大象传媒

our next evacuation experience was some time later when we three lost souls from the great metropolis landed in a village called Thrapston in Northamptonshire, quite near to Kettering, how we got there is a mystery, we must have been transported on a magic carpet for all I remember, but in Thrapston we were. We followed a similar routine, following the so-called billeting officer, again we were the last three to find somedody to have us, It turned out to be the best billet of the lot --- the Squires mansion. We were met by one of the waiting staff that ushered us into the grand hallway waiting for the son of the squire to come and I suppose interview us, he finally arrived, and we were then allocated sleeping accommodation. Arrangements for eating were made, we were to eat in the kitchen with the staff. The first morning we came down to breakfast and on the table was a jar with potted hare in it, now we didn't know about such luxuries as potted hare. I thought it was a jar with human hair in it, from the barbers, I said I'm not going to eat that and then we were tod it was a kind of rabbit but we still didn't eat it. We slept in tha attic cleared from all the jumble. We were reasonably happy here. There was quite a large stable with many horses to ride, I was the only one to try, but I got on one side and promptly fell off the other side and I never tried it again. I went on a (say it quietly) a Fox Hunt. It started by all the people who were in the hunt meeting outside the mansion. men in red jackets, with funny hats on their heads. The women sitting on their horses in a strange way but they managed to ride OK. There was a lot of barking hounds jumping up at everybody, they were very excited. Members of the hunt were drinking I assume wine, I managed to get a lemonade and the excitement was intense, everybody concerned was waiting for the horn to blow, at last it was blown and all the horses and hounds moved off to find and then chase the fox. I and quite a few others followed on foot, and it was very difficult to keep up with them, they jumped the fences, we had to crawl through them or climb over, we ran through the fields and I was very tired, at last the hounds cornered a fox and what followed was not very nice but everybody seemed very pleased with themselves, the brush was parted from the body, I being the youmgest one there was duly blooded, and presented with the brush. I kept that brush for quite some time afterwards.

After a period I suddenly developed some spots on my face and body, and I was taken to see the doctor by one of the maids, I was diagnosed as suffering from Impatigo and was put into a hospital in Oundle. I was treated very nicely there if you call being smeared with Gentian, a blue ointment every day, a very nice St Johns nurse also nursed me. After a while I returned to my billet in Thrapston and finally back to school. The children of the school didn't take too kindly to us, as I think we were on a different level to them as far as education was concerned, but we soon thrashed that out.

The Squire with whom we lodged owned a large hardware store in Thrapston and offered me a job of doing deliveries after school on a big delivery bike, I was over the moon, to have a bike almost bigger than I was and to get paid I think it was the princely sum of 6pence a week which converts to todays money as nearly 3p, what a measly sum it seemed but in those days it was quite acceptable.

The stay in Thrapston came to a nasty end when my sister Teresa somehow managed to scald herself by tipping a pan of boiling water over her legs and we were repatriated back to London to be with mum who looked after the invalid.

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