Christopher
Self was born on 17th October 1893 in Norwich, where he worked variously
as a plumber, glazier, painter and decorator. He played dulcimer, piano,
banjo and mandolin with a repertoire of popular songs. In the 1930s he
lived in the Mile Cross area of the city and would take the bus out to
Aylsham, where Ernie Dale, the landlord of the Walpole Arms in the
nearby village of Itteringham would pick him up in his car. Ernie kept a
large market garden and sold his Walpole Arms, Iteringham, 1936
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produce from a trailer on the back of his car in Mile Cross, so that may
be how he first met Chris Self. The Walpole
Arms was a lively place with lodgers during the week and Chris probably
stayed over at the weekend: Ernie’s son Ralph recalled that he was a
regular there, as he would often leave the dulcimer there until he
returned the next weekend. In 1934, records state that Ernie Dale was
fined 1/- for gaming. According to his daughter Bevra, this was betting
1d on how many pips were in a pumpkin, with the proceeds going towards a
supper for all the regulars held in the large club room upstairs. Chris
Self died in March 1976.
