The year was 1964. We were planning to get married in the following May, having known each other since school days after a fleeting encounter in early childhood. Midland Bank, David’s employer, had offered a mortgage sufficient to buy a semi-detached home on a new housing estate. Perhaps surprisingly the Bank accepted our more ambitious alternative proposal within the same outlay. Thus emboldened we bought a council-owned corner plot of land on the outskirts of Shepshed. An architect friend of Elaine’s father was persuaded to draw up plans for an attractive bungalow based on our verbal description of the site.
Needless to say we could not afford to pay the architect to supervise the work, and his wife felt sure that the bungalow could not be built to our budget. Having approached several local builders without success, we began to think she was right. Then we realised that the sticking point was the proposed granite dressing on two elevations of the building. At length we discovered a Coalville firm, boasting a resident stonemason, which was keen to establish its presence in Shepshed. To our delight they agreed to build to our price if we would undertake the finishing work ourselves.
During the winter months we watched in fascination as our future home slowly took shape. At Easter 1965 the keys were eventually handed over and we began sweeping up the debris left by the builders. Elaine was soon busy with interior and exterior painting, while David – encouraged by an earlier foray into amateur joinery – constructed kitchen and bathroom units and fitted wardrobes. No easy flat-pack options in those days of course.
Fitted carpets instantly made the place more comfortable, and with her mother’s help Elaine transformed the rooms with stylish furnishing fabrics. The Co-op delivered a bed but refused to erect it as we were not yet married!
Inevitably much of the work spilled over into the early years of marriage – and well beyond. We hired a man with a JCB for a day, and the exterior lunar landscape began to assume the aspect of a potential garden. Unfortunately every shower of rain routinely washed soil down the road in a reddish brown stream. The solution was a low retaining wall slowly built by our stonemason in his spare time and as we could afford him. We also planted a number of silver birch saplings (‘liberated’ from waste ground in Whitwick) around the edge of the site. All this was watched with pitying amusement by our friends snug in their ready-built houses.
A few years later Midland Bank increased the mortgage to enable the integral garage to be converted into a third bedroom while a pre-cast double garage and new drive were added at the rear. And around this time Elaine – hitherto a secretary – discovered an unsuspected talent. Having helped her mother to complete a wedding gown and bridesmaids’ dresses, she found that she could produce bespoke garments to order very rapidly and without the use of patterns. Soon a procession of intending brides was beating a path to our door.
We also developed an interest in the theatre and particularly in the operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan. Members of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company became our friends, and stayed with us while the company was playing Leicester or Nottingham. We wrote a series of cast profiles for their magazine The Savoyard. Elaine made costumes for local stage shows and over time built up an imposing collection of outfits and accessories in styles ranging from medieval to Edwardian. The bungalow and loft space bulged at the seams. Our first professional theatrical hire was to a society in Leicester. The word quickly spread to Stamford and Northampton, and soon we were delivering within a 100-mile radius. In 1986 David greatly daring resigned from Midland Bank and we joined the entrepreneurial ranks of the self-employed.
The disappearance of the monthly salary cheque was an initial shock, but we were kept busy – perhaps too busy. Though never aspiring to be rich, we had a reasonable income – enough to justify an overdue refit of the bathroom and kitchen. After a few years the lounge was extended to take in the outside covered way and provide more space and light.
Meanwhile the garden had passed through numerous manifestations thanks to Elaine’s efforts, but now spare time was at a premium. We had the back garden block-paved in order to minimise maintenance. Soon afterwards a landscape design for the front garden was commissioned, and it was impressively remodelled again with ease of maintenance in mind.
Suddenly the smooth progression of our lives was rudely disrupted. In 1994 Elaine noticed that her right leg was tending to drag as she walked. On another occasion her right hand refused to grasp the scissors while she was working. Investigation followed and early the next year Parkinson’s disease was diagnosed. Already Elaine was finding it hard to maintain the speed on which both aspects of the business depended. At first we kept the news to ourselves, not wishing to alarm customers or family.
We took a walk beside the canal at Shardlow, resisting the temptation to jump in! Facing the worst case scenario, we decided that if necessary we would be prepared to sell the bungalow in the hope of releasing enough cash to tide us over until retirement. The bridal operation soon had to be abandoned, though we managed to continue stage work for a time. But a kindly providence smiled upon us. Insurance cover proved unexpectedly generous, Elaine qualified for disability benefits and we found a buyer for the costumes. The accumulation of stage wear was transported to Bedford in seemingly unending relays. The bungalow sighed with relief – and so did we! Elaine was coping with Parkinson’s in exemplary fashion.
About ten years ago we were following an interesting financial column in the Loughborough Trader written each week by someone named Andy Jervis. Intelligent and perceptive, it deserved a wider circulation in our view. Tentatively we approached Andy to see if he would be interested in managing our modest savings. We liked the principle of paying fees rather than relying on sales commission, but would performance justify the cost? Indeed it did, and we now enjoy a confident and relaxed relationship far surpassing our original monetary based expectations.
The Old Testament has a story of the prophet Elijah taking refuge with a widow and her son during a famine. The widow’s meagre resources comprised a handful of meal and some cooking oil, which she astonishingly agreed to share with the prophet before their inevitable death from starvation. Miraculously the supply never diminished throughout the famine. Chesterton House aims to do even better. We draw a handy income from investments, yet they not only retain their value but actually grow! It’s the money tree, the stuff of fantasy, but in this instance firmly rooted in the rare soil of refined good sense. With new-found financial stability, we launched on a further enhancement to the bungalow, adding a cleverly integrated extension for an en-suite bathroom, plus the blissful luxury of a motorised garage door.
Elaine is now eighteen years into Parkinson’s. Balance problems, muscular pain and slowness of movement all impact on lifestyle, yet our experience is that as some doors close, others unexpectedly open. Grateful for Andy’s support and encouragement we are constantly in search of new goals, discovering a whole range of creative outputs and opportunities for giving. Mostly our glass is half full rather than half empty.
David & Elaine Stevenson
Elaine is a wonderful poet and has allowed us to share one of her creations - read it here: Kissing Time