大象传媒

"Over the Hill" was the name of the farm I was born and grew up on. It was near Houghton-Le-Spring, County Durham. My father James Kirtley was the forman, my mother Maretta worked on the land, and I had a younger brother John.

I can remember when the German prisoners of war were transported to the farm, in an open truck, to start their day's work. There was always a guard with them. Also on the truck were two containers which were taken into our kitchen. One contained large pieces of dark chocolate which my mother had to scald: this is what the prisoners drank. The other container was full of bread, for them to eat. I remember one prisoner called Hans: he wore a cape.

The prisoners ate in the outer buildings. On the walls they drew cartoon characters of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, also poems in German. Last year my brother and I returned to the farm to take photographs of these, but sadly the buildings had been demolished.

I do not remember when they left the farm, but before they did they gave us gifts they had made themselves. I was given a monkey-on-a-stick toy. My brother's toy gift was pecking hens on a board. My mother was presented with a shopping bag made out of string with a red rose painted on the front. If only we had kept them.

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