Beautiful Memories

My mother became pregnant while we were living in Khartoum and she, my brother and I returned to UK as babies did not do well in the heat. No air-conditioning in those days. My father had to stay because of his contract.

My mother rented the chauffeur's cottage on the Bystock Estate. What a beautiful place it was. The manor house was mainly closed, just a small flat for the owner who ran a dairy herd. Every day the Jersey cows would pass the cottage on their way to milking.

My sister was born in the cottage - a home birth. My nana from Croydon came to assist at the birth.

I was told later that my mother had had a nervous breakdown and she forgot to send me to school. What a wonderful education I gave myself wandering around the Bystock Estate. I found a small cottage nearby. The garden was full of thistles and butterflies. Further down that lane there was a deserted apple orchard. So, lots of apples with blackberries in season.

Collected loads of wood for the fire. Discovered a Victorian tea garden smothered in brambles with a long line of trees either side leading to it. Wild cats in abundance. One befriended me and allowed me to see her nest under a fallen tree when she had kittens.

Old stables and kennels, wild strawberries, daffodils, bluebells and primroses in abundance. Glow worms at night.

Visited the family who lived in the old dairy cottage and the creamery was still in existence although not used. Horses in the fields.

After about 6 months we then moved to a wooden bungalow on Exmouth harbour and my father came home. I will always have wonderful memories of Bystock Estate and the fascinating, interesting time I had.