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HEATHER KENYON-FULLER (nee Beadon)
YMCA CANTEEN

Heather was brought up in Little Newsam with her brother. Her mother owned farms in the village and her father was a Land Agent. She was educated at home, then went to Queen Ethelburga’s School in Harrogate. She married her husband who was a soldier, when she was very young and left for Singapore on their honeymoon. They were there two years then ‘trailed’ round England, Scotland and Wales.

My husband was a Territorial Adjutant at Lincoln and I heard War declared in Lincoln Cathedral. He was posted to Aldershot, so I packed up and followed from there to Cornwall, then Devon and later to Perthshire.

When he went to the Middle East early in 1942 I returned home to Newsham and began to look for a job. I worked voluntary shifts at the YMCA canteen in Staindrop and found I enjoyed it. I was asked if I would open a canteen in Westwick Camp ~ the camp was still being built and our resident quarters were not ready. I was given a very splendid girl called Nina Morery to help, as we only had a static caravan and life was difficult. She stayed with me as deputy until I left Westwick. The troops all loved her and told her all their woes. We worked for the 70th Battalion DLI (Durham Light Infantry) ~ the young soldiers’ brigade ~ all 18-year-olds. There was a bad fatal accident on the ranges and we had a lot of comforting and support to give distressed young men.

I had to deal with the accounts and ordering supplies and bicycle to Barnard Castle once a week to the bank. I had a car, but petrol was scarce so I mainly cycled, sometimes in the dark with a small light, but there was no traffic then. I wore blue overalls with a badge on the pocket. We opened for ’10 o’clocks’ and served tea and coffee with sandwiches (dried egg, sometimes with chopped onion to alter the taste. We also had cigarettes and a small amount of chocolate which was very much ‘under the counter’. I would give treats to anyone who I thought deserving. If there was anything going spare in my mother’s garden I would bring it back for the sandwiches ~ often beetroot. It was a great day when we moved into our permanent building with excellent facilities and were able to live in and have orderlies to help with heavy urns and milk churns and have two or three voluntary helpers at night, as we were open until 10 pm.

I was offered a job at The Battle School but turned in down. Here they did manoeuvres under live fire down by the river and had a few casualties. At one time Winston Churchill and the Commander in Chief were said to stand on Whorlton Bridge to watch the manoeuvres. Lots of young soldiers came there on courses from whatever regiments were wanting highly trained men.

The DLI were succeeded by The Devon Regiment at Westwick Camp and then by The Dorsets ~ about six months each. I asked for a transfer to Norfolk when The Dorsets left and was given Cromer as Deputy Manageress. We were billeted in a large very old hotel, on Old East Cliff, with large kitchens and a huge fat fryer in which we cooked vast quantities of chips each night. The snag was rats ~ we had splendid voluntary helpers but my fear was someone would leave the lid of the fryer open! I baked loads of mince pies for Christmas. My boss had a flat on an upper floor (with her elderly mother) ~ she dealt with all the paperwork and supplies but never worked in the canteen, occasionally ‘manning the shop’ at night. I found her hard to get on with and began to want to be my own boss again, however I was very fond of the people I lodged with, who became permanent friends.

I met a girl who worked a mobile canteen from Sheringham ~ she wanted to give up, so I applied and was given the job. I travelled all round to troops on manoeuvres. I rented a charming cottage in Sheringham. On VE day I had terrible boils on my nose, knee and hand. I went to the Sergeant’s Mess party to celebrate but didn’t enjoy this in case anyone touched the boils! I stopped in Sheringham until my husbnand came back from Burma after VJ Day. I hadn’t seen him for four years. He was posted to Catterick.

Heather and her husband bought Arlaw Banks, which was left empty after having been an ATS reception for invalids, and the family have lived there ever since.

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