This Time Next Week - Hardcover

Barbara Kelland

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0954309928 ISBN 13: 9780954309923

Publisher: Epona Publishing, 2005

Synopsis

Part memoir, part social history, This Time Next Week tells the story of a mother and daughter’s struggle to rebuild their lives following the tragically early death in 1928 of Jimmy Kelland, engineer, husband, father and member of the Masonic Lodge, the Star in the East.

Funny, candid and at times sad, Barbara describes growing up without a father in the early part of the last century. Then with the help of the weekly letters she wrote home as a little girl, she tells us about the strict routine and emphasis on discipline and how preparations were made for war. Barbara recalls her memories of midnight feasts, snowball fights, and other silly school girl pranks, she helped organise with her friends. But there were serious moments too. Like regular music practice and performing the school Drill.

Barbara appreciates how fortunate she was to have survived the war and will always be grateful to her mother for the sacrifices made in a difficult time before the extension of the Welfare State. Barbara is also eternally indebted to the anonymous generosity of the Masons, who funded the junior and senior schools. She wrote this book as a way of saying thank you to both her mother and to the members of an organisation, whose good works frequently go unnoticed.

About this title

About the Author

Barbara Kelland is a retired teacher, who lives in Dorset with her husband. She spent a total of eleven years at the junior and senior masonic schools and after the war, returned as a pupil teacher.

From the Inside Flap

should she pass the examination required by Law 79, and be approved by the Medical Officer on the day, she will be received into the Junior School, Baker Street, Weybridge, on Tuesday the 15th September, at 2:30pm precisely.

When Barbara Kelland s mother read these words, she knew that four long years of keeping in touch with the Masons had finally paid off her little daughter really would be attending the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls.

Part memoir, part social history, THIS TIME NEXT WEEK tells the story of a mother and daughter s struggle to rebuild their lives following the tragically early death in 1928 of Jimmy Kelland, engineer, husband, father and member of the Masonic Lodge, the Star in the East'.

For the first time, Barbara Kelland s book gives a unique insight into a little known aspect of Masonic history. Funny, candid and at times sad, she describes growing up without a father in the early part of the last century. Then with the help of the weekly letters she wrote home as a little girl an unbroken routine that lasted eleven years she tells us what it was like at both the Junior and Senior Masonic Schools, during the mid 1930s and World War II.

Recapturing long forgotten memories of childhood, she describes the strict routine and emphasis on discipline, how preparations were made for war and the way rationing impacted meal times and her own waistline! As the fighting progressed, air raid practices became common place, as did nights spent sleeping in the trenches.

Barbara recalls her memories of midnight feasts, snowball fights and plenty of silly school girl pranks she helped organise, together with her group of little friends, as they passed away the days, in a more innocent age.

But there were also serious moments too. Like regular music practice and playing the piano at the Wigmore Hall, conducting on Prize Day at Rickmansworth, performing the famous School Drill in front of the King and Queen and the bane of every pupil, preparing for the dreaded exams.

Barbara appreciates how fortunate she was to have survived the war and will always be grateful for the sacrifices made by her mother, in a difficult age before the extension of the Welfare State. Bravely staying on to work in London during the Blitz, Barbara s mother faced unemployment both at the beginning and end of the war. Yet despite adversity, she carried on quietly like so many other women of her generation, never making a fuss.

Barbara is also eternally indebted to the anonymous generosity of the Masons, who funded the Junior and Senior schools. This book was written as a way of saying thank you to both her mother and to the members of an organisation, whose good works have frequently gone unnoticed. Now a wider audience can read a first hand account of what it was like being brought up in the care of the Freemasons, during a unique period in Britain s history.

About the author
Barbara Kelland is a retired teacher. She lives in Dorset with her husband and spends her spare time water colour painting. At Barbara s request the publisher has agreed to donate a portion of the book s royalties to the RMIG Endowment Trust.

To find out about the audio version of THIS TIME NEXT WEEK, together with additional resources describing life at the Masonic School during the 1930s and 40s, visit: eponamedia.com.

Edition details

• Publisher: Epona Publishing
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0954309928
• ISBN 13: 9780954309923
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304