大象传媒

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On VE day we had a great party and the Powels, the Punters, the Bells the Roseveres, the Stranges and the Brittons, along with Mrs Mounce, Mrs Brown and Mrs Clark - we all got together and made cakes - I鈥檇 never seen such an array of goodies - jam tarts and things. Of course during the war years we couldn't really get such things and I still wonder to this day how we manage to get the ingredients together because in terms of rationing there wasn't any relaxation until the 1950s.

But we did have a bumper party - we had jellies as well and I can't remember having jellies before that. We had a great long table set up and it was a great occasion. I was only about nine when the war finished.

In fact, I think the war was better for the sweet merchants, because of the rationing, because it meant that everybody spent their full ration. I can remember going up to Mrs Silverlock at the end of Acacia Road - long gone now - she had these very thick glasses, a little bit like Mr Magoo - and when she prepared the bill she would have to almost put her nose up to the paper! My mother used to buy things on tick and by the time Mrs Silverlock had finished going through the various items quite a crowd had built up in the shop waiting to be served.

My mother died in 1999 aged 97 and in her lifetime she got run over once, she had bowel cancer which she managed to get rid of when she was 69 - she was one of these almost indestructible persons and at 75 she could get up to the shops quicker than we ever could and we were always amazed at the quickness of the operation!

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