大象传媒

My Mum and Dad moved to Goodrest Farm when I was three years old. The farmhouse was built on the site of Goodrest Lodge. You will find it marked on maps back to the 1600s,but the construction of doublemoats was between 1250 and 1350. There was a walled garden, lakes and fishponds. The dam can be seen today and all are listed as ancient monuments. There is a record of the dam being repaired in 1702. The house has now been restored and modernised. The Banner Hill campsite was situated one field away from the house.

I had a pony called "Blossom" which I rode around the orchard and later went into gymkhanas in fancy dress. Once I was "Miss Red Riding Hood" and next time a cowboy, my favourite, as I had a cowboy hat, chaps and trousers. I remember that the pony ran away one day, I couldn't hold her, and a judge caught her for me. If it rained, I jumped off and sheltered underneath her tummy. A gymkhana was like a sports day for horses and riders instead of people. There were bending races, sack races, musical chairs and trotting races. If your horse broke into a canter, you had to turn round then continue. It was all good fun, rosettes for prizes, sometimes money. When Dad had a carthorse go lame, he placed girths under their stomach and strung them up on a beam. Only about two inches off the floor, but it meant that the weight was taken off his feet. As I spent a lot of time with my father on the farm, he was reluctant to send me to school. The council came to my home and one month before my 6th birthday, and I sent to a school which had been opened in 1875.

Dad ran a milkround; initially he took the front seat out of the Rover car (ANX 133),and this made a space large enough to place a churn, he then ladled the milk into the customers' jugs. Later on, when he had more customers, he bought a Ford van. In the dairy the milk was put through a cooler and bottled. Our milk bottles had Dad's name and address on. The cartons for the cream had a picture of cows and our address; I loved the cream. In 1947 we had a very hard winter; the snow was deep, so the mild had to be taken by horse and cart to the end of the drive, and a milk tanker would collect the milk. Each week one of us would make the butter; this involved putting the milk in butter churns, wooden, then glass, you had to turn the handle until you separated the milk out and the butter was left in the base. Butter-pates were then taken out of the churn and made into shapes, and it was then finised. Liquid that was left in the churn was called "Buttwemilk"; it was good for your skin of to clean floors. To make cheese, stale milk was left to drip through a muslin bag, this went on for a week, it was taken out, seasoning was then added and it was ready to eat.
My Mother never got up until eight thirty, her daily help would cycle down to Leek Wootton with me sitting on the sadle while she stood up on the pedals. There were three teachers, Mrs Cruickshank taught the juniors, and Mr and Mrs Davis until the children were eleven. The cane was administered quite often, not for me. Mum used to put my lunch in a tin box with a lid, which Mrs Davis used to place in her oven or om the pot-bellied stove. I think all the other children lived in the village. There were two village shops, the post-office and a general store owned by Mrs Wood. We only needed a penny to a quantity of sweets. The post-office was also a bakery. At Christmas time, if the turkey was too large the bakery cooked it for us, the Dee family owned it from 1932.
Bernard Dee delievered bread to us, and when the accumulator ran down, he would bring a re-charged one. The wireless ran off an accumulator, we didn't have a television untill the Coronation.
When we had a lot of snow, Dad made me a sledge. I walked to the Abbey fields and played on my sledge all day. We didn't appreciate how lucky we were that our parents trusted me to come home safely. Christmas time, presents consisted of nuts and oranges, sugar mice and maybe a board game.
The games we playd at school were skipping, hop-scotch, tick, sardines, five stones and the farmers in the dell.
Half a mile from the end of the drive , there was a thatched cottage, belonging to a Mrs Eyken. Her front room was a sweet shop selling aniseed balls, sherbet dabs, gob smakers and liquorice allsorts.
One of our fields backed onto her house; this meant that we could ride the pony there and slip through the hedge if we had any money to spend. One day, the lady was dragged out of the house. She went to Banner Hill farm for help. The shop was closed.
The Dunne family were our next door neighbours and farmed Bannerhill farm. They lost one of thier sons: he was on the 'Hood' when it went down.
The North Warwickshire hunt kennels were nearby. The gate-man, Mr Tandy was in charge of me when we went cub hunting. If I fell off he was always about to catch my pony and put me on again.
Sundays, Dad always did the washing up. Mum went for an afternoon nap. unitl the age of six, I was made to go with her. As soon as I heard her deep breathing I'd put one leg out of the bed,and then the other. I would then crawl around the bed and out of the door. My youngest brother would have Blossom saddled (my pony). Then we would ride to the neighbouring farm and play. Sheila Corson lived at North Woodloes; her parents were not so strict as ours were!
Woodcote is now the Police Headquarters. It previously belonged to Sir Wathen Waller until 1947. He had given the people of the village a field for a cricket pitch. During the war, they gave the house to the Red Cross as a convalescent home and moved into the Stone House. It was sold in 1947. Mum bought some furniture from the sale.
Eventually, I had my own bike and cycled to the village school, I could ride my bike no hands all of the way to Leek Wootton, I did misjudge a corner once and landed up in the hedge. Mr Clark, the mole-catcher, allowed me to leave my bike at his house.
In the farmhouse, I had a bath in the tin bath. It was placed in front of the Rayburn cooker, much warmer than going to the upstairs bathroom! Calor-gas lighting was used downstairs, I think that I used to take a candle to bed. As i was a bit scared of the dark and the house was very draughty.
Mum used a dolly, a copper and a mangle for washing the clothes. The old flat irons were placed on the Rayburn cooker to warm-up.
Every year , Leek Wootton had a Maypole Dance.When I was there it was on the vicarage lawn, and Lord Leigh crowned the May-queen.
On the 11th January 1937, there were only fourteen children on the register. Two years later nine boys from Kent were evacuated; later more evacuees came taking the register to forty-two pupils.
We didn't have an air-raid shelter. Mum made-up a double mattress under-neath the dining room table. If we heard the siren or the sound of a German plane (very different from English ones), I was told to head for home. I never thought of it as a great emergency.
On Sunday morings, the farmer's sons, George and Joe rode on thier horses to Goodrest. My pony 'Blossom' was already bridled and saddled, then we rode to the next farm to see if Murial Bostock was ready, and across the fields to Kenilworth Castle, then on to 'Honiley Boot'. We all had drinks and hacked back down the country lanes to Goodrest Farm.
Mum, always made me do so much housework before I went out to play. Sometimes to avoid this, I went up the attic, through the hatch, onto the roof and read my book. I had a telling off, but lived for the next day.
The attics went across the whole of the house, one large room had a concrete floor; apples and pears were picked and carefully put on the floor, being careful not to bruise them.
Dad milked shorthorn cows, in the mornings three churn lids were put on the floor out-side of the cowpen. They were filled with warm frothy milk straight from the cow.
On Thursday nights, the village hall hired Ben Hooper to show films. It was great fun. Many visitors were still staying at Good-Rest farm, one couple from Coventry, took me to London on VE and VJ day, we stood outside Buckingham Palace; these were my first visits to London.
Leek Wootton also had its own Blacksmiths shop, but Dad used another one at Beausale. We had four carthouses.

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