John Betjeman’s Letters edited by his daughter, Candida Lycett Green, span fifty-eight years (1926 – 1984) from his student days until his death in 1984.
The more I read, the more I enjoy and Candida’s introductions and footnotes are excellent. He does not take himself too seriously; “It is absolutely lovely here in London in August because the dog messes on the pavement dry up much quicker”. He had a wide range of friends with whom he kept in regular touch. He met Mary Wilson at the opera in 1967 and they hit it off, writing to each other and meeting for walks and to read poetry for the rest of his life. Their shared love of poetry brought them together. They went on an outing to Diss where she had been born but not been back since childhood.
“Yes, it will be bliss
To go with you by train to Diss.
Your walking shoes upon your feet
We’ll meet, my sweet, at Liverpool Street.
That levellers we may be reckon’d
Perhaps we’d better travel second:
Or, lest reporters on us burst,
Perhaps we’d better travel first.”
In fact they are recognised as Mary Wilson describes.
“Yes, it is perfect bliss to go with you by train to Diss! . . . .
Now, as we stroll beside the Mere
Reporters suddenly appear.
You draw a crowd of passers-by
While I gaze blandly at the sky . . . . “
He took her to dinner at The Garrick which was a failure because she was stared at and they both felt uncomfortable. It would not happen at my club.
Architectural vandalism in London, like the poor, is always with us but it really takes the biscuit that in 1974 the rector, landlord and a churchwarden with support from the bishop agreed to demolish Holy Trinity, Sloane Square. JB wrote:
“Bishop, archdeacon, warden, mayor
Guardians of Chelsea’s noblest house of prayer
You who your church’s vastness so deplore
“Should we not sell and give it to the poor?’
Recall, despite your practical suggestion
Which the disciple was who asked that question.”
But I have digressed. JB found fame came at a price. “The worst thing is the letters. About thirty arrive every morning and they’ve all got to be answered. It’s been bad for the last ten years but in the last two or three it’s becoming hell. The post varies according to how much one has been showing off. It’s really bad after a television series when people think they know you – temporary notoriety. The BBC could filter the letters but they don’t. ITV are better.”
When he became Poet Laureate he received some six thousand letters. He was on radio and TV for more than fifty years and rather good at it. To David Attenborough: “Telly gives me joy. I like it because it is team work” He was always generous with praise and encouragement to others, often about poetry, but not necessarily. To Mary Wilson in June 1969:
”My dear Mary,
My word! Weren’t you both fine on the Telly! Well done! Irrestible. An exceedingly well-produced programme, well-interviewed (David Frost), well-performed (both of you). I’m so glad you mentioned the poems. To me it was as though you were talking to me. . . .
Love, John”