This is the story of Will and his two friends who sailed to England in 1967 to see the world. Aerogrammes. letters, diaries and postcards help to tell of their adventures in this A to Z.

"England Swings Like a Pendulum Do"   Roger Miller •  1965
England Swings Like a Pendulum Do
Bobbies on bicycles, two by two
Westminster Abbey, the Tower of Big Ben
The rosy-red cheeks of the little children

52 Weltje Rd, Hammersmith, London, England 30-3-67

I received your letter with the clippings, photos and it gives me nostalgic feelings to see those bleary-eyed people who obviously have been drinking real beer. Don’t waste a drop of it. 

We are only 50 yards from the Thames River, where there is a sailing club (Enterprises, Fireflys, OKs and 14s) but you have never seen a worse place to sail.  They started a race at 6.00 pm the other night (winter) just on the turn of the tide and half the fleet went A over Z in the freezing water within minutes.  I met an Aussie from Speers Point who knew the 16ft mob and sailed skates etc.  

First flat close to the Thames and the Hammersmith Bridge

The Oxford-Cambridge boat race went practically by our door and all the Poms get very excited about this.  I saw the race on TV in Monmouth, Wales as Jan (a schoolie from NZ) and I, Graeme (one of the blokes in our flat) and Raewyn (schoolie from NZ too) hitched for a five day tour which started on Good Friday and took us about 500 miles through Oxford, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Monmouth, Swansea and Cardiff (capital of Wales), across the Severn Suspension Bridge (4^th largest bridge in the world) and back to London. 

We stayed in Youth Hostels which are very good and cheap and one night in a little pub in the Welsh village of Brynmawr where the hospitality of the people and their liking for Aussies and Kiwis was amazing.  They sang us Welsh songs and shouted us pints of beer.  In the middle of one Welsh song they came out with “Up the Wallabies” and we all finished up singing “Waltzing Matilda” and “The Maori Farewell’. The night with supper and breakfast cost 7/6d each.  

We passed by Aberfan where the 240 children died in a landslide disaster that flattened the school.  Over the whole trip we got about 20 lifts in cars, trucks and even an ambulance.  The people were very friendly and quite interested in Aussie. 

Tomorrow I’m taking off again for a week in Scotland, mostly Glasgow and Edinburgh and hope to get a tour of a whisky distillery (free samples) as the Scotch in Scotland is dearer than in Australia. I’m off by myself this time for a change.  I should be more mobile and I have to be back in London by Saturday to meet one of the girls from the Fairsea who disembarked in Naples and has been in Europe (Michelle).

We are living very well and the financial position is fair.  I think I’ve put on about half a stone, my hair is long (I haven’t had a haircut since Wollongong, over three months ago) but everyone’s hair is long in Pommie land anyway.

You should see some of these clothes! Talk about being way out gear! We are very keen on the mini, mini skirts though.  They’re nearly up to the neck!

I have seen quite a lot of the sights of London, but there’s so much to see it should take ages.  Think I told you we visited St Clements (Oranges and Lemons) built 1066 but destroyed, all but walls and steeple in 1941 and rebuilt. Also went aboard the Cutty Sark – she could do 17 knots under 32,000 square feet of sail – that’s faster than the old Fairsea.  

Will, Keith and Phil in Greenwich in front of the Cutty Sark

I stood on the 0 degrees Meridian, one leg in east longitude and one foot in west longitude at the Greenwich Observatory. Also have visited Carnaby Street (way out clobber), Soho (sort of a Kings Cross) where the strippers take off the lot, one after another but with no finesse at all!  Portobello Road is interesting with all its street stalls selling all sorts of junk very cheaply. Antiques are also very moderately priced and you should see all these shops selling old uniforms.  It’s the new craze in MOD gear.  

I have been to London Zoo.  Pretty fair but wouldn’t say it was any better than Taronga Park.  We found a wallaby but didn’t see one kangaroo!  London’s biggest building is the GPO tower – 36 storeys.  We kill that with Australia Square of 50 storeys.  Oh well, the Poms will find out one day what a great place “Down Under” is.  Meantime we are having a great time looking at their country but we don’t knock the place to them.  Well, I’ll send you a card from Scotland.  Write and let’s know how things are.  It’s good to get mail from home and hear all the news.

PS

Saw my first colour TV yesterday.  Only fair but slight improvement on black and white.

PPS

Snowed here at Hammersmith yesterday but only lightly.