大象传媒

When I was 14yrs old, in 1940, I worked on a farm at Radwinter Hall. Five girls were working on the farm but after a while we went back to our families and I ended up in Ilfracombe because my mother and I went there to join my two younger sisters who had been evacuated with the Dagenham County High School. It was very quiet there, not much action, but it was a garrison town and full of army personnell. We went to dances at the Pavilion but my mother came as well and sat up on the balcony watching us to see we didn't get into any mischief. We wouldn't have done anything wrong because we had too much respect for our parents and anyway, there was an innocence then that you don't get now.
I married my childhood sweetheart in 1943 at the age of 18yrs. He was 21yrs old. We had a white wedding and I bought my wedding dress and my five bridesmaids dresses on the black market. My long veil was borrowed. Neighbours gave us their saved-up dried fruit for the cake which was in three teirs and was made by a lady from the church. The sugar for the icing was also given to us by neighbours. The vicar wanted to have the cake displayed on a pedestal, but because it was so newly made, or possibly because of the quality of the icing sugar, it collapsed! We were able to patch it up and nobody realised, but I was so upset about it. My husband wore his naval uniform to get married in and because sailors wouldn't have worn a buttonhole, he had a white tiddly-bow on his tunic instead. We had the reception at home, about forty people, and there were trestle
tables put up in the upstairs bedroom and a piano being played downstairs. We were married for forty-three years.

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