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Andrew Huggett Ottawa Manotick Citizen
THE
EARLY
YEARS
THE BLITZ, A BICYCLE, AND A BUS
The story of the Huggett Family starts in London during the blitz of 1941.
Leslie Huggett had just started his first year at Chiswick Grammar School when on September 3rd, 1939, England declared war on Germany. London quickly became a target of the German Luftwaffe, and like most London children, he and the rest of his school were evacuated to the safety of a country school, in this case, to High Wycombe - about 30 miles northwest of London.
Leslie was the eldest son of a working-class family struggling through the depression. At eight, he'd contracted and barely survived diphtheria. The ordeal had left him emotionally susceptible even when the physical effects of the disease were long over. He was now eleven, and the separation from his parents and the Dickensian atmosphere at his new school were too much for him. He borrowed a bicycle and, following the 81 bus, cycled back to his home in Brentford, West London.
Brentford was heavily industrialized, and during the blitz, it was extensively bombed. Over nine months, 43,000 Londoners were killed. Concerned for Leslie's safety, his parents sent him back to the country to an alternate school and foster billet, where they hoped he'd be happier. But he was not, and though they tried other foster settings several more times, he would always reappear in Brentford a few weeks later. Finally, his exasperated parents gave up, and Leslie remained in Brentford, London, for the rest of the war.
There were no air-raid shelters in Brentford, but each house had a small Anderson shelter dug into the backyard. It helped protect people from being buried under the debris of a direct hit. Leslie slept with his parents in the family's shelter. Every night, for the nine months of the blitz, he endured the wail of air-raid sirens, exploding bombs, and the deafening barrages of anti-aircraft guns that had been deployed at the bottom of the family garden. Young Leslie's war experiences were traumatizing and profoundly influenced many of the critical decisions he would make during the rest of his life.
Margaret, who was also London born, was more fortunate. For three of six years, she and her sister were evacuated to a beautiful seaside town in South Wales. They were billeted in a pub called the Golden Lion, where Mrs. Evans and her two daughters took their fostering responsibilities seriously. She was started on the piano and made excellent progress until she was sent elsewhere to change schools, and the lessons had to stop.
After the war, Margaret returned to her piano lessons. She attended a school that made music a high priority and went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
On a whim and around the same time, 16-year-old Leslie started to teach himself the trumpet. He had only made slight progress when, at 18, he was conscripted into the Royal Air Force to do his two-and-a-half years of compulsory service. After doing his "square bashing," he was given a clerical job.
As fate would have it, a military band on the base was short a trumpeter. Leslie applied for and was awarded the position despite his rudimentary abilities on the instrument. The other band members were all seasoned musicians. He quickly made friends with Brian Pollard, a bassoonist who had played in the Covent Garden Orchestra, and Andrew (Woody) Woodburn, a french horn player who, after his national service, stepped straight into Sir Thomas Beecham's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, sitting beside the incredible Dennis Brain.
A REVELATION
Through his friendship with Woody and Brian, Leslie was introduced to the world of classical music, a type of music about which he knew nothing. It happened when the band was stationed in Germany, and the two friends took Leslie to a performance of Dvorak's Cello Concerto with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.
For Leslie, the experience opened the door to a magical world of culture and refinement. A world that he'd assumed was the private reserve of the elite upper class. He was told this world was open to any musician, regardless of social standing, as long as he was good enough. Here was an opportunity to leave behind 18 years of poverty, strife, struggle, and conflict. Salvation was within his grasp. If he practiced hard enough.
With the religious fervor of a drowning man reaching for a life preserver, Leslie Huggett became an instant and lifelong devotee of classical music. He traded his cockney accent for upper-class and his trumpet for a french horn and, mentored by Woody and Brian, started to practice eight to ten hours a day. Unfortunately, his abilities on the instrument were ultimately limited by his late start, but twenty years later, this undiminished musical passion born of desperation for a better life would become the driving force behind the Huggett Family.
