Happy Days

My mother's family were from Appledore and although I was born on a visit up north to my father's family, I was only a few months old when we came back. We lived in various houses in the village, Canal Cottages and Hawthorn being two of them. My Grandad and Granny King lived at 3 Victoria, my dear Aunt Mary and Uncle Len (Gray) lived at 4 Griffin where my cousin Duncan and his family still live. Aunt Alice and Uncle Fred lived at 102 The Street. My best friend was Iris Terry and her mum and dad Doris and Charlie were good friends of my parents. I spent the next 10 years in the village in idylic surroundings for my childhood. I went to the village school, to which we walked, no lifts from mum's 'taxi' in those days! Many happy leisure hours were spent walking along the canal banks, fishing with pins on sticks and spying on the courting couples! Also going down into the bunkers, which were still there the last time I visited, although the door and windows were bricked up. I remember riding my bike up to the village store to hand in mum's order along with the ration books. I remember vividly the day I went in and Margaret, the assistant at the time said the money wasn't in the book. What a panic, I cried all the way home and was not allowed to go to the church fete. However, luckily someone found the money and took it to the police station, yes we had one, and I was reprieved! We picked runner beans and strawberries at grandad's field up on the school road, got a trug full of apples or pears from nearby orchards. I see my brother has already been here before me and left his memories of holidays spent back in Appledore after we moved North for good, in May 1952, the year King George VI died. That was a horrible year. We all cried from Appledore the 300 miles to Newcastle!!! I still have cousins Val (Payne nee Coleman) and Maurice Coleman as well as Duncan mentioned earlier who still live in the village. Does anyone still remember us, Ethel (nee King) and Jackie Wright, Madeleine my older sister, myself Celia, sisters Susan and Janis and little brother Leonard (Lenny). I could go on all day about my memories but best get on. Hope that someone from Appledore reads this and adds theirs too. I will write again soon with more of my memories.