

Chris Braham March 2023.

From among many Facebook tributes..

Rest in Peace dearest Pete , my dear friend and supporter throughout my career, a great person with a big heart and compassion, I'm so saddened to know you've gone. You are always in my prayers may you rest in peace. Dick Fielding

So sad , served with Pete at Customs in Dover and also went into serve with Pete on the Cutters and in Criminal Investigation . Will cherish the many happy memories from a colleague who knew how to work hard and play hard. Gone but never forgotten, RIP Pete. Dave Fairclough

Very sad indeed. Worked with Peter as AO’s in Cardiff Customs and went on a sailing holiday in the Green islands with very fond memories. Taken too early. RIP . Peter Christian.

So sad I loved our time working together in investigation, he was so supportive and always made me laugh. My thoughts with Pete’s family. Xx Carol Upshall

Silver and Gold

I was one of the millions who watched the excellent BBC TV drama ‘Gold’ for me it bought back a personal memory of an air freight shipment I dealt with just after the Brinks-Mat robbery at Heathrow.

I am sure a lot of viewers were curious about the role of the fictitious customs investigator, but I realised they needed a character to explain why the gold was not treated as a smuggling offence but focused on the VAT. As Michael Caine would say not a lot of people know that gold and silver bullion are duty free and their value is when they are smelted down to make gold and silverware.

I was on freight duty when a consignment of silverware from India had been selected for examination, although properly declared for UK Customs purposes, there was something not right about the goods as they did not look like silver but all blackened and distorted shapes. Clearly they had been disguised to evade any customs export charges in India and had been smuggled out of India. I contacted the local investigation unit and the officer appointed initially to deal with this, was none other than our editor Michael Nolan.

In due course it was passed to the ID and eventually the Solicitors Office who found a law which covered items which had been successfully smuggled from the country of origin could be seized as forfeit to the crown and in this case to be smelted down as bullion. Because of the Brinks-Mat robbery there was a problem finding a smelter which had not been implicated in the scandal. Therefore, the seized consignment had to be transported to Yorkshire to Sheffield Smelters and then sent to the Bank of England vaults adding to the Government’s Silver Bullion reserve.

Again, as these things happen I was on duty and examined a consignment of Gold Bullion destined to the Bank of England vaults and obviously there were new and much improved security arrangements but I allowed to pick up one ingot of gold and its weight was incredible and not like the TV play you cannot causally pick one up and I duly put it back.

Alastair Nicolson

Readers Feedback / Comments:

Dear Heather, Thanks for this. You are certainly providing a good read to go with the tea or coffee. Kind regards Roger (Sanbrook - Chairman London CERRSA)

Dear Heather Thanks for sharing your newsletter, it’s a very interesting and professional newsletter. It’s nice to see your group is active and enjoying retirement! Kind regards, Chris (Secretary Manchester CERSA)

Dear Heather, Thanks for a great newsletter Heather. The RR is always full of interest but this month particularly so. The links to Sky and other documentaries will be very interesting to follow up.

Norman (Shackley Heathrow CERSA)

Gordon Hodson RIP 1934-2023 - A Eulogy delivered by his son Neil Hodson

As you will be aware this was never an occasion that dad envisaged having. He often said that we need to deal with the unexpected so, thank you for the surprise and keeping us on our toes. Dad loved being around people, he loved to socialise and have fun and laughter in his life, and I will always reflect on the kind and loving person he has been to his family and all who knew him. I think this has been reflected well by the many people who have come up to Marjorie from his local area and in the many cards and comments echoing what an amazing, wonderful man dad always was to family, friends and people he had only met and spoken to in the street.

Dad was never really into sombre occasions so we would like to take this opportunity to focus on celebrating the joy he brought to our lives and to all of those he met. Dad had many phases of his life. A Dad to Ian and I. A committed customs officer who loved to challenge himself against the villains. An avid, motorcyclist, cyclist, and runner, even more so after he had retired and had more time. And then after meeting Marjorie and being taken in as part of her family, which was a pleasure to see, with the happiness that brought to him, an adventurer and avid traveller of France.