Leslie Huggett and his sister, Barbara. Leslie's early years were difficult. Diptheria and wartime evacuation were significant challenges that were hard to overcome.
All roads lead to Rome, or in this case, Brentford. By following the 81 bus on a bicycle, Leslie was able to find his way home.
During the war, Anderson shelters were ubiquitous in West London. Leslie slept in one almost every night for the duration of the blitz.
Margaret (right) and her sister Janet were far luckier and were evacuated to Wales, where Margaret received piano lessons.
After 17 unimaginably dark years, Leslie's discovery of classical music was nothing short of a religious experience. RAF band members Woody Woodburn (insert top) and Brian Pollard (insert bottom, Leslie is in the middle) mentored him in his newfound passion.
THE MEETING
In 1953, Margaret and Leslie met at a summer music camp in Banbury, a picturesque historic town in Britain's southwest Cotswolds. The attraction was instantaneous. Classical music was a shared passion, and they married some nine months later. In September 1954, the newlyweds emigrated to Canada with its New World promise of opportunity for those who worked hard. Margaret was soon teaching piano. Leslie played the French horn, first in the Central Band of the Royal Canadian Air Force and then in the Ottawa, Quebec, and Montreal symphony orchestras. Unfortunately, the Ottawa Philharmonic Orchestra, Leslie's principal employer, folded in 1960.
As was common in those days, the couple soon had four children: Andrew (Brian) (so named after Leslie's two London friends), Jennifer, Ian, and Fiona.
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Leslie and Margaret, in 1953, met at a summer music camp in Banbury, where Margaret was waitressing. Music was the common bond.
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Leslie and Margaret. Married April 3rd, 1954, at Peckham Town Hall nine months after meeting.
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Leslie and Margaret, 1954, onboard the Empress of France sailing to Canada, the land of opportunity. All emigrants came on "Empress" boats. Immigrants would ask each other, "Which Empress did you come on?."
The physical reminders of the second world war and the ten years of severe rationing which followed in Britain were left behind. For Leslie, the emotional fallout would last a lifetime.
Jennifer, Margaret, Leslie, Fiona, Ian, and Andrew in 1963.
MUSIC FOR CHILDREN
In 1962, when the oldest, Andrew, was approaching six, Leslie and Margaret were searching for a way to best introduce their children to the world of classical music. Coincidentally, that same year German composer and innovator Carl Orff visited Toronto University with his staff from the Mozarteum in Salzburg to demonstrate his unique and inspiring program, Music for Children.
Carl Orff's method was precisely what Margaret and Leslie had been looking for. They acquired two sets of Carl Orff's patented percussion instruments and established two music teaching studios in the east and west parts of Ottawa, offering small classes in which they could include their own children.
The recorder was included in the second year of the four-year program. Both Margaret and Leslie had to learn how to play it before they could teach it, and Leslie would blow into a candle flame so gently that it didn't flicker to encourage a pleasing sound. There would be no screeching recorders in his class! Everything was aimed at sowing the seeds of musicianship right from the beginning.
In 1966, Leslie was engaged to establish a program of Orff's Music for Children in the schools of Westchester County, New York. Leaving their home in Ottawa rented, the Huggetts drove to Westchester only to find affordable houses for rent were rare in this part of the world. By good fortune, they were introduced to Norman Marsh, a wealthy stockbroker who owned the Marsh Bird Sanctuary. A picturesque cottage, gardens, and a small greek amphitheater were part of the seven-acre site. The Huggetts suggested they would tend the gardens and present a concert in the amphitheater if he would rent them the cottage for a price they could afford. The amphitheater had been used to stage the works of playwright Martha Leonard for many years in the early 1900s, and the idea of bringing it back to life very much appealed to Mr. Marsh.
Life in Westchester was good. Via the local Unitarian Church, the family quickly integrated into the community, Margaret enjoyed the challenge of groundskeeping, and the children did well at school. Initially unsure about moving to Westchester, Leslie had asked for a substantial raise in pay - and, to his surprise, he'd got it!
