The origins and early years.
Vivian Edward Quarry was born at 9.30pm on the fifth of June 1961 in a small semi-detached house in a village called Halstead, near Sevenoaks, in the county of Kent, about 30 miles to the south of London, England. It was a small village with only local shops, a church, a primary school and two pubs. There was a wooded park at the end of the back garden of the house where he was born and lived the first 12 years of his life.
He was the youngest of three, with the eldest being his brother Alan (9 years older), and next, his sister Janet (four years older).
His father, Thomas Howard Quarry, worked for the Ministry of Defence as an explosives expert, as well as working with explosives day to day, he became an authority in the field of foreign ammunition.
Tom was a quietly spoken man, with a sense of adventure. He clearly loved both his wife and family very much, and Viv could never remember seeing his mother and father fight in front of the children.
He enjoyed gardening and was a keen sportsman, who had a passion for table tennis. He played this sport at club level and introduced the whole family to the game.
Tom dealt with danger every day, and was once awarded the Queen's commendation for bravery for helping make safe some explosives which had become unstable on a train at Woolwich Arsenal. Four men died in the incident. Viv can also remember him coming home from work one day with his left hand bandaged. He had lost the top of his ring finger in an accidental explosion at work.. Nevertheless, he cared for those who lived life at a disadvantage, and for a long time, every Saturday he would take his youngest son to a local school for the physically handicapped and help the people there use table tennis to improve their coordination.
Joan Constance Quarry (nee Elphick), Viv's mother, was born at East Grinstead in Sussex, and moved to Worthing on the south coast of England in 1937 when her father became one of the early probation officers there. She was a teenager during the second world war and shared her future husband's sense of adventure. They had met while working together at the Ministry of Defence establishment known as 'The Fort' near Halstead, and got married. When the children were born she gave up her job to take care of them. Joan was strong willed but fair in the way she treated the people around her. She also played table tennis, and was an outgoing person who enjoyed travelling and was always a well-known and respected member of the local community wherever she lived, involved in local interest groups (Women's Institute, local theatre group and table tennis league) and local government (memeber of the Parish Council). She was efficient both at work and at home, and a mother devoted to doing the best she could for her family.*
Viv benefited from the advantages of growing up in a small village. There was a village green in front of the house, where the older kids played football and other team games, and the park behind his house was safe enough for young children to play in without supervision.
In the age before video games and 24 hour-a-day cartoons on cable tv (the family had a black and white tv), the imagination became the key to having fun.
Whenever possible, Viv would escape to the park (often with a small group of friends) and make tree houses and practice accuracy in throwing sticks and stones. Then when he received his brother's bicycle as a present, the limits of the park extended to the whole village, and then to neighbouring villages.
* Viv's mum passed away at 9am on the 16th August 2020 aged 93. Due to living under Covid 19 lockdown in Dubai at the time, Viv was unable to attend her funeral, but so that he could be there virtually, he recorded a valedictory video, which was played live in Halstead church during the funeral service.