Letters from Neville Nelson

The extracts below were sent to us by Lauri Nelson who was born in Reading in 1940 and brought up in Peckham, later becoming a teacher in in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. But during the 1930s his parents lived in Petts Wood and his grandparents ran the post office in Station Square. This is a part of Lauri’s story, told in some letters from his father, Neville, to his mother, Tyyne,  before their marriage. The eldest Nelsons then moved to Caversham near Reading and wrote to Laurie's parents still in Petts Wood.

The letters include some interesting local history but also the problems for young couples in the 1930s and particularly, in this case, where the wedding was to be in Finland but the newly married couple were to live in England. There is also some comment on other events like the Crystal Palace fire and political affairs of the time such as the Abdication Crisis and the possibility of war. And some delightful gossip.

Neville Nelson and Tyyne Lindén.