Oaklands House resident David Woodward is proud of his history as a writer and the five books he has had published.
David, who was born in Beccles, has lived at Oaklands House in Southwold for just over a year. He loves East Anglia and Suffolk in particular and has worked in the county and the adjoining Waveney Valley for most of his life.
His first book ‘Larn Yourself Silly Suffolk’ pays tribute to the county as does his second – a volume of short stories which was published in 2003 called ‘A Garland of Waveney Valley Tales’.
David said, “I fed the school hens and worked on a farm as a boy during the war. After national service I studied at Writtle Agricultural College and through the Open University. I have always loved the area, the land, the people and the language.”
Farming and agriculture were the backbone of this working life with David working for many years as a local fieldsman overseeing farms in area as well as working at the CWS canning factory in Lowestoft at the same time.
“My first job was as a milk round boy in the village where I grew up – I used to hold the horse while the milkman delivered the milk and collected the money.”
David dfid some writing for CWS research in Manchester and was also a regular contributor for BBC Radio Norfolk and the Eastern Daily Press in Norfolk, writing regular pieces about Norfolk and Waveney valley life. He was married 59 years to Shirley who he describes as a ‘treasure’ and the couple had one son and three grandchildren.
His last book – An Illustrious National Service – is told through a series of letters about his time aged just 18 onboard one of the Royal Navy’s most iconic warships – the HMS Illustrious. Like so many 18 year olds at the time David had never spent a night away from family before he reported for his basic training, or travelled outside of East Anglia.
“I was very excited to be away but there was not really a lot of travel,” said David. “We went to the Azores and ice breaking in the Artic but the Illustrious was primarily part of the home fleet and a training vessel.
“I thought about a career in the Navy as a meteorological observer but really just wanted to be at back at home.”
David wanted to document his time in the Navy and £1 for each copy of the book, published in 2018, sold is donated to the sea cadets.
So is there a book waiting to be written in us all?
David quickly answers, “My first publisher certainly thought so but he also felt for many people that is where it should stay.”
David has always enjoyed writing but now aged 93, and with failing eyesight due to macular degeneration, he is not planning to write any more books.
“I’m very happy and content here at Oaklands House,” he said, “I still enjoy the outdoors and sitting in the garden where there is always something going on. I love my Amazon Alexa and listen regularly to talking newspapers, Radio 3 and a range of podcasts.”
Oaklands House is part of Healthcare Homes family of 48 care homes and 11 homecare branches. The company has recently been named in the Top 20 care home groups for the seventh year in a row by independent review website carehome.co.uk. Oaklands House has a 9.8 out of 10 score on carehome.co.uk and is rated Good by the Care Quality Commission.
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