Harrogate Herald - 18th April 1917

Letters

C Potts writes from the YMCA, Tottenham Court Road : 

I am in the pink except for a bit of headache, but what else can one expect when you are pondering over diagrams, books, buzzers, telephones, and about a dozen more things for 9.5 hours a day. In my last letter I told you that I expected being sent to sea, but unfortunately it has been cancelled, and we have to go in for another exam called the 1st Class Postmaster General's Certificate, so that means about another eight weeks' training. I call it jolly hard lines because I wanted to be on the briny chasing "old Fritz" and his submarines. Never mind, my chance will come some day before this war is over. A week last Wednesday I was standing outside the YM, when I saw a medium-sized fellow coming out. I said to myself, "I seem to know that fellow somehow", so I went up to him and spoke, and it turned out to be D Smith, 2nd air mechanic in the RFC, stationed at the Polytechnic in Regent Street, and is down here for seven weeks. We had a good old chat about the "best place in the world" (you know - Harrogate). Before he enlisted he was with Snow and Ashworth's, the jewellers on Cambridge Crescent. [1916 Street Directory shows it as Robert Ashworth & Co Ltd, goldsmiths (managing director R Ashworth : Residence - 16 Carlton Road)] I have no jokes this time, but I had an argument with a fellow about which was the best place for a holiday. Of course I said Harrogate, and he admitted it was a fine place, so in the end he was like the fellow who fell out of the balloon - he wasn't in it. Wishing your paper every success.