035 - Chapter 35

(Illustrations: Collage: Peter Hamil)

This pregnancy was certainly 'a welcome surprise.'

We were living in yet another new house by then, in Kings Road, a house Bob’s parents once lived in, and we got a surprising reaction over the phone from Bob’s dad Jack, when we phoned to tell him our wonderful news of another baby.

He replied, “Never in the bloody world!”

Was he commenting on our talent at producing too many babies, or was he over the moon at having another little Hamil in the family? We never did find out.

Peter, our little ‘rock’, was well named for his strength, dependability and the support he’s given to us over the years, but he was always the one who kept us all 'entertained' in life, with his antics; the one who would push the boundaries as far as they would go. This didn’t surprise me, for whenever he did something mischievous as a toddler, in front of his brother and sister, he was greeted with their sniggers and laughter, and so he got to think he was being cool and clever, which he was not. But he, and they, didn’t get away with it.

It’s strange how history has a habit of repeating itself! He has two sons now, and the youngest is just like he was then.

Peter was much more familiar with the naughty step than the other two, but, lovely with it.

On our way home from infant school one day, he told me he was very worried about his teacher’s throat. I wondered why he was so concerned, then he informed me that she was going to lose her voice, if she kept on shouting at him as much! Oh dear!

When each one of them, in turn, was in nursery half days, it was jolly hard work, battling against horizontal rain, wind or sleet. as we walked to school there and back. The school was about a mile each way. We didn’t have a car by then, so no ‘school run’ for us, just school walk! It kept us fit though, but I was exhausted. 

Peter didn’t care much for schoolwork and study, he preferred ‘real action’, and he turned out to be a right little action man.

A young boy he met in the Lakes, once offered him a turn on his little electric bike, and off he went round the field, straight away like an expert, bombing up and down.

Another Norwegian friend taught him, at a young age, how to drive her speedboat, and soon he’d mastered that, zipping around the bay. Little did we know that boat management was a skill he would put into practice as part of his working life.

He loved all sports at school, particularly rugby, athletics and gymnastics, and took to each new challenge with ease, as if he’d been doing it all his life. He became a county athlete for long jump and high jump, but his favourite sport of all was, and always will be, rugby.

He played for Northumberland Schools County rugby at 18, and for the Falcons development squad for a year when he left school. He also represented England Fire Services at rugby, and soon went on to represent the GB side too. He even coached the England women’s Fire Service rugby team, and was also director of Wallsend Rugby Club.

He still plays rugby to this day.

As a teenager, his bedroom was always organised in a way that was, shall we say, 'acceptable to him'!

He always said his future wife would be just like a star from the Baywatch poster, on his wall and that he and his family would live in our house forever. These prophetic words came true in time. Now that we are living in a bungalow, he and his beautiful wife and family do live in our former house!

Peter was always a born leader, free and fearless; whereas our other two were more ‘academic’. and studious. Peter’s particular gifts lay in camaraderie, problem solving, organisation, and he had such ‘nous’, (which is what us Geordies would call ‘good sound common sense’) Nous is something that even some privileged intellectuals and seasoned politicians can never quite master!

He grew up fit, agile and strong. He had all the qualities needed for the career he chose in later years, a firefighter.

He turned out well, considering the way he pushed his luck so often. His teenage years were the focus of many of my prayers, and since he loved his rugby, I prayed extra hard that he wouldn't get hurt. I’m sure he thought he was invulnerable, in any and every situation, but our fears for his safety were brought into sharp focus one night.

We were woken up by a telephone call at around midnight, and I heard Peter’s shaky voice saying, “Mam I don’t want you to worry, I’m alright, I’m in hospital, but I’m OK!”

Every mother’s nightmare!

Bob sat bolt upright in bed, when I replied in an extremely worried voice, “What’s happened to you Peter?”

“I’ve been glassed in the face, but my eyes are OK” was his reply. He was only eighteen!

One minute we were fast asleep, warm and cosy, out for the count in bed, and the next minute we were both hurtling past Wills factory on the Coast Road in our car, heading for the emergency ward at the city’s RVI hospital. It was surreal, just like a nightmare!

“How could he have gotten into trouble; he was at a friend’s family party?” we asked ourselves on the way there.

I've got to say at this point, that my heart really goes out to parents whose children are victims of vicious attacks or misfortune in today’s world. That interim period of 'not knowing' the outcome of an incident is hellish. Sadly, parents are not always given the news they want to hear! Some children don’t get a second chance.

Peter had been at a local club with close friends and their parents, at an event which had been held to say goodbye to a schoolfriend of his, called Rachel; she was leaving for Japan for a gap year.

A gang of boys, possibly on drink or drugs, had arrived at the club but had been turned away by officials, as it was a private party. When the guests, parents as well as their children, emerged from the club to come home, the gang were there waiting for them all, ready to rumble, with the glasses they’d managed to carry outside!

Peter’s face was not a pretty sight, where a beer glass had made its mark; but the Plastic Surgeon at the RVI who saw to him did an excellent job ; even though he had many stitches, the scar is not all that noticeable now.

He was learning perhaps an important lesson in life through all this, that bad things can happen to innocent people.

I remember well the time he travelled to the USA to coach ‘summer camp’ football, when he was nineteen, and we met him at the Airport on his return, but neither of us recognised him walking towards us with his porter’s trolley.

Bob spotted him first.

“There he is! " said Bob.

“Where?” I asked.

“Right in front of us,” he replied.

Our handsome young lad who had gone out there all smart and sporty, came back with his head shaven, crazy sunglasses on, looking like a character from ‘Full Metal Jacket’ or ‘The Lost Boys!

Peter then worked for a while as a Football Coach for a Newcastle United initiative; ‘Football in the Community’; as he weighed up his future career.

I was at someone’s fortieth wedding anniversary, when a friend mentioned that her daughter’s boyfriend was applying for the fire service. A firefighter friend, of ours, Jed, was passing by at that moment, and having overheard a snippet of our conversation, asked who it was applying for the fire service?” I told him who, and he replied, ‘I thought you were talking about your Peter for a second; he’s got all the qualities needed to make a great firefighter! He’d be absolutely superb!”

I told Peter about this conversation, and it was clear to me that Jed’s comment had really meant something to him. He applied for the Fire Service, passed all of the tests and physical requirements, and was accepted into the force straight away.

We were ALL so very proud, at his graduation ceremony, and not only that; we are also proud that he has saved several lives in his lifetime, not just as a firefighter, but as a lifeguard and a ‘befriender’: a proper little Good Samaritan he is!

Peter is now a full-time watch manager in the Fire Service at Byker, with responsibilities for river rescue on the River Tyne. He began his career at Wallsend Fire Station first, and having grown up in the area, he knows it like the back of his hand, which has been such an advantage.

He met his future wife on holiday; and brought her home to meet us one evening. She wore an outfit which showed off her stunning figure and was wearing long, stylish, black suede boots; she also had long blonde hair.

I took one look at her along the passage when they both came in, and I knew he’d found his dream girl, at last.

We’re so very proud of our children, I can’t believe we produced three such fine individuals, who have such care and consideration for others. We’ve been truly blessed by them, and by their offspring too. All six of them; and I’ll come to them later.