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My Facebook page "Houghton Regis back in the day....." has been doing well. An old friend joined today, I have known her since I was 4. I remember the day we met. Her mum came over to meet my mum, we had not been moved in long ourselves, into council houses that mum and dad put in for as soon as Dad got home after the war. Well Jennifer was with her mum and both of us were hiding behind our mums and peeping around. I can still see her in my mind, we were both about 4 years old. Pretty soon we were in the same class at school. My friend Margaret, who lived on the farm was also at the same school and once our mums met, Margaret would come up on the bus in the morning and wait at my house to go to school. We would walk together. We did that all throughout our school years, holidays and weekends I was down at her house on the farm.
Anyway.......Jennifer is now in the group on Facebook and we are catching up.

In that picture, taken at "Top School" ........Jennifer is standing on the left and Margaret on the extreme right. I dont know where I was or why I am missing.
Anyway, today we were talking about our outside toilets. Jennifer and I lived on Bidwell Hill and our toilets were outside at this point. So were the ones at school for that matter. They were built with a gap in the door at top and bottom, no idea why because they were at school as well. This is just like the one at our house except we did have a window.

Margaret, down on the farm was not as lucky, theirs was outside but a hole in the ground. With a nice wooden seat. Jennifer said her job was to cut and string the newspaper for toilet paper and remembers it made her white knickers black. Just had to share that.
Well........its fun to talk and to share our childhood. I am getting to know other kids from the village. Learning about their lives so similar to my own. Country life at its best. Total freedom. Something we all shared and treasured. No fear, no worry, no crime. Well........only the childhood escapades of the local boys who did what boys did for generations before them.

Talking of local boys.......here is "speedy" our local "copper".....called speedy because he rose his bike at leisure. We first met him, Trevor Davis when my Dad and I were out shopping in Dunstable. We almost got hit on a Zebra crossing and PC Davies came to our house to get the information from Dad. They became fast friends. PC Davies was always up on Bidwell Hill visiting the Moles over the road. Hehe....the Mole kids were always in trouble. A family of 4 boys. Patrick said he saw more of Speedy than his dad hehe. Joke..........well PC Davies liked his tea with a touch of whisky in it and would often stop in for a cup before finishing his rounds that took him down Bidwell Hill to be sure the Red Lion pub was closed on time and probably to nip in for a quick one before his ride back up the hill. On a cold night he might also stop in on the way back. The village boys were the bane of his existence. They did things with his bike one would think impossible. My Dad, as a lad was the same way and no doubt the village copper at that time had it far worse than Speedy did because my Dad had lots more brothers. Most of our games were harmless and fun. We all had dens

They took time to build and especially if we did them underground. I was lucky to have friends whose dads didnt work on their gardens and did not mind at all when we dug holes in the garden and put on tin roofs. We played harmless games

and made what we called chassis........

I have probably written about all this before but it comes to mind after a day of chatting to these old friends. Well, not a day, you know what I mean if you go on Facebook yourself. On and off during the day is what I mean.
This is not what I originally was going to write about. I have been busy cropping and enlarging old photos of the village. I got into that while looking for a picture I was going to post and got distracted. I forgot what I was originally going to write............so thats it till I remember.