Having looked at the map in their house which has markers for each place Dad and Marjorie visited I am of the view that he felt he need to go to every town on the map. Whist they did not manage that by the many red markers there are you both had a damn good try. As you will know dad spent his entire working life in customs and you will all have heard the many fascinating tales he had to tell from his time on the docks searching ships, the contraband seized at Heathrow airport and his tenacity for catching the villain’s all of which led to an area of expertise from which I am sure Ian and I benefited.

Dad never quite managed to segregate work dad to home dad in some areas. Dad was always adamant that as we grew up he only asked us pertinent questions as any father does. We have always been of the view that he was providing a learning experience for us by Interrogating us from an early age. I am not sure if he had doubts on which direction our lives would go and was preparing us but I will admit we never actually had a recording machine present. After Dad, interviews have never been a particular issue

As I am sure you are all aware Dad was always an active man, I remember as a young child of five going out on a Sunday morning on our cycle rides which in keeping with Dad were often for many miles. Having worked it out recently I realise that at 4 and 5 we were doing circa 12-to-15-mile rides.

I especially remember a very large hill in Crowthorne Ridges which he kept taking us too. I think we kept going back until we could get up it which is why it’s probably so vivid in my memory. I went back recently, and I can confirm it is still a bloody big hill.

Whilst dad worked hard, he was always around to take either my brother to archery field shoots and me to the many football matches I played in, always accompanied by his faithful hound whisky. He came and saw Adam and Jamie play football and Rugby as well, although this did not always go as expected. I remember one occasion at a football match when I was involved in the coaching when a parent approached me quite concerned to alert me to what they described as a strange older man taking photos of the young boys. They asked me if they thought they should report him to the Police. Troubled by this I asked them to point this potential pervert out to me. And there is straight away I see the perpetrator, a man in a long mac, with a camera and a flat cap on wandering about on the other side of the pitch with a camera.

I considered my options, call the police, chase him off or just come clean to the concerned parent that the strange man was in fact my dad and was only interested in taking photos of his grandson Adam. It was tempting to have him picked up and questioned but I think I took the safest option in the end.

Whilst dad did not see as much of Adam and Jamie as he would have liked, which falls on mistakes in my life, I can tell you that he always asked what you were up to and kept a close handle on your lives.

After Dads first of what became many services on his bodily engine and pipes the medical teams told him he had to exercise. This is probably when I first realised that Dad could maybe be a little over enthusiastic lets say on how he takes advice and recommendations.

So in the words of Forest Gump He ran to the end of the road. And when he got there, he thought maybe He’d run to the end of the town and when he got there, he thought maybe he’d just run across London

So Dad started to run, and run, and run. In the end dad ran 14 marathons across areas of the world and many, many half marathons and fun runs with his beloved Marlow striders.

And when he stopped running marathons at around 80 was that the end? Nope, of course not. I think one of my lasting memories of dad was him speaking with me quite fed up with the nonrunning so I asked what he was going to do now. Well he said I will have to walk them, so that is what he did. So poor Marjorie after 4 hours plus of waiting around for him to run a Marathon now had the pleasure of waiting the whole day whilst he walked them instead. The good thing was at

least he was never obsessive about his exercise. For me I would like to close on what I will always think of when I think about dad. A caring brother to Doug and Norman and to his nieces and nephews, a loving father and grandfather not only to his direct children grandchildren but also to his extended family which gave him such joy, an avid runner, motorcyclist, cyclist, Liverpool supporter – Dad and I often discussed the concept of two teams in Liverpool, apparently there is one that wears Blue but we never saw much of them, I think as we only ever looked at the top of division 1 and then the prem. And finally, a loving husband to Marjorie who made the last episode of his life which was filled with such joy and adventures. Thank you

Gordon Hodson, a personal memory *

I was on duty at Departures in Terminal 3 and a passenger declared he was on a mission to deliver morphine to a community in Nigeria which had suffered a serious fire with many casualties needing treatment. The doctor did not have the appropriate export licences.

