Aspects of Brian’s Life

Brian was born on Tuesday 14th March 1933, in Bexley Heath to Percival and Nora Picton. A younger brother to Daphne and an older brother for Diane.

He was of school age during the Second World War, but there was no school and Brian received his education in a room above a shop. His Dad was a fireman during the Blitz and before Brian was evacuated to Wolverhampton he spent his play time roaming the bomb sites with friends picking up shrapnel and other interesting items; which may have included the machine gun from a Spitfire.

His sister Daphne was also evacuated to a separate family, however neither trip away from London was successful and their Mum brought them home.

At the age of fifteen Brian was apprenticed as a plumber and the family moved to Leith Hill in Surrey. His dad had become a chauffeur, near Ockley and the move to Leith Hill provided a chauffeuring job with a house.

Brian became very skilled in his plumbing work, and installed complete central heating systems, including all the required wiring. However, his apprenticeship was not without its incidents:

When working beneath some scaffolding, whilst a work colleague handled molten lead above him, the bucket slipped and the lead was poured over Brian’s head and shoulders. He said he ended up looking like a suit of armour and the foreman had to spend a considerable amount of time removing the now solidified lead from Brian’s eyebrows.

On another occasion; completing some lead work on a very high church spire required Brian to ascend a long and somewhat fragile ladder hundreds of feet in the air. The base of the ladder was being held in place by one of Brian’s workmates, who, distracted by the form of a young woman below, let go his grip to see the ladder, complete with Brian gripping precariously to it, fall away from the spire at a death defying angle and right itself again. Brian was not pleased with this lapse in concentration.

During some work at a nunnery, Brian was instructed to get the job done and then to disappear to make the job look longer than it was. Completing his task Brian went out onto the roof and hid away in a gully to read a book. After a while a roof window opened to reveal a nun, who said, “Would you like a cup of tea Brian?”

Work at the nunnery required the removal of the sewer manhole cover. Three nuns walking abreast failed to see the danger and the middle one disappeared into the sewer opening.

In 1956 Brian met Hazel at the Abinger Village Youth Club. Hazel was seventeen and Brian twenty. He used to ride a black AJS 350 motor bike number plate; UPJ 923, and take Hazel out on the back of it. One day he bought her a crash helmet, which was just as well, because a few days later, as they were returning from seeing the film ‘Calamity Jane’ at Guildford Cinema, they came over Newlands Corner; where a Rolls Royce on the wrong side of the road stopped them in their tracks. They hit it side on, Hazel flying over Brian’s head and disappearing. It took some time for Brian to find her. Fortunately, neither were badly hurt and after a quick visit to Guildford Hospital were allowed home.

The next day they went back to the scene to find their beautiful AJS stoved into the car. A man at the scene told them he thought whoever was on the bike must have died at the scene. “No!” said Brian, “That was me!”

The bike was repaired and soon back on the road. Sadly, following another trip, to see a film in Dorking, the couple emerged from the cinema to find the bike had been stolen and it was never seen again.

Brian and Hazel married on Saturday May 5th 1956 at St Mary the Virgin Church, Holmbury St Mary, when Hazel was twenty and Brian twenty-three. They moved into two rooms at Abinger Common in a house occupied by an old lady and her son. It was during this time that two became three when Kim was born.

Later they lived in a caravan on a building site at Abinger; where Brian was working and eventually they were allocated a council house in Wallis Wood, near Ockley and Kay and Chris were born. Following their move to Holmbury St Mary; Brian junior was born, completing the family

The family loved their holidays to Bracklesham Bay, where they rented a house or a bungalow for two weeks in the summer and spent many happy hours on the beach, having picnics and barbeques – whatever the weather!

Brian was always clever with his hands; making fabulous sculptures in metal, including a dragon, witch and knights. His incredible piece; consisting of many keys soldered together, with items of cutlery and coffee pots, hangs proudly in the main room of the house. In each corner is a coin from the year each of the children were born; one of which may be incorrect, but I’m not saying which.

Brian could work with metal or wood and was very skilled in painting in oils. He would make many beautiful objects to sell at craft fairs.

Although a plumber all his working life Brian could re-wire a whole house with little difficulty and later progressed from central heating engineering to air conditioning and refrigeration. He was put in charge of a group of workers at Midland Montague Bank. He allocated tasks and ensured the smooth running of the buildings. He learned to use a computer to control the air conditioning, especially in the stocks and shares dealing room. He would travel up to London early in the morning by train in the week and by car at the weekend so that he could get on with the day and be home early. Brian was well respected in the industry and very well thought of by the management of the Bank

Brian had more than nine lives.

When working on clearing a house he was assisting his work mates to get a heavy pipe through and out of a first-floor window. As they heaved on the pipe – Brian got caught on the pipe and went with it, disappearing out the window and down to the ground

Once when he was working on top of a high wall, he fell off, through a glass roof, somersaulted and landed on his feet, his tools still in his hands.

Kneeling one day, his head on the floor, working away; a large gas bottle fell on his head. His workmate thought he must be dead but, somehow, again he escaped any serious injury

Kneeling most of his working life to complete various jobs meant he developed arthritis in his knees and had to have both knees replaced; at the same time. Innovative surgery at the time. Brian healed quickly and made a good recovery.

For fifteen years Brian and Hazel lived on the Isle of Wight, until Brian’s health deteriorated. They had a nice place there with four bedrooms and a big garden. In 2010, just before Christmas, Brian went out to get a paper and was a long time returning. When Hazel opened the front door to check where he had got to, she found him lying on the drive. He had slipped on the ice and broken his pelvis. After that he couldn’t work and he got worse, so it was decided they should move to Bisley; to be nearer the girls.

Brian loved his family. He spent a lot of time in his local; The Kings Head, playing pool with Brian and Chris. He was always willing to help out his sister Daphne and her husband Bob and he was always there for his sister Diane, if she needed him

He loved being creative. He loved westerns, James Bond Films and musicals. He loved a glass or two of Bells whisky.

He could be grumpy, sarcastic and stubborn. But he was clever, good at summing people up, persevering with those who could be unkind and getting mean people on his wave length

Brian received wonderful palliative care from the staff of Woking Hospice and the District Nurses

He died peacefully at home on Saturday 24th December.

He is very much loved and missed by his family, particularly; Hazel, Kim, Chris, Kay and Brian and his grandchildren Thomas, Tegan, Tamsin, Toby, Morgan, John and Olivia