Harold Norman (Joe) Pantlin ²

  General Notes:

Harold Pantlin enjoyed cycling as a boy. His cycle log book from 1938-1940 is still extant.
His account of a ride over Easter 1940:
"Friday March 22nd
Joined C.T.C. itin. nr. Winslow. Lunched nr Hinmere and afterwardstorrential rain came on, whichwas however, only a shower. Encountered 2 more by the time I reached Bourton-on-the-Hill.
"Thes is where the story becomes interesting. I was pushing Maria [his name for his bike?] up the village street, when I caught up with a young lady who was obviously new to the game and also looked tired. I gave her the usual greeting and then decided to wait for her at the top of the hill. Well, to cut a long story short, I cycled on with her to Kinnersley Court Farm. This is her first long cycle ride and she left Oxford a 1.30pm! 60 miles without food in 6.5 hours and with a knapsack on her back! Good going!!
I travelled 127 miles.
"Saturday March 23rd
Decided to stay at the Farm and left in the morning with Miss Doris Taylor for Worcester and the Malverns. A super day for weather and I thoroughly enjoyed it. When we reached Malvern, Miss Taylor and I climbed onto the Birt. camp and then walked along the hills to the obelisk which is seen in the distance. The view from the Malverns cannot be described by such a poor literary artist as I, so I will leave that to S.P.B.Mais. Returned via Uffton-on-Severn.
"Sunday March 24th
Went to Severn Stoke church for service and was immensely impressed by both the church and Miss Taylor's singing. Visited the Bredon Hills after lunch and 'en route' visited Bredon Norton. This is an extremely pretty and unsophisticated village."

  Noted events in his life were:

• occupatiion: at the Rotol Company, 24 Feb 1945, Cheltenham, England. ⁵

• Residence: 'Runnymede', Priors Road, 1 Jul 1945, Cheltenham, England. ⁶

• Education: Secondary School, Jul 1939, Sutton, Surrey, England. Harold Norman Pantlin ended his 6 year period at Sutton County School by receiving his certificate of General School Examination, University of London in July 1939. He passed with credits in six subjects: English, Geography, French (written and oral), Elementary Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry. The detailed report of his results shows that he didn't pass Drawing.
School address: Manor Lane, Sutton.
The school was a Day School for Boys between the ages of 10-19 and was founed in 1899. Tuition fees for the year were 4 pounds 4 shillings.
Religious Instruction was strictly non-secretarian. Any boy could be exempted from Religious Instruction on the written request of his Parent.

• Education: The Borough Polytechnic Institute, Oct 1943, London, England. "Harold Norman Pantlin has satisfactorily attended the fifth year's course of Study and has passed the Sessional Examination in Practical Mathematics"

• Education: Croydon Polytechnic, Oct 1943, Croydon, England. "This is to certify that Harold Norman Pantlin has completed an approved Part-Time Course in Electrical Engineering (Ordinary Grade) and has satisfied the Assessors appointed by the Institution of Electrical Engineers in the Examination in the Final Year."

• Education: Borough Polytechnic Institute, Mar 1944, Southwark, London, England. "This is to certify that Harold Norman Pantlin has completed an approved Part-Time Course in Electrical Engineering (Higher Grade) and has satisfied the Assessors appointed by the Institution of Electrical Engineers in the Examination in the Final Year. Subjects of the course: First stage: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering for Electrical mine, Mathematics. Second stage: Electrical Technology, Generation/Transmission/Distribution, Electrical Machines."

• Military Service: World War II. Harold had a hearing problem so was posted to the Home Guard.
As he was a technical draftsman, he was put to work drawing machinery for making weapons

• Occupation: Appliance Engineer at English Electric, 1951, Liverpool, UK. Travelled to Sydney in April 1951, going via Rome, Cairo, Karachi, Singapore. Returning via Honolulu, San Francisco and New York.

Travelled to Ceylon in October 1951 for work, via Cairo.
Worked at Walker Sons & Co Ltd in Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Then went on to English Electric Bombay, India.

Harold married Gladys Lizette Augusta Handley, daughter of John Starie (Jack) Handley and Gladys Emily Grime, on 29 Dec 1945 in Cheltenham, England.¹ (Gladys Lizette Augusta Handley was born on 23 Jun 1921 in 91 Rocky Lane, Walton, Liverpool, England ⁷ and died on 26 Apr 1996 in Windsor, England ⁸.). The cause of her death was Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, form of lymph canacer.

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Property: Bungalow in Irby, 1953, Liverpool, UK. In Harold Norman's 1953 diary one can see that he and Gladys were very preoccupied with building their own home. Since soon after their marriage they were living with Emily Augusta Grime at 115 Swanside Road, Liverpool. As Emily was in her eighties and two children had arrived, living together was increasingly stressful. Harold writes about 'Gambo' being grumpy and irritable, particularly on days when she had bad bouts of what she called jaundice. Harold and Gladys decided to build their own home on the Wirral, the peninsula across the River Mersey from Liverpool. Plans were made in 1952 and a builder selected. Building permission took many months to get and then there was a problem getting bricks. Early in 1953 Harold ordered bricks but after much ado they didn't arrive until late summer. The builder then had little interest in building the house, presumably because government contracts were more lucrative. The builder owned the plot so it wasn't easy for Harold and Gladys to choose another builder. In the end they decided to drop the plan and start a new plan to build a bungalow on another plot with another builder. By year end the foundations were laid and progress was being made. Presumably they moved in 1954 (diary of that year not available).

• Marriage Notice: Wedding, 29 Dec 1945, Cheltenham, England. Marriage took place at The Parish Church, Cheltenham, England.
EWdding Breakfast afterwards at The Lansdown Hotel, Lansdown Road, Cheltenham

Harold next married Private