John Bartlett

by Mary Bevan

John and Anne were born at opposite ends of the UK – John in Poole and Anne in Uddingston, Scotland.

John grew up in the war years and his father was an air raid warden. He tells us that his family had a lucky escape when a bomb fell just at the end of their road. He went to the Herbert Carter School and was keen on sports, particularly football. He was also a member of Poole Amateur Rowing Club and still talks about his rowing days.

In 1953 he joined the Air Force and spent five years in the service, most of the time in Malta. There he played football for the Combined Services Team as well as water polo. On his return to the UK he was sent to RAF St Morgan in Cornwall. While there he was invited to play water polo in Padstow, but the sea was so cold after the temperatures he’d been used to in Malta that he decided that would be his first and last game in the UK. After leaving the Air Force he came back to Poole, married and had two children and worked for Rawlings Builders. When his wife passed away he moved to Swindon to work at James Davies Timber Mill which later became part of Lovell Construction Group. It was there that he and Anne met.

Born in Scotland, Anne’s parents moved to England when she was two and settled in Birmingham. She enjoyed her schooldays and became head girl. On leaving school she trained as a hairdresser, then married and helped her husband in his business, learning typing, bookkeeping and the secrets of VAT. When she found herself on her own again she took a job in the offices of Lovells in Birmingham in the Timber Department. Here she got to know John at a distance as she often spoke to him on the phone to arrange transport for wood. Then, on her first visit to the Swindon office, they met in person. It was a memorable meeting because she had taken along some paperwork for him which he immediately ‘filed’ in the wastepaper bin. Anne commented that he had a very interesting filing system. As Anne played Squash and Badminton, John said he would come along and give her a game. That was how it all started. After that, they met several times and when the Birmingham Office closed John persuaded Anne to come and work in Swindon. They married a year later in 1981 and honeymooned in Sierra Leone’, the first of many exotic holidays around the world.

John became Mill and Transport Manager at the Swindon Works and stayed there until he retired. He went on enjoying sports, playing cricket for Purton Cricket Club and Wiltshire County Over 50s. Anne remembers how she spent many summer afternoons watching him play though she didn’t really understand what was going on most of the time. Then one afternoon at a Purton cricket match the team found themselves without a scorer and John volunteered Anne for the job. Luckily the other team’s scorer was helpful and guided Anne through the process – after which she began to understand the game better.

Anne’s love of flowers helped her to make new friends when she moved down to Swindon and, with John’s wholehearted backing she took a City and Guilds qualification in Floral Art, a Design Course and a Teaching Certificate. She enjoyed taking part in flower arranging competitions and is now the proud holder of a Gold Medal from the Chelsea Flower Show, and has a wonderful selection of photos to prove it. In all this, she says, ‘John was my rock. I could not have done it without him.’ As they move towards their Golden Wedding Anniversary we wish them many more busy, happy years together.