Growing up

This is actually Withnell Fold. I grew up here from 1962 until 1977 when I left to get married. It was a fantastic place to live. My dad Terry West was a maintainence joiner originally, at Wiggins Teape paper mill until it closed. My mum Glenda worked for a while as a cook at the old folks home, which had been built by Thomas Blinkhorn Parke in the early 1800s. He built the mill and the village originally. My sister Sandra and brother Andrew also grew up there. We could go out to play - as most children could in the 1960s and 1970s - for hours until meal times. The whole village knew each other well. There was lots of involvement in the cricket club, Dad played, and for a while captained the first team and he was also the groundsman. My mum took her turn for a couple of years organising the sandwiches and cakes for the tea for the team on saturdays. I used to be the scorer. Yes, I am probably looking back through rose tinted spectacles but it was a wonderful place and time.