My Childhood In Cholsey

A Memory of Cholsey.

I was born in Cholsey in 1946 and spent probabably the best childhood I could have in a wonderful country village. I attended the village school, I was in the Church Choir and also the Brownies. A wonderful Vicar came to the village in approx 1956 (can't remember the exact year) Mr Bontoft he was called and I became very friendly with his daughter Lisa together with my next door neighbour, Beryl Hobbs, we had so much fun. My mother (Bessie Smith) also took in an evacuee during the war, he was called Brian Barham. He loved the village so much he demanded he had his first year at the village school and he also came back to visit us every year for his school summer holidays and when he grew up and married he still returned to Cholsey with his wife and family.
Unfortunately in 1968 I married a young man from London and moved away from the village and would say it was one of the worst decisions I made during my young life.
I now live in Manchester but still come back to visit as often as I can, my present husband would like to come and live in the village, but as I said, he would not enjoy it as I did. Although still a lovely place to be, it holds too many memories for me of my childhood.
Most of my family who lived in the village are no longer with us although there are several cousins of mine still alive in the area and one lives not far from me in Manchester (Dennis Calcutt) and one or two friends with whom I still keep in touch.
My memories of Cholsey are still very real and I am thankful I was given the opportunity of living in such a lovely part of the country.