First Home After The War

A Memory of Bamburgh.

When dad got out of Royal Navy at the end of the Second World War he took a job as a coastguard and was stationed at Bamburgh. The coastguard lookout was on the east side of the castle and a great deal of his duties in those days was to keep us kids away from washed up mines and great globs of crude oil that used to wash up on the beach. We were one of the few families that had a phone because of his job. It was a monster of a box with a grate handle generator built in. I attended Bamburgh village school under a teacher called Miss Ford who taught one of the 2 classes there. I had a very interesting young life, climbing the ivy-walled castle and the rocks by the golf course. A big day out was a trip to Seahouses and care had to be taken not to miss the return bus as they only ran twice a day. I spent many an hour on the green in front of the castle playing football and cricket. It was paradise for a young boy but could have been so much better if the sea was warmer and the north-east wind didn't blow so much!