大象传媒

I was born on 16th February 1943, and only have isolated pictures in my mind, as I was only two years old when the war ended. My father, Edwin was a coal miner, like most of the men in this large Derbyshire village and as coal was an important raw material for fuelling the factories, he was exempt from call up, so I and the majority of children experience normal family like during the wartime period, no absent fathers who may or may not return, so probably life was not so stressful for the womenfolk as it may have been for those with loved ones fighting.

My father met my mother Winnie on holiday in Llandudno, North Wales just before the war started. His friend George Bellamy teamed up with my mum鈥檚 friend Bessie and both couples got married, mum and dad in 1940. Mum moved across the Pennines from Royton in Lancashire to Creswell and George moved in the opposite direction. They lived in a 3 bed-roomed terraced house that they rented (and later bought) two doors away from my father鈥檚 mother and stepfather. Mum was a full time housewife and at some point during the war, I don鈥檛 know when, had two evacuees come and stay. They were from Lowestoft in Norfolk.

My earliest 鈥減icture鈥� is of a hooded wicker cradle nestled in the corner of the fireplace that was in the main living room. I can never remember actually seeing the cradle but when I told my mum about this she said that she鈥檇 borrowed one from a relative of dad鈥檚 when I was just a few months old and she used to put it in the recess next to the fire as she thought it offered better protection in case of an air raid.

I don鈥檛 think that Creswell ever got a direct hit during the war though an occasional bomb did land in farm fields. There were not many air raid shelters around, though my best friend, Coral Newbold, whose parents owned the general store further down the street, had one in their garden, it looked like a big grassy mound, and I can remember playing in it after the war.

Some Italian prisoners were based in the area. I don鈥檛 know whether they were locked up or billeted with families but I do know that I had a small wooden chair that was cream with red arms which a prisoner made for me when I was two or three years old.

Food was rationed, though being so young I can鈥檛 recall any particular hardships, even the lack of sweets. In summer we were given a stick of rhubarb and a little pot or bag with sugar in to dip into as we walked, chatted and played in the 鈥渂acks鈥� which stretched the full length of the street and separated each house鈥檚 back yard from their garden.

One day when I was two, I got lost and my parents and neighbours were frantically searching for my companion, Ann McMahon (I think) and I. We returned oblivious to the panic several hours later having been on a great adventure, trekking down to the famous Creswell Crags! It was amazing how we managed to find our way back and incredible that no one stopped us on our travels!

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