Wartime in Ferndown

RE: RE: Wartime in Ferndown

My grandmother's sister (Hazel Guinell) lived in a bungalow called 'Fairmount' Hill, View Road, Ferndown. In those days it had large garden and was the last house on the street, part of which was still gravel. On the adjacent property I remember a large house and huge garden. In 1940 my mother and I left London and moved in with the Guinell family, to avoid the expected air raids on the capital. Ironically, almost immediately a large bomb exploded in Ferndown and so rattled my mother that for several days we slept in the hallway under the stairs. We did not stay in Ferndown long. I think my mother wanted to be near my father and in her own home in London. I had started school for a few weeks before going to Ferndown so was enrolled in a local school. To the best of my memory the school was on Church Road but I can find no trace of it now. My memory (I was only five) is that it had railings on the street side, the playground was at the rear. One thing that would resonate with any reader from that time period would be the lunch time meals. Lunch was provided in a small building across the street from the school. I was the cockney kid from London to the other children, and not well received being an outsider. I had much more fun at the house where the Guinell family had a large garden and grew many vegetables. Mr. Guinell was a sales rep for a big department store in Bournemouth and had a car and access to petrol. Sometimes we would ride along with him on his calls. That was very exciting for a small boy.