The many faces of Reg Varney

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The many faces of Reg Varney 

Most people think of Reg Varney as the star of 'On the Buses'. These pages will show that he was much much more.  They are based mainly on the 2016 centenary exhibition staged at Fairlynch Museum, Budleigh Salterton, Devon, in honour of this gifted former resident of the town which he loved so much.  You can read more about Fairlynch at www.fairlynchmuseum.uk

Click on http://regvarney100.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/an-east-end-childhood.html  to start reading the story of Reg Varney's amazing life.


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An East End Childhood

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Aerial view of Docklands Image credit: Katie Chan Reg Varney was born on 11 July 1916 and brought up in Canning Town, near  London’s Docklands, one of the most deprived parts of the capital at the time.   ‘For three-quarters of the year,’ Reg    wrote in his autobiography   The Little Clown , ‘the sun was rarely seen and even in summer it was hazy, struggling through the polluted atmosphere.’ Even today,  despite being a neighbour to many modern Dockland developments, Canning Town, according to Wikipedia (October 2015), remains among the 5 per cent most deprived areas in the UK with local people suffering from poor health, low education and poverty. The area is currently undergoing significant regeneration. According to Newham borough council: 'The Canning Town and Custom House Regeneration Programme includes the building of up to 10,000 new homes, creation of thousands of new  jobs and two improved town centres. This £3.7 billion
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A close-knit family in a strong community

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Continued from http://regvarney100.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/an-east-end-childhood.html Sid, Reg’s father, was a semi-skilled worker in the India Rubber factory at Silvertown in London’s Docklands, pictured in this 1887 print.   He was also employed in the manufacture of alizarin dye at the nearby Beckton Gas Works, pictured above in its last days before final demolition.   With his father He had ‘an infectious smile and laughing eyes,’ remembers Reg in his autobiography. Reg’s former home at Number 7 Addington Road as seen today  But ‘he brought us up in a strict Victorian manner — he made the rules and although he loved us dearly, woe betide us if we strayed from them.’
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School Days

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Continued from  http://regvarney100.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/a-close-knit-family-in-strong-community.html Reg attended Star School for Boys in Canning Town’s Star Lane ‘less than thirty seconds from our street door’ as he says in his autobiography The Little Clown . He writes vividly of his early schooldays, but hardly in a positive vein. School bullies ‘on the rampage’ are one of his memories as a seven-year-old. ‘Being a very timid boy, I was scared to death.’ The head teacher or ‘Governess’ is ‘a terrifying sight’, known as ‘the vulture.’ His form teacher Miss Atkins is not much better. Her repeated ‘Now pay attention’ seems to have been his chief memory of her. ‘It didn’t take long to learn that phrase,’ he writes. ‘I heard it God knows how many times a day from that first day at school till my last day at the age of fourteen.’ A photo of Reg with his classmates at Star School for Boys    Here
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