Having promised a concert, Leslie and Margaret, with Andrew, eleven, and Jennifer, nine, set to work on a program of folk songs, recorder quartets, and Dylan Thomas readings. The offering easily attracted an audience of curious people. And so, in the summer of 1967, inspired by the prospect of affordable rent, the Huggetts performed their first-ever family concert.
However, by this time, Leslie and Margaret were deeply concerned about what was going on in Vietnam and the amount of racial unrest in nearby communities. For Leslie, in particular, it was uncomfortably reminiscent of his early life in London.
Since the house in Ottawa was rented out for another year, Margaret suggested they try something different. After going to the movie "Zorba The Greek," she and Leslie decided to cash in their life savings and take the family to live in Greece for a year.
Margaret remembers, "We'd just spent a year living in one of the wealthiest parts of America. Now the pendulum swung to the other side. Now we would experience a simple and contrasting life free of material influence with Zorba as our guide."
In the 1830s, Alex Finch, a shoemaker, built the Brookside cottage for his family. The name Brookside was adopted due to the house's proximity to a brook that flowed into the Kisco River, a feeder for the Croton Reservoir.
Part of the reduced rent was the understanding that Margaret would tend the gardens, which had been allowed to fall into disarray for many years. Landlord Mr. Marsh was thrilled when the property began to show signs of former glory.
Fiona, Ian, Jennifer, and Andrew. An all-year-round brook ran past the cottage and was a favorite spot for the four kids with its frogs, swimming holes, water snakes, and birds.
Margaret and Leslie Huggett were among the first to offer Carl Orff's method, Music for Children, to Ottawans.
Andrew, Jennifer, Leslie, and Margaret. The first-ever Huggett Family show in the Brookside amphitheater in Westchester was part of their rental agreement with the landlord.
The Huggetts drew lots of curious music lovers to their very first show.
A beautiful majestic pine towers over Brookside Cottage. The Westchester elite thought they suffered severe winters, but the Huggetts, who were used to Canadian weather, found them short and mild.
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When the trip to Greece was made official, Margaret organized a "Greek Event" with greek art, food, wine, and dancing to celebrate the decision with friends. Mrs. Marsh, in a long yellow gown, and Landlord, Mr. Marsh, in a white suit, are followed by Margaret and Leslie.
Playwright Martha Leonard once owned Brookside cottage, which sits on the 7-acre Marsh Sanctuary. The grounds included a greek amphitheater in which her works were performed during the early 1900s.
The grounds included numerous flower beds, a climbing rose garden, and floral theater seating. The garden was also the sight of Martha Leonards's grave, which featured a Grecian-styled bust in her likeness.
Eleven year old Andrew's first composition, "Summer Brook," was written as a school music assignment while living in Westchester.
The Carl Orff instruments were a featured part of the Brookside concert.
The first Huggett Family program included folk songs, recorders, and poetry and was roughly an hour long.
Philanthropist and landlord Mr. Marsh, seen here in his "shorts," played a pivotal role in the Huggett's first show when he lowered the rent in exchange for the performance.
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By Betty Swimmings
Citizen staff write
Whoever said we moderns have no sense of adventure should pay a visit to the Leslie Huggett family.
With no knowledge of the Greek language but with high hopes of learning it quickly, this family of six will sail from New York for the Greek Cyclades islands on September 25. They will arrive at Piraeus, after stopovers in Lisbon, Gibraltar, Malaga, Naples, and Malta, to start their year-long adventure about October 8.
Leslie Huggett, an Orff music specialist, and teacher was invited to introduce the Orff music method into the New York public school system.
The former music instructor with the Ottawa Public School Board and his family spent a year in Mt. Kisko, Westchester county, New York, before he decided to "leave the United States because of its foreign policy. But the people renting our home here had a year remaining in their lease, so we decided to take this trip while the children were still under our jurisdiction," explained Mr. Huggett.
'We want to see a culture less sophisticated than the one we have experienced this past year. And we will be using this as a study year," added mini-skirted Margaret Huggett. The trip will be financed entirely by their own savings. "And will not exceed $2,500, excluding fares, we hope," said Mr. Huggett.
