When my brother Peter and I were at quite a young age (and hell back me up on this), we first started to hear our Dad (Terry Carlyon) referring to Tewkesbury from time to time as “Twinkle.” This, he claimed when asked about it, was a kind of affectionate local nickname for the place, like a term of endearment, and that it had probably originated at Ashchurch Camp, most likely among the drivers. It made at least some sense to think this, because at night the Camp was lit up like a Christmas tree, and the sight of all those twinkling lights in the distance could be very welcome when returning to “base” after a long day away. And yet why has – as far as I know, no one else ever heard of the term? Even at the time our Mum had never heard it, our grandfather (Percy Wilkins, a driver at the Camp himself, so he’d surely know) hadn’t heard it, and over the years I’ve not once ever heard anyone else refer to Tewkesbury as Twinkle. Maybe Dad had simply made it up, but if anyone out there can shed any light on this, Id be grateful to hear from them.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 19:29:21 +0000
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