24th January 1965 birth of our third child  Sandra Anne Lancaster.

Sandra, soon to be known as Sandy, was born at home, 55 Lady Lane.  Dr. Hedley Missen attended the birth, and I remember it wasn't entirely straightforward!  There was talk of calling for backup help. but eventually all was well.  In those days the Salvation Army band came round the area playing hymns on Sunday  mornings, and I remember  Robin Catlin, our senior doctor, asking them to move on, as Joyce needed peace and quiet to recover from the birth.   

 1965  PROJECT MAYFLOWER

Project Fur Hat was followed by Project Mayflower, which added a Marconi Myriad computer to the existing system, thus enabling meteorological  data to be included. The Myriad computer was the latest Marconi computer in the 1960's, using integrated circuits, but its capacity was only a fraction of what we have today in our mobile phones!  I was managing this project, so further visits to Sweden were needed.  I worked with Frank Sumner, now unfortunately deceased. 

 MORE ON PROJECT 'FUR HAT' 1964

Having done a stint on my own in 1963, I insisted that my family should be with me if I was required to do a further session.  The method of financing this was to advance the cost of an airfare, and this was sufficient to pay for rail fare and ferry for the whole family.  I remember the storm for the north sea crossing, and how sea sick we were!  Looking back I am amazed at the loyalty of Joyce, to come to a foreign country, not knowing the language, with a young family.  Sue had her fifth birthday in Sweden, and Andrew was coming up to 3.  It was winter, and very cold, so that the lakes were frozen ( the ice was thick enough to drive a car!)  But we were all healthy for the whole time - about four months I think.  Here are some more pics.

You may note a small grey car in one of the pics. This was an Austin A35, which I bought for I think about 200 Swedish Krona from Mr Werry Werry, so called because he offered 'Werry Werry good' cars! At that time, the Swedish Krona was about 14 to the pound, so it cost around £15 - not expensive1  We used it to drive into Stockholm to go to church on Sundays. It ran well, but we had one adventure, which could have been serious. As we drove to a petrol station to fill up, I put my foot on the brake pedal, and nothing happened!  The brake fluid was empty!  Fortunately, we were able to get it topped up on the spot, so all was well.  I think our guardian angel was looking out for us!  

A reminder of a happy family time!

 PROJECT FUR HAT 1964

In early 1964 we came to the Acceptance Phase of the Project.  There were a wide range of acceptance teats, which called for a strong level of management.  I was back in Sweden, this time with Joyce and the children, with overall systems responsibility.  Chris Bagguley was in charge of the installation team, and Tom Gaskell produced the Acceptance Specification.  We had regular meetings, and when the three of us were together it was known as a 'COINC'.  This was a term used in the logic design of the system, and seemed appropriate for our joint togetherness.  We worked long hours, but we made time to be with our families, and it was a happy time for us as a family.  We lived at Kunsangen, in a summer house beside a lake which was frozen. Here are some pics of us as a family, and with the Zimmermans, an American family who were working as Christian missionaries in Sweden.  We got to know them at the church where we went on Sundays.  It was a very strong friendship

 PROJECT FUR HAT SWEDEN 1963 and 1964

I had been working on Fur Hat at Baddow since 1959, and by 1963 the installation phase had commenced.  Fur Hat was a major data handling and display project for the Royal Swedish Airforce. It was unique in many ways, but mainly because there was no pre-commissioning stage in the UK - the whole system was installed in Sweden.  I went to Sweden to assist in this work as a systems engineer., as I had a good understanding of the complex system interfaces. I can't show any work pictures because of the high security.  All I can say is the system was installed in an underground secret bunker, whose existence seemed to be known by the people in the nearby villages1  I left Joyce and the children in the UK while I was away for a few weeks.  Here are some pictures Joyce sent me to remind me of home!

If you ask the question 'Where were you when President Kennedy was assassinated 

on 22 November 1963?' I would reply that I was in Sweden.  I remember how shocked  my American friends were - as we all were.

 1963.  At 55 Lady Lane with Susan and Andrew.

 8th October 1962  We got a telegram to say that Mum and Dad were coming back to Chelmsford, due to Mum's mental illness.  I went to the Isle of Wight to help them return, and drove us all in their car.  I remember all was well until we got home, and then we had a flat tyre!  I'm sure the angels were watching over us!  But it was a very stressful time.

Until then, they were living in a very remote cottage, but subsequently moved to a flat in Ryde.

I guess we visited them sometime in 1962, and so did Joyce's parents, as shown by these photographs.

Here is a photo at the flat in Ryde (not very clear!)