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My Mum rang Sainsburys to let them know what happened and I would not be at work for a while. Then she informed Marks and Spencers. The manager at Sainsburys told June, Mikes sister and she came to see us that evening with guess who! her Mum. That was a real shock for both Mike and I, neither of us could get up without extreme difficulty and pain, so my Mum made tea and we told them what had happened. They no idea how seriously hurt we were, so it was a huge relief when they saw us. For Mike the worst thing was his knee it was much worse than mine, he had taken most of the impact but my ribs were really giving me a lot of pain.

It was very strained at first with Mike and his Mum, neither knew what to say, I thought Mike was going to tell her to get out but thank goodness he thought better of it. What she said next surprised me, firstly she apologised to my Mum and Dad and then me, she said she couldnt give us an explanation as she didnt know why herself. My Dad said it would be best to forget it as recriminations would possibly make things worse. Start from now with a clean slate. They stayed for about 3 hours , it turned out to be a nice evening.

We were off work for three weeks and even then we had to twist the Doctors arm to sign us back to work. It was horrible getting back on the bike. I had fear now, I had never felt that before. When we got to Fulham Mike said he could feel my fear I hadnt been part of the bike as I was before the accident, we thought given time it would sort itself out. Neither of us wanted to go to Southend again that was finished, Mike I think felt nervous now and that was asking for trouble.

Mikes sister Mollie was married to a man from Northern Ireland and they had decided to move to Belfast where his family lived, they had saved up and bought a house there for next to nothing. This meant they were moving out of the flat they had in Mikes Mums house. It had a good size kitchen/living room, sitting room and one very large bedroom. Mollies asked us if we would be interested in it, it was just opposite where Mike and I both worked, it would mean no travelling !! we talked about it with my Mum and Dad and they agreed it would be better for us, more space and so convenient for our workplaces.

The next night after work we went to see his mum, it was strange , we both felt ill at ease and this was the house Mike had been born in. Mike told her we would like the flat if she was ok with it. She said we would have a proper rent book, it would be registered with the council that we were living there so she wouldnt be able to just throw us out. Mike said so thats a yes then, she gave him a hug and apologised again for her behaviour and not going to our wedding.

Mollie was moving out in January 1961 they were not as yet sure about the exact date. They were going to leave us quite a bit of furniture, well worn but would do us for a while. My Mum said she would miss us but she understood it was the right thing to do.