I contacted Gordon Hodson as the senior Officer on duty. Gordon immediately assessed the situation as a mercy mission and waived the formalities and wished the doctor good luck.

Gordon’s choice was either to do it by the book or act with humanity, to his credit he chose the latter.

Alastair Nicolson

• Ed ..among many received and now at https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/n9Xc3sh7

Marjorie has advised that while Gordon’s funeral was a private family one, there is to be a Celebration of his Life at Reading University on 15th May 2023. More details as they become available.

Northside Terminal – Heathrow March 1959

I was looking for a new job and saw PanAm advertise for someone to work in their Piccadilly Office with a high degree in mathematics and fluent Spanish (neither of which I have!) I got and interview during which I was asked if I really was cut out for the job – to which I replied “No – not really!”

Then I was invited to ‘stand up and give me a twirl’ and then I was offered a temp job for six months to work at the Northside, Heathrow, as PanAm were the first airline to start transatlantic jet flights and were expecting a huge surge in passengers.

I was told I would need to start in two weeks on the 1st April – to which I said I could not do -as the NHS wanted four week’s notice and was then told “OK – we will keep the job open for you, see you on the 15th April!”

The Northside was an eye-opener. It was a prefabricated building with a tin roof, very cold and draughty in the Winter and very hot and humid in the Summer. There were six airlines there, BOAC had their own section for checking in and a lounge for passengers to wait till their flight was called, this meant that BOAC staff kept very much apart from the rest of us (far superior in every way).

The other airlines in the main departure area were PanAm, TWA, Air India, KLM and ElAl. We all shared a small coffee/snack bar at one end, inadequate toilet facilities for staff and passengers and an entrance to Customs and Immigration leading to the departure lounge. It could get very crowded here, passengers having to wait till their flight was called. If the aircraft was ‘parked’ nearby they were walked to board it – no matter what the weather was like. If it was further away a coach would be provided to reach the aircraft. On arrival passengers had the same process to get to Immigration and then to Customs to get and clear their baggage. This could be very chaotic depending on the numbers of passengers on the flight. The end of the Customs Hall had huge opening doors to allow the baggage in from the flight and whatever weather accompanied it! PanAm were the first airline to fly jets transatlantic, as a result there were huge numbers on ‘standby’ hoping to get on the already fully

booked flight. One man asked me who was the man on the ‘Standby Desk’ – I told him it was our Supervisor and he said “That man ought to be shot! Do you know what he said to me? “Your best chance of getting on this flight would be to hire a costume as a horse and go as cargo!”

Although working as a ticket agent was a very busy job there were moments that were lovely – as when I came back from lunch to see Gary Cooper was on our VIP list for the next flight. I was so excited at being able to see him and I was the only girl on that shift, I did, as they said “Guys – let ‘Our Shirl’ check him in!

One other funny incident remains in my thoughts after all those years – two young servicemen were due out on our evening flight, which was quiet in comparison with the morning departures. I checked them in, gave them Immigration cards to fill in and saw them sit on a bench and have a long amusing time doing so. They then approached me and asked if I would check they had done it right. In the space for ‘sex’ they had written ‘Yes, once in Florida’ They were given another card to fill in and told to do it properly or else they would not be on the flight!

There was a canteen provided for the staff, also a prefab hut and it was dreadful and so was the food. I used to order omelette and chips thinking not much could go wrong with that- until one of our staff had seen the inside the kitchen area and told me not to have anymore omelettes as he had seen the bowl the eggs were whipped up in and it was dark brown with dried egg – he wondered when that had last been washed?

The Northside was really great compared with our move to Terminal Three. It was a happy place everyone (apart from BOAC) knew each other, from airline staff to porters, Press photographers and reporters. When I married my Customs Officer and we arrived for our honeymoon flight on PanAm Brazil to Lisbon the world went round like

wild fire. “They are here!” One of the men on my shift had a plank of wood and written ‘Bon Voyage Mr and Mrs Customs’ he had run out of space on it and had stuck a piece of cardboard for the final ‘s’. That was the start of a wonderful 54 and a half years of marriage for Anthony (Tony) and Shirley West.