"We expect to stay on the island of Syros where there are no antiquities and therefore few tourists. We would like to live just as the people there live, but I'm taking a Greek cookbook written in English and my own measuring spoons and measuring cups. We'll survive one way or another, perhaps on olives and goat's cheese," said Mrs. Huggett, who classes exotic cooking, folk dancing, and singing among her hobbies.
Mr. and Mrs. Huggett in harmony with their four young children
Because the island is small, transportation will beby donkey or by foot. "But we are hoping to rent a small house and buy a few second-hand tables, chairs, and cupboards. We are taking our sleeping bags, and air mattresses with us and lots of fall and summer clothes, but most. of our things will be disposable. We'll use them just this year and not bother tobring them back. After all, we bought most of the clothes at a thrift shop in Mt. Kisko. I even got a suit for 25 cents. Our luggage should be substantially lighter coming home," said Mr. Huggett.Schoolwork to go on Correspondence lessons supplied by the Ontario department of education will keep the Huggett children, Andrew, 12, Jennifer, 10, Ian, 8, and Fiona, 6, up to date on their school work. Their parents will oversee both their school work and their music while they are away. |Fiona may enter a Greek school if there are morning classes. According to her father, she is the most outgoing member of the family and should find it easy to make friends with the Greek people. ;"She'll be our goodwill ambassador," her mother forecast.The children will be taken on tours of historical sites and, with their parents, will explore the folklore, music, and dancing of the area, which they hope to adapt to their own music. "We shouldlike to play our music and dance in the village square, if we're permitted," said Mr.
Huggett.Visits with expatriate American artists and musicians are also on the Huggett's agenda. Children are ready The children areprepared for their adventure. Andrew, already a composer with an abiding interest in oceanography, has his flippers and snorkel ready for the Aegean sea. Jennifer, an avid reader with a yen to become a librarian, has been boning up on Greek mythology, while Ian, whose interests run to high finance and acting, is looking forward to collecting sea shells and bugs. Fiona, whose idol is Yehudi Menuhin, hopes to visit the island of Mykonos to see her favorite violinist and perhaps have an opportunity to tell him she is going to Start violin lessons when She returns to Canada next year. Farewell performance as part of their farewell to Ottawa, the Huggett family will take part in this Sunday's service at the Unitarian Church. They will quote poems of Yevtushenko accompanied by folk music and play, as a family, a composition written by Andrew entitled "Summer Brook." The return trip from their Greek island will be overland through Yugoslavia, Germany, Holland, and England "by local trains and buses if our money holds out," said Mr. Huggett. "But we plan to fly home from Luxembourg via Iceland to be here in time to reopen our music school next fall," he added.
Huggett family set for year-long odyssey
A GREEK ODYSSEY
In September 1967, the Huggetts purchased passage to Athens on the TSS Olympia, forever afterward referred to as "the Greek Boat," and set sail for Athens with intermediary stops throughout the Mediterranean. After a month spent sightseeing in the Greek capital and nearby islands, they took a local ferry to more distant Crete. Here, they settled in a small four-room house that overlooked the bay in the north-shore fishing village of Agios Nikolaos for what would turn out to be a ten-month visit. Goat Island, a small arid island opposite the house, protected the rocks directly below from the swell of the Mediterranean, making for an ideal daily swimming spot.
The children were homeschooled with the help of correspondence courses supplied by the Ontario Ministry of Education, music was emphasized daily, and there was plenty of time to enjoy life. This richly rewarding year ended with the Huggetts giving an outdoor concert by the "Bottomless Lake" in Agios Nikolaos. The concert was followed by a celebratory goodbye meal on the waterfront with all the town's dignitaries.
The TSS Olympia was built in 1953 and was in service until 2009. It was the largest ship built for Greek interests at the time and was designed to operate regular transatlantic voyages between Piraeus and New York.
The contrast between the affluent lifestyle in Westchester and life on Crete is profound.
