Andrew Duncan Home For Boys

A Memory of Shiplake.

At the age of 13 I suffered a nervous breakdown due to problems at home. It was decided by my doctor to send me away from home to give me a break.

My mother took me to a mainline station in London where I was handed over to a lady who was to escort me to the home.

On arrival at the Andrew Duncan home, I along with other new boys were introduced to the staff by the matron.

My bed was one of four on the first floor. On the second day we were given a uniform consisting of blue
shorts and shirts (the home was run on a naval basis).

A short distance from the front of the house was a field with a ha ha fence along one side, in the middle of the fence was a gangplank to get into the field with a sturdy gate. The reason for the gate being there was to keep "Linda" the lamb secure inside the field. The field was where us boys let off steam by playing football and cricket.

Some of the boys were much older than me, but all had some problem, one boy had lost his hand whilst working in a bakery cutting bread in a slicing machine, it appears he got the timing wrong. Another boy had asthma (he died in the night two days later).

When the bell rang for mealtimes there was a mad rush to get out of the field before "Linda got to the gate and tried to stop the boys from leaving the field.

The story we were told was that a farmer walking along the road found a lamb wandering around, as no-one in the area kept sheep he gave it to the Home to help keep the grass down. Whilst I was there "Linda" was shorn and the fleece was sent to Buckenham Palace to be made into some clothing for Princess Anne.

After we had been at the Home for a few days we were asked if we would like to help with the fruit picking by local farmers - on arrival we were told we could eat what we wanted. At about 4pm the farmers wife called us into their kitchen where food was ready for us.

On Sundays we were taken to church in Reading, we were driven there by the farmers, the vehicles included a Rolls Royce, Rolls Bentley and other big cars, quite a few of us crammed into the back and insisted the driver to go as fast as he could, which he didn't.

My Sister and her Husband along with my Parents came to visit me, they took me to Henley where they hired a motorboat, I was allowed to steer it for a short distance.

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