Happy First Holiday In Polperro 1958

A Memory of Reigate.

My very first holiday away from mum and dad as a 17 year old on my way to Polperro from Morden in Surrey.
My father saw me off on the train in London with instructions to change at Liskeard then catch the next train to Looe.
On the Looe bound train late in the evening I boarded a near empty carriage with another lad also on his way to Polperro who informed me that I would miss the last bus into Polperro. He was being met by car and offered me transport to the village. On arrival it must have been midnight and was directed to Talland Hill a very narrow lane where I was to meet a Mrs Blenkins in her cottage high up at Brent. No sooner had I walked no more than a hundred yards up a very steep hill with heavy suitcase in tow when all the village and street lights went out leaving me in pitch black darkness. I stood frozen to the spot not seeing my hand in front of me terrified that if I walked off the beaten track I could fall anywhere with the sound of rustling in the bushes of the wild night life. It was a moonless night but luckily it was not raining and the sky was full of bright stars. After what seemed an eternity my eyes became accustomed to the starlight enabling me to see the tops of the surrounding hedges which acted as a guide and continue up the steep hill. As luck would have it a neighbour of Mrs Blenkins was out walking his dog and was on the lookout for me as I was expected hours ago. When I eventually arrived she had some freshly made sandwiches and a cup of tea even at that unearthly hour. I met the following day an aunt and cousin who arrived the following morning as they travelled overnight and were staying in the same cottage. My aunt was so overwhelmed with Polperro that she arranged a transfer from her flat in Raynespark with a Frenchman and his family. During my future holidays to Polperro I met some lovely people who believe it or not still keep in contact with me to this day sixty years later. I learnt from my aunt that sadly Mrs Blenkins passed away round about 1965/6 and would love to know if anyone out there had a relation of that name who lived in Brent just up the hill from Polperro. Polperro these days like so many other resorts is nothing like the Polperro of yesteryear. Gone are the fishermen sitting on the quay who would tell my cousin and I stories of their sea adventures. All that is left are the same picturesque buildings but occupied by strangers from yuppie land either making their fortunes or only living half the year in their property creating a deflated economy during winter, where have all the real people gone I keep asking myself.