Beginnings

A Memory of Crantock.

My parents moved from Pentire to Crantock when I was about 3 and Crantock is certainly ingrained in my memory as being my first home. My mother had taken a position as housekeeper to a Dr Nicholas and with it came Rose Cottage. My father worked as a gardener, this was before he took a job with the Western National busses as a conductor. I have memories of him coming home in his gardening clothes, I used to run and meet him up the lane he where would hoist me onto his shoulders and carry me the rest of the way home.
I, like most of the Crantock children attended Cubert primary school, the head being a Mrs Dickinson.
A group of us often walked to the school some 3 or 4 miles, and we thought nothing of it, I suppose there weren't any school busses at the that time. Although I do recollect sometimes being taken and picked up again by a taxi from the village.
After school I often waited for my lift home in a house opposite the school. The girl who lived in the house was about my age, but didn't attend school, she had a very much enlarged head and I am afraid to say that I was somewhat scared of her, purely because of her appearance I'm sad to say. Of course later in life I realised that the poor girl had Spina Bifida.
I have always thought of Crantock as my birth place, although in fact I was born in a private nursing home in Bodmin, but my first childhood memories are of Crantock. My bother and sister were born there, and we played outside to our hearts content, only reappearing at mealtimes. Life was so much more carefree back then. I have memories of going down to Crantock beach, spending all day in amongst the sand dunes. We used to build cars on the slopes of sand and pretend that the were moving.
Just below the dunes was a small stream and a path that lead onto the River Gannel. At the age of three, I disappeared from my garden with my dolls pram, I was found several hours later on the gannel path by my now distraught parents, quite happily taking my dollies for a walk.
Crantock will always hold a special place in my heart and I have a baby son buried in the church yard, and my youngest daughter was christened there. I only wish I could afford to live in the village once again.

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