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In the holidays and when ever we had any spare time, (we were never bored, in fact there was never enough spare time,) we went on extremely long walks or explorations as we called them. Our legs took us to Stockton Woods and Great Ridge, it would take all day. Our packed lunch or picnic was usually pretty basic; jam sandwiches or bread and a hard boiled egg. No lemonade, just a bottle of cold water. On these walks and when in season, we would collect wild strawberries and hazelnuts. As boys, we were never without our sheath knife, string and a catapult. They were very important to us we did not consider them dangerous as we treated them with respect. The knife was a tool, the catapult for amusement only, not to kill animals with, or harm one another. I also had an air rifle we used this just for amusement, firing at empty cans etc., not living creatures.

When we were not walking, we were ‘Construction engineers’. Our first effort was a hut, built in the withy beds and later a more permanent hut or house in the woods. This was constructed from items that we salvaged from the dump. This was a rubbish tip established at Chapel Hole just off the road between Corton and Boyton near Suffers Bridge. At this tip the American army dumped all sorts of interesting items that we were able to use such as empty 5 gallon oil drums, large cardboard boxes and wooden boxes. Once we were lucky enough to find a hammer one day and this increased the size of our tool kit. (I still have it.)
We constructed a raft and a jetty with a diving board. The raft was constructed of logs cut from fallen trees in the woods. Our first attempt was not successful; it sunk when we climbed on board. However we were not put off, we persevered and fitted empty 5 gallon oil drums underneath the log construction, held in place with thin metal banding removed from a wooden packing case.
In winter we had of course our sledge this was an item constructed by my father it had a steering bogey on the front and was quite fast. We used it down at The Cut, a place in the woods near Boyton rectory.

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