Shirley West.

Heathrow CERSAAGM Bells Pub, Church Street, Staines

Monday 3 April 2023

Twelve members attended this year’s AGM. We discussed the accounts which are in a healthy state, membership numbers which after 4 new members joined and 4 members passed away since the last AGM left us having 95 members.

All agreed that the Boleyn Hotel was a good venue for the Christmas lunch but we have to bear in mind that all hospitality costs have risen in the last year so the lunch may have to rise in line with what the hotel charge us. We hope to still subsidise the meal for members.

The Chairman and all the officers and committee have agreed to stay on except for Chris Hamblin who is stepping down. Ian Farquhar had kindly agreed to come onto the committee and was voted on at the meeting. Tony Biddle has agreed to stay on as Auditor.

The next Retiring Room (this one) will be trialled in a new magazine format. The editor asked that where people show interest in receiving the magazine, such enquiries should be passed to Heather our secretary (so that we can recruit them to join).

Past social events and events coming up were discussed. Please see page three of this newsletter for these events.

The meeting was followed by lunch.

Heather Nolan Secretary

The Case of John Martin Scripps – The Garden City Butcher.

This story may not be remembered by many, I thought I’d share an incident that took place in Terminal 3 but ended in Singapore. On the 30th August 1990, I was on duty in Terminal 3, when we received a call to attend a Gulf Air flight from Oman. After speaking to the captain, who had in his possession 50 grammes of suspected heroin given to him by the Omani police, I arrested a passenger called Jesse Rupert Bolah, who was travelling from Bangkok via Muscat to LHR. We escorted him to T3 whilst the aircraft was searched by tarmac colleagues. They found another 191 grammes in the vicinity of Bolah’s seat. The reason why the Omani authorities had let him continue was that they did not have enough staff to deal with the importation due to it being a public holiday! The CIU were informed and attended the terminal. Whilst the initial interviews were conducted, I was dispatched with others to his declared address in Farnborough, Hants for a S18 search. At the address, which belonged to an estranged aunt and uncle who were away, we found all manner of identity documents, including ID cards, with the names of Johnny Scrips and Squips with photographs of the man we had arrested.

It soon became apparent Bolah was not his real name. In interview, he finally admitted his surname was Martin. It later transpired he had officially changed his name to John Martin whilst in prison. He had ‘adopted’ the name Bolah after stealing the identity of a ‘biker’ from the west country. Due to the lack of evidence, especially as the Gulf Air captain actually imported the drugs, Bolah was released on Inspector’s Bail. It was during the time on bail investigators found out his birth name was John Martin Scripps from Letchworth and his mother lived on the Isle of Wight. It also transpired he had absconded from prison whilst serving time for heroin offences. The first offence, for which he received a conditional discharge, was in 1974 when he was 15. Throughout his early life he was being fined or spending time in prison, which is where he learned to conceal his actual identity from the authorities.

Unsurprisingly he did not answer his bail and an arrest warrant was issued for him in the name John Martin Scripps, for a number of alleged offences. Due to some really good work by local police, Scripps was arrested a month later whilst visiting / staying with his mother on the Isle of Wight. The police had put his photo for watchout in several local Sandown businesses. One of the staff in a photo developing shop identified him and rang the police. On a search of the mums, they also believed they had found approximately 40 grammes of heroin.