In 1967, except for occasional modern conveniences, life and custom in the southern Mediterranean had changed very little in hundreds of years.
Years before the cell phone made visual records of daily life ubiquitous, Leslie was an avid "old school" photographer. Consequently, there is a substantial visual record of Huggett Family activity over the years. A year in Greece presented endless photographic possibilities. Leslie shot dozens of rolls of film that were only developed once the family returned to Canada.
The station wagon is packed. Westchester friends drive Leslie, Ian, Fiona, Jennifer, Andrew, and Margaret to the TSS Olympia, which is docked in New York waiting for them.
Margaret, Ian, Andrew, Jennifer, and Fiona at Knossos, the Minoan home of bull dancers, and the half bull and half man Minotaur that was said to inhabit an underground labyrinth under the ancient city. It is often called Europe's oldest city and dates back to 6,800 BC.
Pulling in the nets. Dynamite fishing in the 1950s has decimated fish stocks, and yields remain perilously low to this day.
The view of Goat Island out the front gate of the four-room home rented for $30 a month from landlady Zacharias Maria.
Andrew practices the oboe. Music was an important part of the daily routine.
Andrew, Ian, and Leslie. Washing the salt off after a day at the beach.
Fiona waits for the parents to return from shopping in Rhodes.
Fiona at discovery beach! So-called because the family "discovered" it on one of many explorative walks.
Andrew and Jennifer with the Smith boys, whose family traveled Greece in a Beetle bus with a dog and pet monkey. To Leslie's horror and the children's delight, the latter stole Leslie's camera and raced up a nearby flag pole while gesticulating wildly.
Ian, Jennifer, Fiona, Margaret, and Andrew en route to the ruins at Delphi. On the way home, oily bean soup, the cheapest meal on the menu, and a bumpy bus ride make Jennifer vomit out the bus window. Unfortunately, she was seated near the front. Much of the semi-digested soup reentered the bus through the open windows further back.
Leslie enjoys playing a few baleful notes on the bass recorder. Much of the family's baggage was given to instruments.
Ian, Fiona, Jennifer, and Andrew are enthralled by a dead octopus washed up on Discovery beach.
Andrew sketches the oceanfront sitting on the rocks outside the Huggett's Agios Nikolaos' home.
Fiona and Jennifer. The older children often helped the younger ones with correspondence courses provided by the Ontario Ministry of Education.
In 1967, the Greeks were a proud, generous, and happy people yet unaffected by the excessive tourism that would soon hijack their simple way of life.
The town turns out to watch local school girls perform traditional dances. Other than the Huggetts, there are no tourists in the crowd.
The Huggett's postman was always ready with a smile. Greek men were a handsome lot but seemed to die young, as witnessed by disproportionate numbers of black shrouded widows, both young and old.
A proud old timer in the mountain village of Kritsa, which was experiencing earthquakes the day the Huggetts visited. Leslie took many such portraits and always took the subject's address so he could send them a copy of the picture once he'd had it printed back in Canada.
Landlady Zacharias Maria, whose son was in the Greek army. While the Huggetts were on Crete, there was a military coup in Athens - somewhat ironic given the connection between Leslie's concerns over the war in Vietnam and the family's decision to visit Greece.
The land in Crete was dry and stony and not well suited to agriculture. Crops were primarily grown for personal consumption.
Mending the nets. The same in fishing villages the world over.
"Baby Pussy," a stray cat befriended by Ian, would allow only him to stroke her.
Locals do the laundry in a freshwater spring just before it enters the sea.
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Fiona with "Psipsina," Greek for pussy cat. On cold nights Psipsina would crawl into the children's sleeping bags to keep warm, giving them all fleas.
Much to Leslie's delight, Margaret was often mistaken for his fifth and oldest child.
Fiona and Jennifer finish off their sheep's milk yogurt. The food budget for the family of six was $3 a day.
Fiona, Andrew, Ian, and Jennifer wave spotting off the rocks during a violent storm.
Fiona receives some help from older sister Jennifer during morning practice.
