Biography of Malcolm Archbald SMITH
[Ref. S.1]
| Biography index |  |
Part A: Shaftesbury House | |
Part C: Fordingbridge | |
Holidays |
Part B : Pine Walk, Verwood
| The bungalow | |
Inside | |
Garden flowers | |
In order not to lose the sale of Shaftesbury House, Malcolm and Brenda had moved into temporary accommodation whilst they searched for a suitable new home. They put their possessions into storage and stayed in a holiday lodge at West Farm in Verwood for three months which included the Christmas period.
Malcolm and Brenda were living keen to find another home. They were visiting the Estate Agents offices daily but nothing suitable was coming available. One day, Malcolm was in the office of Goadsby & Harding in Verwood only to be told that there was nothing new. He was just heading out of the office only to be called back by one of the agents who was taking a call on the phone. He said that something had just come onto the market that might be of interest so Malcolm made an appointment to view it that afternoon. It was a bungalow situated at 1 Pine Walk, Verwood. They moved into it in January 2002.
At the appointment it became quickly clear to Malcolm that the place could be suitable. Whilst his wife Brenda continued to look around with the agent, Malcolm pondered the possibilities then presented his offer of £ against the asking price of £. The agent rang back later that day to say it had been accepted. It was approaching Christmas and, although the solicitor was obliging, the Estate Agent needed coercing to progress the sale process during that period. However, it was completed and Malcolm and Brenda moved in on.
The bungalow was not especially well built and was set in a small cul-de-sac occupied principally by pensioners from London but Malcolm and Brenda got on well enough with them all. There was not much that could be done to the bungalow by way of improvement without fairly major work. Both kitchen and bathroom were dowdy but serviceable. Malcolm used the second bedroom as an office and made the third bedroom into a hairdressing salon for Brenda. He also tidied up the garden and improved the layout to include flower beds and a vegetable patch.
In 2004 Malcolm had an enlarged prostate diagnosed which required surgery. His wife's uncle Norman in California was very ill at the time and Malcolm had proposed to visit him but hoped he would be well enough after the operation. On the day of the operation, the schedule fell behind and, despite having waited all day without food, Malcolm was sent home to await a new date. The operation proceeded on the second date but Malcolm was held in hospital for a few days then, sadly uncle Norman passed away soon after and Malcolm was not fit enough to attend the funeral. Malcolm had to return to hospital a couple of weeks later when he had an alarming discharge of blood.
Malcolm had a carport constructed on the side of the bungalow as the garage was being used to house his model railway layout. He constructed a new door at the back of the garage for easy access from the garden as the proper garage door was blocked by the layout. Whilst fitting bracket supports for some shelving, and tightening up the very last screw, he slipped off the hop-up and broke his collarbone. It seemed to take a long while to heal so Malcolm kept his arm still but he was supposed to heve been exercising it so he finished up having physiotherapy once a week to get it back to working order. He quite enjoyed that as the physiotherapist looked rather like the filmstar Kim Bassinger.
Various members of the family came to visit whilst Malcolm and Brenda were there. Shortly before they moved away, they held a small party for some of the neighbours and afterwards continued to visit and exchange Christmas cards for some years.
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