....those Lazy, Hazy, Days of Delamere

I have so many memories of Delamere but unlike the others who have written on this page my recall of the names are not so good.  I tend to see things as pictures (and have a good memory for faces) and have vivid images (tableaux) of events at Delamere. The gardens at the back with the sundial and divided pathways, the individual gardens 6' 3' (one veg and one flower) for each child, the wooden tabernacle decorated for the harvest festival (succoh), the dining room and the cake every child got on his or her birthday (choice of fruit or sponge), the forest, with the soft, pine-needle strewn floor and the wonderful scent of pine; the gazebo or sunhouse which turned on a wheel underneath its floor (I hurt my nose when bending down outside beneath the open window banging it on the frame), being invited to have the evening dinner with the staff as an extra special treat; we were allowed a drop of red wine diluted with orange juice. My mother visiting me and going to the cafe down the lane to eat egg and chips with her off the little chequered-cloth-covered tables.  Crying in bed at night when she left.  I am not sure sure who was in charge when I was there but Langdon and Landau both sound familiar.  I also remember the brownie group, the knot tying the fairy circle.  I remember a vist by Lonnie Donegan the singing star, participating in Scottish dancing, and playing Snow White in a play.  It was beautiful there but the memories are bitter-sweet as I always wondered what I had done wrong to be "put  away".  As an adult I now understand I had done nothing wrong but suffered from poor health. I went back to Delamere in the eighties to just stand and see if what I remembered was real and accurate.  The building was much smaller than the image I had, but looked basically how I had "saved it" in my mind. The beautiful sunny day added to the warm nostalgia that crept over me as I went round to the back of the house to ask if there was any way of finding out what year I was there.  The doors were all open but no one was around, it was as if time had stood still and I was waiting to go inside for dinner or lessons..  I called out but no one answered.  Some years later I found a web site of the photographer who took photos of me feeding a lamb with a baby's bottle.  He has photos for sale and there were some of other children.  Those days have been seared into my memory and have endowed me with a love of gardening, the countryside and an urge to write a children's novel.  

Good luck and best wishes to all of you other Delamerites (good name Marilyn)

Jane