Dear Robin..................

My dear cousin, do you remember? you are a few years older than me, not by much but you must have some very similar memories as I do. Did you play in the pits? The Cement works pits that is? I would go there with Mick Bird and his little brown dog (who shall remain nameless) Mick wanted to hunt rabbits and I fear he may have had different motives to me. I say that because as he and his dog were sticking hands and noses down rabbit holes, I sat on a bank and saw a wee rabbit right next to me. I was petting it, he saw me ...... he yelled and the rabbit ran. Apparently I was supposed to have caught it and I have no doubt what it's end would have been, now, not then. I had no idea he intended them for the stew pot. Apart from that we would climb the cliffs of chalk and look for fossils. I know you had to have played there too. The Blue Waters was the perfect playground though. The mud would harden in summer so that one could walk across the crust.
(the troublemakers, Harry and Cecil Hines)


That reminds me of my Dad. My Dad and Uncle Cecil were "babysitting" Uncle Alan, the baby of the family. He was probably about 4, I am not sure. It had to have been after church because Alan was in his best Wool suit. They happened to be birds nesting and ventured over to the sewage works where birds would nest in the walls between the beds of sewage. It was naturally off limits. I mean, who would want to drown in sewage right? well, off they went Alan in tow. Walking on the walls between the beds of sewage looking for nests when suddenly a shout........they were seen. As it was summer the beds had crusted over much like the mud did at Blue Waters except this was not mud. Well Harry and Cecil quite nimble on their feet took off running hopping from wall to wall. Alan being smaller and somewhat chubby was left behind fairly quickly. So, he decided upon a short cut across what looked like a solid crust. It was not. In he went. The boys doubled back and pulled him out before the warden caught up with them, feet not touching the ground they whisked him over to the Washbrook. Aptly named in this case. You remember the Washbrook? Yes, Sticklebacks and frog spawn right? well Alan's wool suit was stripped off and duly scrubbed. As was a howling Alan. Upon return to the house (St Omere) they pushed Alan inside and took off not returning until Granddad Burt had gone to bed.
(sweet Auntie Annie)

I am sure your experiences with the Washbrook was a bit different.
I loved The Blue Waters. We would slide down the banks and catch Sticklebacks in the pure Springs that came out of the chalk. The little engine that drowned in the pit was visible in summer when the water was low. We could hear the pump house groan and moan at night like a tormented ghost. Maybe it was the cement works engines, I don't know but it was a horror to me as a child.
Were you at home still when they found the skeletons over on the edge of the pits? Some lucky worker happened to see a head roll down the side as he was cutting out more chalk? Well there were a couple at least and my Dad took me over to see them when the archaeologists were working there. I had nightmares for ages after that and with the noise from the pump house as well.......I looked under my bed ever after. I still remember vividly the dream of a skeleton chasing me home from school.
(someone gave me a perm, how dare they. On the lawn at St Omere)


Did you climb the old mill that was still standing at the top of Mill Road, I think every boy in the village did. Did you explore the Baulk? Or did you stick to the places over closer to where you lived? Like Rabbits Lane. Rabbits Lane led to the fields and beyond that to Dog Kennel walk.Back then it was just a footpath. One could stand on the bridge and watch the steam trains go under and become enveloped in the clouds of steam. I guess when I was small I ran away with our dog Jerry, and was found playing down on the railway tracks. I had ran off with a little boy down the road. I wonder who that was?
(someone who never lost his twinkle)

I loved St Omere. I am pretty sure you must have lived there too at some point. I remember details of the downstairs. The black fireplace in the living/dining room with blue and white tile around it. My dog Jerry ate a balloon and threw up under a chair. The middle room was large and had that Bay window and a pantry under the stairs. The kitchen was like a galley and quite small compared to the other room. You stepped up to go into the living room. Beyond the kitchen was the bathroom. All concrete and brick and cobwebs. The door led outside to the toilet. WHo used that bath I wonder? They must have froze. The front room was probably off limits because I think I only saw it briefly. Outside though, that's what I remember most. The wonderful gardens. Apple trees near the road and a lawn, the slab over the well. I remember someone playing a trick on me, throwing a ball in the air and me not seeing it come back down. I was told it kept going off into space............well. Next to the lawn were trees that seemed to divide the property so that beyond that were vegetable gardens and Rabbit hutches. I doubt they were pets. I know on the side closer to the house were big patches of Rhubarb.
(Me and Jerry)


I have pictures of me and Jerry playing there. Next door Uncle Bill had chickens. I loved to help him feed them, the smell of the chicken feed was pleasant to me. Beyond the gate was Muddy Lane and we could get through a hole in the fence and into the Cemetery. I loved going there. Auntie Annie would take me with her to tend the family graves. Last time I was there the grave stones were all lined up along the walls. A shame. I loved it there. I suppose Annie knew them all in her lifetime. I had not thought of that. For me the names all came together when I did our family history. I was thinking the other night, all that work. What will happen to it all. None of my lot would keep it. Jason has no kids and neither does Justin (not from him anyway) and Laura really is not into that stuff and neither are her girls. So...........I suppose it will all be lost again until some future relative takes it on and starts over. We never did find the John Hines we lost somewhere in the 1700s..............
(me playing in the orchard collecting apples I think)

The village is gone now, at least the village I knew. All the wonderful memories will stay though. When we would go to the local butcher and get the meat fresh (ugh) I no longer eat meat. I was a very naive child, I saw the animals going in back and never put it together with the ones in the window.
Mr Green would deliver our milk on Bidwell Hill and the baker delivered the bread. I think mum worked in just about every store in the village at one time or other. we walked to school every day. You went to Bottom School, I went to Top School. I seem to remember for some time the kids from Bottom School would walk up to Top School for lunch and Mr Higgs was the crossing guard. He was a shoemaker/mender. I loved the smell of leather and sawdust. Another shoemaker on Bedford rd was a Mr Robinson I believe. We know our Gr Grandfather was a shoemaker and lived opposite the Crown. That house is no longer there. Most things are gone now.
(Grandfather Spittles house)

The ponds are gone and don't you wonder about the houses built on those spots if at some point they will sink? Dad would tell me about how the wagons and horses would drive through the ponds to keep the wood of the wheels from drying out.
(this is me learning to walk with Harold and my mum)

I can't remember when the houses of Woodlands Ave were built but did you live at St Omere before you lived there? we did while waiting for a council house. We moved in to Bidwell Hill when I was 4. We lived with my Grandparents for a time, Mum apparently could not get along with Granddad Burt. So I have no idea how long we lived there but it left a lasting impression.
I remember going upstairs once to see Granddad who was in bed for some reason. The ceiling had fallen on his bed. How did that happen haha...........no idea but I remember the bed. It was iron. Would love to have that now.
Well cousin, I will shut up now. Hope you enjoy a few memories if Carole will read this too you. Love you now and forever.