Helen Aileen Davies
BBC 'End Of Story' finalist
Author of 'The Emperor and the Butterfly'
Singer/songwriter with Dragonfall
About Helen
The milestones……..
Helen was born in Staffordshire in 1957
It wasn’t the most auspicious of starts. To begin with I wasn’t expected for another 5 or 6 weeks. My mum complained that she didn’t feel too well that morning. My dad’s response was “Well, you can’t expect to get through the whole nine months without any problems”. When he returned from work she still wasn’t well so he sent for midwife. She arrived, ordered my mother to bed as this baby was on the way. My dad, having seen far too many films where the man paces up and down outside while the nurse runs about with kettles of water, asked if he should put the boiler on. The Midwife replied “What are you going to do? Drown it?”…
My father’s cousin came in to wait with my dad, bringing in a bottle of whisky to lessen the agony. Dad thanked him for the whisky – but I had alreadyarrived, just before midnight, weighing in at about 3lbs. Let’s just say everyone was a little concerned. So the vicar was sent for and I was baptised in the house – just in case. Dad was told to feed me glucose with a little drip feeder every two hours. He did. It must have worked – as I’m still here to tell the tale…..
She started school
I started telling stories very early on. As a toddler, my parents would become suddenly aware that I had disappeared, and would find me in the garden telling stories to a pile of bricks. (I’m glad to say that I have now moved on to much more appreciative audiences!)
I started school (on my 5th birthday – now that wasn’t fair, was it?) and quickly known for my acting prowess. Seen here aged 5 as Mary (complete with little lamb) and aged 6 as the princess in Rumplestilskin!
She wrote poetry
I then moved on to junior school, where I joined the recorder group, (which won lots of competitions, including Llangollen International Eisteddfod), learned to play the piano and started to write poetry. Lot’s of it. All the time. Everywhere. It must have driven my parents beserk! I took a notebook with me everywhere I went and whenever the muse took me my infantile hand felt compelled to get it all down. Nowhere was exempt. I even remember writing about the steam train at either Alton Towers or Drayton Manor Park while my poor dad was trying to row us across the lake in a small boat.
When I got to the top class (year 6 – for you youngsters!) I was entered for the Daily Mirror Children’s Literary Competition with a story about the last day of my school holidays. I’m not sure how far it got but I had an embossed certificate!
Then I moved on the Grammar School. There was just SO MUCH to do! My every lunch hour was completely filled with activity and heaven on earth – there were always drama productions – which included “The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew” (I was a magpie – couldn’t breathe in my beak and almost passed out by the end of the first act, until someone from the CDT dept put some holes in it for me); “Alice” (I was the mock turtle – complete with shell); “Our Town” (My favourite role. I played “Emily” and had to master an American accent. I became convinced that I wanted to act professionally after this); “Billy Liar” (I was Maggie – the one that keeps eating oranges!); “The Gondoliers” (Tessa) and “Ruddigore” (Mad Margaret – a gift of a role – opposite the very aptly named Mr Nutter!). I still wrote. They entered me for the Daily Mirror thing again and I got another certificate. I also did some public speaking – something to do with cows producing methane I seem to remember…
All things considered it’s a wonder I ever found time to pass my A levels!
She left school
Despite my apparent literary and dramatic prowess I wasn’t emotionally ready for university. So I didn’t go. I started work instead. Given that I had studied Ancient History, English, French and General Studies you can guess what career I chose! Computer Programming. Yes. Honestly!
Well, I wrote to the NCB to ask if they had any vacancies for a trainee librarian and they wrote back saying “No, but would you like to be a trainee computer programmer instead!” So I did. It was a job. To be honest, I quite enjoyed it. After a year I was invited to join the Training School teaching other people how to enjoy it too. So I did that. And that led on to the next milestone..
