Working At The Pleasaunce

A Memory of Overstrand.

I worked at The Pleasaunce from 1958 - 1961. My memories of wonderful Christmas house parties, and 'tradesmens' parties on New Years Day when all the tradesmen who had any contact with the Pleasaunce over the year, were invited. I remember Mrs Dennis and the boiling of the crabs in her kitchen, which was directly opposite the gardener's cottage (Mr Neave, the gardener lived there) now the bungalow. The staff worked very hard but we also had good times and enjoyed mixing with the guests. The summer time was especially busy when we would cook breakfast on Friday evenings for the guests who were travelling overnight by coach (Reynolds, if I remember) back to Manchester. In the quieter winter period, the staff used the drawing room which had a lovely fire and was very cosy. We had afternoon tea by the fire, and herrings for our tea which had been caught that day thanks to the Davies and Dennis families. Happy memories of Miss Bell the hostess and Mrs Taylor the housekeeper who tried to keep us teenagers in hand! Overstrand is a lovely village and my parents retired there and lived in Pauls Lane. My dad was very active in the church and my mum with the WI.

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