As part of the Wayland B fast response roadshow, myself, a couple of CIU officers and a couple of TBT officers headed for the ferry. Wayland took up a ‘gold’ control position in the police station social club whilst we met up with the arresting officers and other interested parties. Scripps was formally charged with importing diamorphine and possession with intent to supply the 40gms. The police also added, failure to return to prison. Reasonably early next morning, after official socialising, we presented Scripps in front of the stipendiary magistrate. (In fact I think he was the only sitting magistrate who could deal with reasonably serious matters beyond the stealing of a rabbit hutch and riding on the pavement without lights. Both offences which were to be heard that day, after us). Amazingly I clearly remember the gist of the magistrate’s words after we had explained that Scripps, if that was his current name, was an absconding, drugs importer and dealer who had a penchant for violence, ‘remanded in custody and get this man off of my island and incarcerate him on the mainland in a proper prison.’ We got him off the island asap and delivered him to HMP Portsmouth. It turned out the tape wrapped package found by the police was actually vitamin C. He’d been ripped off by the locals. So that came off the charge sheet. In July 1992, Scripps pleaded not guilty at Winchester Crown Court and a trial began. I stayed in a local hotel with three Omani officers and a translator. Various other witnesses joined us throughout the week. However, and to the amazement of all, after the second of the Omani officers gave evidence Scripps suddenly changed his plea to guilty. The judge sentenced him to a further 6 years on top of the 7 years he was already serving.

Unfortunately this is not the end of the story. In 1994, Scripps once again absconded / escaped from prison and managed to travel overseas to a number of countries, including Mexico, initially in the name of Simon James Davis, another inmate.

Whilst in Central America he claimed he’d lost his passport and was issued with another in his real name John Martin. During his travels, it is alleged he murdered various holiday makers, three of which were proven. These he allegedly killed in Singapore and Thailand. He was also investigated for other murders in Belize, Mexico, and the United States. Due to the way he allegedly dispatched his victims he became known as the Garden City Butcher. There is a true crimes documentary about him and he is named on an extensive Wikipedia page.

At dawn on 19 April 1996, after a last meal of pizza and hot chocolate, 36-year-old John Martin Scripps was hanged in Changi Prison together with two Singaporean drug traffickers. Myself and another officer were invited to witness the hanging. Not only did we decline the invitation immediately, so did the British Government on our behalf.

Dave Clark

Eating in the 50s

Oh how things have changed!

Curry was a surname.

A takeaway was a mathematical problem. A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.

All potato crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not. Rice was only eaten as a milk pudding. A Big Mac was what we wore when it was raining.

Brown bread was something only poor people ate.

Oil was for lubricating, fat was for cooking. Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves, and never green.

Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold. Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.

Fish didn't have fingers in those days.

Eating raw fish was called poverty, not sushi. None of us had ever heard of yoghurt. Healthy food consisted of anything edible. Indian restaurants were only found in India. Cooking outside was called camping.

Seaweed was not a recognised food.

"Kebab" was not even a word, never mind a food.

Prunes were medicinal. Surprisingly, muesli was readily available: it was called cattle feed.

Water came out of the tap. If someone had suggested bottling it and charging more than petrol for it they would have become a laughing stock!

The one thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties ... elbows!

Retiring Room

Editor Michael Nolan

13 Brownrigg Road

Ashford, Middlesex

TW15 2TL

Tel: 01784 256549

Mob: 07813 363076

Michaelnolan75@gmail.com

Heathrow CERSA Committee 2023-24

Chairman Ian Denison OBE

Secretary Heather Nolan

Treasurer Bridget Kenton

Social Secretary Trish Wigley

Heathrow CERSAis on the Web at: http://heathrowcersa.blogspot.co.uk

Newsletter Editorial Notes

Retiring Room is the quarterly newsletter of the Heathrow & West of London Branch of the Customs & Excise Retired Staff Association.

It is published quarterly in order to keep the membership informed of association activities undertaken or planned on their behalf, as well as keeping them up to date on events in their old departments.

Readers’comments and contributions are encouraged and letters from the membership are especially welcome. Contributions should not exceed 200 words and should be accompanied by a good quality photo of at least 500Kb size.

These should be posted or emailed to the editor at least two weeks before quarterly publication dates at the start of January, April, July and October.

Copy deadline for July 2023 issue is 15th June.

Committee

Mike Thompson.

Helene Hamblin. Ian Farquhar.

Retiring Room editor

Michael Nolan

Heathrow CERSA accepts no liability for loss damage or injury while members are participating in the Association’s organised events.