Sent out to buy bread, the Smith boys purchase a baby goat instead, much to the delight of Andrew and Fiona.
Fiona and Jennifer at Minos beach, named after the infamous Captain Minos, who ran the local Hostel. When asked for toilet paper, he told a pair of young visiting American girls that there wasn't any and that they should use their finger instead... like him!
Bob and Renee are American friends and the village's only other permanent English-speaking residents. Bob had been pensioned out of the US marines following a brain injury sustained during training. The following month his entire detachment was killed in Vietnam.
Psipsina, Baby Pussy, Fiona, Jennifer, and Ian. It's Fiona's birthday, and all are expecting a good meal.
Leslie enjoys a dip in the pool of the TSS Olympia. For most of the crossing, it was far too cold for swimming.
Politics was a favorite topic for conversation among the men of the village.
The baker in Agios Nikolaos. Most villagers didn't own an oven, so he would cook their Sunday meals in his oven. Every day one of the children would be sent to buy a loaf of fresh bread. In January, which was cold, the hot loaf would keep you warm on the way home.
Four widows and an older couple escape the day's heat under the shade of a flowering tree.
The local butcher and wife. All cuts of beef were sold for the same price. A single side of beef hung in the corner of his store, protected by his trusty fly swatter. He would arbitrarily slice off cuts, starting from the bottom of the animal and working his way to the top. He also had frozen tubes of Argentinian beef that he would grind, still frozen, and to order into hamburger.
Portent of things to come? This street musician in Athens sparks Ian's curiosity.
Andrew, Jennifer, Margaret Fiona, the proprietor of the Hotel Carolina where the Huggetts stayed in Athens, and Ian. The family suffered gastric issues during the first few weeks in Greece until their systems adjusted to the local flora.
The Feast of Epiphany is also called The Blessing of the Waters. The local priest throws a golden cross into the frigid January waters while praying to Saint Nicolas for a safe and bountiful fishing season. In competition, the young men of the village dive in after it. The candidate who retrieves the cross is expected to experience extra good fortune during the year ahead.
Agios Nikolaos. In the foreground is the bottomless lake, the rumored resting place of a battalion of German tanks forced over the cliff at the camera's location by Greek resistance fighters during the Second World War. Also, the location of the Huggett's farewell concert in 1968.
Andrew, Jennifer, Margaret, Fiona, and Ian. A last goodbye before starting the journey home to Canada.
HOMEWARD BOUND
During their return to Canada, the Huggetts gave a little concert on the boat they took to Rhodes and, eventually, Venice. From Venice, they took a train to London. Here, they gave a benefit concert at St Augustine’s church on One Tree Hill in Dulwich, part of South East London.
Leaving Fiona and Ian with their cousins in London, the two older children and their parents attended an early music conclave in Celle, Germany. While there, the parents bought a collection of krummhorns and other early wind instruments, which they brought back to Canada by boat, flying being impossible as, once again, they had acquired too much baggage.
Before resuming everyday life, returning to school, and reopening the Carl Orff Music Studios, the Huggetts gave a charity concert for the Unitarian service committee in Ottawa.
Having returned safely to Ottawa, the Huggetts assumed their adventures were over. Little did they realize that, in fact, they had only just begun.
Ian, Fiona, Jennifer, Margaret, Leslie, and Andrew showing off some of their new instruments purchased in Germany on their trip home from Greece.
St Augustine's church sits on One Tree Hill in Dulwich. The hill is so named after an oak tree that grows on its top, which is reportedly a descendant of the tree Queen Elizabeth I dined under in 1602 during a ride in the then countryside.
A view of modern-day London from under the famous oak on One Tree Hill.
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In London at Margaret's sister's house getting ready for the concert at St Augustine's. The Huggetts played several concerts as they made their way home from Greece.
The Huggetts perform a fundraising concert for the Unitarian Service Committee at the Unitarian Church in Ottawa.
A letter of appreciation from Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova for the $316.60 raised via the Huggett's concert.
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