Not A Pretty Polly

A Memory of Thatcham.

My brother in law was to look after pigs at a farm which I believed belonged to a Major Wills in Thatcham. Now it was the summer time and as far as I can recall my sister had not long since had a baby and that she was somewhat depressed where she'd write a letter asking of my mothers help. We lived in Yorkshire, where Mother decided to take me with her and enroll me within a school there. I was something of a novelty in Thatcham as being a Yorkshire lad. Kids had never realized that there was another species of human being on planet earth. but they tolerated me ah ah. Anyway George My B I L had told me that should I wish on the Saturday morning if I liked he'd take me down onto the farm. I was eager that morning and had my breakfast and was raring to go. George was still finishing off his toast and tea and I just could not wait. I arrived down at the pig farm half an hour before him and went among the pig sties. There was a Polly of which just had her litter. I climbed over into the sty and began to stroke her, she lovingly accepted my presence and as I rubbed her back she rubbed her floppy ears on my leg.Then I thought on trying to sit on her back of which she did not take kindly to me: she arched her back and ran a few feet and dislodged me from off her back. Lucky for me I did not fall onto my back within the pig muck. It was obvious that I had out stood my welcome as she then gave me a nudge toward the gate. I left Polly and decided to go elsewhere. There was a large paddock which had an electric fence around it, there was a wooden stile of which one could get into the paddock without getting a shock from the fence. There, within the paddock, were what appeared to be Saddle Back pigs, some thirty or so of them. I had got myself over the style and began to approach the pigs; then suddenly the whole herd started grunting and ran toward me at break neck speed. Me, being naive, believed they were a friendly bunch of pigs, began to stand my ground waiting for them to get to me. I thought that they were wanting me to pet them. Like hell they were! as they were but a few feet away from me I heard a distant voice shouting me, it was the B I L shouting "get out of there ye silly Idiot, them pigs will rip thee apart and ate thee up". Those Saddle Back pigs were of a different breed. They were South African Boar of which had been caught wild and were untamed and wild to go with it. It was luck to say the least that George had come along as soon as he had done, and shouted out the warning. My bottom was a few inches away from the tusks as I managed to jump onto the sty. I wonder if the farm is still there or would it have been torn down and made way for some housing development. Major Wills was an old chap even then and I don't think that there were others to follow on. The farm was somewhat aged, where some of the houses on the farm had been converted into storage. I would not mind hearing from anyone who knew my brother in law, George Godfery Angel, and his wife Jean and their sons, Norman Angel, Mark Antony Angel, Simon Peter Angel, Alan Paul Angel as I am Uncle Roland to them. The family would move from there to Wasing Hill, Aldermaston, St Leonard's Hill, Windsor. His last job was at A W R E, where he was a cleaner of radio active materials where it was on one of those days there was an explosion where two charges of radioactive dust of which lit up like kiddies sparklers on bonfire night.