John Horley was my ‘real’ dad. Technically he was my ‘real’ dad. He left before I was born. I have never met him and don’t really know anything about him. About ten years ago, I wrote to my Mum to ask her about him. The following extracts are taken from the letters that she sent me. This is really all that I know about him:
“His full name was John Richard Horley, he was about 6 foot 5 inches tall and fairly big built. He had blondish hair and he always had it cut short, very much the same as you used to have it when you first left school. He had blue eyes and he wore glasses for reading.
He lived in Salterford Road, Tooting. I can’t remember the exact number but it was in the middle of the street and it was a terrace house.
He was six years older than me and his birthday was in September, I can’t remember the exact day – it was a long time ago.
Your dad had a mum but his dad was dead, and he only had one brother.
Your dad liked a drink, sometime she would get tipsy. He smoked quite heavily as well. He used to play the piano – not classical or anything like that – but just like you would hear in a pub.
For a living, your dad worked in demolition. He mostly knocked down chimneys.
Your dad did look a bit like Bobby Moore the footballer but a lot bigger built. You have the same nose and eyes as your dad but the rest of your face is more from the Allen side. Sometimes I watch you do something and I think to myself that’s the same as his dad did. Also, when you speak, little things remind me of him. Especially the bit where you would stand your ground and argue the point if you thought you were right.
Your dad drove a car. It was a cream and pale green Consul. Sometimes he used to have his old workvan. That was one of those Bedford boxy looking things and it was filthy. We often had a few words about that, when he expected me to go out all dressed up in it.
Your dad used to love Dean Martin records. I think sometimes he thought he was him because he would sing them but unfortunately, he wasn’t a very good singer. To be truthful, his voice was horrible.
Another thing I just remembered, he liked cowboy films especially one’s with john Wayne.
He was a smart dressed man when he was out of his working clothes. He would always wear a suit with a nice shirt and tie when he went out.
He hated having his picture taken, that’s why I never ever had a picture of him.”