大象传媒

Holiday Time! Not as we know today. The seaside for us children was just a distant memory. My only real memory however as a small child was of a holiday spent at Boscombe - only weeks before war was declared. During the early years of the war the traditional six weeks school holiday was split into periods of 14 days which we spent at home. In 1940 the Battle of Britain was raging overhead with the Germans intent on visiting our southern seaside resorts in a different way. Certainly no thoughts of holidays for us. It must have been about 1942 or 43 when my dad at last had a week off work and it was decided that we should go somewhere different each day. Either the ideas or more likely the money was just not there but one of the only treats had been a picnic outside the town. It was there in a very democratic fashion we had a 'family conference' and the unanimous decision was that the next day we would go to Weston-Super-Mare. There was great excitement as we caught the early morning train from Trowbridge. Weston had been bombed, there were barrage balloons over the town centre, and the pier was closed. A small part of the beach was however still opened and I think there must have still been some donkeys as I well remember the one on which I was riding taking me into the sea. My brother went one better. He sat in the sea fully clothed and my mum had to go shopping with precious clothing coupons to buy him new trousers. The journey home was also quite eventful. It seems we caught the wrong train and when it stopped at Lawrence Hill in Bristol my dad realized we were ravelling in the wrong direction and would end up in the Midlands or somewhere similar if we didn't get off quickly. It was now getting dark and the next stage of our journey home was in the blackout through Bristol. Happily -and to my parents relief there the a train for Trowbridge waiting at Temple Meads and the day ended happily.

In 1944 we were able to tell our friends that we were going away on holiday - with a week off school. Not to a far off resort but to Swindon in our own county of Wiltshire. This was just great. Even then my mum and dad had last minute worries - the flying bombs were falling on London and we just that much nearer the capital. We stayed with my auntie and it was some comfort to know she had a Morrison shelter in her dining room. This was something new to us - happily we didn't have to use it although Swindon had been bombed earlier in the war. It was a bit late in the day before we left Trowbridge for Swindon. My dad insisted on working on his allotment so that we could take vegetables to my aunt. I think my mum became slightly impatient. This was not the last time we had potatoes in our luggage.
In June 1945 we were away again - this time really to the seaside. The war in Europe had only just ended - and looking back I think this was a little ambitious but we had friends in the Isle of Wight who would share their home with us for a week and cook our meals. Many oher people must have had the same idea as the train to Portsmouth was absolutely packed. I remember seeing rows of bombed out houses in Southampton and Portsmouth. There was a make-shift jetty at Portsmouth Harbour and a wait of about four hours to cross to Ryde. I think there may have only one ferry (a steamer in those days). Although we were looked after we still had to provide our own food and my mum went shopping in Ryde every morning. For me however the holiday was something of a disaster. At the first opportunity we were on the beach and with my sister I charged into the sea only to land with both feet on the barbed wire defences still buried under the sand. So for me it was a hospital visit and wheeled chair for the rest of the week.
Two years later were there again. This is not really a wartime memory but a sequal to the potato story! There were strong rumours of a potato shortage in the Isle of Wight and so we took an extra large suitcase. Poor dad had to carry this - not filled with clothes but with that vegetable so necesssary for our dinners. Again the train was packed but I think this might have been one of the cases we used as a seat in the coridor. All this for nothing. The shops in Ryde had plenty of vegetables - including potatoes but we didn't have to use our holiday money on these so perhaps after all some good came out of it - but I don't think my dad was too happy!

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