Christel and me
November, about 1959 or 60
Photo by Kenneth Taylor (stood by his bonfire)
Christel Tiedemann (or Schlepper depending on what mood she was in) was our German au-pair at Stapleton Avenue in the late 1950s. Her family name was Tiedemann but she said her real father was called Schlepper - a U-Boat captain who was killed in action. It's possible but I've never checked.
We are stood by the bonfire my father built for Bonfire Night each year on the 'dump' - a patch of empty land in Stapleton Avenue. He arranged for lorry-loads of wood to be delivered from 'The Mill' and started by making a big tall frame, with the rest of the wood then placed in it, the idea being the bonfire wouldn't suddenly collapse. I don't remember if this worked but it seemed a good idea at the time.
As far as my father was concerned it was 'his' bonfire because he made it using 'his' wood. So on Bonfire Night he lit it and nobody else so everybody waited for him to come. One year, however, Dick Gill (the "Famous Bolton Butcher") who lived in the house next to the 'dump' (on the other side from ours) came out early and lit it himself before my father got there. The main thing I remember (apart from Christel) is my father going 'apeshit' with Dick Gill for sabotaging his bonfire. I don't think they spoke to each other again.
Christel was sixteen and I was about 11 or 12 so, obviously, I 'loved' her. My parents thought she was a 'silly twit' always playing crap German pop singles on my father's very expensive record player, one being The Jolly Joker (Conny Froboess). My bedroom was next to hers (my sister's normally). When Christel was there in the evenings I went in and 'wrestled' with her on the bed (all in fun). That's all I should say about it except I was sad when she left and The Jolly Joker is in my iTunes collection.