She met her future husband
I was minding my own business one day, lecturing to a group of graduate trainees on a programming course, when this young man walked in at the back of the room. He was late. (THAT should have told me something. He was on time for our wedding because his mother brought him, but he’s been late for just about everything else…) And that was that. Silician thunderbolt. One of the few times in my life I have been lost for words.
We became friends, fell in love and we’ve been married for 25 years!
She moved to Wales
Now my “significant other” was from Wales – a country I had long been in love with myself. So I jumped at the chance to move back there with him. We moved in with my soon to be in-laws in 1981 and I knew that I was there for the long term. So it made sense to learn some Welsh.
She learnt Welsh
Welsh is a language that held a fascination for me even when I was a child. We would catch snippets on Bank Holiday Monday ventures into the North, a deep, gravelly language, as old as the hills themselves, sounding like incantations as it fell down the mountainsides. I couldn’t wait to learn it. I started off on a once a week course but it just didn’t move fast enough for me and I found that by the time the next week came I had forgotten the stuff from the week before. So, my fiance and I decided to do a 3 night a week course – and get married in the middle.
The Wedding
So we did, indeed, learn Welsh, becoming pretty fluent by the end of the course; and we did, indeed, get married – not quite in the middle, but towards the end of the course. On the day war broke out. Yes. War. Honestly.
I wasn’t totally with it on the day. It was understandable. I had shared a room the night before with the one solitary aunt who turned up for the event. She’s lovely – but she snores. No – maybe “snore” isn’t the right word. I did actually wonder if I should contact the scientific authorities to ascertain how one human being could make quite so many noises apparently simultanously and at such a volume!
If you’re of a certain age you may remember Morcambe and Wise doing a little ditty which went “Boom Ooh Yat-tat-ta-ta!”. Well, imagine that, to an uncertain rhythm only MUCH MUCH LOUDER!
The wedding itself was really nice, very personal. The reception was truly wonderful, with all the old Welsh aunts (and one uncle) singing and the quote of the year from one of my significant other’s spinster great aunts. She had been engaged too many times to count (and added a few more to the total before she was done) – and gave us these words of wisdom.
“A lot of people ask me why I have never married, although I have been engaged many times.”
She paused for effect.
“The answer is – why should I make one man miserable when I can make so many happy!”
I knew then, that I had moved to the right part of the world!
So we had the compulsory evening “do” with disco and buffet and stayed the night at the hotel where the reception had been held. Then the following day we headed off for our honeymoon. On the way we played music but didn’t have the radio on. We arrived at our destination went up to our room and switched the TV on – to find that we were at war. Somewhere called the Falklands. It had happened the day before, but no-one mentioned it as they didn’t want to spoil our day!
She taught Welsh
A year and two months after the wedding our daughter was born – the absolute love of my life. We were living in Wales so I spoke both English and Welsh to her from the very beginning. She was walking at seven months and 3 weeks (proud parent you see – remember all the details but I won’t bore you with them here) and when she was 8 months old we started at Meithrin (Welsh mother and toddler group). I quickly found that my Welsh was better than most of the other mother’s – so I helped run the group, setting the toys out, singing songs and making the squash. (That’s the most important part!)
When our little Angel was three years old she started school. Oh dear, do I remember the day? I cried all the way home and held on to her teddy until it was time to fetch her. She, of course, had a wonderful time and hadn’t missed me in the slightest!
However, this change in my lifestyle meant that I had a lot of time on my hands – and there is only so much satisfaction that can be gleaned from a gleaming house – I don’t care WHAT Anthea Turner says!
So I took myself back to Welsh classes. I did my GCSE and then my A level, diploma and certificate to teach adults. At the end of all that I got the chance to do a degree course. We were guinea pigs doing a B.Ed in two years! Quite a musical lot too – one of my course colleagues was Owen Powell who later went on to play guitar with Catatonia. If you want any “dirt” there isn’t any. He’s an absolutely lovely guy and you will never find anyone with a bad word to say about him.
So, two years later I began my teaching career at Lewis Girls Comprehensive School – teaching the nicest bunch of girls you could imagine.
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