When The Village Was A Village!

A Memory of Kingskerswell.

From 1971 to the present day I have lived in different parts of the village, and never want to move. I attended the old school (community centre), and living just a few yards away had to be late most mornings! I remember the van that would bring the school lunches in big metal-lidded dishes, the driver a lovely chap, his name I recall was Wally, he would always look over and wave. We would walk up to the Consititional Hall and sit at the long trellis tables that were laid with cutlery, large metal water jugs and plastic mugs that always looked dirty, teachers would sit on the stage to eat theirs, Mrs Rawlings, Matthews and Evans. I remember Snaky Lane with the donkey that everyone either stroked or fed as they walked past. Everybody knew everyone's buisness! But you felt safe as everyone looked out for one another, we would leave front doors open and pop in to each other when suited, actully my mum only had a lock put on her door in 1991! Everybody spoke, we had bonfire parties within the comunity, it was a real village atmosphere, but somehow the doors were left open and in came strangers that did not aprove of certain things and slowly but surely our little village lost some of its quaintness, but the saying is "grow with time". We had discos weekly put on by Cancer Research( the payments), the youth club, the park, downs, that was ample, not forgetting the good old conker tree at the church, which has been there forever I think! Now my children are growing up in the village, they have the park, downs and lots of "dos and don'ts". With only a handful of real villagers left, I hope the real Kingskerswell does not become history.

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