MAD ALBERT - THE LOST YEARS
Much of Mad Alberts life has been documented in a variety of digital and non digital documents, but a vital part of his storey has so far eluded publication.
As teenager learning how to live in the relative tranquillity of rural Wembley, he was astonished to learn that a number of agricultural fields adjacent to the main railway line between Euston and the North West of England, were earmarked to become an aerodrome for the fledgling aircraft industry.
The land had been part of Wembley Farm for centuries, and was ultimately owned by the local Lord Of The Manor, who resided in the mansion known as the White House which was located at the Wembley Park Estate.
As a child Albert had often traipsed across the hay fields with his friends and marvelled in the ability of dragonfly's to hover over ponds and ditches and the agility of frogs as they leapt about the margins of the drainage ditches and dew ponds. One of the fields was agricultural in its use, and grew on rotation market garden crops such as potatoes, peas, cabbages and turnips. Albert and his chums would often purloin samples of these vegetables and haul them home for supper. All this was to be lost if the aerodrome was completed and the land enclosed behind barbed wire forever.
A cunning plan was required to prevent this and Albert began to think !
Deep in thought, Albeit wondered how best to derail the intended destruction of his beloved countryside, and decoded that the best course of action was to copy his father and uncles and take to alcohol to clear his mind and liberate his thoughts. So even though he was only of tender years and no taller than a garden gate, he started pinching tankards of ale from the garden of the Norfolk Arms public house.
As the years passed and he grew taller and older he was able to gain an entrance to the public bar and covertly order tuppence worth of cheap porter and stale ale from the governor. He didn't know this at the time, but this development was to eventually bequeath him with the epitaph of "Mad Albert".
To be continued.....
