Upton House Family Visit

Saturday 16th July 2016 was a great family day out at Upton House.  There were 19 of us - all related in some way to my father Barney Adler - and we were looked after very well by the staff at Upton.  ,
Peter and I arrived first, quickly followed by Eliot, Nancy, Abe and Saul.  Sadly we had only time for a quick hug before we had to dash away and meet a couple who's grandfather had worked for the same bank as my father and who had also spent some of the war years at Upton House.  While we were talking to them in the restaurant, the rest of the family arrived and then we were treated to lunch, courtesy of the National Trust.   Then it was off to the house for free entry and the tour.

Upton House was transformed into the Country House Bank, recalling the years when the staff were moved out of the city of London to Upton to escape the bombing.  My father had written about his time there in his 'memoirs' and some of his stories had formed the basis for the exhibition.  Peter and I had heard the tour before when we went for the opening, but Barney's grandchildren and great-grandchildren were fascinated.   Ann Thomas, a volunteer with responsibility for oral history, was our guide and she had been my contact while the exhibition was taking shape, checking facts with me and asking for photographs.  The great-grandchildren ranged in age from 3 to 7 so there were some understandable moments of inattention!   Ann coped with noise, and questions and touching!

Barney and Joyce, my parents

This was my third visit to Upton House and I always come away feeling sad that my parents didn't live to see their own story captured in this way.

The family gathers for lunch

The start of the tour

In the 'banking hall'

My father's desk...

Boys reading

Supposedly, my father's bed

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