Cecil Stephen Clease
Cecil
Stephen Clease – Some knew him as Cecil, to some he was Steve, to
others he was Dad, Grandad, Great Grandad but to me he was Uncle Cec
so that's how I will refer to him.
He
was was born in 1923 in Warmley into what must
have been a fairly crowded household, Grandad had married twice, some
of the children from his first marriage were still at home &
Uncle Cec was the 4th
eldest of his Dad's second family. In 1933 they moved just up
the road to a slightly bigger house but they were joined by sisters
Hazel & Margaret & their Aunt Nan so still just as crowded.
Uncle Cec & my Dad had to share a bed in the small bedroom &
lads being lads there was often a lot of messing about at bedtime,
causing their Dad to come up to give them a larruping. Apparently as
Uncle Cec slept closest to the wall it was my Dad who took most of
the punishment, much to Uncle Cec's amusement.
As
a lad he got up to various pranks, One
story he used to tell Jen was of tying a long piece of thread to
someone's door knocker, hiding behind a wall or hedge, pulling the
thread to make the knocker sound & get someone to open the door
to find no-one there. One year after digging over the garden, he
placed a lot of half eggshells open side down on the soil and saying
"Come and look, we've got a garden full of mushrooms.
Uncle
Cec went to the village school, which was only a matter of yards from
their front door & that was where he was educated until he began
his apprenticeship as a Carpenter at Carsons Chocolate Factory when
he was 16. Granddad Clease & my Dad both already worked there,
so Uncle Cec was amongst friends & it seems it was a place full
of characters. In later years Uncle Cec loved to have a natter to Dad
about those characters & the larks they used to get up to. The
factory was a large brick built building & on the roof were huge
open water tanks used for cooling so the guys made boats to sail on
these ponds , they hid the boats from the managers by sinking them
under the water.
But
he hadn't long started to learn his carpentry skills when the 2nd
W.W. started, first his brother Roger, then his sister Denny were
called up & then in 1943 Uncle Cec too was required to join the
forces. He joined the RAF where he was able to put his wood working
skills to good use making & maintaining the wooden airframes of
Mosquito aircraft. When he left the RAF in 1945
his demob papers described him as “An
industrious, conscientious, hard-working capable tradesman. Efficient
in all his work requiring little or no supervision"
Presumably
he returned to Carson's to complete what should have been a 5 yr
apprenticeship but we're not sure about that, although we do know
that he was awarded a grant to enable him to buy a set of tools to
help him find employment. He met & married local girl Betty
Gingel, in 1950 cousin Jen was born & they lived at Mendip View,
London Rd. Bridgeyate, just up the road from his family home at
Northcroft. He worked for local builders Hemboroughs until a contract
for him to make & supply wooden crates for another local company
gave him the opportunity to go self employed & that was what he
did for the rest of his working life, earning his living as a
handyman & decorator, although his skills obviously went well
beyond this, with another local tradesman Lionel Hudd, he built my
Dad's garage & he built a house next door to Mendip view.
He
was always a very keen gardener, growing all the basic vegetables and
fruit. Jen hopes he didn't miss all the fresh young peas and juicy
ripe gooseberries that she scrumped because they were so delicious.
She tells me Uncle Cec would often quote a few lines by Dorothy
Frances Gurney -
"The
kiss of the sun for pardon
The
song of the birds for mirth
One
is nearer God's Heart in a garden
Than
anywhere else on Earth."
He
also took an interest in entering his produce in local shows and
regularly won many first prizes.
Uncle
Cec was very active in the church, he was to become Church Warden at
St Barnabas, & took on the responsibility for it's maintenance.
He told me how one time the vicar phoned him to say a gully on the
church roof was blocked, so he got out his long ladders &
clambered up, he managed to clear the blockage & the built up
water started to flow, just like he had pulled a plug out of a sink,
but unfortunately it cascaded down over the vicar who was stood on
the bottom of the ladder. He was also a fund raiser, as were most of
the family, at one time he made wooden plinths for houseplants which
were sold to raise funds for the church, his niece Julia still has
one which she has used for over 50yrs.
Although
not really a sportsman Uncle Cec enjoyed cricket & played
skittles at the Station Hotel in Warmley where he got me one of my
first paid jobs as a sticker upper. I think he was quite a good
skittler & had a very distinctive action going down on all fours
as he bowled the ball down the alley.
In
1978 he met Jenny Jones when she became the organist at St Barnabas,
they formed a strong friendship, got married in 1984 & lived the
rest of their lives at Whittucks Rd. where together they built lovely
homes & beautiful gardens, where they enjoyed their dogs Holly &
Fred, where they have supported & been supported by many good
friends & from where they were able to help his sisters Eileen &
Hazel look after Margaret, & I know Uncle Cec was deeply affected
by the loss of his sisters.
One
thing some of you may not know about Uncle Cec & despite what
Jenny might think Uncle Cec was also a musician, she has told me
quite emphatically that he was not & recounted how he had tried
to trick friends into thinking he could play the organ by pretending
to press the keys when it was in automatic mode – but not only
could he play he also taught others how to play – cousin Julia
tells me that many years ago Uncle Cec taught his nephews Pat &
John how to play the Joe Loss tune In The Mood one handed on their
organ, & he must have been a good teacher because John can still
remember how to play it. So it might only have been one tune &
then only with one hand – but Uncle Cec could play the organ. And
that makes him very musical compared to me.
He
was an easy man to talk to, especially if you had an interest in
gardening, he had a way of passing on hints & tips that have
stayed with me for many years. He was always interested in what we
were doing & always asked after the family in a way that you knew
was genuine & not just out of politeness.
He
was a courteous, mild, well mannered man , everyone who knew him said
he was a real gentleman.
