Vivienne Kuhlke's Profile

This is quite a long biography, but then again I am old…..
I was born in Anfield, Liverpool just opposite the famous Liverpool Football Club, January 1945, to Lucy and William Lea.
I had a very happy childhood, and attended Granton Road Infant and Junior School until I was 11 years of age. I failed to pass my 11 plus exam so, at the age of 11 went to Anfield Road Secondary Modern School for Girls. I cannot in all honesty say that my school days were the happiest days of my life and was very happy to leave school at the ripe old age of 15 with, I must say, nothing very much to show for it.
I have two sisters, Marjorie who is 2 years older than me and Alison who is 7 years younger.
All through my childhood I was very close to my grandparents and my mother’s sister, and often felt like I had three mothers rather than one. I don’t think my parents had a lot of money but we always had holidays during the summer, for the first half of my childhood we spent the whole of the school holidays in Moreton Wirral, with my mother and grandmother, my father visiting on his annual leave and weekends. In those days Moreton was all countryside and had a lovely beach. I remember lying in bed listening to the juke box in the fairground playing Frankie Laine. I have very happy memories of the times we spent there.
When my father died in 1963, my mother bought a holiday home in Peel, on the Isle of Man, where we spent a lot of our summer holidays, and later when I had children of my own I also took them. It is a lovely island, which never changed from year to year.
When I left school I joined the Co-operative Society in Liverpool in their post room, where I stayed for a year or so, I then moved to work in a wine and spirits merchants, where I stayed for about two years. I then got a job in a Travel Agents, which I loved, It was the start of package holidays, and at the time it was an exciting industry to be in, and it gave me and my friend Jean the opportunity to travel abroad very cheaply and even for free. In the 60’s not a lot of people travelled abroad but package holidays made it possible. Through my job there I met and worked with some lovely people and when I think of those times I do so with a smile on my face. It also switched on my love of holidaying.
I met my husband, Norman, in the “Swinging 60’s” at a night club called the Mardi Gras. he was at the time in a Liverpool Group called the Swinging Blue Jeans. We eventually married in September 1969, and had three daughters, Victoria, Elizabeth and Aimi, moved from Anfield to Wavertree, and then to Childwall, Liverpool.
After I had Victoria and Elizabeth, I left work and concentrated on bringing them up.
I had always joined night schools, taking cookery, dressmaking, soft furnishing etc but when the children where playschool age, my friend, Sandra and I decided to enrol in the Childwall College of Further Education where we took various subjects, resulting in me getting ‘O’ levels in English Language/English Literature, History and Sociology. I then took a pre-access course in psychology, with the intention of pursuing it further, and perhaps to work within the social services. To enable me further my studies I worked voluntary for one year in the Liverpool Association for the Disabled, advising on benefits, what great people I met there, able-bodied and disabled, the whole experience completely changed my outlook on the disabled.
In between studying I managed to take a City and Guilds in horticulture, pottery and bookkeeping (which I must say we both hated). However the whole experience was good fun and it shows that it is never too late to learn.
As I needed to earn some money I took a part time job in a doctors surgery, where I stayed for one year, and then we decided to up sticks and move South of the country to Bath, and unfortunately I did not keep up my studies but took work, firstly in a department store, which made a change, not necessarily for the best, and then for a firm of accountants, where I stayed for 10 years!!
After the firm closed I took a job in a dentist surgery where I am still employed..
During this time my family grew up, Victoria now lives in Crete, Elizabeth in Bath and Aimi in London pursuing her ambition to be on the stage.
I have always loved travelling; the furthest I have been is South Africa. then Egypt but have been to various parts of Europe many times. I love the sun, and the continental way of living. In 2003 we bought a holiday villa in Spain with my husband’s sister and her husband, and we have had some good times there. This year, 2007 we have been lucky enough to have been to Spain, France and Crete.
So where am I now? I am still married to Norman and we are coming up to our 38th anniversary this year (2007) are busy arranging a wedding for Elizabeth who intends to marry in June 2008.
How time flies!

Apart from going on holidays, I have been involved for the last 13 years with a Youth Drama Group called the "Zenith Youth Theatre Group". They are a group of talented young people who love musical theatre. They are aged between 13 and 21 and perform two shows each year. I initially got involved through my youngest daughter, Aimi.
Aimi joined when she was 13 years and I helped with making costumes for the shows. After she left I stayed and am now the secretary of the group, and also still work making costumes. It is run by a group of very dedicated volunteers, and although it takes up a lot of our time we have a lot of fun putting together the shows, we have over the years won various awards for excellence, and many of the group have gone on to work professionally in the theatre.

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