The Potters' Cottage on The Hilltop
I knew Fred Potter and his family in the early 1960s - Fred and I dated for a while. Many times we got off the bus on the main road (I lived in Nailsworth), often straight from school - he at Marling, me at High School. We'd then walk past the lake and up that hill - seemed no distance in those days - to be greeted with a lovely tea from his mum - and then some Charlie Parker from Fred's record player. I remember how remote it was - Mrs Potter getting water from the old pump in the kitchen telling me that all manner of things would often appear in the water! Other water came from a spring in the opposite hillside - fetched by hand. Then there was the Elsan loo down the garden - with lots of foliage round the door. As Fred says - isolated it certainly was and in my youth I never truly appreciated the beauty of the place. I've been back to the area twice this year and discovered it again after asking a local if he remembered the Potter family which he did - so I walked to the cottage - how it's changed! Still beautiful and still remote - both of which I now fully appreciate - I'll be back again soon!
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RE: RE: The Potters' Cottage on The Hilltop
Carla's memory came as a bit of a shock. It's all true, except the Elsan was UP the garden. I went to 'Woodside', Middle Lypiatt (actaully sort of Toadsmoor as well) three years ago and was relieved to find how well the owners are looking after it. They obviously love it as much as I did and still do. One marked difference I noticed was the absence of the A35 van and presence of a Morgan. I used to see Carla every Sunday. I would cycle from Middle Lypiatt, up Burleigh Hill, across Tom Long's Post, down the Nailsworth W, up Rockness Hill. I must have been keen or fit or both. It was a lovely house in Nailsworth too. I still play Charlie Parker records, this time on Radio Control 99.4 FM Palmerston North, New Zealand. Obviously Carla's memories are after we were connected to the national grid, so it was even more primitive when we moved in in 1955. I used to go to Horsley Church with Carla, where she was the (brilliant young) organist, being taught by the late Herbert Sumsion, then at Glos Cathedral. I wonder if she still plays Bach's 'Wedge' in Em. I gave up the organ after trying to play the 'Fantasia' and 'Fugue' in Gm. I thought she had a glittering future ahead of her.
Comment from Fred Potter on Monday, 14th September 2009.