大象传媒

One of the treats which we had during the middle years of the War, was to take the Hardwick's Bus, on old Bedford OB, I think, which had wooden slats to make up the seats, never were you more glad to get off these 'bone shakers' after a fourteen mile trip, mind you, you had the pleasant thought that you still had another fourteen miles to travel back on the way home! These trips were to visit Aunty Louise and Uncle Herbert Frank at Thornton-le-Dale, in North Yorkshire. Aunty Louise was Mum's, Mothers sister and Uncle Herbert was the Head Gardener at the Hall. In those days it was still Privately owned and we would get into the Market Garden area, by crossing a little wooden bridge over the Beck and go in through a narrow little gate, in the high wall which surrounded the grounds. Just inside was a huge, wooden greenhouse, and a water tank which was a 'House of Wonders' for us kids, for in Spring, it was full of tadpoles and in Summer, Crested Newts and frogs. Surrounding the greenhouse there were fruit trees of all kinds and we were allowed to pick up all the fallen fruit,such as plums, various types of apples and pears. This was a source of fresh fruit to us and we often travelled back on the bus, each of us with a basket full of 'Goodies', both from the Hall and Uncle Herbert's allotment which was almost opposite their Cottage on High Street, Thorton-le-Dale. Their Cottage, just up from the water pump, and, which over the years has now been sold a number of times, was entered through the front door straight off the pavement. The Hallway was 'V' shaped, having a Parlour, [or Best Room], on the left hand side of the front door, with the Living Room off to the right. right. A curtain hanging from the just behind the front door, served as both a a draught excluder and a blackout curtain. A doorway out of the Living Room, led you into the kitchen, which was quite a dark room, as there was only a small window set up high into the rear wall, for the garden sloped down to the retaining wall, which left like a sort of moat, between it and the rear of the Cottage wall. Off to the right in the kitchen, was the pantry, which behind it's slatted, wooden door with the air holes top and bottom, which had very fine mesh over them, to stop the flies getting in, was awash with Kilner Jars of fruit, jar after jar of home made jams, hams hanging from the hooks in the oak beams and jars of dripping and pork salting down in big stone bowls and jugs of fresh lemonade. A veritable treasure trove for us hungry Townie's! The only problem here was the loo. this was a 'Nettie' or Ash Closet, which stood at the top of the garden against the Garden wall. Now this may seem very strange, except in those days, every thing, and I do mean every thing, had a price. In the case of the contents of the Nettie, it was that, what is now called 'organic Gardening', was very much in use in these days as well, for you could not buy synthetic fertilisers in these days like you can now. So 'Everything' had a use! Now how this worked was that men would come around with zinc lined barrow's about twice as deep as a wheelbarrow, which had a wooden lid and held a small mixture of water and Jeye's Fluid, in an attempt to take away some of the smell! They would visit each house and 'negotiate' with the house owners to clear their 'Netties', in exchange for fresh grown vegetables, such as a large handfull of carrots, or a couple of cauliflowers, onions, etc. which would be left in a cupboard built into the garden wall, in the Back Lane.The problem was, that you never knew what day or when they would be coming. the only warning would be a very cold breeze would suddenly nip up around your nether reagions as they opened up the 'Shuttle Trap' which exited into the back lane, and, with a swift twirl of their long handled, wooden shovels, they would clear out all the debris which had been deposited down the hole! Bodily soiling, wood shavings, fire ash, etc! In return they would leave their payments in the 'Larder Cupboard', which was positioned along side the Nettie. Not very hygienic maybe, but always well received. The problem came when they banged their spade against the wooden frame of the Nettie, to shake off any 'debris' which happened to be sticking to it, because, dependent how hard they banged, and which way up they held the spade, would depend as to whether or not you got the 'residue' flying up to stick to your bum, or if you had been dead quick, if you had managed to jump off the loo, and slam the little wooden lid back on in time, then 'it' would fall back off the wooden lid into the 'Pit'. [Mind you it helped if you had finished what you were doing first, because, we did not have any fancy soft toilet paper in those days, only old newspapers torn up into six inch squares, and if you want to test to see how easy they were to clean up with, try one out on some soft mud and you will see the problems we all had in those days. These trips out into the Yorkshire countryside were real treats, what with the visits to Uncle Jack's cottage by the stream in Ellerburn Woods, chasing the sheep and the long walk there and back and what seemed to me at the time to be the idyllic, balmy weather of a late Summer's day, with the peace and tranquillity of it all. The peace must have been golden to Mum, surrounded by her Aunt's and Uncle's who always had a kind word and time for all of us. [I think there is just something about Country Folk, which sets them miles apart from the usual Townie's that we seemd to be mixed in with.] Also it must have been soothing for Mum, as she still did not know if Dad was alive or dead, or a Prisoner of War, [as it turned out to be], after the fall of Singapore.

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